A Weekend with Presley - so many cookies and so much sun

5/26/23 - 5/29/23

Presley came to the Netherlands for a weekend, the perfect time because FINALLY summer has come to the Netherlands! This weekend was the first weekend full of sun and warm weather! Here's what happened...

FRIDAY

I met Presley at Schiphol around 2 and then we took the train to Amsterdam. The airport is so busy now and it's so fun to go and see all the tourists struggling with their luggage. I always feel so cool when I'm at Schiphol with only a tote bag because I pass as a local and I live in the Netherlands! We went to Amsterdam because Aarelyn, another Rotary exchange student from Houston, was in Amsterdam that day for her eurotour. First, we walked from the Centraal down the main street to Dam square and made our way to Negen Straatjes. We got Fabel Friet, french fries with truffle aoli and parmesan- typical Dutch AND typical Belgian. Then, we walked to Melly's Stroopwafels and met with Aarelyn. It was insane to see us all in Amsterdam and finally be able to talk in person. A mini Rotary reunion before our next one in Houston. We got overpriced stroopwafels and I got an alfajor cookie which was my first time trying it and it's delicious! We talked together and then dropped Aarelyn off with the other exchange kids cause they had to leave. Then, we went to Tony's Chocolonely and then made our way back home. We were supposed to see the new The Little Mermaid film, but we were late. We tried calling them, and we emailed them that we got food poisoning and we were vomiting so we couldn't make it. When we got there 30 minutes late, they actually wouldn't let us in, but they gave us a refund which was great. Afterwards, we walked around the center of Alphen and grocery shopped for our taco night we were going to do on Sunday. We found Skippy peanut butter and had to get it! We went home and chatted and snacked on the treats we got from the grocery store including oreos and peanut butter.

SATURDAY

The next day, we went to Amsterdam again, mainly because we had made reservations to pick up these popular cookies, Van Stapelen cookies. Which, isn't that crazy, reserving to pick up cookies? But, totally necessary and totally worth it because that place always has the longest line and we got to cut the whole line and just pick up our order. We started the day by ordering a Too Good to Go at this pastry shop. We walked around and window shopped and then settled on benches and opened our surprise box. It was so amazing- there was a Bossche bol, a slice of fruit pie, and two fruit tarts. And all for like 5 bucks which is insane. We were right by the Albert Heijn so we went grocery shopping. We got strawberries, baguette, brie, salami, this huge bottle of Pink Ginger soda, bagel chips, veggies, and hummus. Then we picked up the Van Stapelen cookies and split one when we were waiting for the metro and they were still warm. They were so yummy and the center had gooey white chocolate. We took the metro the the south and went to a park. It was so crowded, but in a good way. There were people everywhere, just soaking up the sun. The weather was actually perfect. It was sunny but not hot. Oh! I forgot to say at Albert Heijn I also bought a picnic blanket that you can roll up and it becomes a bag which.. best purchase ever. I'm going to have as many picnics as I can before I leave. We rolled out the blanket, took off our shoes, and spread our goods on the blanket. I had probably the best picnic ever. We ate so much bread and brie and jams that Presley got from this fancy hotel and hummus and veggies and strawberries. We talked and also people watched for a few hours. Afterwards, we took the train to den Haag. I was so sad because when we got there I thought all the shopping would be closed, but we came on a special day where all the stores were open later which was actually perfect! So we did some shopping and walked around the restaurant area. We walked around and decided to watch The Little Mermaid at the movie theatre. I love the new movie and I love Halle Bailey as Ariel so much. It was such a great movie. I think it's so cool that we watched all these Disney films as kids and now they are all getting remade as live actions. It feels like revisiting childhood every time a new remake comes out. We went home after that.

SUNDAY

We went to Leiden. We went to a lot of boutiques and vintage stores. There was also an outdoor Japanese market going down a few streets so we checked that out too. We also got more cookies and I got a gelato but the cookies weren't as good as the Van Stapelen ones. I also found a little moon necklace. I had been looking for one for a while now and I am so happy I found one! Then we did the quickest grocery shopping I've ever done in my life before catching the train. We picked up a tub of greek yogurt and ate that on the train with some chocolate raisins. When we got back we made chicken tacos for Thora, Nikita, and their boyfriends. We made pico de gallo, guac, and refried beans to go with it. Presley also made a Belgian chocolate cake which was so good and tasted like a brownie. Then we watched a movie and went to bed.

MONDAY

So Monday we were going to go to Haarlem but we had to go to Amsterdam since everything in Haarlem was closed because there was a holiday. We walked around and did some final shopping. We went to this cool cheese shop, a mall, and this street with fun boutiques. We went to Schiphol where Presley was going to leave by train.

That was the weekend! So much fun! I feel like Presley came at the perfect time because this weekend was the start of the summer weather with all the sun. It was awesome to be with her again and so fitting since we met in Belgium at the beginning of exchange and then in Netherlands at the end.

Amelia