baby went to Amsterdam

Amsterdam. A lot of things come to mind when someone mentions they went to Amsterdam, eh? 

Admittedly, it is a very fun town... but the legal-ness of certain things that aren't legal elsewhere aren't really the reason why. Look at it! It's adorable. Amsterdam was originally settled as a fishing village in the late 12th century... so you can see how all of the canals came in pretty handy. As a newcomer, it's quite easy to get lost (which we did even with our iPhone maps) - this canal intersects with that canal; that old brick building on the corner looks like that old brick building on the other corner.  

Unfortunately, we were only there for one night. Fortunately, we got to spend it with other globe-trotting friends of ours who happened to be there at the same time. They had a bit more time there, so they told us about some must-do things.

The Can't-Miss Five, Amsterdam Edition

1. The Red Light District. Because aren't you a little curious? Why not, right?
2. Get on a house boat. Tons of tours. Some of them involve pizza. Some of them involve pizza and beer. I'd choose the latter. 
3. Drink in the icebar, XtraCold. That's right - a bar made of ice. Does it really matter if you're a club goer or bar hopper? No. We're talking about EXPERIENCES, people. 
4. Van Gogh Museum. You have to admit that this was one interesting character. This is supposed to be the best Van Gogh museum out there as it contains the most VG pieces of any museum.
5. Eat Apple Pie. Mr. RP does not believe in the apple pie phenomenon, but I'd say you should give it a shot.  The place to do this is Winkle43.

As far as our trip, we got to wait for a keyboard to be delivered... which led to some serious boredom in the green room. After Rp played an incredible, sell-out show, we went to a couple of bars with our friends and sadly had to call it a night fairly early. Another city and another show the next day. Can't wait to visit again and do all of the things I'm telling you to do!

Until then, enjoy: Backstage boredom, houseboats on houseboats on houseboats, canals on canals on canals, and our faces.

Also, for my last piece of info on this entry... in case you're on the fence or unsure about it, Holland and The Netherlands are the same thing :] I hear people get confused about that. Totally not me. Yeah... not me at all. 

until next time,

b

[post title refers to this song]

road trip

 

for part of the tour we rented a car and drove around Europe to the shows. needless to say... Rp highly enjoyed the autobahn. 

boys and cars. I'll never totally get it. 

most of the drive looked the same... snowy and bleak. however, I would highly recommend this mode of travel around Europe. Super easy and cheaper than flying - especially when you plan to hop between cities every single day.  put this on your to-do list.

on the road playlist: bon iver, alt-j, dirty dancing soundtrack

gangster.

xo,

b

I heart ... Antwerp?

I do, though. It's so charming! Its teeny, curving streets, old buildings, and crazy bike riding culture - I could eat it up! We had a rare day off in Antwerp, so we had a chance to relax and take in the city. Scratch that - I spent the morning in a Belgian laundromat trying to figure out how to read instructions written exclusively in Dutch. Luckily, a lot of Dutch words are similar to English words with extra letters in them minus some of the normal letters ... so in that way, they are not like English words at all and I'm just a genius who figured out how to wassen and drogen our clothes. I walked out of that laundromat like I'd just won an Oscar... proud, thankful, and ready for champagne.

Instead of Champagne, I settled for Belgian waffles, a walk to the diamond district, and almost getting frostbite. I suppose this does not need to be said - but Belgium in January will freeze your tootsies right off. Even the promise of diamonds couldn't keep our mood up. We finally succumbed to the weather, stumbled into DelRey & got Rp a bag of belgian chocolate. I don't care for the stuff, but I will admit that this was pretty tasty. If they added salt to some of the pieces I may have been a full blown fan. You almost had me, Belgian chocolate... almost. Sooooo, right. We finished our Antwerp adventure with a belgian dinner of moules frites & Trappist beer.

The biggest downside was that when it snowed we couldn't tell what was the street and what was the sidewalk... so we ended up driving our rental car on the sidewalk one night. And not just an "oh, no, we sort of drove on the sidewalk a little" - a "we just drove a mile down a pedestrian walk way and now we can't go any further because there are concrete dividers... and we now have to reverse down this small European street... at night... in the snow." Oops. I'd say that was more our fault than the city's but I'd really rather not take the blame on this one, k guys?

enjoy below: oldness, cuteness, bikes on bikes on bikes, deliciousness, and my reaction to Trappist beer. 

SO MUCH MORE TO COME!

-b

dudes

our Thanksgiving consisted of zero turkey consumption, but more than a little salt water was taken in.  To celebrate a holiday that is not celebrated in Australia, we went with a very Aussie activity - surfing. Neither one of us had tried it before, but we were there and WHAT THE HELL... ya know?

