Amsterdam

Oh, Amsterdam. The city known for tulips, canals, cheese, clogs… and legal prostitution and weed. I only experienced three of the six (one of them was definitely prostitution. NOT.). No, I had a very fun weekend full of food, flowers, friends, and art.

Day One

I dropped off my bag at my hostel (the Flying Pig Uptown) as soon as I arrived so I could then go and explore the city! I immediately loved Amsterdam thanks to the number of cheese stores per street. The best part of these stores is that they offer so many cheese samples that you’ll get a stomach ache if you try all of them. Or maybe that’s just me, the former vegan. They also have a nice flower market, lots of coffee shops, lots of “coffee shops” (aka places you can smoke weed because that’s legal in Amsterdam), and souvenir shops.

Amsterdam cheese! Yummy!

The cheese museum hahaha

I stopped at Heineken’s original brewery for my 5 pm Heineken Experience tour (booked a few weeks in advance online for €18). A short history of the brewery was given before we were sent off to view the old brewing facility. I learned that Heineken is the most imported beer in the United States, I tried plain hops (they tasted like bran flakes), and I went through a bottling simulation to see how the beer is packaged. It was a very stimulating tour, with bright lights and loud sounds everywhere. I much preferred the Jameson tour, a small guided tour where I learned how the whiskey was made and went through a guided tasting. This tour was more about advertising Heineken than the science behind making it. I still enjoyed it, and I got two half-pints of beer at the end (one of which I got to try pouring myself).Dinner was at Foodhallen, a tram station turned food hall with 21 restaurant stands. I settled on a Mediterranean mezze plate from Maza: falafel, two types of hummus, quinoa, and pita bread. Obviously I got dessert in the form of (vegan) ice cream at La La Ljs.

Day Two

Every big day should begin with caffeine. Today’s dose of caffeine, in the form of a latte, came from Back to Black. Then to my favorite part of the day: going to the Van Gogh museum. Van Gogh is one of my favorite artists (cliché but true), so seeing most of his works in real life was a dream.

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I had lunch at Vegan Junk Food Bar, a restaurant I’ve wanted to go to for years! I really liked the atmosphere and food options. I got the loaded fries – they were tasty, but almost too loaded (and contained too many peppers for my liking). Plus they were expensive (like €15). I’m still glad I went.My afternoon was spent at Rijksmuseum, the Dutch national museum full of art and history. FYI, you need to buy tickets for all the museums in advance. Then I went on a small group canal tour with “Those Dam Boat Guys” (I love the name). It was more expensive than some of the other canal tours, but it was recommended to me through a travel group and seemed fun(ny). It was. A good way to see the city from a different angle! I was pretty tired this evening, so I went to bed early. An exciting Friday night!!!

Amsterdam canal

A “coffee shop” that I thought had a funny name

Day Three

This was one of my favorite days of my entire study abroad experience. Why? Tulips.I went to Keukenhof Gardens by bus as soon as they opened, around 8 AM. These are the most famous tulip gardens in the world, with 7 million bulbs in bloom from mid-March to mid-May. The park was super busy, probably because I went at peak time (mid-April). Even with all the other tourists, the park was beautiful. My favorite part, however, was renting a bike from a stand in the Keukenhof parking lot and biking around the surrounding tulip fields and beaches. The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming, and I couldn’t stop smiling. I saw a horse on the beach, so that was cool.

There were daffodil fields as well

A baby windmill!

I went back to the city and met my friend Sachin (and some of his friends) for Ramen dinner and drinks! He also happened to be in Amsterdam for the weekend (he used to live there), and I’m so glad we were able to link up!

We stayed out pretty late, so I only got a few hours of sleep before I had to be at the airport for my flight back to Dublin! I had a blast in Amsterdam. It was one of my favorite trips of the semester. I especially loved the Van Gogh Museum and the tulip fields.

Me in the tulip fields

Beautiful tulip fields

Have you ever been to Amsterdam?

