Summer 2009: lots of traveling with the green backpack

So this summer, my backpack accompanied me to Austin, Texas for a few days in August, and then to Italy: Venice and Florence for a week in late August-early September. Since nothing has been posted since my Amstel obsession of July 2009: here's proof that it really did travel this summer. This was taken when I was packed up in Florence, ready to train it back to Venice. So...more to come...just been a slacker since I got back two weeks ago...

Amstel Light obsession...

There are a bunch of new Amstel Light billboards all over Allston and Brighton. I pass one of them on my way to work every morning. "Dam Good Bier" the billboard proclaims with dimly light Amsterdam canal houses in the background. It works. I see the billboard...remember my time in Amsterdam...and want an Amstel Light. Unfortunately, it's usually at 8:42 AM when I'm on the bus, crushed between commuters.

The billboards hardly measure up to this Amstel ads which highlight the city, and its beer. When I get nostalgic for Amsterdam, I usually just give it a play. Not to mention I've loved the Fratellis for quite some time:

the countdown begins...

3 months from today my backpack and I are off to Italy. Venice, Florence, and wherever else the journey takes us for the week before Labor Day. Can't wait to go. The tickets are booked, just the hotels, trains, and activities left...lots of ideas, but so little time. still can't believe I'm finally going...

I love it when Rick Steves name checks places my backpack and I have visited! Especially when it's the Tassenmuseum Hendrikje (Museum of Bags and Purses)
Check it out: Rick wrote about Amsterdam, as in this story on CNN.com.

a month ago today...

Amsterdam...sunset. Just a month ago. This was taken at the end of day spent riding trams, subway cars, and commuter rail tains as we crammed as much as we could into our last full day in the Netherlands.

• The morning was spent finding the one souvenir I wanted from Amsterdam: an Ajax sweatshirt. Marco van Basten was my fave footballer growing up. Well, maybe the only player I followed. I had a Diadora poster in my room, and he was one of six European players on it...and the only name I ever remembered. He played for the Ajax in the 80s and then AC Milan later, and now is the coach of the Ajax. We visited the Amsterdam ArenA, via subway on the outskirts of the city, and I found a hoodie in the Fanshop. AND when we went outside, the team was practicing, and I got to see MVB from way, far away, but still it was a sighting. Jesse has much better pictures than me.

• In the afternoon, we traveled to Haarlem via commuter rail train (20 mins. or so), just to get out of the city. If I'm spending a vacation in one city, I love to just get out of its confines, even if it's just for an hour (like our jaunt to Haarlem). We got off the train, walked to the Grote Markt, home to St. Bevo Cathedral, and the largest pipe organ in Europe (played by Handel and Mozart); and literally turned around and went back to Amsterdam. We took the 3 pm train to Haarlem, and we were back in Amsterdam by 4:15.

We finished off the day with Dutch pancakes (or pannekoeks), and Heineken and Genever at our favorite bar across from our hotel...

Despite the outstanding, savory pancakes I had for dinner, the Belgian fries from the Manneken Pis Belgian fry stand on the Damrak was the best food I had that day. Piping hot and covered with mayo...my mouth is watering just remembering....Best fries in Amsterdam...we stopped twice.

I miss Iceland!

The Blue Lagoon. I could soak in it all day. This was snapped in April 2007 on our way in to the Blue Lagoon when I visited Iceland with Denise, Louisa, and Elizabeth. Soaking in the geothermal spa was literally the last thing we did in this Arctic country; we stowed our luggage on a bus and went directly to the airport for our flight back to Boston.
Probably the most relaxing place my backpack has been...and definitely on the list of top 10 places I would return to in a heartbeat.

Canals. Bikes. Amsterdam.

This is my favorite picture from Amsterdam. It was snapped from the basement gallery of the Amsterdam Tulip Museum, located in a canal house about 100 meters from the Anne Frank House. It was my second visit to the city, my last eleven years ago. In 1997, I was 20, traveling through the city on our way to Berlin; my green backpack was glued to me since we were only in town for a few hours, enough time to visit the Anne Frank House, make a quick visit to Rembrandt's House, and to scarf down some Chinese food. No Heineken Brewery. No Van Gogh. No art. Less than seven hours and back on the night train to Berlin.

I couldn't believe how much I forgot about Amsterdam--the canals, the ever friendly, English speaking (to the point of guilt) Dutch people, the diverse food. It's a city much more laid back than other European cities. Some may say this is due to some laxed substance laws, but it was a relief to not feel like you were walking the catwalk during Fashion Week as I felt from time to time in Paris last year.

The best trips have no itineraries

Last month I visited my friend Raegan in DC. It was kinda a last minute thing...I was waiting for just the right airfare...which never happened. But I was excited to catch up with Raegan who had been my roommate in Brookline for the last 7 years, up until June. We casually joked before I left that I "would do some research"...being an information professional...it's kinda my thing. And other friends asked me what I was going to do in DC, and I just replied, "coffee and shopping"...very uncharacteristic for me.
So, I left for my weekend in DC...changing planes in Newark, which I will do everything to avoid in the future. After 2 delayed departures in Boston, an hour on the tarmac at Logan, and a 2.5 hour delay in Newark for my connection, I was in DC. Thank goodness for once in my life I resisted the overpacking urge, and carried on. I read all 495 pages of Twilight while in transit, finishing the last page while landing at Reagan-National.
When I finally met up with Raegan, she was surprised to learn that I had done absolutely no research on DC. I had seen all the sights on multiple school trips, business trips, and vacations, and was kinda touristed out of DC. My Dad made sure to remind me 10 times before I left that the Smithsonian Museum of American History had just re-opened after a massive renovation, but that was just not on my radar.
So, what did I do for the 36 hours I was in DC? I had coffee and shopped, and ate great food at local places. Got a really cool hat at World Market. Bought the second Twilight book. Went to Loehmann's. Shopped pre-Christmas sales for ourselves. We bought wine in a beaker-type bottle. We watched fashion television. Walked all over Georgetown before decidicing on a place for dinner. Visited some "Irish" pubs--not sure if thye'd pass for Irish pubs in Boston. Overheard some really interesting conversations on the Metro explaining the difference between a "pimp" and a "whore enabler". We went to a great jazz brunch. Saw a Santa pub crawl and a real live walking Christmas tree (well, someone dressed up as one with presents to boot). We walked the National Mall. My one sole touristy thing was seeing the national Christmas tree. Check in that box.
And then it was time to go home, another Newark derailed trip, but luckily I got switched to a direct flight. I did a lot of unplanned and fun stuff...which is a big step for someone who has been dubbed the "master planner" by friends. The person who is handed the map, and figures out which metro line to take no matter the city. The attraction spreadsheet maker, currency converter, and translator.
It was not a matter of having plans, but a matter of being with friends...something that I've been slowly realizing over years of traveling with friends and with Jesse. When an innkeeper in Galway told me, "you've come to a door, but you haven't gone through it," upon hearing the regimented day I had planned to taking us (me, Louisa, Denise, and Glod) away from Connemara, the rustic, rural, picturesque area to the west, I stopped, and realized that traveling is about being flexible. Something that hasn't always come to me, the structure-lover. After a quick conference in our Ford Focus, the four of us were on our way to Connemara...abandoning our original plans. And I was ok with that--something changed in me that instant.
Traveling is not about how many museums, monuments, or battlefields you see (don't tell my Dad that), it's about enjoying the time with your companions, and just letting yourself adapt to a city, culture, country. And carrying-on whenever possible.A