"Did you get lost in Amsterdam?"

 In this post you will read about Luxembourg, Belgium, and Amsterdam!

Luxembourg

Luxembourg City

My time in Luxembourg was brief because we only stopped there for lunch on our way to Belgium. This was another day where I had meals in 3 different countries: breakfast in France, lunch in Luxembourg, and dinner in Belgium.

It rained during my visit to Luxembourg, so these are my impressions of Luxembourg as viewed under a purple umbrella. Also, it was November first, All Saints Day, so almost everything was closed besides a few restaurants and tourist shops due to the national holiday.

While walking around Luxembourg, I got the impression that the area is very well off. I learned that Luxembourg has one of the world’s highest GDP per capita, and that was obvious from the atmosphere of the town. During the remaining time after lunch, Lauren and I crossed the bridge to explore.

 

 I don’t have much to say about Luxembourg due to the holiday, the short amount of time we had there, and the rain, but it seemed like a nice place worth coming back to if I ever get the opportunity to randomly travel to Luxembourg again. 

Belgium

 

Leuven

Town Hall is on the left

 When we arrived in Leuven, it was still All Saints Day, so naturally everything was closed just like Luxembourg. Luckily though, it stopped raining and we were able to walk around without getting wet.

First Belgian Waffle!

The first thing we saw in Leuven was The Town Hall, which was so extravagant we thought it was a church. There was a church right nextdoor though too, which was pretty inside as all churches in Europe tend to be.

While walking the streets we smelled a delicious, sweet, fresh, and warm scent that led us to a waffle shop, where I got my first real Belgian waffle with Chocolate and Vanilla ice cream! It was the best waffle I have ever had!

Train Station

Brussels

The group in Brussels

The next day we headed to Brussels and our first stop was the Parlamentarium, a really cool interactive experience that taught us how the European Parliament system works. We all got an ipod audio guide that interacted with the exhibit as we walked through.

Next we headed into town where we had 3.5 hours until we needed to depart for Amsterdam. The first thing we did was find waffles for lunch, and I got a waffle with Bananas, Strawberries, chocolate, and powdered sugar! So yummy! Waffles in Belgium have a crunchy layer of sugar on the outside that is unlike any waffle I have ever had, and it is the greatest sweet taste a person can experience. The waffle place was right next to the famous statue in Brussels of a little peeing boy called Manneken Pis. I don’t know why it’s a ‘must see’ really, especially since it’s so small, but people flock to it, so I went to see it too. I mean it’s cute I guess, but I just don’t get it. Apparently the little boy has a wardrobe and he is dressed up sometimes.

Waffle, duh

Manneken Pis

Generally Brussels is a crowded city, and there are more chocolate shops along the streets than anything else. I think I picked a good one, but it’s expensive that’s for sure! I’m just hoping it doesn’t melt while I’m in Cyprus before I can bring it back to the States!

We spent a good amount of time in the Musical Instrument Museum, where I saw over 700 instruments from various time periods! It was a neat experience and we got an audio guide that played sound clips of some of the instruments.

The Kit, my favorite one

Musical Instrument Museum

Belgian Fries!

It started to rain again, just as we were about to leave, but there was one more thing we needed to do before leaving! We had to get French Fries because they actually originated in Belgium despite being called French Fries. They were freshly cut and a tasty snack for the bus ride to Amsterdam.

Netherlands

Amsterdam

 To answer the title of today's post,  which is from "Amsterdam" by Guster, no I did not get lost in Amsterdam!

When we arrived at our Amsterdam hotel, it was clear this was the worst hotel we were going to stay in. All of our previous hotels were decent sizes, clean, and bright.  This one was small, dark, and smelled like pot mixed with a flowery air freshener. Let’s just say I was not looking forward to sleeping there.

We walked around the city looking for dinner, and my general impression on the first day was that Amsterdam is crowded, smelly, and dirty. It was actually hard to find a place to eat because so many “cafes” lined the streets. Eventually we found an Italian place that actually smelled like food rather than weed when you walked in the door.

Because we were curious, we walked through the Red Light District to see what it was like. It felt weird to see all the girls waiting in their windows illuminated by the red lights above their doorways. It was so trashy, and I don’t understand how it is still legal. My friend Emma tried to take a picture of the girls in the window, but when they saw her, they banged on the glass and shouted through their doors.

In the daytime, I enjoyed Amsterdam a lot more. We went to the Hermatige Museum where I saw impressionist art and the Van Gough exhibit. I liked Monet’s paintings and Van Gough’s landscapes the best.

Jenna and Me!

Kyle and me trying Stroopwaffels

Of course it rained again, but I didn’t care because I got to meet up with my friend Jenna from Muhlenberg! She’s studying in Amsterdam and it was great to see her. We went out to lunch and then she took Kyle and me to try an Amsterdam specialty: Stroopwaffels! A Stroopwaffel is two thin waffle cookies pressed together with a syrupy, caramel center. They were fresh and yummy! We also went to the flower market, which is quite an experience! Amsterdam is known for their Tulips, and it was fun to see the different kinds at the market.

Kyle and I said our goodbyes to Jenna and we met up with the rest of our GLS group to go to the ‘I AMsterdam’ sign. There were so many people there posing on the sign, so it was impossible to get good ones.

 

At my request, we visited Vondelpark. I was really excited to go there because I read “The Faults in Our Stars” by John Green this summer, and the characters visit Vondelpark in the book. It was fun to stroll around the Park and get away from the crowded city for a little bit.

Vondelpark :)

Our next destination was the Anne Frank house, however when we got there at 6pm, there was a sign on the door saying the exhibit closed at 6pm exactly due to a special night for ticket holders only. Tickets for this event sold out weeks ago, so we were all disappointed that we didn’t get to see Anne Franks house. :(

 

For dinner we went to the Pancake Bakery, which is a place that makes the best Dutch pancakes in Amsterdam. Lauren and I split a savory ham, cheese, and pineapple pancake and an apple cinnamon pancake with cinnamon ice cream and whipped cream. If you ever go to Amsterdam, go to the Pancake Bakery!

Dutch Apple Cinnamon Pancake!

So many bikes in Amsterdam!

Amsterdam was probably my least favorite city that I visited during our 18-day trip because I wasn’t a fan of the atmosphere at night. In the daytime, I enjoyed walking around the canals, hanging out with Jenna, strolling through the park and trying Stroopwaffels! The trashy hotel we stayed at didn’t help the experience, but on the plus side I found 20 euro in the hallway, which is about 26 dollars! 

 

The only country from our 18-day trip I have left to blog about yet is France!  Seeing as it is midnight and I still have homework to do, I'm going to save that for another day. You'll just have to keep checking back to read about Paris, I guess! ;)

Till next time!

-Courtney <3