Amsterdam

We went to Amsterdam a few weeks ago to see our pals John and Natalie and their cutie bebe Carter!  They have a swanky place on the other side of the Museumplein on the canal and they couldn't have been better hosts and tour guides!

I'd been to Amsterdam in college with my pals, but this was Drew's first time to see this neat city.  I will say being here made me very nostalgic for college and this particular city with the girls and Kirk, cause it was such a fun time.  I found myself saying to Drew around every corner, "oh, we went here and Kirk said the FUNNIEST THING when this happened!" or "We had the best strawberry margaritas at this place right before THIS happened!" I don't think he was as amused by my trip down Memory Lane but it was fun for me.  

Bottom line: this city is cool.   Maybe one of my faves in Europe!  Here are some pics.

The "I amsterdam" sign - a pic with some fellow tourists as we were all in each other's shots.

We then went to the Van Gogh museum!  I remembered it being a lot cooler than it was this time around, though I still enjoyed it.  It could have been because I was with two guys who were bored out of their minds.

The newly renovated Rijksmuseum (Royal Museum) - basically a large museum alllll about Dutch history!  I'd already seen it and Drew was done with museums so we kept moving.

Beers on the canal with this little cutie!!

Then some apps and drinks at home before we went out on the town.  I like seeing Drew hold babies, so sue me!

A DELICIOUS rib dinner at Cafe de Klos!

Then a walk through the Red Light District to top off the evening.
Gross, weird, trashy, sad, interesting.  All of the above.

Saturday morning: we set out in the rain on John and Nat's bikes to get to the Anne Frank House early!

I was shocked that there was no line.  Know why?  Cause it was the ONE DAY in the entire year that they were closed: Yom Kippur!  We couldn't believe it.  We didn't even know it and Drew is half-Jewish, for cryin' out loud!

We consoled ourselves at The Pancake Bakery!

Yummy pancakes the size of our heads.

Poffertjes with strawberries and ice cream and whipped cream.    Happiness.

We hopped back on our bikes and attempted to outride a storm to Brouwerij'tij before it crashed on our heads.  We failed.  So we hung out in this little craft brewery our Dublin friends recommended and had some beer flights. 

Caped crusader on a bike!

We rode over to the Heineken Brewery, realized it cost way more than we wanted to spend, so we wandered around the city some more and had some beers at a cafe on the canal.  Beers beers beers.  

We got home early evening for G&Ts with John and Nat and a home made meal!

Blue skies greeted us on Sunday morning as we attempted round 2 at the Anne Frank House.  We made it!  This is the Westerkerk, overlooking the building.

The famous bookcase.

Seeing the museum again made me want to read the book again.  I remember reading it in 6th grade and not really understanding what it all meant and being relatively bored because there was no real plot to speak of.  Obviously now I feel differently and think I'd enjoy it a great deal more.

Just some pretty canal shots in the sun.

John and Nat have a boat, did I mention that?  We've been hearing about this amazing boat for over a year now and we were determined to get a canal cruise.  Drew had also been eyeing these "Skipper" and "First Mate" hats in Dublin for months in anticipation of this ride!

It didn't disappoint!  Neither did the weather.

I have 2 thick coats on and a scarf, in case you're wondering why I weigh 300 lbs in this picture.

And I had to add some food porn to the post by way of my Croque Madame at George.  Yummm.

Like I said: great city, great friends, great time.

Off to pack for Dallas in 2 days!  I can't wait.  More soon.

Dubrovnik: The Finale

Remember that time I went to Croatia TWO MONTHS AGO and it took me two months to blog about it?  Me too.  I'm here now, ready to finish up with some pics and a poem.  I will say that Clark was supposed to write a guest post, and I'm still hopeful, but...it's not going to happen anytime soon.  Sorry pals.

The rest of the highlights include taking a funicular up the mountain for amazing views, trekking up the steep steps for some delicious meat dishes at Lady Pi-pi, a strenuous sea kayaking trip around the island off the coast of Dubrovnik, sitting on the cliffs outside the wall having a drink, lots of rose wine on the terrace, and an emotional dinner where we all started talking about...each other basically.  And what we all meant to each other.  So that was really nice.  

This trip was one of the best of my life, and it was with some of the funniest/best/lovliest people.  We never ran out of things to talk about in 7 full days, and we happily made fun of each other all the while. It was just...a really good group, and a really good trip.  And we're hopefully doing another one next summer, and forever, until we die.  Or something.

Anyway, here are some pics.

Another pretty pic off the wall.  You can kinda see the tiny kayaks over in the corner; that's where we took off from.

View from Mount Srd!

Mountain pic

Who's that laadddyyyy

Cutie relaxing with beers and fries.

Headed down.

More views of the wall.

Walking to Buza Bar along the inside wall.

Sunset on the cliffs.

Sunset drinks.

Panoramic pic!

Mere and Kathleen and Clark came and had a beer while Drew and I swam.

Cool shot.  Photo credit: Clark Baker.  As are most of these shots, I think.

Matching in nautical stripes!  

Terrace time!

Not sure what's going on here but I like it.

MEAT!!!

One of very few pics we have at our fancy going-away dinner.  Meredith clearly liked her fan.

The last shitty pic of all of us together.  Happiness.

