or, I Visited Amsterdam and Didn’t Get High I went to Amsterdam for Vincent van Gogh, and Anne Frank. I went because friends had been and spoke highly of this fun, cultural city. And I listened when people told me that Amsterdam was an amazing place to party. That’s where I went wrong. Amsterdam was the first place that I traveled to by myself, and although I had one contact in the city, he was in the midst of studying abroad and busy with classes and his own life. I stayed at hostels that didn’t facilitate meeting other travelers (no common room!), and I was new to this, so I…
-
-
Weekly Travel Inspiration: Hobbit Safety
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cBlRbrB_Gnc] I know this video came out a month ago, but I saw The Hobbit recently and it seemed appropriate. In case you haven’t seen it yet, Air New Zealand came out with an airline safety video that is Lord of the Rings themed. Peter Jackson has a quick cameo, and the whole affair is silly while still providing real safety information. They even made their slogan: The Airline of Middle-earth. I hope it makes you feel like hopping on a plane even if it can’t actually fly you to a fantasy world.
-
Tea Tuesday: Dobrá Čajovna
I first fell in love with teahouses in Barcelona, at a teahouse called Čaj Chai, which was founded by some Czech immigrants to the city. I have written, and waxed poetic, and gushed about this teahouse before, and I will do so again, but for now I want to tell you about a teahouse in Prague called Dobrá Čajovna, which I was pleased to stumble upon. It was so good, I went twice over the course of my five days in Prague. When I found it, I was surprised–an Asian-style teahouse in the Czech Republic? Apparently this isn’t at all an unusual thing. The teahouse in Barcelona that I so…
-
This Time Last Year…
2012 is coming to a close, so, unsurprisingly, everyone is reflecting on the past year, and hoping for good things in 2013. I can’t help but add my own musings on this last year, particularly with regard to where I’ve been. This is a travel blog after all. And I have to begin with where I spent New Year’s Eve last year–in Ecuador. On December 31st, 2011, I woke up at 5:00 am to hike Fuya Fuya, a mountain just outside of Cotacachi, Ecuador. Although the hike itself was only a few kilometers, at nearly 14,000 ft above sea level, every step was a challenge. I barely stayed up until…
-
Tea Tuesday: Advent Calendar Tea
Merry Christmas from An Opportune Moment! Well, friends, I returned home from my European Adventure to spend Christmas with my family, but while I was still abroad I wanted some way to get in the Christmas spirit. I had planned to buy an advent calendar with chocolates behind each door, but then when I was in Sarajevo I stumbled upon a box of Advent Calendar tea. Well, my tea-loving-heart couldn’t resist, despite the fact it was a German brand of tea (Alnatura), which meant that I never knew what kind of tea I was drinking. It was like a fun, Christmas-y adventure! Did you do anything special to celebrate the…
-
Weekly Travel Inspiration: End of the World Edition
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/52038148] In honor of the world NOT ending today, your weekly travel inspiration is a video about people making the most of everyday. One Day on Earth encouraged people all over the world to film on December 12, 2012 (12.12.12) and submit the footage to be compiled into a feature length movie. This was the third year in a row that they set out this challenge–the previous two occurring on 10.10.10 and 11.11.11 respectively. Check out their website to watch some footage from the previous years, and to learn more about how the project hopes to showcase the diverse stories that are taking place simultaneously all over the world.
-
Things You Might See In Vondelpark: A Photo Essay
This isn’t really a photo essay. Mostly because I’m not entirely sure what a photo essay is–other than a term that bloggers use when they don’t feel like writing and would rather post a bunch of pretty pictures. I’m not trying to discredit anyone who takes beautiful photos with quality equipment and writes a blog post to highlight the way in which their pictures tell a story. Okay, maybe I do know what a photo essay is… Regardless, here are some things you might see in Amsterdam’s beautiful Vondelpark. I know I’m harping on the prevalence of bicycles in Amsterdam, but you will definitely see some people riding bikes along…
-
Weekly Travel Inspiration: Instagramming Paris
I spent last week in Paris with my mother. And I discovered a new obsession. Sacre Coeur Paris is an amazingly photogenic city. I felt like a wonderful photographer while I was there because I took so many beautiful photos, but I think it was less my photography skills and more the city’s innate charms that looked so good. Nothing can beat seeing Paris for yourself, but I hope you’ll enjoy this sample of the photos I took there. I found that as awesome as these shots looked on their own, they also lended themselves well to instagram. Winged Victory, at the Louvre What I’m really enjoying about instagram is…
-
Amsterdam: First Impressions
I love cities where the water feels like a necessary part of life, where it can’t be avoided. In New York City, for example, it’s easy to forget that you’re anywhere near the ocean, but in Amsterdam, the canals are hard to miss. You all remember my friend Grace from my week in Iceland, yes? Well, I spent my first two days in Amsterdam with her cousin, Miles, who, when I set out to explore the first day, told me that the city gets better the farther you get from the center. He was absolutely right because the farther away you get, the more likely you are to see sights…
-
Weekly Travel Inspiration: The World’s Best High Teas
This morning Lonely Planet tweeted the article: The World’s Best High Teas and it seemed like an appropriate weekly travel inspiration given how tea- and Britain-focused An Opportune Moment has been these last couple of weeks. Only one of the high teas mentioned in their post is in London–Claridge’s–but many of the others are in countries that were once British colonies. Half of them are in Southeast Asia, which I’m tempted to take as a sign that that region of the world should be my next destination after Europe… But I’ll probably settle for taking a daytrip to New York City once I’m back in the states, to visit Tea…
