REMEMBERING FAMILY Easter weekend turned into an unexpected walk through history. Originally the plan was to join Martijn's parents camping on the weekend; however, the Dutch weather was not cooperating. Martijn's mom emailed us a week before and said that they've decided to forego camping due to the weather; however, we were still going to celebrate Easter together, but it was a surprise. When they picked us up on Saturday morning, they let us know we'd be g...

ENJOYING STOCKHOLM WITH FRIENDS As our second trip to Stockholm, we really wanted to focus on spending time with our good friends Michael and Monika. We had done a lot of sightseeing three years ago and were really happy to relax this time around. Michael and Monika have been friends for years and have a similar story to Martijn and I. Also a intercultural couple (Dutch and Swedish) and they also met while Michael was a ESN mentor for exchange students. They...

PORT AND A PROPOSAL Martijn and I love to travel, so when I received a pre-booked trip to Lisbon from Martijn for my birthday, I was ecstatic! After living in Europe all his life, Martijn had beat me to most of the cities that are on my list, but Lisbon was a city he had not yet visited. This made it extra special that we were able to discover a taste Portugal together. Little did I know, Martijn had additional plans to our weekend getaway. Friday: We set ou...

GLUHWEIN, SCHNITZEL AND A WHOLE LOTTA CHRISTMAS Martijn and I booked this trip one month before we left and for that one month I was like a child. I brought up the trip every day with a huge grin on my face and clapping hands. A whole weekend of Christmas! What could be better? I was certain this would be one of the best vacations. Many times when people say something like that, the following comments are filled with bittersweet memories. Not this time...I...

SCHNITZEL, BEER AND FAMILY Anne-Krijn and his family were the first of my Dutch cousins to visit our family in Holland back in the early 90's. Since then, my trips to Holland have always included spending time with their family and it's always enjoyable. AK and I began making plans to spend a few days in Berlin in 2009 when I first moved to the Netherlands; unfortunately, it never happened. When I moved to the Netherlands for a second time in 2012 it was the ...