Amsterdam The Sequel Vacation Highlight: Roaming and Realizations

Having been to Amsterdam before, I was happy to skip many of the traditional tourist things. All I wanted from this short break was to roam. Roam the streets of a liberal city and enjoy its liberal perks.

So roam I did.

My first night in Amsterdam, I met Arthur, who introduced me to some fantastic Thai food, some great bars with extensive beer selections, and gave me a ride on the back of his bicycle. Fun fact: apparently there are gender norms for riding on the back of a bicycle. When I got on the back, he said "So, you're going to sit like a dude?"

Yes.

So many beers, so little time.

The next morning I found my way to a coffee shop I had frequented the first time I visited Amsterdam. It's neat to go back to a city, look up and know where you are. Getting to the coffee shop was like muscle memory, no maps required, just my solid sense of direction. (HA!)

I continued my roaming, with the goal of getting to the Indonesian restaurant I had loved so much during my first trip. After telling Arthur the name of the restaurant, he scoffed. Apparently this was not the best Indonesian food Amsterdam had to offer.

Undeterred, I headed for the restaurant, and I have to say, was a bit disappointed.

After the concert, which Arthur joined me for, we headed for Febo and it's fast Dutch food. Croquette sandwich? Yes please. We continued to roam and headed for another beer bar.

The next day was all my own. I roamed the streets, found Amsterdam's oldest croquette place, and ate and ate and ate.

I always forget to take a photo of my food before I devour it.
Props to food bloggers who have the patience to wait. 

As I headed back to Dubai, I realized that while I live in Dubai now, this city will never truly be home. There was a comfort, an ease, a fit about Amsterdam that Dubai doesn't offer. The more I live here, the more it becomes clear, I'll never truly fit this city. I'm too ... off center, too weird, too honest, too pedestrian. That doesn't mean I'm leaving any time soon, there's still too much that I want to accomplish, but it does mean I won't be planting any deep roots here.

So thanks Amsterdam, for being awesome and staying as incredible as I remembered you. Mooie Amsterdam indeed. 

Copenhagen Vacation Highlight: Beer!

I love beer. I won't, no I can't, deny it. When I made my plans for Copenhagen, I knew beer would play very heavily into my adventure, and boy did it.

Beer at Sticks n Sushi

You see, the trouble with Dubai is the beer variety is generally limited. Heineken, Guinness, Fosters, the usual suspects. No interesting craft beers or even seasonal varieties. I was about to get quite the treat from Copenhagen, and I didn't even know it.

The first night I was there, a friend and I went for sushi, where I enjoyed the restaurant's house brew.

After sushi, we headed to a small pub for more Danish beer. A few more stops that evening and several more local beers later, the night came to an end.

The next day, I was on my own to wander. A beer in a park, was followed by a trek to a local brewery. Mikkeller was my first stop. Their peach brew and sour beer were delicious. I love me a good fruity beer, my Portland trip turned me on to sour beers. Who knew sour beers could be so good!?

I finished the fancy craft beers and went off to brewery number three, Apollo Brewery.

Christmas brew & marinated herring at BrewPub

When I sat down, I asked the waiter, "What's your beer of the month?" He looked at me like I was stupid and said, "Of course, it is our Christmas beer."

YES! (I would find out the next day that November 1 is J-Dag, or the first day of the Christmas beer season. Honestly, could Copenhagen be any more awesome!?)

The next day saw another brewery, and many more Christmas brews. BrewPub's Ellington variety was my favorite of all the beers I sampled this holiday.

Beer in a park?
Have I mentioned how much I love Europe?

The rest of my trip was spent with Tubourg's Julebryg, and many of them. Sometimes they were enjoyed in parks, sometimes they were enjoyed in pubs, but they were all enjoyed.

So thanks Copenhagen for being such a lovely destination for a neglected beer fan.

Quick, Catch Up

I'm a bad blogger. Quick catch-up:

So much beer!

March - Portland with the boy. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Portland! The drunken train ride down was awesome, the city was lovely, the people friendly, and the beer was flowing! Eric and I hit six different breweries while we were there, and we were only there for two days. Seriously, Portland rocks! We also ate under a bridge, like homeless people. It was uber romantic.

Hey kids!

April - Hawaii with the family. Holy hell are my nieces and nephews cute! We frolicked in the sun, a lot. I love hanging out with kids, but good lord are they tiring. I don't know how parents do it, I was exhausted after my week in the sun.

Seriously, no dumping. 

June - LA with Lis! I love Lis, but still don't love LA. The Getty Museum was fantastic and some unmentionable adventures occurred. Unmentionable adventures seem about par for Lis and I.

Jarod, frolicking in a glacier-fed lake.

July - Valemount to visit my boyfriends with my boyfriend. The village is beautiful, we dipped our toes in a glacier-fed lake and strolled alongside waterfalls. No big deal.



August - My view came in handy. Both the Celebration of Light fireworks and Pride Parade were visible from my balcony, so parties were had. Yes, apparently I have parties now. Weird.

The past five months have been pretty great. My life in Vancouver seems to have finally settled into something awesome. I credit that, in equal parts, to the boy who changed my outlook on boys and the apartment that (literally) changed by outlook on Vancouver. It's hard to hate on a city when it has produced two of the best things in your life.

So thanks Vancouver, I'm finally starting to get you.

Vacation Highlight: Beer in Public

I want to live on Max Beer Strasse

 It's no lie, I like beer. A lot.

Each week, Corey & I enjoy a new type of beer each  
week for talkfoolery and it's great. So when I was
heading to the land of beer, I knew I was in for a treat. Little did I know, it would be such a cheap treat!

Almost the entire time I was in Berlin was spent with a
half litre of beer in hand. And the lovely part was that I didn't have to feel ashamed for drinking in public and no paper bag was required. YES!

But, not only was public drinking accepted, with ridiculously cheap beer prices, it was practically encouraged! For a 1.50 Euros I was able to enjoy half a litre of Germany or Europe's finest beers. How is that even possible?!

Seriously, if beer is cheaper than water, I will always choose beer.

Always.