Admittedly, I was a tad bit of a bitch on the way out there. We took a massively long bus ride to a non-touristy surf spot, so I spent my time wishing I was laying on the beach being a bum. Once we got in the water, my mood shifted and I became friends with my board. Turns out, I love surfing and I don't suck at it. Who knew? God bless the adventure.

Unfortunately, the photographer (yes, there was one with this particular instructor) didn't get too many Rp shots, but I figured Ron's legit ALL OVER this blog, so here's my face for a minute.

(please disregard my intense face and disappearing eyes... next step is learning to surf with sunnies)

later, dudes!

xxoo,
b

we're goin' places

February/Paris

a call for help! We've got lots of travel coming up for this ridiculousness that is our job... and I need some suggestions for things to do! I've never been to 99% of these places and I'm more than ecstatic to go.

A few things to keep in mind: we will have a limited time in each of these places (usually just a day!), so if you're familiar with the area let me know if there is something specific that I just have to see/eat/do. Also since we are going to these places on tour, we have a limited budget - so please don't tell me the only/best thing to do is eat the world's greatest caviar. [and please don't tempt me with amazing Champagne! I will surely cave & we'll be stuck in whatever city I find it in. Then I'll be asking for help to bust out of champagne rehab... and we just don't want to go there.]  One other request - I'm talking local shops and food. If it's a major tourist attraction, you don't have to tell me about it (i.e. the eiffel tower).

Ok? and go!

((also, come see us at the shows!!! Tickets: RonPopeMusic.com/Shows))

November: Australia!

1. Melbourne
2. Sydney
3. Brisbane

January: UK/Europe!

1. London, UK
2. Leeds, UK
3. Birmingham, UK
4. Manchester, UK
5. Glasgow, UK
6. Belfast, UK
7. Dublin, Ireland
8. Paris, France
9. Zurich, Switzerland
10. Munich, Germany
11. Antwerp, Belgium
12. Cologne, Germany
13. Frankfurt, Germany
14. Amsterdam, Netherlands
15. Hamburg, Germany
16. Berlin, Germany
17. Copenhagen, Denmark
18. Stockholm, Sweden

I'll be doing my own research, but since some of you are also frequent travelers, why not ask you... ya know? 

As always, I'll be photo documenting for you, so if there is something you just WANT me to do, feel free to include it! 

thanks a mill & a trill.

-b

do: Lake Shasta!

Oh, hello people of my internet! Glad to see you haven't gone far.

I've decided that instead of another cop out post, I'm going to post a real-live adventure! Whoooo/ hoorayyyyy/back flips!

no pain, no gain in handstands

So, back when we were driving in and around the Pacific North West, we decided to do a little sightseeing and give ourselves a break from the van walls. At this point in the tour (over a month in), we're all a little on edge, and not completely rational. The guys might disagree with me, but that's just their irrational side kicking in. We found ourselves four hours north of San Francisco - the farthest north I've been in Cali. So, what do I do when I find myself in a new place? A handstand of course! However, the grass was so dry here that it actually cut my foot. Ridiculous. Anyway - a couple tours back (before I was a part of the crew), the guys discovered Lake Shasta. They swam in the lake, they jumped off a rope swing, Zach hurt his wrist - you know, the things little boys dream of. So, we went off in search of this magical place. One major problem: that lake they swam in? WASN'T THERE.

Was it a figment of their imagination? Had they gone so tour crazy at that point that they were swimming in dirt and Zach hurt his wrist doing cartwheels? WHAT WAS GOING ON? Nothing made sense anymore. Ron was not discouraged in the least and made us all set out on the had-been lake bottom to find this water.

The beautiful, Lake Shasta

Ron attempting to convince us he was not crazy

Oh, look. There's the water. Lovely. A cesspool of mosquito crap

So we climbed a lake-bed mountain//Dom is king of the world. 

Ahhhh there's some real water.  

Ron isn't completely nuts. Thank God.

Due to the aforementioned cut on my foot, I had to sit on these rocks while the boys swam. I don't mess with flesh eating bacteria, y'all

So instead, I went on a walk alone.

SHASTAAAA

I found boats! and a lovely scene. 

the closest you'll get to my no-make up face (PS - why is that a thing in instagram?). That's reserved for my boys in the van. Lucky guys.
Don't go too far! I've got more just waiting in the wings. However, maybe you should go get a snack or something. I've been known to not post when I say I will. 
Happy Saturday!
comment/love me in the, duh, comments.