nickyferng

[nickyferng]

amsterdam, netherlands

you know when you get to a new place, one that you've google mapped thoroughly and where you've managed to convince yourself that you can walk everywhere? "25 mins from the hotel to restaurant? not bad! i'll just sightsee on the way!" well after day 2, and some very sore legs, i gave up on the that idea. i surprised myself by figuring out the local transit system - even if it was mostly borne out of necessity. old cities have my heart because of all the rich history encased within the walls of gorgeous old buildings, uneven cobblestones that many have walked on, and the otherworldly charm in the air that you can't quite put your finger on.

i can have a slightly addictive personality when it comes to collecting, so you can imagine how things unfolded when i discovered this series called amsterdam streets (https://www.amsterdamstreets.nl/en). cute miniature handmade and handpainted houses based on actual buildings in amsterdam that you can line up next to each other? i need all of them. if you put a bunch side by side, you've got a street. if you collect enough, you could have the whole city! cue rabid trekking to at least 8 different souvenir shops in search of these.

STAY

citizen m south pr. irenestraat 30, 1077 WX amsterdam, netherlands a favorite hotel chain of mine at this point. it's weird, fun, and perfect for one person. this particular location was right off the station zuid stop, super convenient.

DO

rijksmuseum museumstraat 1, 1071 XX amsterdam, netherlands so much beautiful art housed in one place. full of vermeers and rembrandts. not to mention the architecture - i was oohing and ahhing every corner i turned.

canal tour after sorting through what seemed like hundreds of listings on viator, i booked an evening excursion with flagship amsterdam that began in daylight and ended with the street lights turning on at dusk. what better way to get the lay of the land than hopping on a boat tour? they all started to look the same after the third canal we went through. i couldn't tell east from west. but it was certainly relaxing and beautiful, and we got an hour long lesson with jokes intertwined.

9 straatjes a historical and picturesque neighborhood that's worth a stroll.

holland huis leidsestraat 49 BG, 1017 NV amsterdam, netherlands look no further for all your souvenir needs. they had the amsterdam houses i was obsessed with and were super friendly to boot. the cashier wrapped up each house i bought with care, all the while making conversation.

daytrips belgium borders the netherlands from the south. it's a stones throw away, and so are 3 other hotspot cities within the country that can be all seen in one day: delft (known for delft pottery), rotterdam, and the hague. the latter has mauritshuis, an art museum housing the girl with the pearl earring. and madurodam, a theme park with miniature scaled versions of dutch landmarks.

EAT

de kas kamerlingh onneslaan 3, 1097 DE amsterdam, netherlands a beautiful greenhouse style restaurant in the middle of a park that was such an unforgettable experience. i loved the concept of using veggies from their garden in the dishes. you can pick from a fixed menu of 3, 4, 5, or 6 courses, which changes seasonally. every time a new course came to my table, they would stand there explaining what was in it, and i'd be typing furiously in my notes app. reservations need to be made months in advance.

tasters: gazpacho . green veggies cucumber . tahini . zatar spice cantaloupe melon . basil first course: tomatoes . gooseberry . kosho . buckwheat

second course: lettuce . vadouvan . yogurt sauce . rubber bean . white currant

third course: (i substituted a vegetarian dish in lieu of a mussel one) zucchini flower filled with potato . aji amarillo . baby zucchini . crispy corn

fourth course: pistachio ice cream . strawberry . raspberry . shortbread . saffron . orange blossom

fifth course: violet ice cream

meatless district bilderdijkstraat 65-67, 1053 KM amsterdam, netherlands vegan-based takes on popular dishes such as a "chicken" and "bacon bits" caesar salad with garlic thyme croutons and "parmesan". i was impressed by how real it tasted. the ambiance had a very farm to table feel.

[nickyferng]

kim + josh . california ranch house wedding

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chu family . sand dunes maternity session

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frank + rachel . love in los angeles

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wong family . ventura county session

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annie + scott . santa ysabel mini session

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idyllwild, california

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pan family . solana beach session

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washington, dc

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valencia, spain

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cagliari, italy

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trapani, italy

i loved taking my time wandering through town, observing the locals with their carts laden with fresh produce as they roll them up the street to be sold at the market. trapani feels like a quiet seaside port, with a coastline stroll that makes it seem like your problems are rather insignificant at that very moment.

