I Amsterdam

I've really enjoyed my time in Amsterdam, upon landing and taking the easy 10 minute train ride to the center of the city and my hotel, I already felt this city had something special about it, something that makes it unique and stand out among the other Western European capitals with their rivers, row houses, and quaint cafés.

I found the people of Amsterdam to be overwhelmingly helpful and friendly, something i found hard to believe with so many tourists - "Don't you get annoyed with all the foreigners walking crossing through the bike lanes without looking?" I asked the Dutch. They do, but then they give directions and tell you the best place to get bitterballen or an authentic Dutch pint. I guess, like Colombians and Brazilians, the pace of life here is a few notches down from the hectic lifestyle we are used to in the us. And that's what generally loved about this place - everyone is so cheerful and complacent, and equal - you don't see lots of fancy cars or handbags or sunglasses. The CEO and the janitor both cycle to work.

 Allison and I enjoying a tea and gluten-free goodies

And I was able to easily mix business and pleasure, going to a popular local nightclub with people I met at the gaming conference I was attending, and a few days later visiting the Anne frank house with one of my best friends. Business included important meetings with European clients and late supper and nightlife outings to expand my professional network. The weekend consisted of my best friend and I window shopping, exploring the entire city on foot, and leisurely sitting in cafés sipping coffee and tea and eating gluten free Dutch pancakes and other sweets. When my friend left I met up with a Dutch friend to see what the Northern part of Amsterdam was all about. I got to see the hippie, artsy, creative part of the Netherlands, going to a sushi + DJ party on Sunday night! The feeling I get now as I'm leaving is one of satisfaction but a desire to come back. I want more waffles, tea, friendly Dutch accents, canals, cheese, and bicycles!

 A seafood gem where I tried all sorts of salmon, crab, and herring.

Container student housing in the north

Europe 2012 Part Dos

I know I never got around to doing a second blog post about Europe, so I've do something I should do more of - shut up and tell my story through photos. But first, a little background - for those of you who don't remember, my Europe vacation came about due to this wedding of two British friends. Well, after Switzerland, Germany, and the Czech Reupblic, the whole purpose of my journey finally came to a culmination. Not only was I going to travel to the English countryside for the first time, but I was going to be reunited with the 12 amazing people I met five years ago during my study abroad in Mexico! I was super psyched. Alas, with all of the excitement and catching up on everyone's lives, plus having a very good photographer in the bunch, I didn't take that many photos. But I believe you can still piece together the story. 

 The wedding wasn't taking place just a bit outside London as I had falsely presumed, it was 4 hours away. Lucky for Australian Emma and I we had our very own chauffer, Kieran, who rented a car to bring in the strays (besides some of the bride's family, we were the only ones who flew in internationally!). Only problem was that he hadn't driven in 6 years! I cringed everytime he ground the clutch, though I must say he did do well with the whole drving-on-the-other-side-of-the-road thing.

 Getting ready for the wedding, the groom!

 Part of the group, Charlie and Joe-boy (photoboy), looking snazzy.

 More of the group: Alicia, Cherry, Charlie again and Rachel in the corner.

 At the ceremony, praying that the rain will hold off.

Luckily we all knew had to enjoy ourselves, even in the 50 degree weather and mist.

 Anddd, the day after. I know, horrible! I didn't take any photos of the bride, nor the reception. Boo. But if you want to see one gorgeous event, you can see the photos I would have taken here.

So here is one of the cottages on the estate where we had a bbq the next day. It was fully decked out as a hunting lodge with furs, saws, rifles, and a fireplace. Since it was still pretty cold outside, we all cozied up around the dining table and fireplace.

There was still plenty of booze leftover from the evening before, though many of us were not quite ready to begin that again.

 Here we have Kieran, Steph (bridesmaid), Julia (the bride!!), Jo-girl, and Emma.

 We really didn't move from that table for the next 6 hours.

The lovely invitation that Julia drew/designed herself!

Europe in the Springtime Part 1

So I never really gave a proper update of my time in Europe. By the time it was over I had more great things to write about! And before I'm off to San Francisco for two weeks for my cousin's wedding I figured I would describe my travels across the pond, mainly so I can come back to this blog in one year's time when I've forgotten everything.

So let's see, I made a little list here of observations along my way (I had a lot of time to think, more than I've had all year!). First things first, the whole purpose of my 2-week vacation was to go to a wedding in England. An English friend who I had met in Mexico took it upon herself to use organize her wedding nicely so we could have a 5 year reunion for our 14-person Girl City group (one night when we were all hanging out someone walked into the room and saw 9 girls + 5 guys, all of whom except 1 were gay, and exclaimed "It's like girl city in here!" and the name just stuck). Instead of flying to England for the weekend and then back to Miami, I decided to take advantage of Europe's compact countries and my having friends in various cities in those countries.

