Amsterdam Photos!!

Cheese!

Magic in the street.

Chocolate covered waffle with whipped cream...mmmm

Oldest church in Amsterdam.

Near the Van Gogh Museum. 

They love their Amstel and Heineken. 

The way to Anne Frank's house.

Finally here are some Amsterdam photos. Thanks to my sister for her "superb editing" I emailed some photos to her which she put some love into for me and sent them back so you can all see what I've been up to. Enjoy!

Amsterdam!

I believe it is Friday....My days are all crossed since I've been here. We got into Amsterdam early Wednesday morning after about about 14 hours of travel time. We went straight to settle into our our apartment which you can view here. It's a nice place, tiny and tall. 3 stories, lots of beds, and 1 bathroom. Did I mention there are 7 of us? It's perfect. After settling in and showering we went straight out to walk around in the infamous Red Light District. Now granted it was close to 11am, but it didn't seem much different than New Orleans. I saw a kangaroo rat, interesting shops, and even more interesting people....we'll leave it at that. After that we all went back to the apartment where I promptly took a nap.  Just had a casual dinner late that night and a few drinks and off to bed. On Thursday morning I woke up at the crack of dawn, 1. because the sun rises at around 5am here, and 2. the jet lag. Full day Thursday, we went to a few museums, saw some original Rembrant's and Van Gogh's, and took a canal tour through the city. It was BEAUTIFUL! A little chilly, but other than that, great. I took lots of pictures to share. That night we went to the bars around the Red Light District. Strangely enough everything closes very early around there so we came back close to our apartment, had some late night eats(best falafel of my life!), and drinks at a nearby piano bar. Goooood times. Today we took it pretty easy, woke up late, went out to eat, walked around in the square, saw some street performers, drank some great coffee, ate a deeeelish proscuttio sandwich, people watched, and hung around. Tomorrow we are heading to Geneva, but leaving late. We may rent bikes tomorrow to ride around the city(which I am terrified to do), and also go through the famous Madame Taussauds. Close to 8pm we will be on an easyjet to Switzerland. I'll be posting photo as soon as my computer will allow it....unfortunately since I arrived I've had no luck in opening my Photoshop CS4 program:( It keeps telling me that some components are missing and the program must be reinstalled....which I can't do from here!! GRRR!

So hang tight for the photos, coming soon!

a few things about Amsterdam...

-dutch is a hideous language

-the pizza and falafels here are amazing

-people really do smoke pot everywhere

-Heineken, their local beer is gross

-it is COLD here

-the buildings are sinking because Holland is below sea level

-the locals are sweet

-business men wear skinny suits and ties and ride mo-peds

-the sun rises at 5am and sets at 11pm

-bikes and trains WILL run you over

Also- I got an e-mail from the AVAA asking me to participate in another photo show in October!

-a

Europe Bound!

Leaving in a few days for Europe. I've been lazy, as usual, with keeping up with the blog....soooooo I am carrying my computer and camera with me all through Europe. I'll force myself to post!!

1st stop, amsterdam. photos soon.

The Alcoholican

Have you gotten your fix lately?

The lovely alcoholican has linked me as a foodie photographer. John GL (the author of the blog) a very talented chef, photographer, and wine enthusiast, he always has something entertaining and educating to say. I've been a part of some of his cooking adventures and photographed his food.

I'm so honored to be linked. So check it out!

www.alcoholian.com

New Cookbook is OUT!

The newest cookbook is out and looking fantastic. It can be viewed here at.....

www.chefdavidbull.com

Please check it out if you get a chance, even just the page. We are all very proud of it. Here is one of the photos from the book....

It is a White Bean Chili with Italian Sausage and Creme Fraiche topped with Green Onions. yummmmmmmmmm.

I got myself a new little Mac so I am hoping to be updating the blog a lot more. I'm out of town visiting family in Louisiana right now, here are a few from my brothers baseball game on Saturday....

ahhhh.....so proud of him. 

I'll be back to Austin the beginning of May with less than a month and a half left before my Euro-vacay! We have finalized our route and it will be as follows...

Amsterdam-->Geneva-->Nice-->Venice-->Rome-->Paris! 

If you have any places you've been or suggestions of things to visit in any of these cities I'd love to hear, especially places to EAT and PHOTOGRAPH! E-mail me at ashleighcstrain@gmail.com.

AVAA Show photos

Here are the photos from the show....

Thanks to all who came to the AVAA Show!

It was a success. I was so pleased with the way it turned out, the people, the photos, other photographers, and all of my lovely friends that came by. If you couldn't make it this time, don't worry I was asked to participate again.

Here are some photos of the show by my sister. 

 

Soon I'll post each photo that was in the show. Enjoy these for now.