Brownie Bites

These are brownie bites. They are brownies made in a muffin tin, so they’re small enough to be eaten in a few bites. Or one huge, giant bite. Totally up to you. Baking them in a muffin tin gives them a crunchy edge on every side. I’m just looking out for those of you that prefer brownie ends. They’re all yours, as long as you give me the gooey middle of the brownie. 

Baking them in a muffin tin (or mini muffin tin) also allows for portion control, if that’s what you’re into. Or you can just be like me and eat like 5 brownie bites instead. 😉 

I based them off the brownie bites you can find at most superstores like Target or Costco. Except these bites have fewer ingredients and are vegan. They’re more cakey than fudgey, just like the original brownie bites. In all honesty, they’re like an unfrosted cupcake… but 20943 times better because they’re richer and more chocolate-y. 

These bites are easy to make, and they only use ingredients that you should already have on hand. You don’t need special ingredients like vegan butter or non-dairy milk. Plus, you really only need to mix ingredients together to make these. Hooray for easy recipes!

Vegan Brownie Bites

Makes 12-14 bites

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup (so 6 Tbsp) cocoa powder
• ½ tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. 
2. Mix the wet ingredients in a bowl (oil, water, vanilla).
3. Mix the dry ingredients (minus chocolate chips) in a separate bowl. 
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones, then whisk until just combined.
5. Mix in chocolate chips. 
6. Prepare muffin pan tins with liners or cooking/ baking spray. Pour 2 big spoonfuls of batter into each tin (so it’s ½ full). 
7. Bake for around 15 minutes, until the tops have risen and are bouncy to the touch. Let them cool for like 10 minutes before enjoying!

Note: Less time makes the brownies more gooey, while more time makes them more cake-y!

These brownie bites are the perfect treat to bring to a party, to a girl’s night, to coworkers, etc. Give them a try, either in a muffin tin or a mini muffin tin. Let me know how you like them (take a picture and tag me @peanutbutterandellllie on Instagram), and if you prefer the middle or the end of a pan of brownies. 

Goodbye Copenhagen, Love

Denmark is known for “hygge,” which roughly translates to “coziness.” Denmark is also known for being one of the most northern (and therefore coldest) countries in the world.  Therefore, it needs some sort of coziness and warmth! Denmark is constantly ranked one of the happiest countries, probably because Danes live by hygge. It encompasses contentment, friendship, light, and sweatpants (plus other simple pleasures).

I felt “hygge” in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. The city was full of sunshine, bright colors, warm coffee, calm water, and beautiful old buildings. I was originally going to do this trip solo, but my friend Athena decided to tag along last-minute! I’m SO glad she did, as I think the trip was more fun with her than it would have been alone. 

Day One

We didn’t arrive until around 8 pm Saturday night, but that didn’t stop us from going out to get a feel for the city. Most restaurants were closed by the time we were ready for dinner, so we just ate at our hostel. We stayed at Urban House Copenhagen. It was like a hotel but the price of a hostel (aka cheap), so I can’t recommend it enough. The food was actually quite good – we tried their vegan burger and fries. We ended up at a beach club called Miami after dinner, in our comfortable (read: not club attire) clothing. It was exciting to get a taste of the nightlife in Copenhagen!

*side note: no one really uses cash (aka the Danish Krone) in Copenhagen. I was fine just using my credit card the whole time I was there. Also, everything is expensive so get ready to drop some cash money.

Day Two

We awoke with the sun the next morning because we had a lot to check off our bucket list! We started the day with lattes and cinnamon rolls at a coffee shop called Emmery’s. From there, we walked to the Copenhagen Botanical Gardens. We saw some blooming flowers in the outdoor gardens, but the giant greenhouse was closed so we missed out on that.

The castle!

The gardens.

