The Pancake Bakery

The Pancake Bakery is supposed to have the best pancakes in Amsterdam.
I got to The Pancake Bakery and despite it being a Monday, it was hopping.

I had to stand and wait to be seated. Upon it being my turn they told the couple in front of me and me that we could be sat if we wouldn’t mind sharing a table. We all agreed. They sat us at a rectangle 6 top with a seat left open between us. This was fine for me as some restaurants technically have had me at separate tables from others and have been closer.

I ordered an orange juice and it was delicious. I then noticed the machine that squeezes oranges into freshly squeezed juice and realized why it was so good. Fresh orange juice is always better.

They had an extensive menu of pancakes both sweet and savory. Both done is the traditional style of the Netherlands and not. But since I was in the Netherlands I knew I had to try the traditional style. I ordered a Netherlands style with bananas and Nutella.

Look at the size of that thing!

It didn’t take too long for my food to arrive. It arrived on a large round plate and the pancake was just about the same circumference as the plate itself. It was very thin, however. In America, our pancakes are thick and hopefully fluffy. This one was thin, but purposely so. It reminded me more of a crepe than a pancake.

There were some pieces of banana cooked in. But due to the pancake being so thin the bananas stuck right out. The Nutella was served on the side. On the table, there were very condiments for both the sweet and the savory that were served.

I found though it had areas that were browned to a crisp it was still rather on the chewy side. It appeared easier and to make more sense to me to fold the ends in and make it essentially 3x as thick. It helped me to cut it as well as keep the bananas more intact.

The service up until time if payment was quick and efficient. It seems though that in every country when it’s time to go you can never track your server down. But the gentleman that had been taking care of me had been nice and spoke English well.

Overall I thought that The Pancake Bakery was fine, but not someplace I necessarily need to go back to, nor are Netherland style pancakes something I need to eat again.

Public transportation issues in Brussels

So on my final day in Brussels I figured out why I was having transportation issues. In Brussels many people speak both French and Dutch. Some people speak only French while others speak only Dutch. So many signs are in both languages. However, my Google maps tells me the direction to take the bus in in one language while when the bus shows up the banner on the bus is in another language. Know this and it will help many of your issues out. As the number was right, but I thought it was going in different direction. I would not have let so many pass by if I had known this!

A Jet Set Lifestyle: A transportation tip for Amsterdam

Many places make you swipe a card when you enter a bus or to enter a metro station platform. And then you just leave when you’ve gotten to your desired stop. Do NOT do this in Amsterdam.

In Amsterdam you MUST tap you card against the ticket machine again as you exit. Otherwise they will shut off access to your card and it will be a waste of money.

I’m not quite sure why exactly you must do this, but after spending however many euros on the card and realizing I wasn’t going to get my money’s worth on the museum side I wasn’t about to test this rule.

Have you tested it? How did it go?

A Jet Set Lifestyle: The Belgian Comic Strip Center – Brussels, Belgium

So I used to read comic strips as a kid but in my adult years I have put down the funny pages, mainly because I read my news online rather than a newspaper. I however have gotten more into comic books, or more specifically when a run is put together in a graphic novel form rather than each separate book. I just don’t have the time to keep up with that.

So when I heard about the comic museum in Brussels I was intrigued. Unfortunately, I quickly learned it’s not about comic books, but about comic strips. It’s fine, I was already here and I am familiar with some comics. This museum deals mainly with artists from Belgium, so I knew less than I thought, though it was interesting to learn that some of the comics I do actually know have Belgian roots.

In the gift shop you’ll find a mix of items having to do with characters from both comic strips and comics books. You really only need about an hour and a half to go through the museum, and it’s really not a place for small children. If you’re interested in the history of this art form I suggest it!

A Jet Set Lifestyle: The National Museum of Denmark

For so many Vikings coming from Denmark, you would think there would be a larger Viking age exhibit at he National Museum. But alas they are relegated to the same floor as the prehistoric age and there’s not much there.

In the museum guide it has a list of must seem items. There are some gold horns so I thought, “Yes! This I will see”but alas, they are just replicas. Mind you they are gold and a couple hundred years old, but they aren’t a thousand years old.

