Month: December 2022

The Eiffel A

December 24, 2022

  We hopped on the RATP metro towards the Eiffel Tower. This was when a loud Frenchman made sweet love to le beau’s left ear, yelling rapid-fire French, so indignant it sounded holy. After 5 solid minutes of this, we got up and moved. 10 stops later, we were at le Eiffel Tower. My first … More The Eiffel A

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Paris Syndrome

December 23, 2022

Paris, a poem. Half joke aside, this post resonated with a handful of others on my personal account. A friend mentioned ‘Paris syndrome.’ TLDR; Paris syndrome occurs when visitors find the city so disappointing, they begin to experience hallucinations, delusions, derealization, and psychosomatic symptoms. It’s relatively uncommon, but it exists. Was a small percentage of … More Paris Syndrome

Natural History Museum

December 21, 2022

“Do you think this is what being born feels like?” I peered around the pulsating globelike structure, which the escalator gently pushed us through. Seconds later, we were ushered into the Natural History Museum of South Kensington, London. It was filled with exhibits of rocks, fossils, gems, taxidermies, and dinosaurs. And tons of large schoolchildren. … More Natural History Museum

Along the River Thames

December 20, 2022

After taking the Tube to Monument station, we walked along the River Thames towards the Tower Bridge. Tower Bridge, with its castle-like arches, is commonly confused with London Bridge. Tower Bridge, however, is across from the new London Bridge – a relatively plain structure. The original London Bridge is somewhere in Arizona. The lyrics were … More Along the River Thames

London Snowfall

December 18, 2022

      Our first night in London, it snowed. There were still snowy patches lingering at Victoria Embankment Gardens. After dusting off our Krispy Kremes, we stumbled upon Covent Garden. A shopping and entertainment hub in London’s West End, Covent Garden [is] home to fashion stores, craft stalls at the Apple Market, and the … More London Snowfall

Meowster van Loon

December 8, 2022

Over omelets, fresh orange juice, coffee, salad, and bread, we enjoyed a slow, cozy morning at Pompa. With 1 hour left on the five day City Card, we brainstormed our final visit. We chose the van Loon museum home. Owned by the Van Loon merchant family, the home was a “magnificent double-sized canal house located … More Meowster van Loon

A Mood and Moco

December 7, 2022

At le beau’s insistence, we popped by a place called Moods for brunch. In retrospect, the name and menu should have tipped us off. See, we wanted hearty. We knew we wanted hearty. Nothing hearty was on the menu, but we ordered anyways, hoping there would magically be bacon, eggs and potatoes tucked underneath somewhere. … More A Mood and Moco

Modern in Zuid

December 4, 2022

Described as “Amsterdam’s very own Upper East Side, Amsterdam Zuid is chic, classy, and full of history.” The first indication was the type of car that lined the street. We saw Audi’s, Mercedes, Maserati’s. Houses stood tall and prim, indifferent to the zigzag infrastructure common in Central Amsterdam. The streets were quiet: for once, we didn’t smell cigaruana. The neighborhood, quiet and suburban, oozed affluence. … More Modern in Zuid

A Day at Artis Amsterdam Royal Zoo

December 3, 2022

Next door was the Artis Amsterdam Royal Zoo, the oldest zoo in the Netherlands and fifth oldest zoo in the world. Normally, I’m uneasy about zoos, because it makes me sad to see animals in captivity. Imagine how my joy at seeing some of the happiest, most playful, and uncaged creatures I’d ever seen! Monkeys swung on ropes – zebras took sand baths – sea lions scratched their backs and twirled away. … More A Day at Artis Amsterdam Royal Zoo