We continued our garden tour at the Rosenborg Castle gardens. We didn’t go inside the castle because we’d already spent enough money touring castles this semester. We witnessed the first part of the changing of the guard here, then went to Amalienborg Palace in the center of the city for the end of the guard changing ceremony.Stomachs grumbling, we headed to Torvehallerne Market for lunch. It was pretty busy because there happened to be a fish festival occurring there this weekend. The market has more than 60 food stands selling ingredients as well as meals. I tried a porridge bowl, daal with tomatoes and salted almonds, from Grød. I was skeptical of savory porridge, but Grød nailed it. The porridge was intense because of the juicy tomatoes, salty because of the almonds, but soothing because of the yogurt on top. It was so filling that I couldn’t even finish half of it!! The “real food” side of my stomach was full, but my “dessert” side had room for ice cream from the market. 😉

Flowers at the market.

Porridge at Grød.

We spent the afternoon walking around the touristy areas of Copenhagen. We strolled around the iconic Nyhavn waterfront. We went to the top of Christiansborg Tower, the highest point in the city.We found trampolines built into the sidewalk, and probably scared the nearby children with how excited we were about them. We walked to the “Little Mermaid” statue, which was as underwhelming as the internet promised it to be. It was commissioned by the founder of Denmark’s own Carlsberg Brewery to celebrate the fact that Hans Christian Anderson (the famous fairytale writer) lived in Copenhagen.So many people were at the statue, even though it’s literally just a person-sized statue in the water. It’s Copenhagen’s unofficial symbol though, so when you’re in Copenhagen you have to get a picture with it! Case in point:We spent “happy hour” at Magic Ice Bar, as we’d never been to an ice bar before! And I’ll probably never go to one again!! I’m a baby when it comes to being cold, so we spent about 10 minutes total inside. We got our drinks, took our pictures, and got outta there. I tried ramen for the first time ever for dinner at Papa Ramen. I loved it because it was so flavorful. We went back to the hostel that evening, tired from walking almost 17 miles throughout the day!

Day Three

We decided last-minute to go to SWEDEN for the morning. New day, new country? We had chai tea lattes and pastries for breakfast in Copenhagen at Leckerbaer, then took a 20 minute train ride to Malmö, Sweden. To be honest, we didn’t find a lot to do in Malmö… but then again the only reason we went was to say we’ve been to Sweden. 😉 We walked around, looked at some street art, saw the turning torso twisting tower (see photo, then try to say that 5x fast), went to a dope playground, visited the ocean, and bought some candy. We were back in Copenhagen by noon.Our next adventure was to explore Freetown Christiana. Freetown is an abandoned military base turned hippie commune. It’s full of some interesting people and street art. To be honest, we felt a little bit uncomfortable there. We didn’t stay long – we went shopping instead.

A wall mural we saw on the way to Freetown.

The entrance to Freetown Christiana.

We made reservations at Mahalle, a Lebanese restaurant, for dinner. We split falafel with hummus, mujaddara (lentils, rice, & yogurt) and the haloumi salad (actually flatbread topped with hummus, fried haloumi cheese, pomegranate seeds, & avocado). SO YUMMY. We got ice cream for dessert because we’re in love with it.

Mahalle

ice cream

Athena had to leave tonight to go back to school, but I stayed an extra day and explored the city some more.

Day Four

I woke up and got a vegan cinnamon roll and chai tea latte for breakfast at Social Café.I spent the morning on a canal tour! It was nice, but I wouldn’t do it again. I had a latte from Coffee Collective, one of Copenhagen’s most famous coffee shops, to warm up after the chilly boat ride. I went to the Carlsberg Museum in the afternoon. You’d think it was a beer museum based on the name, but it’s actually an art museum full of ancient Greek and Roman statues.My evening was spent at the Copenhagen airport, and I ended the day back in Dublin. We had a great trip, and I can’t wait to go back to Copenhagen someday.

Waffles Are Better in Belgium

I spent Valentine’s Weekend in Belgium, the land of chocolate and waffles. Fitting, yes?

