Pancakes and Van Gogh

Olivia's pancake

It rained every day that we were in Amsterdam, though luckily we occasionally got some time to walk around without getting drenched. My favorite meal by far was at the pancake bakery. Their pancakes are more like crepes, but they're covered in every combination from savory to sweet. I got a combination I made myself - bacon, cheese and apple. I almost finished the whole thing, which was enormous. Olivia's came with ice cream and a shot!

We went to the Van Gogh museum, which is temporarily in the Hermitage museum. I went to the Van Gogh exhibit this past year with my mother and brother and I was so happy to see more works by him! There was also an impressionism exhibit located in the Hermitage that was also really exciting to see!

I amsterdam

Planning out where to go

Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been. It's so charming with the dutch houses and canal lined streets! It was pretty cold, but I overpacked by alot, so I was warm under my three or so layers of sweaters. Plus I exclusively drank camomile tea to keep warm! We got to Amsterdam on Friday after three hours of sleep. We spend the first day wandering around trying to get to know our area. Chloe introduced us to the greatest gift in the world, speculoos - essentially nutella/peanut butter type spread, but made out of cookies. There were bikes everywhere! We talked about renting them, but it was way too cold. I immediately fell in love with the house boats located along the sides of the canals. They were spacious and had homey things like wood floors, bear skin rugs, plants and walls lined with book cases. At night Amsterdam looks like a gingerbread house! The bridges and streets along the water are lit up and it's really a sight!

Thanksgiving!

Turkey sandwich for lunch

Pretending to be Jesus

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving, I know I did! Although I couldn't be home with my family, I was with my Florence family. Chloe and I made little cookie turkeys and hand turkey place cards for everyone the night before. Chloe made gravy, stuffing and garlic mashed potatoes. I made roast chicken with stuffing and bacon, green beans with almonds and mac & cheese. Grace, Olivia, Vero, David and Hannah came over to eat dinner. We ate so much that everyone had to lay down for hours afterwards. The food was delicious! We had intended to eat a second dinner a couple hours later, but it never happened. We had fun laying around being too full and drinking wine. I ended up taking a little cat nap, which was good considering we didn't get to bed until one and had to be up again at four. I'm still eating leftovers and they taste amazing!