PEARL JAM in AMSTERDAM!

Alright, I'm getting caught up on these blog entries!  HaHa!

Pearl Jam.  Man.  I am not sure how to tell you how amazing (there's that word again) this show was to me.  I've seen some concerts in my day and many of them from the front row.  I have, primarily, been to hip-hop shows and that's really been my forte.  It's just what I like.  I like to be entertained and feel the energy from the artist and the crowd.  Clint is opening my eyes to some different shows and, I gotta say, Pearl Jam is probably the best of seen to date.  Clint had been educating me, I guess you could say, on the ins-and-outs of a Pearl Jam show prior to going.  And talking to people in line helped me get a sense of what I was in for.

They put EVERYTHING into their shows.  It's all about the fans and that, to me, is really cool to see.  I wouldn't say that I'm a big Pearl Jam fan.  I would say that I'm becoming one!  It won't be my last show, that's for certain. 

You can see the sweat in this picture!

Now, I can only go off of this when it comes to Eminem because he's the only artist I have seen more than once.  He entertains, for sure, but set list of his shows are the same as every show on the tour, more or less.  In my head, I guess I just felt like that was a normal thing.  I saw Eminem twice in one year a couple years ago.  There was 11 months separating the shows.  The song list changed just a bit, but the stage setup was the same and it was all generally, just the same thing.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVED it, but like I said, I thought that was normal-ish. 

Think he's looking at me?  I do.  HaHa!

So, I start to learn about Pearl Jam and their live shows, etc.  Apparently, it's different every time.  You don't know what you're going to get.  And I like the idea of that.  You can hope to hear your favorites and what not, but you don't know.  They did a show on Tuesday & one on Wednesday.  From what I heard, only 2 or 3 songs were the same.  Some songs are far more rare to hear than others.  It sounds like we got a pretty decent show with a few rarities in there. 

Here's a fun story for you... or, it's fun for me to write anyway.  :)  I had some luck in getting to see Jacob Pullen play basketball via Twitter.  I thought, why not see if Pearl Jam pays attention to their Twitter feed.  I mean, they're a bit more known than Jacob Pullen, but worth a shot, right?  So, I sent a tweet before we left our hotel requesting one of the rare songs, Release.  I made some comment about how I was from Kansas & in Amsterdam, blah, blah, blah... but I asked them to play Release.  He comes out for the second part of their set and says, "We had a little help making the set list tonight.  We don't usually do this one, but..."  AND IT WAS RELEASE!  I kinda just stood there for a minute and didn't really react.  Clint got it on video that I'll attempt to figure out how to post another day, but I was floored!!  When I tell the story, it's going to be my tweet that helped create the set list, but in truth, I think they had some mega-fan help create it and he chose Release.  Good man.  I still think he read my tweet and thought, "Hell yeah, let's do that one!"  :)  Let me have it, ok?  :)

The other thing about Pearl Jam is the fans... Man, they LOVE their band.  And it's so fun to hear their stories.  Many of them have been to an outrageous number of shows.  And they never see the same thing twice.  That's so cool to me.  Anyway, I kinda worked my way up from 12 rows back to 4 by just slowing inching my way forward.  It worked.  I met a couple guys while I was up there.  One of him was on his 7th Pearl Jam show and he let me switch places with him so I could have a better view and get some good pics of my first Pearl Jam show.  Super cool. 

If you saw my Facebook post, you know that we accidentally stood in line both days.  We really thought we were going to the Tuesday show and stood there all day, like 7 hours, waiting in line only to get to the door and have them tell us we're on the 2nd night!  However, in that nice little wait we had, we met some very cool Dutch people.  One of them convinced Clint to switch shirts with him.  Clint was rockin' his Tom Petty shirt from earlier this summer.  They switched and I think Clint got a super unique souvenier from his first Pearl Jam show.  We even ran into a couple of them who went on the 2nd night as well.  And now, we're all lifelong Facebook friends... a storybook ending, haha!  :)  Brought together by a band...