You’ll also find the remains of quite a few people which can be either interesting or creepy to see.

What I did find interesting and may be worth it enough to bring you here are the time stones. I’ve done much reading about rune stones but have yet to see one. Well they had a room full of them.

I’m not sure why it didn’t hit me until seeing them, but rune stones are very similar to today’s gravestones.

Other than that you can find a few weapons, musical instruments, etc from the Iron Age and such.

There’s a second floor that brings you up to speed with modern times in Denmark but I personally had a plan of going and learning more about the Vikings.

As for a museum set up I think Iceland’s National Museum has a better set up.

This was not my favorite museum.

If you really want  learn about the overall history of Denmark, sure, give it a shot.

Have you been to the museum? What do you think?

A Jet Set Lifestyle: Copenhagen Public Transit System

The Copenhagen public transportation system was very easy for a former New Yorker to learn. There’s really only a couple of metro lines and then a ton of busses. During rush hour you can find they can be busy, but being that Copenhagen is a cycle city they often are not too crowded.

One thing that differs from New York Subways was the level of cleanliness. I didn’t see a speck of garbage on the tracks, or did it smell like urine, and there were guys in the early morning polishing the floors! All of that seems pretty unheard of if you’ve only been on the New York City subways.

The metros here are similar to those in other cities where it’s rather on the honor system of scanning your card when you enter and exit the station. Whereas in New York you have to scan before you even enter the platform. Now this isn’t to say to try to ride for free as I saw ticket operators doing random checks more here than in any other city I have been to.

The same goes for them coming on the busses and checking. Though it’s a bit more difficult to get on for free there as you are supposed to pay or scan your card upon entering.

And what happens if you get caught? A nice hefty fine. That’s a way to put a dent in your travel budget!

You can buy tickets by ride and rides go by zones, a lot of cities that aren’t New York do zones. In New York you can go from the two farthest points and it’s the same price as the two closest points. Do I think zone ticketing is better? Yes. Have I figured out zone ticketing yet? Nope! If you’re like me and don’t understand what is in what  zone you can buy an unlimited pass which allows you to to ride the busses and subways as much as you want anywhere within Copenhagen for one set price. They come in different timed amounts such as 24 or 48 hours. They are active after your first swipe.

If you understand the zoning it may be less expensive to go ride by ride however, especially if you aren’t planning to use the metros all that much.

What’s nice, besides the cleanliness of the metro stations, is that a lot of the stations have screens that show when the next metro or bus is coming. Also on the metros and busses a lot of them announce the next stop or at least have screens displaying the next stop as well as what connections are available there. But try not to rely on them as once in awhile you’ll get on a metro or bus or get to a station where that isn’t the case.

Also note, the busses won’t stop unless you press the red stop button (if no one is at the stop to flag it to stop that is) so stay alert. Also, some busses and metros the doors won’t open to let you off (even if you pressed the red stop button) unless you press the green button to open the door!

It may seem like the escalator isn’t working, but get close to it and it begins. Now that’s a nice energy saving feature.

The final thing to say about the Copenhagen public transportation is that there’s often free Wi-Fi! A lot of the metro stations as well as some of the busses have free Wi-Fi you can connect to. Again, it’s not always the case, so keep that in mind if you are Wi-Fi only!

A Jet Set Lifestyle: HELLISHEIÐARVIRKJUN GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANTS – Iceland

While going to the Golden Circle in Iceland you can easily visit Hellisheidarvirkjun, one of Iceland’s geothermal power plants.If you self drive the tour you can make a stop or if you take a guided tour some of the tour companies have the power plant as an extra added stop you can join. I myself stopped by when I did a self drive of The Golden Circle. A friend I made during my first trip to Iceland was a tour guide still during my second trip to Iceland. And so I met up with him and a couple girls from the hostel to take a private tour.

Our guide, my friend, discussed how the use of geothermal power started, the process as to how it’s used harnessed and used today, where the power comes from, and allowed up to poke our heads into the plant and view some movies for more information. As someone who’s always cared deeply about the environment I found it to be absolutely fascinating. Renewable energy sources are possible, Iceland is a wonderful example of this as they get almost all of their power from geothermal sources.

