Europe, In Fragments. 2

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I've just arrived in Amsterdam and I forgot how much I love this country for it's commitment to modern design. Sitting in the airport waiting for my brother's flight to get in, little memories are finding me here.

​Amsterdam, 2.

​I was here on a trip over Easter weekend with a few friends from my study abroad program in Italy.

​We rented a paddle-boat and 'biked' down the canal. We wanted to rent real bikes, but opted not to in fear that we might be too stoned to ride them.

​We ate about two pounds each of chocolate from Puccini Bomboni, and went through a 35-minute-long decision about what toppings we wanted on fries. (Again, stoned. Sorry, Mom!)

​We went to as many museums on our museum pass that we could fit into a weekend, and I wished I went to more museums back at home.

​We ate Chinese food the first night, and crêpes the second in the top floor of a restaurant/house with only four tables.

​Paris, 2.

​This trip was in May 2009 with my ex and my mother, who joined us at the end.

​We stayed in the suburbs, and taking the commuter trains&buses made us feel like we were real locals.

​We sat at a table at McDonalds, but ate Brie on pears and swore we'd never go back to hamburgers.

​We ate crêpes here too, in a neighborhood that was too design-savvy for its own good, and we pretended that it was the neighborhood we lived in as [successful] writers and artists. (Being directionally challenged, I will never be able to find that neighborhood again).

​We took a self-guided chocolate tour and learned a difference between the two of us: I ate my macaron the second we stepped out of the shop, and he wanted to wait and savor it somewhere special.

​When my mom arrived, we had dinner at a restaurant with long tables with benches and bees on the menu.

​We spent an entire day at Musée d'Orsay and she treated us to lunch at the restaurant with the most beautiful ceiling I've ever seen.

​We stood at a church, somewhere, and were startled when a priest and two nuns crashed out the back door, habits flying behind them. We made up stories, wondered where they were going in such a hurry. Twenty minutes later, they came back holding pizza.

​I'm so excited to be back here. I can't wait to share memories with you as I make them.

​(And I hope there's some gelato, because I do love it.)