I had a couple more pics to upload, but it's being silly & I want to go to bed, so I will just leave you with what you've got.  The moral of the story, Pearl Jam is awesome!  I can't even tell you how awesome... you just have to experience it for yourself.  :)

The view from the front...

I amsterdam.

"I amsterdam" is a theme to Amsterdam.  You see it everywhere, so that is why the title of this entry is as it is.  You can see it in the above picture just in front of the building.  That shot was taken of a museum across the park from where we were staying.

Ok, so Amsterdam... It is a great city & I look forward to visiting again someday.  While we were there, we took a canal cruise, which is recommended to all tourists.  It was nice, but we had some rowdy kids sitting beside us, so I wasn't able to hear much from the guide.  Some of the scenery was nice, though!  Here's a couple shots from along the way...

In my opinion, the canals don't hold a candle to Venice.  Amsterdam is beautiful and I loved it, but the canals of Venice are far better.  Just the opinion of this Kansas girl, anyway... :)

Probably our biggest stop was at the Anne Frank house.  We weren't allowed to take pictures, so this is all you get...

I will admit that I am not typically one for museums and stuff like that.  It's not that I don't like to do it or want to do it, I just feel like I need some sort of connection to it to really get something out of it.  I don't know if that makes sense or not, haha.  Anyway, I was definitely interested in visiting this house, for sure.  I mean, this place was unbelievable.  For not being someone that really gets into these kinds of things, I cried.  Twice, actually.  They had some footage of Anne's dad talking as an older man about what it was like to read her diary for the first time and his reaction and all that... I seriously cried for minute on that one.  To be able to stand where they stood, walk up the extremely steep stairway, walk through the bookshelf entrance to the hiding spot, and to run your hands across the same sink that they used while in hiding.... I don't know how to describe it.  It was seriously a very deep and intense experience for me.  Amazing.

We wandered the streets of Amsterdam, of course, and sometimes came across a few very interesting characters.  After lunch one day, we came out to this plaza area where a street dance crew was getting ready to start a show for the spectators.  I had to watch... Here's a couple shots I was able to get.  Some of them were damn good.

The architecture in Amsterdam is really amazing to see.  Amazing... I use that word a lot, huh?  Well, if it fits...  Anyway, here are a couple pictures I snagged...

This is actually a massive shopping center

Not real sure what this building is, but I just liked the view

Amsterdam, as many of you probably know, is known for a bit more, too.  The saucy side of Amsterdam exists in things such as the Red Light District, coffee shops, and smart shops.  I'm not going to go into a whole bunch of details on here about that.  I'm not sure how much you want to read or know about it, so feel free to send me a personal message or e-mail if you wanna know more about what we experienced in regards to the naughty side of this lovely city.

I have not forgotten about Pearl Jam, the highlight of Amsterdam, in my opinion.  I am going to do another entry just for that.  :)  This stop was really awesome & I hope to visit again someday.  The people are great, the environment is great, the lifestyle seems very relaxed.  I amsterdam... Amazing. ;)

Greece: The Omega

I believe I left you in Santorini... Correct?  Well, that's where I'll jump off from anyway, so here we go...

After Santorini, we went to Crete.  It is the farthest south Greek island in the Aegean Sea.  We spent our last 6 or 7 days in Greece here.  We honestly did nothing but lounge on the beach, eat, & drink.  I can feel the effect of all this food intake and it's going to require a little work once I get back to the states.  :)  Anyway... I think it's safe to say that we both enjoyed Santorini far more than we did Crete, but neither of us will complain about being on a beach regardless of where we are.  :)  Probably.  ;)

This is Nikos.  He owns a bar/restaurant that we visitd at least once a day in Santorini.  Great advice & super friendly guy!

We arrived in Crete to this...

I just post this one to show you how clear the water was.  How many fish can you spot?

There were fish spas all over the island... HAD to try it.  WEIRD!

Not a bad view for supper, huh?

A man fishing on the pier.  I tried to capture it as a wave hit.

