Eurotrip: Netherlands to Belguim

Day 12 - Watch out Brussels, HERE WE COME

I know I didn't feel like getting up as early as we did, but we had to move on to bigger and better things (or "Brussels"). We decided that it was a very smart idea to ride our bikes to the train station with our gear, killing 2 birds with one stone: getting to the train station and returning the bikes. (And it worked, by the way, we just had to go nice and slow.)

We had an smooth ride into Brussels and since it was the least researched of our cities, we didn't know which hostel to go to nor which of the 3 stations in the city to get off at. We decided to check out the hostels that were close to the Midi station, which is where our Eurostar train back to London left from. Then we spent what felt like an hour looking at my guidebook and asking the info people for maps and recommendations for which hostel to stay at. They were utterly unhelpful and had a hotel search but not a hostel search service. In the end, we popped back on a train and rode back one stop (5 min) to the Central station, then walked to a hostel from there.

Our gamble didn't pay off. The hostel (when someone finally let us in) was totally booked and they told us that all the other hostels in the city were booked up too! They gave us info for two low-end hotels so we picked one and headed on over. It was a sketchy walk into a sketchy part of the city... a few people asked us if we need help and/or directions but we eventually found the street we were looking for. Then we found the number we were looking for-- and it was a blank stretch of wall on a derelict building with smashed, glass-less upper windows. I was horrified so we kept walking and at the end of the street, we found a hotel-- which happened to be the one we were looking for! We checked in, pretty much out of desperation and also, our bags were extremely heavy and we were pooped.

So our host led us over to an elevator (which had no walls on 2 of the sides and a door that let us in and out) and then up another flight of stairs to our room. It was so crappy. We didn't take pictures (I think we were too horrified to even entertain the idea) so just imagine this: it had a big bed and a twin, a slanted ceiling (like we were the top floor underneath the roof) with a window that had a view of more roofs, and my favorite part had to have been the bathroom. The toilet was in one room, and the rest in another (acceptable, I've seen this other places). The toilet room's door didn't have a knob on the inside, so either the person not using the toilet had to shut it for you, or it just didn't close all the way! The BEST part of the other room was the fact that there wasn't even a door at all. And then there was the fact that the shower was tiny and had a hump (like a seat) in half of it. It made showering difficult, and Sarah and I each almost died from slipping about 3 times each. There was also a wardrobe near the entrance to the shower room, so we propped that door open and it covered about half the door.

After briefly checking out the room, we dropped our stuff, paid the guy, then booked it out of there. We decided to see the famous peeing statue/ fountain which actually wasn't that far away. We got there and I was surprised to see a crowd gathered!

In case you forgot or didn't know, Brussels is in Belgium and in Belgium they make chocolate. LOTS of it. It seemed like every other shop was a chocolate one! So after taking pictures of the crazy statue/fountain, we headed over to the old main square, hitting every chocolate shop we passed and sampling some goods at each!

For the record, the Belgian maps have very effective advertising-- because based solely on the picture on the map, we decided to visit the "Atomic Sculpture." We found the problem with this attraction was that though the ad pointed to where the Atomic thing was supposed to be, it was actually off the map completely. Which meant that we had a huge walk. After maybe an hour of walking through busy streets, sketchy minority neighborhoods (where there was a fight complete with police and paramedics) and then discovering we were only half way there, we decided to go ahead and take the Metro. It was a good decision because we were there in no time!

The Atomic thing is basically huge, silver, pointless and supposed to represent an atom. It was built in the '60s. I think you are allowed to climb up into it and look around but we got there after it was closed and it also cost something outrageous like €16. We took some pictures then walked back to the Metro stop where a nice man helped us find our way back.

Once back at the old main square area, we got some fries with ketchup and mayo (surprisingly tasty!) and a little later, a BELGIAN WAFFLE! It was pretty tasty too. After that we headed back to the slightly scary hotel, where we took exciting showers, repacked everything then got to bed.

Me (lookin a little crazy), waffle, peeing boy

Eurotrip: Amsterdam Mayhem

Day 11 - You Pronounce it "Aahm-staah-daahm" (when you sing it in Dutch, anyway)

Partly to make up for spending half a day on the train the day before, Sarah and I got up early (7:30!) and rented bikes! Clearly I had a great time last time I got to ride around a city on a bike (Munich, anyone?) so I was very excited to get back on a bike in a new city, especially one that was bike-friendly. The friendly bike renter guy gave us a map and showed us where nice places to ride were, then Sarah and I jumped on our sweet red bikes and headed out. Sarah wanted to see the Red Light district (me, not so much) so we decided to go there first thing while it was still daylight and not as sketchy.

So our first stop of the day was the inner, inner circle of the rings of canals. We stopped at a bridge and managed to find a spot to lock up our rides (which took about 8 minutes- we had a wheel lock and chain with a key for security) then- we walked into Chinatown. The next street over was the actual Red Light district and it looked innocent enough. We came across a movie being filmed, so we stopped for a look, along with a small crowd. It involved a few girls in a few windows and a guy on a tractor. I have no idea what the movie was about, but they rehearsed the tractor man pulling up to this shop and the guy getting off about 12 times... and by then I was bored.

So, down the street we continued, passing by tulip bulb stands, marijuana stores and every type of x-rated shop you can think of. Since it was still early, there weren't too many women in the windows... but there were a few. The experience of this one street was distressing and I was very glad to get back to my bike and ride away from there.

Since I had the map, I was the leader all day. However, we just rode around, taking pictures of statues whenever we saw them and mostly just petaled around in no particular direction and no destination in mind. Sarah had heard of the Heineken Experience and wanted to go there, but it wasn't on my maps and we didn't know where it was. I told her (since I didn't really want to go, thinking it would be like Anheuser-Busch 5 minutes away from my house) that we would go-- if we found it (again, thinking it was totally unlikely in the huge city). For some reason, I only had one spare battery in my backpack and of course, my camera's battery light when on. So, a little before lunch time, we decided to stop by at the hostel so I could get fresh batteries. We petaled over a bridge and suddenly right in front of us was-- you guessed it-- the Heineken brewery!

And what luck- I am glad we made our little bargain and found the brewery when we did, because it was awesome! It was nothing like the brewery by my house (which I've been to millions of times) including the price (free at home- and €11 for an Experience). We made sure to get our 11 euros worth out of it, so we took a few hours and did the self-guided tour right, reading every label and watching practically every video available. We got a few tokens for beer and a free gift (a bottle opener, how apt!) and my favorite part was the video email we sent of the both of us lip-syncing in front of a green screen to some traditional Dutch tune! It was hilarious, and unfortunately, I only got to see it once before it got deleted, otherwise I would put it right here!

We passed the rest of the day wandering around looking for things: a place to eat, an ice cream place that we had a coupon for, and eventually the "I amsterdam" sign. Here's what it is:

We rode thru a few parks and just enjoyed the scenery for a while then decided to head back to the hostel for the night. We stopped at a shop and had a cup of tea to warm us up and there, Sarah bought some legal "plant matter" for about €2.50. After dropping our bikes at the hostel and adding a few layers for warmth, we found a nearby and tiny park and Sarah lit up! We hung out for a few hours (me eating candy the whole time) then headed to bed.

Check out the funky statue in our park!

Fave Photo

Isle of Skye

(May)

According to my tourguide, Scotland rarely has weather like this and the mountians in the background are usually not visible! I just like all the blue in this one.