Day One

I flew into the capital city of Brussels with two of my roommates and another friend. We arrived on the evening of Valentine’s Day, so we treated ourselves to a nice Valentine’s dinner. We went to a cozy Italian restaurant full of couples… and then there was us. Cue “Love Myself” by Hailee Steinfeld. I ate bruschetta and penne pasta with olive oil, parsley, asaragus, onion, & tomato. The restaurant owner gave us each a rose after dinner in honor of love day.We decided to dance off our pasta at Delirium Brewery. The area was packed, probably thanks to the Elvis Cover band that was playing hits like “Burning Love” (good day for it). The songs were in English, as most people in Belgium speak English, French, and/ or Dutch.

Day Two

The morning was sunny and beautiful, perfect for a day trip to Bruges. Bruges is a quaint, lovely, historic town about an hour from Brussels by train. It’s another UNESCO World Heritage site; I didn’t realize how many there were in the world! We wandered down the cobbled streets, postcards drawing us into souvenir stores and sweet smells pulling us into chocolate shops.

me ft a beer wall

across from the beer wall

Our growling stomachs forced us to stop for lunch. We ate outside, with a view of the canal, at Molenpoort. I just had fries because Belgian food is not vegetarian-friendly. If we’re being honest… I only ate waffles, chocolate, and french fries the entire weekend. I am the picture of health!!!!!

Horse & carriages were prevalent in Bruges.

Cute Bruges canals.

We walked to the town center, the Markt, and saw the Belfry lookout tower. We went to the Palace of the Liberty, the Court of Justice, and the Basilica of the Holy Blood. These buildings have been in use since the middle ages (!!!). The Basilica claims to have a vial of Jesus Christ’s blood… but I’ll let you be the judge of that. We bought lots of artisan chocolate. We went to a bar in the basement of a church (is that allowed?). We went on a boat tour of the canals for €10, and it was honestly better than the canal tour I did in Amsterdam. We got dinner, and spoiler alert: I ate more fries. Just like how cities in the USA have a Starbucks on every corner, towns in Brussels have a fry stand on every corner. I tried them with mayo because that’s what the locals do. I prefer good old ketchup on my fries, but the mayo fries were better than I thought they’d be. After a full (literally, I was stuffed full of fries) day in Bruges, we took the train back to our (not very nice) hostel in Brussels.

Day Three

Today began as I wish every day would – with a Belgian waffle for breakfast. Let me tell you, waffles really ARE better in Belgium. I mean, look at this picture and tell me you’re NOT drooling!We meandered around the main “touristy” part of Brussels. We saw The Place Royale, wandered through Koningsplein Square, and went into the Royal Museum of Fine Arts. I got my fruit and vegetable fix in a smoothie bowl I had for lunch at Peck 20 Café. Then we went to the best museum on Earth… the MUSEUM of CHOCOLATE. A nice man made chocolate truffles in front of us and then had us sample them. They were incredible. The museum also taught us the history of cacao beans and chocolate. All for only €2.50!

Staring adoringly at my favorite food.

We strolled through Parc Elisabeth (Brussels named a park after me? Amazing!) and saw Notre Dame du Sablon Cathedral from afar. We took the subway to the Atomium, a giant statue of an atom and one of Brussel’s main tourist attractions. It was exactly what it sounded like, so we only stayed for about 10 minutes. One of my roommates is friends with a Belgian boy that studied abroad at her high school, and said boy now lives 20 minutes outside of Brussels. We met up with him and two of his friends for dinner and a night out on the town. We went back to Delirium, saw the famous “peeing boy” statue, and ate more fries. When in Belgium, eat ALL the fries.

Day Four

We headed back to Dublin, in need of a shower and a diet!

Dancing in the Streets of Barcelona

There’s just something about Barcelona, Spain. There’s so much to eat, drink, and do in this vibrant city! I’m slowly posting about all the places I traveled to this semester. I ended up going to like 34 towns/ cities (!!!), and Barcelona remains one of my favorites. I went for a weekend and had the time of my life walking around the city and stuffing myself with tapas. Here’s a recap of what I accomplished during the two days I was in Barcelona!