So the journey started in Zurich, Switzerland where a college friend who I met while studying abroad in Argentina (I guess I can't really meet internationally-minded people in the US can I?) was living. I hadn't seen Cait in 2+ years and so it was really nice to reconnect with her. She's from Connecticut too and had just moved to Zurich a month before so she was happy to explore the place with me. Observations included:

• There are a lot of bicycles, I mean a LOT of bicycles in Europe
• The bike parking lots are even covered, whereas the car parking lots aren't necessarily
• Swiss people mind each other's business, which when taken to the extreme can mean they don't seem as friendly. Example: at an outdoor pasta place when Cait and I asked for tap water the waitress looked at as confused, and then after our mediocre hand gestures brought back 2 half-filled glasses of water and brusquely placed them on the table, water spilling all over my menu.
• The Swiss don't offer tap water in restaurants
• Zurich's expensive! ($20+ for any meal, not even at a fancy place)
• Geographically-speaking I found it similar to Colombia, hills, lakes and valleys.
• No chocolate tours (and the Lindt factory is located in Zurich)!
• There are lots of Audis and European cars, I rarely saw a Ford
• The guidebook says you get organization and order but unfriendly people. I would trade any day.

 I was only in Zurich for 4 days, 2 of which I spent jetlagged and hungover, but I still felt I had seen most of Zurich, though not much of Switzerland. But then it was on to Munich! I took the train through the Swiss countryside, and am pretty sure I passed through Liechtenstein on the way, but alas the rolling European hills all look the same after a few minutes.

In Munich I stayed with a couchsurfer. Since I was only going to be there for 2 nights I figured why pay for a hostel when I can soak up some of that couchsurfing love. I met Stef at her office after I got off the train. She handed me the key to her place along with directions, and I was on my way. When I've told people that story some find it very bizarre that a stranger would give me the keys to her house with no one home, while others just quip "Oh isn't couchsurfing amazing?!" Her place was clean and well located, so I was happy. The first day I just walked around, had some Turkish donner and somewhat followed the NYT's "36 hours in Munich" guide. The next day I went on a free walking tour to see the historic stuff and then met up with the Hungarian boyfriend of a friend, who had been living in Munich for 4 years. The friend was more like someone who I work with at another company, but is from Munich and gave me great tips. And here we have Munich observations:

• People are friendly, but still mind their own business
• You should never flag down a waiter - it's rude!
• They serve pretzels at the table like we do bread, but then charge you a euro per pretzel if you eat them
• You never cross the street until the pedestrian sign is green - no J walking!!
• You can surf on a river in Munich (and use a handy attachable surfboard carrier on your bike)
• I cannot wait for the Olympics! (I visited the site of the 1972 Munich Olympics, still very much intact, and hosting the Special Olympics)

Ok, Part 2 of the saga, which includes Berlin, Prague, and Shropshire, England, to come soon!

 Bicycle parking lot in Zurich

Apfelspritzer drink with Cait

Yep, they're surfing in Munich, on a real (not artificial) river!

Site of the Munich Olympics

Berlin brings it out in me

When you go to Berlin there's no avoiding that spark that wakes up the left side (or is it the right?) of the brain that screams for some out-of-the-box thinking and creativity. Everyone in the city is either "working on their music/art/film" or studying, and those that do have actual jobs are boring ol' graphic designers. My friend Emma who I stayed with and her roommates have "construction days" in their apartment in which actual wood and tools are involved! So instead of denying the hipster-gentrified neighborhood I was in, I embraced it and picked up some some markers, construction paper, and stickers to put together an original recipe I should have done a month before for this wedding I went to in England 4 days later. It was exciting, my friend and I spent 3 hours working into the wee hours in her kitchen, talking about racism and Scandinavian babes, while pouring every last ounce of creativity we had into our works. I hadn't felt that creative since high school field hockey when I would spend hours (ok really 10 minutes) working on the biggest and most glitter-fied"secret psych" gift for my fellow teammates (to "psych" them up for a game, not that kind of "psych"). 

So along with pounds of chocolate and English tea I brought home some of that creative spark I rediscovered in Berlin. "I love maps, and why not take that love of maps and decorate a little with them. Make our place feel a bit more 'lived in?" I suggested to Gio. It turned out we only had the maps from the 4 cities I visited on my trip, plus a map of San Francisco and a map of the Everglades we didn't really much care for. But it didn't matter, we were off to the hardware store! Before that we went through postcards, photos, beer coasters and other memorable items we had collected that were now on our bedroom floor (a bookcase is the next item on our furniture shopping list!). Seeing as we have many a blank wall to decorate we immediately thought of the numerous guests who come over during our non-existent dinner parties, and decided to give them a little something to look at while relieving themselves, making good use of our worldly postcards.

Of course after we got back from the hardware store we were tired and didn't feel like continuing with the Berlin project. So instead I left the layout of the maps and postcards on the floor, right in the middle of the living room, for the day. Waking up the next morning, I stepped around my short-lived inspiration, and only after going to the mall and buying myself a pretty dress did I come back reinvigorated to finish the weekend's project.