And last but not least: the poem.  Clark worked on this poem from the minute we got there, incorporating every inside joke we laughed about and making it cleverly rhyme at the same time.  He's pretty talented, that one.  Only one line has been omitted as it was inappropriate and was about me and Drew.  So here it is - enjoy!

Ode to Croatia

By Clark Baker/Claud Barker

To vees as deep as our knees
Sea bees that attack with ease
Modular backpacks please don't tease
Long Island ice teas that give you herpes
Croats on boats touring the island of Vis
Shrimpees that must bid adieu to families
Tank top tees featuring dangerous sharkees
Beaches where women expose their boobies, releasing the hounds in the warm summer breeze
And crystal clear seas in which I must pees

To goofing on Mere, shooting grape seeds in hair
Hot island air that makes one sweat like a bear
Fat Macklemore with skin so fair, the sun beating down on his shoulders so bare
Yacht week bros who don't even care, smooching our babes as they perch on a stair

And drivers who act like theres no time to spare, rocketing round corners as we fly through the air

To bountiful plenties of namaste and cleansing your shakra with ohms you must say

Millions of generations and the bricks that they lay to build up the city so invaders can't slay

Irregular poops and their formidable bouquet, Evan's GI is definitely cray

Rick Steve's holding a book as he sprints away, roasting on the wall like an overcooked filet

Scottish dopes and their kayaks that sway, knocking us around and leading others astray 

And alley cats with which I must play, running through streets as others smack them away

To Drew and Lauren "who you ALSO know...", and Kathleen who always whines about air flow 

To Evan and Drew and their bald spots that grow, slathering on sunscreen as white as snow

To Mere's Instagraming and the photos she must show, to her parents whose likes are anything but slow

To me and the wall that I went up an average Joe, but came down a Captain with a hat in tow

And a final important adage so awake from your comedy daze:

"Enjoy the rest of your birthdays"

Dubrovnik: Part 1

I haven't posted in well over a week - though I'm still feeling pressure about the amount of pictures I have and the stories I'm supposed to be telling that I can't remember or I've deemed inappropriate and I've worked late a lot of nights this week and haven't had TIME to gather my thoughts.  So I'm sorry!  I'll hopefully get caught up on Croatia and post about Amsterdam before we head to Munich for Oktoberfest this weekend!  

So anyways, we had a harrowing drive to Dubrovnik and arrived relaxed in our apartment building on the terrace and had dinner somewhere that I can't remember.  And let me tell you...it was HOT.  Hot hot hot hot hot as hell.

There are lots of "touristy" things to do in Dubrovnik and we decided to knock them all out the first full day we had there so we could chill the rest of the time.  These touristy activities included touring Walls of Dubrovnik, the defensive stone walls that have protected the city since the 7th century(!) which are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as a funicular that goes up the mountain overlooking the city (but more on that in another post).

Drew and I have acquired several Rick Steves books about Europe throughout our time here, and he always includes great "walking tours" in his books to help you explore the city yourself.  Drew took it upon himself to act as our own personal Rick Steves as we walked around the streets of the Old Town, learning about the history of the city.  Here are some pics of our tour and of the wall.

Drew reading about the history of the main square to the group in a patch of shade.

Screenin' it up.

As I mentioned, it was SO. HOT. in the city.  And this was one way Clark chose to cool down. 

And this is how Drew chose to cool down.  (Sticking his head in a fountain.)

And this is how we tried (and failed) to cool down.

Fans are manly too, guys.

I feel a little guilty for not including a ton of history about the city, but it's so vast and so much that I'm just not sure I can.  Just know that it's been around since the 7th century, was under the rule of the Byzantine Empire, then Venice, then became it's own republic and had huge success with maritime trading, then there was a huge earthquake in 1667 that destroyed everything, and then they got everything back up and running only for Napoleon to take over, then the Hapsburgs took over, then they fell after WWI, then they were free at some points in between all this, and then after WWII Italy/Germany gained control, they became part of communist Yugoslavia, and then Yugoslavia broke up in 1991 and they had horrible civil wars not so long ago.  Whew.  That was exhausting.  

And with our city tour complete, we scaled the walls.  Rick Steves warned us that the walls get UNBELIEVABLY HOT, like even hotter than down in the city, and that the worst time of day to go was around noon.  So when did we decide to go?  High noon!  The walls are tall (close to 80 feet at some places), have lots of stairs, are almost 2 miles long, and....hot.  It was pretty touch-and-go there for awhile but we thankfully made it - because if you brave the walls, you reward yourself with some spectacular views.

One big happy sweaty family.

We stopped at a gift shop on the wall where Drew stuck napkins to his forehead to absorb the sweat.

Cannon pic.

Clark acquired this Captain's hat on the wall and didn't take it off the rest of the trip.

This was Buza II, a really amazing bar/swim area on the outside of the wall.  We came here a lot for the Croatian beer and the people watching.  Lots of gorgeous water and cliff divers!

And this is Buza I, another bar/swimming point that we frequented and swam at.  

We made it!  Celebratory beers at a cute cafe terrace inside the walls to recover.

Self portrait time!  Doesn't KP look pretty here?

The Cap'n

Stay tuned for my final posts and Clark's epic poem he wrote to Croatia!  Goodnight!