Travel Diary // A M S T E R D A M

On the ten hour flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam, I imagined tall, lanky blond Dutch people who cycled around, recycling everything and eating, I don't know, fish paste and asking if I knew Die Antwoord or rode a lion to school. I was almost completely right. What I didn't imagine was how completely in love I would fall with this city.

From the architecture, to how incredibly well-dressed, beautiful and surprisingly diverse the people are, to the shopping, to - I'm at such a loss as to how to aptly describe what was the greatest time of my young life. To describe that I will never feel at such a peace anywhere else again and that if only I could have another three years to explore and love that city, it wouldn't be enough. It would also be shit expensive on my stomach but hella on my calves and quads.

Will You Pour Me One for the Road?

The above blurry, iPhone photograph was taken by a stubborn party-goer who was wearing chinos and a bad attitude about taking un petit photo of me and my girls while also trying to hit on us and perhaps try to take a bad photo of Kelicia (middle) which, as he found out, is scientifically impossible and morally wrong.

This was two days after change-your-hair-change-your-life applied to me (see: weave) and a less than 24 hours before I would prepare to board a plane heading to the greatest two weeks of my life: summer in Europe. Think of this photo as the beginning of Daydream Nation or whatever Indie film where our heroine's all like, "... before everything changed forever."

I've been back in sunny South Africa for almost a week now and I haven't had the courage to write or blog or stay at home all day because that would mean my European summer, my climb up Kilimanjaro if you will, was officially over and that it would all only exist in shared memories and unflattering photographs.

So I've been looking at life before Europe, laughing at how completely different life turned out to be.

I just wanted to show how cute my outfit was - well, at least I felt really cute because I had frilly socks over my tights. Also, my panther jersey never gets to go outside to play. Also, my friend, Kate, made that top five minutes before we had to leave the house. 

So, my little Northern Hemispherites (and, yeah, some of you Southerners), how has your summer (or "summer") been going?