[nickyferng]

rome, italy

jetlagged and with only a few hours to spare, we saw most of rome from a bus window and only got off inside the vatican city to do some discovery by foot there. plenty of people watching to be done in st. peter’s square and the security line to get into st. peter’s basilica wasn’t bad on that particular day. entrance to the church is free, but there is a fee if you want to take the additional option of climbing to the top of the dome. i hear there is an excellent bird’s eye view of the square and surrounding city. you could take a lift and climb the last bit (320 steps to be exact) for 8€. if you are willing to climb all 551 steps by foot, it would be 6€.

[nickyferng]

naples, italy

we docked in the port of naples and took a stroll along the sea, followed by a city tour in the morning. monastero di santa chiara (49/c, via santa chiara, 80134 napoli) is a nice way to spend an afternoon. for a €4.50 admission fee, you can wander through the monastery, museum, archaeological area, and cloister. i have always considered cloisters to be an architectural dream; those pretty covered walkways and elegant arches, so peaceful and serene, with walls bordering one side and an outdoor courtyard on the other. these ones were home to bountiful orange trees in the middle of december! we also found some well established olive trees on the grounds, a must-have for any locale along the mediterranean. i especially love the way they caught the sunlight that day (big fan of olive trees here, if you can’t tell). outside the complex, lies the several-storied brown and white bell tower against a gorgeous clear blue sky. the cobble-stoned alleyways surrounding it span into a dizzying array of shops. if you have time and transportation out of the city, the amalfi coast, capri, and sorrento are all a drive south.

[nickyferng]

portland, maine

first stop, marcy’s diner (47 oak st.) for the most delicious crumbly, warm muffins. with our bellies full of breakfast, we went to portland head lighthouse (1000 shore rd.), the town’s most distinctive attraction, to climb on some rocks and get the perfect instagram photo. there was a guy telling his girlfriend to “be a mermaid” as he snapped away. we took a 15 minute ferry ride out to peaks island with the intention of renting a golf cart by the hour. the shop was completely out of carts by the time we got there, but one of us noticed a somewhat questionable sign that had a number for us to call. the man on the other end picked up and told us to go straight a few hundred yards, then turn left. the three of us were desperate and didn’t question the authenticity of, well, anything... and were subsequently rewarded with the last of two golf carts. high risk high reward. i don’t know why, but it was an absolute blast, riding through the woods, holding on for dear life, going over little puddles, then turning around and going over it again just to hear the splash. at some point, we noticed there were some locals out in front of their house staring at us and silently judging. we rode the ferry back into portland and went to boda (671 congress st.) for dinner to munch on some thai street food served tapas style before jumping in the car and making the drive back to boston.

[nickyferng]

boston, massachusetts

my flight landed quite late in the evening and i was promptly picked up by a local friend, only to sit through some of the worst congestion i’ve ever seen. i asked him why was there so much traffic at 11pm on a wednesday evening when everyone should be in lying in bed on their phones, getting ready for the next day. his response: “nichol. these roads were made for horses”... a no less than perfect answer for a city with a background so rich in american colonial history.

i came into town years ago for a weeklong work conference and was just mesmerized by all the brick and stone federal style houses with their stoops and the greek revival buildings that look so completely out of place. so many days were spent in the heart of the city before, i knew that this time, i wanted to branch out and see some of the other new england towns up the atlantic coast. but there are also some things worth seeing over and over, regardless of how many times you’ve laid eyes on it before. i was excited to pay a visit to the beacon hill neighborhood again and spend the entire morning zigzagging through the streets with absolutely destination in mind. on the way, i couldn’t resist getting an lavender earl grey teacake at georgetown cupcake - a special they only have on their may menu. boston public garden��is another example of an excellent revisit that you’d never get tired of. something new that i tried - exercising while on vacation. i looked up a local boxing gym and did a session at peter welch’s gym (371 dorchester ave). i think i would probably continue this trend of seeking them out in all the places i travel to. one of the nights, my friend and i headed to assembly row to dine at southern kin (huge mouthwatering buckets of fried chicken!) with his nursing school friends. another evening, i crossed the bridge to walk around the cambridge area and met with another friend for ramen at shabu & mein. it had been so long since i last saw her, that the moment she arrived, i threw my arms out in excitement and sent an entire cup of ice water spilling across our table. i’m sure the waiters all hated me for it. afterwards, we went down the street for some dessert at toscanini's ice cream. ever since my discovery of salt and straw’s interesting, gourmet ice cream flavors, i made it my life’s mission to hunt down any and all ice cream shops that sell such inventive options. on my last full day, i went to somerville for spanish tapas at dali (415 washington st.)