Well, that concludes Greece.  I, of course, have a ton more photos, but I only want to put highlights on here.  Don't have the time or patience, haha, for waiting for a million photos to upload.  :)

Greece, the islands, was amazing.  I didn't care for Athens.  It could have been my own personal judgement on a place that could be perfectly amazing, but the reality is, I just didn't feel safe and comfortable, two things important to traveling in another country.  I think, anyway.  :)

The food in Greece was unbelievable!  There wasn't a single thing we didn't enjoy.  We had some fresh seafood in Santorini and it was so good.  I had baracuda for the first time and WOW!  There is a type of cheese called Haloumi that Clint & I fell in love with.  I am hoping I can find it in the states.  Or in Spain, at least.  :)  It is so good!  Like I said, I am definitely feeling all the extra things that come with eating so much and I don't much care for that, but I am not going to be on a diet while I am on vacation.  The two things just don't go together.  So, when I hit the states, I'll worry about getting some of this off of me. 

I am currently in Rome.  We just got here today.  It was a long day & Rome is scorching hot right now.  I will do my Amsterdam entry really soon.  I LOVED Amsterdam.  And Pearl Jam... woah.  Pearl Jam was unbelievable.  I am going to do a separate entry for just Pearl Jam... I made it up as close as the 4th row so I have some really great pictures.  All to be shared soon enough... :) 

Hope this finds you all well.  I know our trip is just over a couple weeks from ending, but my excitement doesn't end when this trip does because I get to be back in the USA with my family & friends!  I'm so excited to see everyone!!  But for now, back to Rome....

Greece: At First Glance

Hello!

I am coming to you from Santorini, one of the Greek islands. I'm sitting by the pool at our hotel watching the waves out in the Aegean Sea. It's been quite windy since we got here, reminding us of that Kansas breeze. :) The beaches here are black sand. I've, personally, never seen black sand beaches. It is quite hot in the sunny sections, but very gorgeous. The first day, the water was super clear and just peaceful. Since the wind arrived, it stirred up all the leaves and stuff in the water, so it's a bit less clear, but no less beautiful. Here's a couple photos...

Isn't the water gorgeous!?

The beach just a 3 minute walk from our hotel

We've been doing a lot of nothing the past few days and it's been amazing! We've literally been doing nothing but eating, sleeping, drinking, and lounging on the beach. One night, we went to a Greek restaurant and they had a show while we were eating. Traditional Greek dancing and plate smashing. We even got pulled up to participate in the dancing (Clint a couple more times than myself). We had a blast!

Clint doin' his thing... dancing like he loves to do!

Now, we started our Greecian adventure in Athens. I will lead by saying that I had really high hopes for Greece. It was one of the places I wanted to see the most. I'll also lead by saying that we were aware that Greece isn't in the best state and we knew that Athens had some dangerous spots. We were aware of what we were getting into. We thought. I say 'we.' I can't speak wholly for Clint, but I do mean me. :) My first feeling was terror. Maybe 'terror' is a strong word for what I was feeling, but I was instantly disappointed. We felt uncomfortable around nearly every corner. It's just dirty. The amount of graffiti just makes it looks completely unwelcoming. We stayed in Piraeus, which is the port city, because we thought it might provide us a little more comfort. Not so much. We weren't real excited to stray too far from what we knew. And we didn't. We made the decision quite quickly to get the hell outta there & head for the islands. I'm going to post some honest pictures just so you can get an idea of what we were able to see. It's not pretty. (Just a fair warning)

I'm not exagerrating when I say that this kind of stuff was EVERYWHERE. On the sides of the metro cars, the buses, the buildings, etc. Everywhere. It might be the nicest of places and people may be super friendly, but we already had our guard up about what we were walking into and it just put us off. So, we took off to the islands where you saw the view is a bit different. Some parts of the island has some sketchy aspects, but overall, the feeling of comfort is quite better!

