Lovely Memories in Norderney
Norderney...was weird, but only at first. The whole island resembled a scene straight out of Pleasantville with blue skies, clear streets, white picket fences, and not a single loud soul to behold. Everything looked perfect in an eerily way. However, I knew to put my discomfort aside and assimilate into the island as I knew I needed to. Everything deserves a chance after all!
From getting ice cream to going to the baddehaus, to painful aches after a scenic bike ride, to meeting the sweetest Vietnamese family ever on this trip to Norderney, I truly have never felt such peace. The fresh air was refreshing. I learned so much about the culture and the sanctity of nature this island had to offer.
While my favorite part was relaxing in the baddehaus, my second favorite part was the mud hike. I never knew that mud, in all its messy glory, could ever be sterile. Except it can, and it is, thanks to these magnificent worms that live there. I also found it interesting how these creatures possess blood that is considered a world donor and how there is currently research going on to figure out how to put them to use in the medical world.
Amsterdam Is My Foe
I was only supposed to stay in Amsterdam for one night with my friend Olivia. From previous experience, I knew this city was god awful expensive. It is not my favorite city, but it has its quirks. However, after a long day of travel and the horrid experience I had with the hotel staff, this city tanked itself to the bottom of my barrel.
It had been difficult finding a hotel for two people in a city as busy as Amsterdam, especially during tourist season. Therefore, Olivia and I planned to rent a single bed for a single person and have her pretend to be my one-night lover in order to stay over for the night. However, this staff had been quite adamant about only one person being in a room for some unknown reason. One could have chalked this up to a rule except later on, they would charge me 40 euros for letting a person stay in the room overnight.
While we went to explore the city in the evening and had the best burgers known to man, when we went back to the hotel, the idea was for Olivia to play drunk and needed a place a crash. She was quite the actor and for that, I give her a round of applause. After fighting with the staff about how I had a sick friend and she needed to use the restroom for five minutes and then them interrogating me about why she was here and where her hotel was, I had reached my limit. As telling them my friend was drunk and incoherent was not working, I had to escalate the situation to how she had also smoked, and only then did they allow her to stay over.
While I am respectful to staff most of the time, the number of questions they asked only to finally allow her to stay for 40 euros when before they could have charged it upfront without the questions, this hotel pissed me off to no end. I truly don't know what to say about Amsterdam, except for the fact that if I never had the opportunity to go again, I'll be more than happy.
Paris, je t'aime bcp
I love Paris. I don't know if it is because I can speak French and have Parisian friends, but France makes me feel welcome. I feel like I assimilate well there more than any other country I have been to aside from Vietnam. This weekend, I had the most amazing time with my friends as we went sightseeing at the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and more.
Here, I also had the best gelato I've ever tasted. I can not say much about Paris as every day was spent touring the city and catching up with my friends, but I do know that I would pick Paris 100 times over to visit if I could.
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