You may think visiting a power plant sounds boring, but I assure you, if you care even the smallest bit about what’s going to happen to our planet in the years to come, visit the power planet and have some hope again.

A Jet Set Lifestyle: The south coast to Vik, Iceland

Earlier this year I spent about a month in Iceland. Sadly it was not enough time for me to see the whole country, but I did get as far south as Vik. (Yeah, I know some people do that in their 4 day trips… whatever.)

Gljúfrabúi

Gljúfrabúi

Anyway, a girl I had met, Alina, and I rented a car and we drove on down. During the drive we stopped at a couple of the waterfalls along the way before making it down to the black sand beaches of Vik.

Skógafoss

Skógafoss

Skógafoss

It was March and cold as heck. I’d love to see the waterfalls and the beach in the summer time. This will be another repeat trip (along with the Golden Circle) that I will have to do in the summer. I’d suggest you bring crampons, warm clothes, and extra clothes.

The stairs leading to Seljalandsfoss, this is why you need crampons

Seljalandsfoss

Seljalandsfoss

Seljalandsfoss

The spray from the waterfalls and by the beach can drench you and you may find it best to change. Along the route close to Vik there is an abandoned plane. I unfortunately was unable to see if, and they are thinking of closing the area due to vandalism. (This is why we can’t have nice things people.)

Katla Geopark

Reynisfjara

A Jet Set Lifestyle: A Perfect Weekend in Happy Valley – State College, PA, USA

For those of you that don’t know this about me, I am a proud Penn State Nittany Lion. Once a year I try to head back down to Happy Valley for a game. I love the White Outs and provided they aren’t in November, that is usually my game of choice. The 2016 White Out was against Ohio State on October 22. I got my tickets and I made a plan to head on down. I often head down to PSU alone but this time Steve was coming with me and he was a first timer to Happy Valley. So I knew I had to hit all my favorite spots to show him a good time. I will say this right off the bat for any current or former Nittany Lions that are reading this, we did miss wings at the Skeller and pizza at Canyon Pizza. Time and stomach space just did not allow for the visits. But if YOU have time during YOUR trip you should def check them out. I’d suggest wings for lunch on a Friday afternoon and Canyon pizza for a late night snack Saturday night.

But here is my perfect weekend:

FRIDAY

Friday afternoon I began my drive down. This trip was not a solo trip and my boyfriend at the time of writing came with me. He worked a half day that day and we left when he got out of work. We stopped for lunch somewhere along the way and got into town around 7 PM. First this we did was check into our AirBnB and then went off to buy the wine for Saturday’s sangria and the beer. For those of you that don’t know, wine and hard liquor are sold in one store, beer in another, so make sure you plan for that if you will be needing both. Also, it’s best to go do a place that sells beer that isn’t attached to a bar/restaurant as those bottle shops tend to be more expensive. After gathering our libations for the next day’s tailgate we headed downtown.

Since it was a big football weekend I had made dinner reservations in advance. I always love a night dinner or Sunday brunch at Allen Street Grill. So we went to our 8:30 reservation and had a wonderful sever who explained drinks and food may be running a little slower since it was such a busy weekend but he’d have everything out as quickly as possible. I think it’s great when server explain a situation to a table, it’s better for a table to be surprised that things came out quicker than expected rather than getting upset that things are taking longer than expected. Either way, both drinks and food came out quickly. Our table was in the corner right at the windows that looked out over both streets, it was a lovely view. I got the pork chops which can be a gamble as pork can easily get dry but they were deliciously moist. And my boyfriend got the Home football weekend special of the mixed grill. (There is one that is on the normal menu and one that is a special). We shared the meats on both our dishes and everything was delicious. His came with sausages, lamb, duck, etc. I could not have expected anything less from this establishment. You can certainly go in any sort of jean and t shirt combo, but if you feel like strapping on a pair of heels or dress shoes a button down shirt with dark wash well fit jeans or and a skirt or dress it wouldn’t hurt.