Postcards decorating the bathroom wall

Still adding to our map collection... of course the idea here was to use one whole wall as a big map of the world, placing each map in its place within the world, i.e. maps of Europe east of the Everglades map. It's a concept in progress

Berlin inspiration: Emma's improvised clothes wardrobe using hooks already in the wall and chains. 

Oh yeah, it's still January

The past 3 weeks have been a whirlwind to say the least, here's a little update:

• Moved to Miami with 3 checked bags, 2 carry-ons and a hopeful disposition to find my place in this weird Latin American city
• Mom came after 4 days, spent 4 days helping me get my bearings, find an apartment and a car.
• Found a car. 2009 "salsa red" VW Jetta. Still don't have it in my possession, financing and car insurance holding everything up (who sends papers through the MAIL anymore??). Really need to get a Florida driver's license, but need a Florida resident for that first.
• Day Mom left I flew to London. Spent 1 hour in customs, 2 hours at my former boss's flat, 3 hours in a meeting, then flew to Helsinki.
• Screwed up from the time difference (Helsinki is +7 hours!!), my first opportunity for a real night's sleep in Europe, couldn't go to bed until 3 a.m. Wake up to cleaning lady knocking on door of my hotel room at 12 p.m. Work all afternoon from the hotel, check out Helsinki center in the evening. Shop at H&M, eat a delicious burger with olive tapenade, goats cheese, and a Finnish beer.
• Meeting the next day (what day? Friday?) with our most important client. Did surprisingly well. During the afternoon, walked around Helsinki with our CEO and his wife. Saw the water, boats, market full of cheeses and meats, snow (obvs), pretty lights, pretty Finns. Was pure euphoria.
• Friday night flew to London for weekend with my babez (friends from Mexico 2007 study abroad). K picked me up at Heathrow, took the tube to our friends' place in Camden Town, gossiped the whole way there. Surprised friends with elaborate story, wished I had filmed it to put on youtube and get millions of views, was that good.
• Fabulous friend-filled weekend in London. Got drunk. Saw the Olympic Stadium.
• Came back to Miami on Monday, got to the office in the afternoon, had a breakdown. Saw an apartment on Monday night, found the place.
• Breakdown continued on Tuesday morning, emotions, tears at work, no good. Bosses helped me sort everything out, felt like a child, but we're OK now.
• Finished 500 page book, discussed it over phone with friend for Book Club.
• Sent in financing papers to buy car, hope to pick up salsa Jetta next week.
• Approved for the apartment that I found in the midst of my breakdown, move in February 17.
• Got invited to a Superbowl party, hope to drive my salsa red Jetta there.
• Giovanni's 30th birthday spent in Bogota, alone. Me sad :( Giovanni's visa appointment in ONE week. Me happy :)
• Started new Book Club with friend in London.
• Spending weekend with Couchsurfing people who I had never met. They're nice, took me to Mexican food, showed me pictures of their worldly adventures, let me stay in their bedroom for the weekend. We're gonna go out and ride bikes later.

Boy January's a long month.

Why is it always winter when I visit Europe?

Two days in Helsinki and I’m in love. It’s as if I’m back where I belong, which sounds silly because the quarter Finnish in me doesn’t really justify that, nor does being in Colombia for the past 3 years and also loving it there! But walking around the city center on Thursday night, I don’t know; the combination of the European city center, freezing temperatures warmed by a white snowy landscape inhabited by the happy Finns just walking around (jogging and cycling in fact!) in 25 degree temperatures – well, who wouldn’t feel content? I’ve already started to imagine myself living here, enduring the harsh winters and little daylight, but then venturing off to see the Northern Lights and explore the Baltic islands during the summertime. I’ll dye my hair blonde (I was already contemplating this – living outside of Latin America now I feel enabled), learn Finnish, have lovely blonde-haired blue-eyed children (ok with my Colombian boyfriend that might be difficult, but we can adopt!).

Ok, ok, enough with my fantasies, here are a few fun facts that I’ve learned about Helsinki/Finland in the past few days:

• Usually at this time in January there are 3 feet of snow on the ground and the temperatures drop to -10°C (°F – I’ve been lucky this time around with temperatures only reaching -3°C and only about a foot of snow on the ground
• Women receive one year paid maternity leave. Women may have up to 7 years maternity leave (on a lower paid salary of course) after which employers legally have to give them their job back
• Children start school at age 7, finishing high school at around 19.
• The metro in Helsinki is on the honor system. No one/place checks that you’ve paid.
• Finns pay about >30% in taxes
• Although the country is very northern, you can only see the Northern Lights when you go past the Artic Circle, about 700 km from Helsinki
• Mercedes seem to be America’s Toyota
• Everyone knows how to drive in the snow and it is not a deterring factor nor does it slow down drivers
• Everyone speaks English, even the older folks. And everyone is just really friendly.

sarita does Helsinki (more photos to come)