I'm done being seized and I'm seizing my chances! (Travel stories part I)

Our adventure started on a monday afternoon from Helsinki when we cathced a flight via Stockholm to Amsterdam. the day before i had made the trip from my hometown to Helsinki and not without little troubles. i missed my bus and had to take a train and cause of some construction works the trip took forever. eventually i made it to Silja's place. this was the second trip me and Silja did together, first being in 2010 when we visited London for a couple of days. we're a good travel pair, we like to do and see similar things and she likes to sleep in the top bunk when i prefer the bottom!

having breakfast by the canal in Utrecht.

beautiful Netherland greeted us with a warm weather. our first stop was a little city called Utrecht located in the central Netherlands. we stayed in Hostel Strowis and it was a very pleasant experience. the staff was nice and the location was great.

people in Utrecht who think the Gatsby movie was epic are wrong.

Dom Tower of Utrecht is the tallest church tower in Netherlands.

we only stayed in Utrecht for two nights, so we didn't see much. we spent most of our time wandering the beautiful narrow streets and having picnics by the canals.

the reason why Silja and I diced to travel to Netherlands and to Utrect in the first place was to go see George Watsky, an american rapper and a poet that we are both a little crazy about. and the show was amazing! i know i almost always say this was the best gig ever! after a great show but Watsky was truly one of the best performers i've ever seen. the atmosphere went through the roof even tho the place wasn't sold out. he is so real and honest with what he does, there's no 'space' between the audience and the performer. at one point Watsky jumped in the middle of the audience and started a mosh pit. he talked about people he had lost recently, a relative and a family friend, and his voice was shaking a bit but that was alright. he has this stong presence, an ability to make you forget the rest of the world. one of the reasons why i like Watsky is that he's not afraid to be himself, he raps about serious issues but he's also funny (like his song about epilepsy called Seizure Boy) and challenges the stereotypes of his genre. his raps are not misogynistic nor disrespectful. and his roots are in spoken word and poetry, and i'm weak for great poetry and can sometimes spend hours watching vidoes of slam poets.

three idiots: me, Watksy and Silja. 

beat up converses are not the best backpacking shoes.

my attemt to take an idyllic last picture from Utrect got ruined by this grabage barge.

the next day we said our goodbyes to the beautiful Utrect and promised to come back one day. and then it was time for Amsterdam.

The Royal Palace of Amsterdam.

we are a bit of Vincent van Gogh fans and Silja was excited for her coasters (i got myself a van Gogh magnet).

Amsterdam was crazy hot and we were really tired from all the walking and carrying our backpacks. we only stayed in Amsterdam for a day so we didn't really have time to do much. there's so much to see in that city that we decided to skip all of the touristy things and save them for another trip. instead we spent the day sitting by the canals, wandering around and getting tipsy.

super cheap Ben&Jerry's was our dinner.

our hostel had a hostel cat! who was adorable.

breakfast in Amsterdam.

After Netherlands adventures it was time to jump on a plane again and head to Dublin, where we would be greeted by a rare Irish heat wave and fall in love with the amazing city. and see the musical love of my life, Josh Ritter. but more about Dublin adventures in Travel stories part II.