My Year Of Travel 2013 (Part 2)

As January is slowly passing by and examination period is getting closer, I tend to distract myself from studying with daydreams of beautiful and warm places. So I decided to make better use of the time I spend away from my books and papers to write the second part of my 2013 travel series. You can find part 1 here.

Shortly after the red sea cruise with my dad I went on a short trip to Amsterdam with my boyfriend. I've always wanted to go to Amsterdam and since it's not too far from where I live I booked us a lovely apartment right in the city centre. Whenever I plan to go on a city trip I try to book via Airbnb. This is a great platform to find cheap but wonderful accommodations rented by locals. This way you meet people from town and get the chance to receive insider tips on interesting sites to see, nice restaurants or whatever you are interested in. If you never heard of Airbnb go check it out. It's amazing!

We parked out of town as parking fees are ridiculously high in Amsterdam. Public transport however works perfectly so this was an easy way to get around. Upon arrival we took a stroll around the city. This is what I always like to do whenever I'm somewhere new. You get to discover so many beautiful places you wouldn't come across if only doing the "tourist things". Later that day we went to our apartment to take a nap before going out for dinner. The attic we stayed in was simply beautiful. And we even had breakfast in front of our door the next morning. To get up there we had to climb some seriously steep stairs though. 

On our second day we went to the Heineken Experience, an interactive tour through the former brewery. During the tour you learn how Heineken beer is brewed (including a  4D-ride designed to make you feel like you're the actual beer), but you also can design your own bottle or play different little games. At the end you get a free beer or two, or something else if you prefer nonalcoholic drinks. All in all it was great fun - not only for the man ;) Afterwards I got to choose what to do next: a canal cruise it was. Unfortunately the weather was kinda dull throughout our stay and those tours are probably more fun in the sun, but it still was really nice. The last day we spend shopping (of course!) and visiting Madame Tussauds which is always great. On the way home we stopped at a supermarket along the road to take home some dutch goodies we wouldn't get back home in Germany.

My next trip in 2013 was in summer with my sister. Only a small number of years have passed by without me spending at least a few days anywhere around spain. This year I even got to go twice! My sister and I wanted to go to our almost second home L'Escala on the Costa Brava. Luckily we could find a date we both had time and my grandparents' apartment was free. In my post about my favourite places I already mentioned this beautiful little town. I'm in love with it and could go back every year. We spend some really much needed sister quality time relaxing at the beach and on our balcony. On the first day we went to another beach we've often been to when we were little. After that we just pretty much stayed at our favourite spot on the beach from morning to night, had dinner, went on a little walk afterwards and just enjoyed ourselves.

"The other beach" - Playa d'Aro

Grandma, little sis and me

I tried to keep this post as short as possible while still fitting in a lot of information about those to trips. I hope it gave you some inspiration for your next holidays on where to go or where to look for a nice place to stay. There are still two more trips to write about, so come back to check for part 3 if you're interested ;)

Do you have any tips on finding good accommodations? I'd love to hear.

♡