[nickyferng]

olympic national park, washington

we boarded a crack-of-dawn flight into sea-tac, rented a car, and buckled down for a 3 hour drive to our destination. by the time we got to the olympic peninsula, it was already mid-afternoon - just enough daylight left in the sky to climb on rocks by the strait and do a short one hour hike. night was already upon us by the time we were headed for our airbnb which was located in the middle of the woods near the elwha river. when i say “middle of the woods”, i literally mean driving half a mile through tall, thick cedars and fir trees on a one car dirt path. in the morning, absolutely beautiful; birds singing, sunlight streaming through the autumn colored leaves, majestic trees, blissful silence. but at night... it was completely terrifying. like the i’m going to get murdered kind of terrifying. birds are not singing. it is pitch black. you can only see as far as the car headlights ago. the trees suddenly seem sinister. there is still silence, though of the ominous variety instead of blissful kind. we joked that if the car broke down, we would just sleep in the backseat until morning when it’s safe to go outside for help. 

DAY 1

ezells famous chicken 1902 MLK. jr way, tacoma, WA 98405 a tried and true for me. there are multiple locations spread out through the seattle area, but we went to the one in tacoma since it was en route to olympic. i like to order the all dark meat, spicy fried chicken, with some corn and mac & cheese on the side. 

tongue point a classic pacific northwest rocky shoreline with tidepools, located in the saltcreek recreation area. check the charts and go during low tide to get the most out of it. we originally went to the bunker area, then realized that we had to go back to the original parking lot we first saw and walk through the campground, heading in the direction of the water. keep to your right, and you’ll eventually find the fence and staircase that descends down to the shore.

marymere falls the trailhead starts right next to the storm king ranger station, a cute little house in the middle of a field surrounded by towering trees. you start off passing through a short tunnel that runs under the 101 freeway and are in the company of old growth forest for the next .75 miles (about 1.5 miles round trip), passing by some log bridges, and finally up a moderately steep, uphill climb to see the waterfall. 

DAY 2

hoh rainforest woke up early to make the 2 hour drive to the other side of the park. hall of mosses (.8 miles) and spruce nature trail (1.2 miles) were both easy strolls through some stunning otherworldly tree groves. pictures and gasps to be had at every corner you turn.

rialto beach sat on some some driftwood and enjoyed sounds of the crashing waves for a good half hour, then attempted to head towards some interesting rock formations a distance up the coast. the entire beach is covered in pebbles and rocks, which makes walking on it a very effective workout for your calves and ankles.

crescent lake lodge we made our way here in the evening and sat on the dock to watch the sunset. it was so peaceful hearing the water lapping at the edge of the lake while the light slowly faded from view behind the mountains. 

barhop brewing and taproom 124 w. railroad ave, port angeles, WA 98362 right by the ferry docks. the previous night, we ordered the “prosciutto” pizza, which had house red sauce, caramelized onions, mushrooms, mozzarella and parmigiano. it was so good, we went back again on the second night and ordered the “flambe” house bechamel white sauce, smoked bacon, caramelized onions, mozzarella and parmigiano. i’m a white sauce girl all the way, so while both were delicious, i slightly preferred the flambe.

DAY 3

hurricane hill  we got a 5:30am start and drove through pitch darkness in order to watch the sunrise. by the time we got to the base of the mountain, light was already starting to appear and steadily grew as we ascended. we realized soon enough that we weren’t going to make it to the top before the sun fully appeared. luckily there was a turnout that had the perfect view. cirque rim (.5 miles) is an easy going trail with views of port angeles and the strait of juan de fuca, accessible from the visitor center parking lot. hurricane hill trail (1.6 miles) provides a panoramic view of mountains covered in thousands of trees. 

molly moon 4822 rainier ave s., seattle, WA 98118 took a detour for my favorite earl grey ice cream flavor before checking into the airport. this is another local chain, so we just stopped at the closest one while returning from olympic. their waffle cones taste so light and vanilla-y. it has a great crunch at the end when all you’ve got is the bottom point.