Amsterdam, Netherlands (Day Two): Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, & the Anne Frank House (+ Our First Michelin-Starred Restaurant)
Amsterdam, Netherlands (Day Two): Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, & the Anne Frank House (+ Our First Michelin-Starred Restaurant)

Our first stop on day two, which was our museum-heavy day, was the Rijksmuseum. The Rijksmuseum is the national museum of the Netherlands and is dedicated to Dutch arts and history. It’s the largest art museum in the country, making it a must-visit if you’re coming to Amsterdam. Look out for work by the Dutch masters Jacob van Ruisdael, Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen, and Rembrandt. I was also intrigued by one of the paintings I noticed in their collection, pictured below, which is the only known portrait of a Black man in early European painting.

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TravelHannah Schultztravel, travel with me, International travel, amsterdam, netherlands, rijksmuseum, Van Gogh, anne frank house, ciel bleu, Michelin starsComment
Travel With Me: Amsterdam, Netherlands (Day One)
Travel With Me: Amsterdam, Netherlands (Day One)

For Ryan’s 30th birthday, I offered to plan a surprise trip for him. He had some general options to choose from (beach, hiking, city, cold/hot climate), but the rest would be revealed only when we were in the airport on our way there. As a huge Christmas fan, something that Ryan has always talked about has been going to the European Christmas markets, and since his birthday is mid-December, this felt like the perfect opportunity for this trip. He ended up blindly choosing from one of my Christmas market itineraries (among the choices he didn’t pick were Munich & Salzburg, Vienna & Budapest, Vienna & Prague, and Switzerland & Strasbourg). Right after passing my first qualifying exam for my PhD, we were off to experience the Christmas season in two new (to us) European destinations: Amsterdam and Brussels!

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TravelHannah Schultztravel, travel with me, International travel, amsterdam, netherlands, kattenkabinet, christmas market, ice village, canal cruise, festival of lightsComment
Terceira, The Azores (Day Six): Ponta dos Biscoitos & Alto da Memória
Terceira, The Azores (Day Six): Ponta dos Biscoitos & Alto da Memória

On our final day in Terceira, we took a roadtrip to the northern part of the island to check out the natural lava rock pools of Biscoitos. This area of the island is famous for its wine, and the drive took us through lush green pastures and vineyards. The lava pools are along the coast and filled by the ocean but protected from the waves. They’ve built platforms where you can sunbathe (or eat yet another grocery store atum sandwich), and some of the pools have concrete steps or ramps built down into them. The shallower pools/the ones further away from the ocean tended to be warmer, and we enjoyed swimming with some interesting looking fish while being sheltered from the waves. I would recommend having some kind of swim shoes (my trusty Chacos did just fine), since lava rock is deceptively sharp.

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TravelHannah Schultztravel, travel with me, International travel, portugal, azores, terceira, ponta dos biscoitos, alto da memoriaComment
Terceira, The Azores (Days Four & Five): Sightseeing in Angra do Heroísmo, Lava Tubes, & Volcanic Hiking
Terceira, The Azores (Days Four & Five): Sightseeing in Angra do Heroísmo, Lava Tubes, & Volcanic Hiking

On day four, we caught a flight from Ponta Delgada over to another island, Terceira, or the lilac island. It’s one of the largest islands of the Azores, and it’s home to the oldest city of the archipelago, Angra do Heroísmo.

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Travel, HikingHannah Schultztravel, travel with me, International travel, terceira, azores, angra do heroismo, lava tube, hike, misterios negros, algar do carvão, gruta do natalComment
São Miguel, The Azores (Day Three): Hot Springs Soaking in Furnas
São Miguel, The Azores (Day Three): Hot Springs Soaking in Furnas

On day three, we took a roadtrip to Furnas, which is the thermal hotspot of the Azores. The town itself is nestled in a dormant volcanic crater that last erupted in 1630. The residual volcanic activity is still present in the form of steaming fumaroles, thermal pools, and natural mineral springs.

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Travel, NatureHannah Schultztravel, travel with me, International travel, sao miguel, portugal, azores, hot springs, furnas, terra nostra park, pocas da dona beija, cozido das furnasComment
São Miguel, The Azores (Day Two): Dophin-Sighting and Snorkeling at Vila Franca Islet
São Miguel, The Azores (Day Two): Dophin-Sighting and Snorkeling at Vila Franca Islet

Our second day on São Miguel, we booked a full-day whale and dolphin watching tour that included a snorkeling excursion to Vila Franca Islet. We booked our tour through Picos de Aventura, and it was a good experience. The tour left from the marina, where we were given heavy-duty raincoats to keep off the cold sea spray. The boat itself was pretty small, so you got hit by a lot of spray. The seats were fairly comfortable on the ride out to the island—you were essentially horseback riding the cushion, with each space for a passenger separated by the seat back. On the way back, my thighs and butt were definitely feeling pretty sore from this position and the up-and-down motion of the choppy waters.