Friday, Day 1

We arrived on Friday morning via Ryanair, my go-to European airline (because it’s the cheapest and I ball on a budget). We stayed at a pretty nice hostel close to the city center, called Pars Teatro. We rushed to Park Güell after dropping off our stuff. We bought tickets online for a designated time so we didn’t risk having to wait in line and possibly not getting tickets. According to the official park website, Park Güell was built in the Catalan Modernism style in the early 1900s by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí. It’s one of the biggest tourist attractions in all of Spain, and it’s also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. That basically means the site is protected so it can be preserved for future generations to enjoy (I did my research so you don’t have to!). Anyway, the Park was cute and fun and I loved it. There were too many people there, but that’s the case with every tourist attraction. The entry fee is 10 euro — totally worth it in my opinion, if only for the great photos you’ll take! We then walked to El Carmel Park, above Park Güell, for jaw-dropping views of the city! It was about 3 pm at this point and we still hadn’t eaten lunch, so we needed to go find some grub. We ended up getting a jug of sangria and tortilla española, a spanish omelet with potato and onion on a piece of baguette, at a little corner café.

We spent the afternoon at Basílica de la Sagrada Família, Gaudi’s famous church that is still under construction 135 years after building began. Yes, the same Gaudi that designed Park Güell — he’s kind of a legend in Barcelona. I thought the Basilica was incredible!

The outside

The inside

It’s a good thing we had a late lunch, because people don’t eat dinner in Spain until late (like 10 pm). After walking around “El Poble Sec” neighborhood, we had dinner at L’Angolino De Blai, a choose-your-own tapas place. My favorite was a baguette slice topped with spiced mozzarella and roasted eggplant. It was a long but fun first day!

Saturday, Day 2

This morning’s quest: bountiful brunch. We found it at El Arbol, a cute spot with lots of windows and hanging chairs. We had to wait a while, but the food was worth it. I got a soya latte and the mushroom & feta scramble with crystal bread toast.

Breakfast!

Coffee!

We spent the rest of the day walking off our food babies. I walked almost 14 miles today and saw…

• A mime
• Casa Batllo: another Gaudi building, but it was under construction so we didn’t actually see much of it.
• Plaça de Catalunya: a vibrant space where people were taking a dance class and a man was blowing bubbles for children.

Catalonian square

Bubble man

• Barcelona’s Arc de Triomf 

• Parc de la Ciutadella: kind of like NYC’s Central Park, but better because it’s greener and the weather is usually better. 

You could rent rowboats and paddle around the park!

A fountain in the park.

• The Gothic quarter (“Barri Gotic”)
• Barcelona Cathedral

No clue what this is but it’s fun!

Ellie on a giant elephant statue!

All of our walking called for a snack break. We tried churros dipped in chocolate, a Spanish specialty, from Be Chocolat. Sweet, rich, and delicious. We changed our pace and went to the Catalan Art Museum to see art instead of sights. The museum has a beautiful park next door, Parc de Montuic, with views of the city and the Olympic Stadium. Plaça d’Espanya, a beautiful square, is also nearby.

Peep the Olympic Stadium.

The view from the front of the art museum. Beautiful!

The evening was spent at the famous Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria. We finally got to try Spanish street food! My friend and I split a spinach & cheese empanada and a cone of patatas bravas. We drank sangria and ate some more food on Las Ramblas, the touristy pedestrian-only street next to the market. We witnessed lots of peddlers and some sort of parade on Las Ramblas as well! We ended the night at Dow Jones, a bar modeled after the New York Stock Exchange.

Empanada

Patatas Bravas

Sunday, Day 3

We didn’t do much today besides check out of our hostel and head to the airport. Another weekend trip = complete! This was one of my favorite trips of the whole semester.