Living in Europe pt.1 // Street Views
Month three!
I have previously made some posts about my first two months here and here, but I want to continue doing semi-regular posts keeping you up to date with what's going on in my European life as an American.
And I just want to say there's a special surprise at the end of this blog. So stick with me.
Daily views while cycling around.
When I lived in Portland I didn't have a microwave for almost the entire 2 years I was there. I never ever thought I would be able to live without something like that. Now I'm in Europe and still living without a microwave but there's two other luxuries that I had to give up. First up; the dryer. Lawd, I do miss me some freshly dried towels or sheets. But, I'm living without it and it's pretty cool that without a dryer I'm making less of a footprint.
The second major luxury that I had to give up? My vehicle. Obviously I wasn't going to move my car I already couldn't afford to Europe. I seriously didn't even think I was going to get it sold. But my ex partner put my listing up on the app Offer Up and someone from our neighborhood came into our yard sale one morning and she was like "I want to buy it."
So the WEEK before I moved out of the country I sold my car. Talk about last minute. That was a major fucking weight off my shoulders. I was a mess of a person those 6 weeks before I left Portland. There was so much for me to do, and I had set the bar really high for myself. (As I often do).
Since getting rid of my car I thought that I would miss it more. But surprisingly, in Amsterdam, you can do almost anything by bike. Including traveling to neighboring cities without any troubles. I still have quite a bit of anxiety about traveling by train solo, but I think that'll get easier with time.
This is at a park that's a 5 minute walk from our house. Everything here is linked with canals and all of the canals are filled with boats of all shapes and sizes.
This is a small park that's just one building away from our apartment building. The road veering to the left is for cars only and the one in the middle is for bikes only, and then the pedestrian path all the way on the right.
Bikes and spam only.
This is a view on our street looking down past our doorway. It's crazy to me how many people are packed into such small spaces. And how many of my douchey neighbors I'll never have to greet. Hahah. Seriously though, douchey people don't just exist in America the beautiful. They. Are. Everywhere. But in all honesty, I was probably a douchey person at one point in my life.
Let's be real.
Halloween Amy Jo circa 2005
