Yes, I know, I know-I’ve been really bad about blogging lately. For whatever reason, the mood just didn’t…hit me. But an update was WAY overdue..so here I am!
The biggest update within the last month would have to be my trip to Rotterdam to visit my friend Carm! She and I used to work together, but she moved to Rotterdam, has a great job, and is doing great. I really needed to get away, so I took 10 days of vacation to spend with Carm. I did make sure to have all of my medication in place and also to get a letter from the transplant unit to take a long with me.
I will admit-most of my pictures are food related! The cold, humid weather in Rotterdam was really hard on my joints, namely my right knee. For that reason, we didn’t get to go and venture out the way I would have liked.
Anyhow, my flight went well. I watched the movie End of Watch and most of the movie Taken 2. I spent some time chatting with a nice gentleman who also used to live Canada but moved to Europe. This was my meal on my flight with KLM. Now this is what airplane food should be-it was delicious!
When I arrived at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, I could see Carmela waiting for me behind the security glass. Luckily my luggage came quickly, so I was able to meet with Carmela and get the trip started. First order of business-Caramel macchiatos 🙂
With my flight leaving at 6pm, and the time change, I arrived in Amsterdam at 7am local time (or 1am for me!) So this day consisted of a few naps and time outs at Carm’s place. In the afternoon, I met some of Carm’s friends as we all went out for drinks and snacks. Later on in the night, we went to one of Carm’s friend’s bday parties.
Let me just say this-we ate a LOT. So, here are some pics of all the food we ate :S
This is a picture from a delicious Chinese food place we visited.
Yummy Onion Soup for me with a scrumptious crouton and bread, and tasty tomato soup for Carm.
Yum..Korean food! I really enjoyed the beef as well as the dumplings. Mmm..
Pannekoeken! Delicious HUGE pancake. Don’t worry-it’s pretty thin-like a crepe. I’m not THAT much of a glutton! 😉 Icing sugar and chocolate for me, icing sugar and butter for Carm.
Steak place! Carm got a salad with steak strips and baked potato, while I got a the behemoth pictured along with my own baked potato. And yes, I finished everything 🙂
Surprisingly delicious tacos from Taco Mundo. The best part? They deliver! hehe
Croissants for breakfast! I had a cappuccino while Carm had a delicious mint tea
Wagamama! I should have known that my meal would be super spicy when it said “firecracker chicken” 🙁 In spite of my best efforts, I couldn’t finish it because of the heat.
Chocolate cake for me, Cheese cake for Carm at Wagamama in Amsterdam
Yes, we had pannekoeken more than once :))) And I was sure to rep my city 😉
No, we didn’t eat out/order in ALL the time. See look-we made bacon! :-\
Carm made some homemade meatballs and sauce, and I made the rice. I know, she did way more work than I did..but I made the rice without a rice cooker. I’ve actually never used a rice cooker. So give me some credit here!
Here’s the hideous but delicious chocolate cake we made! hahaha
..but slap a little more icing on top and it looks oh so sexy.
More fancy caramel macchiatos
Let’s not forget my other roommates during my trip! Meet Angus (left) and James (right)
Angus was the mini security dog. Here he is making sure I didn’t forget anything while packing after my trip was drawing to a close.
James loved snuggling up close to me whenever I was seated on the couch.
Carm works for Calvin Klein and we visited her place of work. I decided to get acquainted with some of the people I met at her office.
Carm took a couple of nice pictures of me while we were in Rotterdam
This is a picture I took on my iPhone in Amsterdam of all the tulips.
Here I am sitting on a fancy looking chair outside. It was FREEZING! We were on our way to the theatre to meet some of Carm’s friends to watch the movie Django. It was good! 🙂 I didn’t have a hat, so my scarf wrapped around my head had to do.
But alas, all good things must come to an end. After a wonderful 9 days, it was time to go home. Ice cream on the plane eased my pain.
I took this photo with my iPhone about 20 minutes before landing back in Toronto. I think it’s pretty awesome. Thanks for making my photos look amazing, instagram! 😉
So that’s it! I had a great time. This trip was so major for me, especially since I was able to travel without having to worry about dialysis and stuff. I felt (and feel) so independent-so liberated! I can’t wait to plan the next trip! 🙂
View Comments (2)
Soo Interesting! It looks like you had a lot of fun. I enjoy reading your blog. Inspiring...
I'm reading this 8 years later, but I still have to share how happy I feel for you on this trip. It looks like you had so much fun and felt so free. I want my first trip after the pandemic is over to feel like this!