This weekend I traveled to not just one country but two! Three cities in one weekend is quite a lot, and I am very tired from all the traveling but I will do my best to recap the weekend because I have been slacking on my blog.
We arrived in Amsterdam Friday night around 6:30pm. From there we figured out how to take the train to Central Station and then the Tram to where our hostel was. After taking a right at the bridge and a left at the other bridge we found the lovely International Budget Hostel. Despites its name this little place was quite nice with friendly staff, clean rooms and a great location! We were in a 4 person room but, except for our new friend Paul the first night, we had it to ourselves.
Friday night we wandered around the city a little before finding a place to eat. Walking over the bridges and past all of the canals was so beautiful. After eating we thought it would be best to locate where we were supposed to go the next day. But, Google Maps being brilliant gave us the most convoluded directions and proceeded to turn us around for hours. Luckily, we found the place and managed to walk back to the hostel in 20 minutes. However, I am very surprised that I was not hit by a tram or bicycle. It is impossible to figure out what is sidewalk versus bike lane versus street!
We ended our night early and headed back to the hostel to sleep so we could wake up bright and early for our trip to Belgium!
Through a tour company we booked a day trip to Antwerp and Brussels. This is also where my weekend of eating officially began. We began the day in Antwerp which was tiny and cute and really fun to explore for a little. We went into the Cathedral of our Lady. After that Annsleigh and I hunted down waffles and enjoyed the best waffle I have ever eaten. And, naturally, we bought Belgium chocolate.
From there we headed to Brussels, which is one of the coolest cities I have been to. I would have loved to spend more time there. Sadly, we only had about 3 hours of free time to explore on our own before the bus left for Amsterdam. We wandered around the square. Then, we went off in search of Manneken Pis or The Peeing Man which is one of the most popularly photographed statues in Belgium.
We also continued eating and bought fries because, as you may or may not know, what we considered "French Fries" (or chips here in London) are actually Belgium Fries because that is where they originated. After that we went in search of Delirium Cafe. Randomly, we found it down a little alley way after thinking we may never find it. There we tried Delirium beer, a great Belgium beer that (fun fact) was named named as "Best Beer in the World" in 1998 at the World Beer Championships in Chicago, IL.
Sunday we woke up early(ish) and first went to the Anne Frank House. The house was turned into a museum by Otto Frank not just a museum, but a "museum with a story." It was a truly powerful and engaging museum. I highly recommend it to anyone going to Amsterdam. Afterwards, we decided to continue our Holocaust theme and headed towards the Resistance Museum. We got a little lost on our walk there as well but eventually made it. Again, another really great museum that provided me with some knowledge about World War II and the Netherlands that I had not known before. We concluded our day with an hour long canal boat tour which basically showed us the area around our hostel was but from a different perspective which was quite cool.
Monday we woke up and checked out of our hostel. We left our bags there and headed towards to Von Gogh Museum. Although most of his famous peices are not there we saw many incredible works. What I also really enjoyed was the museum displayed peices by other artists who may have inspired Van Gogh or were his contemporaries. They also included a lot of history about Van Gogh, his life and his relationship with his brother.
After the museum we went to Vondelpark which is Amsterdam's most famous park. And then, after giving up all hope, we found the I AMSTERDAM sign!
After a busy morning we grabbed our bags from the hostel and headed towards the airport, worrying about making sure we got there with enough time. Luckily, we arrived at the airport over two hours before our flight was scheduled to even board! Better early than stuck paying for another flight. What was odd about the Amsterdam airport is after having our tickets and passports checked we did not encounter any sort of security until we were at the actual gate to board. Strange. Also, we flew into London City Airport which is tiny so getting back through customs was much easier than what I've encountered before.
All in all I loved Amsterdam and Belgium and would love to go back and be able to spend more time in both areas. Although, the bitter cold we encountered is something I would hope to avoid in future trips.
So, after a very successful, and very exhausting weekend, I am looking forward to writing many papers in preparation for the end of the first half of the semester and my upcoming trip to Prague and Vienna!
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