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Travel, NatureHannah Schultzsao miguel, portugal, azores, travel, International travel, dolphin, snorkel, vila franca islet, ponta delgadaComment
Travel With Me: São Miguel, The Azores (Day One)
Travel With Me: São Miguel, The Azores (Day One)

After our overnight flight to PDL, we decided our first stop would be to see some nature before checking into the B&B. The Jardim Botânico António Borges was founded in 1861 by a wealthy citizen of Ponta Delgada, and it is now a free public park. There are tree species from across the globe, caves, and a viewpoint that you can access at the top of a restored cistern. This introduction to the island did remind me of Hawai’i, as that was the only other place I’ve ever seen Moreton Bay fig trees like the one pictured above.

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TravelHannah Schultztravel with me, International travel, azores, islands, portugal, sao miguel, ponta delgada, botanical garden, Jardim Botânico António Borges, Pópulo beach, Forte De S. Caetano, Lagoa das Sete Cidades, Vista Do Rei, Boca do InfernoComment
Red Rock Scrambling in Garden of the Gods (Colorado Springs, CO)
Red Rock Scrambling in Garden of the Gods (Colorado Springs, CO)

We’re rounding out the blog posts about my trip to Colorado last spring with my first visit to Garden of the Gods. The park was originally privately owned and upon the death of Charles Elliot Perkins in 1909, much of his land was donated to the city of Colorado Springs to establish this free public park. There are several notable rock formations here, as well as layered sedimentary rock that has been upheaved into striking spines by the mountain-building forces that shaped the Rockies.

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Hiking, TravelHannah Schultzhike, hiking, colorado, colorado springs, garden of the gods, siamese twins, praying handsComment
A Year in Pictures: 2022
A Year in Pictures: 2022

Well, here we are. In retrospect, this year has felt both incredibly long and short. When I started this post, I was thinking to myself that nothing had happened and 90% of my months would just be photos of my pets. I was very wrong! We began this year with travel, went on a trip eight out of the twelve months, and ended the year with Ryan’s 30th birthday trip to Europe. It turns out that when you spend 4 months reading 100 texts and studying for the most stressful exam of your life, it really colors your memories of the year. So I’m glad to be able to look back at these photos and be reminded that I didn’t just spend 2022 in my office typing up notes and frantically trying to understand ecocritical theory.

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Photography and Video, LifeHannah Schultzyear in pictures, 2022Comment
Snow-Capped Mountains at Emerald Lake (Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado)
Snow-Capped Mountains at Emerald Lake (Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado)

We began the trip with a drive out to Rocky Mountain National Park. The last time I visited RMNP was in January when everything was well and truly frozen and snow-packed, so I was hoping things would be a little more thawed in April. We opted to try Emerald Lake, an easier 3.5-mile loop to an alpine lake nestled in the heart of the mountains. We were hoping that the lake wouldn’t be frozen despite the promise of snow lingering on the ground.

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Hiking, TravelHannah Schultzcolorado, Rocky Mountain national park, emerald lake, alpine lake, hike, hiking, longs peak, hallett peak, flattop mountain, denver, elkComment
Zion National Park (Day Three): Angels Landing
Zion National Park (Day Three): Angels Landing

We now come to the last day of our Zion National Park trip. We saved the hardest hike for last, which, in hindsight, is a good thing, because I couldn’t walk the next day (more on that later). Angels Landing is the most famous (or infamous) hike in Zion, and, as we learned during the hike, the most dangerous. In the last 21 years, 14 people have fallen to their deaths on this hike, the most recent just a few weeks before we did the same hike. Had we known this, would we (or at least I) have done this hike? Probably not. More on that later. I should also mention that we inadvertently saved Angels Landing for last because they had to repair a section of chain that had broken away in the previous days. Which was a whole other awesome anxiety to pile on to this hike.

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Hiking, TravelHannah Schultzhike, hiking, Zion national park, angels landing, death, refrigerator canyon, walter's wiggles, switchbacks, chains, scout's lookout, fear of heightsComment