Friday, August 15, 2008

Amsterdam and Brussels . . .

Well I've been meaning to post about my weekend trip to Amsterdam and Brussels all week now. It has been a crazy few days with trying to work some extra hours, and also moving to a new apartment here in Koeln. Now, I am all settled in, and it's the weekend, so I have a moment to finally crack down on this.
To start things off, this was the second weekend that Kelly and Matt were here, and we planned out a trip for the weekend to see some new sites. We originally wanted to include Paris in our plans, but France, being the way that French people are, require reservations on their trains, which were all full. For the other countries, even if the train is full, you can still spread out on the floor somewhere and get to your destination. Anyways, so we had decided to take an afternoon on Friday and go to Amsterdam, and then spend the rest of the weekend in Brussels.
Since we were only in Amsterdam for a few hours, we didn't see a lot of it, and I am sure that there were many things that we had missed. We went there without any kind of plan, and after leaving the train station we found ourselves in the red light district by complete accident. It was different (that's all I will say on the red light district, because everyone already knows what is there). After finding our way out of there, we found ourselves pleasantly strolling along canals and over bridges since Amsterdam is made up of about 900 islands, much like Venice. The one thing that we did in Amsterdam that was really worthwhile was we visited the Anne Frank House. It was really fascinating to walk through the hidden rooms of the house, and be in the same place that Anne Frank wrote her famous diary. It was definitely moving, and before long we were also moving along our way to Brussels, Belgium, not really knowing what to expect!
Brussels is a very odd city to say the least. It is the seat of the European Union and so therefore, a very international city. Belgium has two official languages; French, and Dutch, and in Brussels, French was most prominent. People were very friendly and helpful, and the city was a blast to explore. Our first stop was in the Delirium Cafe after we arrived in our hostel. The Delirium Cafe is a world famous bar due to the fact that it houses the most beers in the world in one place. With a menu the size of an encyclopedia, the Delirium Cafe boasts almost 3000 different brews from around the world. We tried a few, and had a great time mingling with locals and other foreigners alike. The rest of the time we spent wandering around the city. Brussels is a beautiful city, but none of it's architecture seems to fit each other. A beautiful building would have an ugly building just added directly onto it, and that sort of thing. However, as in order not to disappoint anyone, I did buy some German chocolate, and I did eat a Belgian Waffle for breakfast. Both were delicious!
I had a great weekend, and after a long week, I have finally moved into my new apartment. I am living in student housing here by the University. It is a large suite for 5 people, and I seem to have great roommates. My room is bigger than before, I have a larger kitchen, and all in all better place for cheaper rent. It should be a good few months!
I'll be giving more updates soon! I am going to try and post in here more often. I also have some more trips up my sleeve within the next couple of months.
I hope all of you readers are well, and everyone from back home, I am thinking of you. Oh, and in case you thought I was avoiding the subject, the answer is "No, I didn't try any of the wacky weed in Amsterdam!" Y'all know me better than that!
I look forward to reading comments!
Leibe Gruesse aus Koeln!

Amsterdam Photos
Brussels Photos

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want that beer encyclopedia! ;-P yum!

Anonymous said...

sounds like a blasty blast!

-Keely

Anonymous said...

What ever happened to "when in Rome" ... errrr ... Amsterdam? Oh well, at least you drank some awesome beer :) Keep on keeping on my dear!

Anonymous said...

Did you see the Delirium Cafe featured on the TV Show "Three Sheets"? The place looks awesome, and I am jealous that you got to go there. . . . I am also incredibly jealous of that Belgian Waffle . . .
Cheers!