We did take the chance, while in Athens, to go to the Acropolis. It is considered to be the birthplace of the Gods. I was super excited to see some of these ruins before coming here. I have always had a minor infatuation with Greek Mythology and was excited to see and learn a little more about it. I hate to say it, but I was disappointed. While it was nice to see (even though the weather was scorching hot!), the construction and remodeling being done around every corner was so distracting from that historical feel you should get when coming into a place like that. There was scaffolding and trailers all over the place and it just wasn't that picturesque. It was nothing compared to Machu Picchu or some of the other ruins I was able to see in South America. I'll post a couple pics, but I didn't take too terribly many. The museum was far more interesting and informative (and air conditioned), but I wasn't allowed to take photos. :)

See what I mean?

A pretty view of Athens... :)

I am going to close because we are going to go get some fresh seafood! We leave tomorrow for our next Greek island... Crete. We're staying there a few days and then will decide what happens next. We're thinking this island thing isn't too bad, so we may just stay until our flight departs on the 25th. Rough life, huh?

I will end with this...

Happy Father's Day to John Cook- my daddy! I am super proud (and lucky) to have you as a daddy. I couldn't imagine where I'd be without ya, Dad! While I am having a good time, I am quite excited to see you (and the rest of the fam) in a month! I LOVE YOU!!

The Luck of the Irish

Hello, hello!

I've been antsy to write another entry for a bit, but internet access, while quite abundant, is not all that reliable.  :)  And, I'm usually only online on my  a small window of time on my computer at the moment, so I thought I'd take advantage of it!  :)

Ireland... AMAZING!  I am in looooove!  The pictures and things you see on TV & in the movies are not exagerated!  I never knew there were so many shades of green!!  It was gorgeous.  This summer will definitely not be the last time I set foot on that island.  I just love it.

I left you with Tom Petty & we were in Blarney, Ireland.  We were talked into renting a car which, in itself, was quite the adventure.  I had to dust off my ability to drive a manual.  It's been about 11 years.  Clint can't drive a manual, so I was stuck in the driver's seat.  Street signs were pretty much non-existent.  We took a trip that was supposed take 30 minutes and took us a couple hours.  Driving on the 'wrong' side of the road was a bit confusing at first, of course, but after the first day, that didn't really bother me too much.  I had a few flashbacks to driving on the right side of the road and scared myself (and probably Clint) a couple times.  We were happy to give the car up once we reached Dublin, but both agreed it was a good decison.

It was a good decision for reasons like this...

After Blarney, we headed to the west coast of Ireland.  We took what is called the Ring of Kerry.  It's a road that goes around the entire peninsula and allows you to see some legit Irish countryside.  Here are some photos of our journey...  As far as I know, there really aren't names of where we stopped.  It was mostly little spots along the road that we could pull off onto.

This was our unfortunate view when we stopped for lunch along the road

Killarney National Park

The base of a tree that I just found really interesting.  Also found in the Killarney National Park.

After we made our way around the Ring of Kelly, we headed north so we could get closer to the Cliffs of Moher.  We, after getting lost a couple times, arrived in a little Irish town called Ennistymon.  We stopped on Main Street and went into a local pub to ask the bartender for advice on where to stay, what to do, etc.  He was super nice with his suggestions and once we found a spot, we decided to go back to his pub for a few beers.  Everyone is SO friendly!!  We met some people from Georgia, Alabama, & Tennessee.  They also had live music, so we sat back & enjoyed.

This is Ennistymon. Sucks, huh?

Our lovely little pub

The next day, we headed a bit further coastal so we could check out the Cliffs of Moher (pronounced Mo-hair).  A big draw for me was, of course, that a bit of the Princess Bride was filmed there!  YES PLEASE!!  In case you don't remember or know what the Princess Bride is (shame on you!), here's a reminder... First, we viewed it by water via a small cruise.  Then, we made our way to the top to peer down.  Makes you feel really small, that's for sure.  Here's a few pics...



