Tourist

COAT: Forever 21 // DENIM: Topshop // BUTTON-DOWN: h&m // SCARF: from a market in Florence // BOOTIES: from a store in Florence // SUNNIES: Urban Outfitters

I am not a model. On a rare occasion I can strike a pose but this shoot definitely lacked that moment. Anyway, I wanted to do a quick post on what I would label my "tourist" look. I did a lot of sightseeing over my semester in Europe, and this is typically what I would wear. There's not much to it - a nice coat, my favorite denim, and black booties. A good pair of black booties just does it for me and I can justify buying any pair that has a great shape and fit. It was a bit cold on this particular day because Florence has seasons. I added this beautiful red scarf to throw some color onto my monochromatic ensemble. Scarves are great, especially when they actually serve the purpose they are meant to. I am back home in the states now and I hope to get some more outfit posts up soon. Ciao for now.

xx Michelle

Follow me? 

Instagram - lifeonlotus

Twitter - @itsmemichelleg

Music: Still loving everything from Tame Impala. 

Autumn in Amsterdam

As my semester in Italy is coming to a close, I have accumulated quite a few photos from my weekends away. Instead of keeping them in my personal archives, over the next couple of weeks I am planning on featuring photos from some of my favorite travels around Europe. I spent a weekend in Amsterdam in mid-October. The leaves were changing colors and the weather was a bit chilly, making it a perfect Autumn weekend. Amsterdam was such a unique city full of canals, unique architecture, and some really cool people. I'll briefly go over what I got up to.
To save on costs, my friends and I stayed outside of the city. Public transportation is my mode of choice for getting around all European cities, but I found Amsterdam's system to be quite confusing and pretty pricey. I would recommend splurging a bit more on accommodation when visiting Amsterdam because we found it to be more difficult than usual to get in and out of the city everyday. As far as food goes, I ate very well in Amsterdam! There was a lot of variety and little cafes on every corner. It was a great place for breakfast which is always nice to find as an American traveling around Europe. Do yourself a favor and try a stroopwafel, as well.
As far as activities, we did a bike tour through Mike's Bikes which I highly recommend! Biking is definitely the way to see the city and I learned a lot about the city history and culture. We went all around the city, my favorite stops being Jordaan and Brouwerij 't Ij brewery, which is in a windmill. If a tour sounds a bit much for you I would recommend just renting bikes on your own as it's fairly inexpensive and such a fun way to get around. You definitely have to be an attentive biker though as the locals get pretty irritated with tourists getting in their way.
Other than the bike tour, we visited the Anne Frank House and the Van Gough Museum. If the Anne Frank House is a must see for you, I would skip the line and come back later at night as it stays open pretty late. The Van Gough Museum was incredibleone of my favorite museums I've visited in Europe. Again, we skipped the line and went pretty late in the evening. If you go for the late route like we did, just make sure you give yourself enough time to see everything before it closes.
Overall, I absolutely adored Amsterdam. I found the city to be incredibly picturesque, the people were lovely, and there was so much to see and do. The dutch seem to be doing a lot of things right and I would love to spend more time in Amsterdam in the future.
Hope you enjoy these travel posts. Talk to you soon.
xx Michelle

Follow me?
Instagram - lifeonlotus
Twitter - @itsmemichelleg

Tunes: To You Alone & All of Them Dreams by Tom Rosenthal. Coldplay's new album is pretty great too.