Bird in Bloom: City Sounds

Fall in Europe feels close to how it does at home, but I might favor my setting slightly more. I walk and leaves crunch beneath my feet. I listen to the sound of them hitting the pavement and watch them dance with the wind down the streets. Everyone's cheeks are rosy and their jackets are buttoned up all the way. And Christmas lights and markets are being set up and I am ready for it all.

I've developed an addiction for walking at twilight. Have you noticed how beautiful everyone and everything looks at this time of the day? I can watch people endlessly. I like sitting and watching people move; I've noticed we move so fast sometimes. But time doesn't go by so fast if you sit.

This city has been everything that everyone said it would be and more. We walk late late nights on the Champs while it rains, and I feel I'm in a movie. I've never not minded the rain so much- somehow things look even more beautiful when they are wet.

This past week I went to the Madeleine Church to watch a quartet play and the acoustics made my ears very happy. I heard Mozart for two hours while looking up at the ceiling of this enormous place. After seeing so many churches, I am still puzzled by their construction and the detail that was once put into them. I mean, how did they do it?!

You should have seen this man's right arm move!!

A weekend back I visited Amsterdam, a city that lives a little bit differently than everywhere else. The lifestyle there didn't seem like real life to me so it was fun to getaway to a different realm. There was so much color in Amsterdam- the leaning buildings, the million bikes which I almost collided with, and all the boat houses. There used to be 50 canals in Amsterdam in the 17th century. Now there are more than 250.

We wandered so many of its little streets and admired all of the characteristics. We visited Anne Frank's house, an emotional walkthrough that put lots of things into perspective, walked through markets, ate pancakes and waffles, and had a tough time ethically figuring out what to think of the notorious Red Light District.