Those are just a couple... I have TONS more.  But I don't want to sit here & wait for them to upload, haha, sorry.  :)

In between seeing the cliffs from the ocean and from the top, we made a quick trip to Inishire, which is a small island in the Aran Islands.  I went there, originally, to help Dad (or so I thought) with some genealogy stuff.  Turns out, that was a dead end, BUT... we did end up meeting these two gentlemen that I can safely say, we will never forget.  They were in their 70s and began talking with us when they sat next to our table while we were eating.  JJ "Jack" Hennessey and Ronnie (never caught a last name on him).  JJ had quite the personality and told us stories of his youth.  Some were quite disheartening and then he'd lighten the situation with a joke.  He cussed like a sailor and talked our ears off, but we were pretty eager to hear his stories.  We chatted them for close to two hours and only ended the conversation because we had to catch our ferry to the mainland.  Otherwise, we'd have stayed there for much, much longer.  These two gentlemen were something else.  JJ ended up giving me his necklace.  A very expensive necklace purchased in Africa.  The story is far to deep to go into now, but I will just say that it was incredibly humbling to meet these people.  JJ especially.  My heart was racing and I fought him when he said he wanted to give me his necklace, but he insisted.  Here's a snapshot of our new friends for life (we've already mailed them a postcard from a journey they suggested we take).

Me, Ronnie, JJ, & Clint

Now, I must say, aside from meeting JJ & Ronnie, one of my FAVORITE parts about this particular day was meeting Dusty.  Dusty the dolphin.  We had heard stories that there was a dolphin that played in the port of Doolin (where we left & returned to the mainland).  She's been coming there for nearly 30 years and is so friendly that she plays with the kids in the water and is just super friendly.  One thing I wanted out of seeing all this water is to see the wildlife in their natural surroundings.  ESPECIALLY a dolphin... or a whale.  Dolphins are definitely my favorite animal and I seriously just fell more in love with them. 



After our excursions on the west coast, we headed across Ireland to Dublin.  We settled in and headed to supper.  We ate at a rather expensive, but award winning, French restaurant and then made our way to the pub next door.  They have live music every night!  And it's traditional Irish music.  Awesome!!  The guy we were able to see was fantastic!  He was so entertaining and funny!  Here is where we had our first (but not last) Guiness of the trip.  Closed the bar down (they closed at midnight, so not a huge feat) and called it a night.  We spent the next day just walking around Dublin.  We went to a wax museum that wasn't that awesome and then made our way to the Guiness storehouse and brewery.  I'm not a stout drinker, but when in Ireland... do as the Irish do.  :)  It was just under 11 euros to get in and that included a very good tour of the grounds and a pint of Guiness.  There was also a section where we could "pour the perfect Guiness" where we were taught the proper way.  Afterwards, we got a certificate!!  HaHa!  We drank our perfectly poured drinks and headed to the bar on the top floor.  We met some pretty cool people here.  Dylan and Sally.  They are from Scotland and full of life!  We hung out with them until they closed that bar (a couple hours later) and drank Guiness the whole time.  People kept giving us free vouchers for it, so we had to take advantage, right?  Definitely one of the best "bang for your buck" things we've done so far.



Our new friends! Dylan and Sally

Ireland was amazing!  It was one of the greenest places I have ever seen and the people were unbelievably pleasant and helpful.  Even a stranger we asked for directions actually drove in front of us for a moment and pointed out where we needed to go as we passed it.  So nice. 

Another little side note, the cattle in Ireland... MASSIVE!  I mean, they look like hippos!  They should, I suppose.  They are never without plush green grass to keep them fed.  I just could not get over how big they were.  Man.  HaHa... Good beef raised in Ireland.  :)  They make the cattle I was raised around look like calves. 

I have, personally, kind of been keeping a tally of the states we've ran into.  We've met people from New York, DC, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and even ran into some people on the street in Dublin from Kansas!  They were wearing, unfortunately, their KU gear.  :)  Small world, really!

I would prefer the southern part and western coast to Dublin.  We definitely got to see both sides of Ireland.  Neither one disappointed, but it will be hard to compete with the beauty of that southern region and western coast.  Like I said, I will be back!!

I know it's a long entry, but I had to take advantage of the internet while I could.  Another one is coming soon about my first opinion of Greece... 

Heading to the islands tomorrow so it's BEACH CITY baby!  Relaxation!!  I'll get on here when I can, I assure you.  Until the, I hope this finds you all well!!

Love from Europe!!