After dinner we walked up and down College Ave and Beaver Ave to check out the bar scene. All of the bars had lines and we settled on starting off at Local Whisky. Local Whisky is one of the more recent additions to State College and on this Weekend seemed to draw a rather large alumni crowd. If you like whisky, you should def check the place out and see what you think. After a drink there we went to The All-American Rathskeller, or The Skeller for short. We grabbed a drink and headed into the back room (There’s about 3 different rooms at The Skeller) to listen to the band play. They were the greatest sound wise but they were fun. And we enjoyed rocking out to a bunch of classics that spanned the last 40 – 50 years. After a drink there we decided we’d head home.

We got in the car and made a stop at Gumby’s first. We got a pokey stick which is basically cheesey bread but one of the best late night snacks of PSU students. I love it with the marinara dipping sauce and the garlic butter, but the girl working the counter forgot our dipping sauces. Make sure you check before you leave!

 

SATURDAY

We woke up early, got ourselves ready, and then headed to the stadium. If you know someone down in State College that can buy you a parking pass ahead of time it is much cheaper, you can call and order one, but you need to do it 2 weeks before your game, otherwise you’re paying a pretty penny to have it shipped. Otherwise you can do what we did, which is buy it day of. The cost day of (as of writing November 2016) was $40 (cash only). After parking we walked ourselves back downtown.

First thing’s first, we got breakfast at Irvings. A bagel with lox and cream cheese to share, then we both got breakfast burritos. I go to Irvings after Saturday game day. The food is delicious, the wait is a bit long at times, but its hot and pretty filling so it’s just want you need before the game (especially those night ones!)

From there we went shopping to get him some white out gear. There’s a ton of stores, the prices vary from store to store as does some of the merchandise, so if you can research ahead and know what you’re looking for, and check out prices online to known which stores fit your budget I would suggest it as the stores are pack on home game weekends.

Our final stop before we headed up to set up our tailgate was the Creamery. They don’t let you mix flavors, the line is long, but moves quickly, and the flavor options are listed well in advance, so please make your decisions so when it’s game time (I mean order time) you are ready. The cones are one size and the size is massive. Well worth the money.

From there is was time to head back to the stadium to get out tailgate on. Unfortunately is was cold and windy this October day, so our tent wasn’t happening and either was our grill. But the nice people at all the surrounding tailgates offer to use of their grill and their help with our tent. There’s a lot of comradey at these tailgates. I suggest you learn where the closet bathroom or porta potty is to you tailgate and bring your own toilet paper and hand sanitizer! Just imagine using a porta poddy then grabbing at the finger foods at the tailgate… gross.

If you’re a game type, there’s plenty you can bring a long, populous are of course beer pong and corn hole. I myself tend to refrain from games and just watch. I’m not a party type, but I enjoy great food. So I love the tailgates that go all out of their food choices. The larger the tailgate and more easily that can happen, so if you can, combine your tailgate with your friends. Also, make sure to have hot food! Even if it’s a warmer gay its nice to have actual food rather than just all snacks. And a new staple that I put get that I saw at a neighboring tailgate is a propane run fire fit. That helps with the cold immensely!

For the game itself no bags can be brought in, ladies, this includes purses! I know crazy right? I had my wallet with me last year which is a standard size women’s wallet and they said that was too big to bring in. Make sure you get in early enough to find your seats and not miss the Blue Band! It’s set up as N for North for South and so fourth. Then each :section” N,S,E,W have smaller sections among them, but knowing which direction your in should help you find your seats a little quicker so you can head straight to that part of the stadium.

This game in particular was an excellent one. PSU took down #2 ranked OSU. Nittany Lions rushed the field after. This doesn’t happen every game, if it does at one you are at, please be respectful. You can go on the field but stay away from any area guarded by police that is how you will find yourself in some trouble. And when they ask you to leave, please do so.

 

SUNDAY

We actually stayed out of State College Saturday night so Sunday morning we did not have breakfast in Happy Valley.

But when we got back we did a walk through campus, took photos at the Lion Shrine and then headed over to Primanti’s for lunch. We of course got the sandwiches in the Primanti  style with the french fries and cole slaw on top of the sandwich. Now as a person who hates cole slaw something about the way Primanti  makes there, it’s just different, and I LIKE theirs.

From there it was time to make our drive home. Until next year State College, you have been wonderful!