Amsterdam

After my amazing trip to Belgium, Lauren and I hopped aboard a 2 hour train to the Netherlands where we would meet a group of our friends in Amsterdam.  I was trying to conserve camera battery, so I don't have as many pictures from the trip, but I will definitely remember every bit without pictures.  Amsterdam is a very picturesque town, it sort of looks like a pleasant Sleepy Hollow or HalloweenTown (Disney movie) and is located in a web of little canals which are all cross-able via cute bridges.  Biking and taking trolleys is the main form of transportation, and just walking around the town is a fun way to spend time.  We arrived very late on Sunday, and were actually placed in an alternative hotel for a night since our hostel couldn't put us up, so we went to bed without doing much of anything - and so we could prepare to meet our friends and have an active next couple of days.

At night, the streets of Amsterdam are lit in a Christmas-like fashion.

 On Monday, we had to spend time in the early afternoon finding an internet cafe and registering for Spring classes at Vandy, but after that we were ready to go explore.  We had lunch at a fun restaurant and walked through the many mazes of streets and canals.  Since we were with some of our guy friends as protection, we ventured to the Red Light District.  My jaw was probably dragging on the ground as we walked by the different "shops" - none of us could believe how crazy, yet legal, this area was in Amsterdam.  Furthermore, the legal use and sale of marijuana in Amsterdam was quite a unique thing to witness.  Although the city is infamous for marijuana and prostitution being legal, I did not feel threatened or awkward because there were plentiful of wholesome, historical, and beautiful things to see.

On Tuesday, we woke up for our museum day which went very smoothly since we had pre-ordered tickets to skip lines.  We started at The Heineken Experience, since the company is a family business born in Amsterdam.  We had an interactive tour, complete with a ride called "Brew You" where we were beer bottles going through the brewing and production process, and were given three free Heineken's with our ticket! Heineken has only four ingredients: water, barley, hops, and grade 'A' yeast - it's one of the only well known beers that I actually might enjoy drinking now and then.  The tour was a fun way to start our day, and I even got a souvenir for somebody (who is a secret for now).

Before the tour, with Heineken bikes.

After the Heineken Experience, we headed to another part of town to visit the Anne Frank House.  Taking pictures was prohibited in the house and museum, but it was an incredible place to be.  I was actually in the secret annex where Anne Frank hid with her parents, Otto and Edith, her sister, Margot, and another Jewish family.  I touched the walls in her secret room and got to see the magazine clippings and postcards she pasted onto her walls to have some sort of connection with the outside world.  I read her diary in middle school, but relearning her story and the history of her family and friends in the Holocaust was quite something, and I had chills almost the whole time.  I was able to sign a visitors book at the end after seeing her actual diary and a big map of her family tree, which actually extends to a couple first cousins thrice removed that are my age!

After visiting the museums and grabbing some dinner and waffles with ice cream, we headed back towards our hostel.  The "I Am Amsterdam" sign, a city monument and touristy photo opportunity area, was pretty close to our place, so we stopped for a dusk photo shoot.  We walked around a bit more, but went to bed early to wake up at 5am to catch our early flight.  We went straight from the airport to our program's "La Casa" where I take my linguistics class with our carry-ons.  Needless to say, I called off work and went home after class to Skype with my mom and dad and take a nap.

Climbing the I Am Amsterdam letters

Full view of the sign.

Plaza close to our hostel.

Taylor and me in a Dutch shoe on one of the main roads of town.

I loved Amsterdam! I would recommend a visit to anyone and would say to be sure to visit the two museums I saw along with others, like the Van Gogh Gallery.  My trip to the Netherlands is one I will never forget.

Brussels

Last Friday, immediately after my Linguistics midterm, I hopped on a plane with my friend Lauren and headed to Belgium.  Ever since I knew I would be studying abroad, going to Belgium had been on the top of my list.  I think this was because I envisioned it as a little Christmas village and because Belgian waffles were my all-time favorite breakfast as a kid.  Our flight was delayed a bit, but when we finally for to Brussels we were excited to check in to our hotel and wander around.  We stayed in the business district, a metro or taxi ride away from the main center, and so for the first night we just walked around the area of our hotel and had delicious homemade pizzas from a seemingly authentic Italian restaurant.  After sleeping for a while, we set out on Saturday morning for the more central, or even tourist-y, parts of Brussels.
We started off a little North of the town center (Grand Place) at a pretty crazy Brussels monument called the Atomium.  The Atomium was the main pavilion and icon of the World Fair in Brussels in 1958 and it symbolized the democratic will to "maintain peace among all the nations, faith in progress, and an optimistic vision of the future of a modern, new, super-technological world for a better life for mankind.  The structure was made of aluminum and steel, and we took Europe's fastest elevator from the tourist center and museum at the bottom all the way to the top sphere of the Atomium for a beautiful, panoramic view.  One of the most unique sights from the top was an amusement park area called "Mini Europe" - a walkable-sized European layout of countries showcasing the most important monuments and cities.

Walking towards the Atomium

View from the top sphere. Fall in Brussels was beautiful.

Mini Europe! The people walking around were bigger than some of the cities.

Me at the "be.welcome" sign outside of the Atomium in the Expo area of town.

Leaving the Expo area, we navigated the metro system to Grand Place, the most central part of town.  The actual square was surrounded by 4 beautiful, ornate buildings which currently house museums, tourist centers, and some government offices.

Example of the buildings around Grand Place square.

Also, right beside Grand Place, there was an outdoor tent shopping/fair area, called Agora on our map, that was full of artisans and shop owners selling jewelery, decorations, books, candies, and more.  This area was very cute, and was very similar to how I envisioned Belgium.

The tent area from outside.

After exploring the center of town, we walked about 20 or 30 minutes to the Cantillon brewery, a completely independent family business about to celebrate its centenary; it is also the last traditional brewery in Brussels.  They let us explore every square inch of the brewery: the mashing room, room with hop boilers, where they store the grains, the cooling tun room where they add yeast and use the "spontaneous" fermentation style (airborne wild yeasts do the work), where they store the barrels, the bottling area, and the cellar.  Their main products at Cantillon are Gueze - blend of 1, 2, and 3 year old lambic yeast, Kriek - cherries in 2 year old lambic, Rosé de Gambrinus - same as kriek but with raspberries replace the cherries, Vigneronnne - blend of lambic and white muscat grapes, and many more.  I really enjoyed seeing the entire process, and although beer is not my preference, I enjoyed learning about the brewery and the tasting at the end.

Old bottling machine.

Beer fermenting in barrels

We tried the raspberry and cheery beers, as well as the original Gueze.

On our way back into town and then to the hotel to rest, I passed a Greek Orthodox church and was so excited to go in, light a candle, and pray.  It was the first Greek Orthodox church I have seen since the day I left America! After a quick nap and shower, we ventured back into the main center to enjoy dinner at a Thai restaurant that had gotten good reviews.  It was sort of comforting to eat Asian chicken and vegetables, and a very refreshing and delicious dinner.  For dessert I had banana croquettes which tasted like banana's foster baklava with some ice cream, it was to die for.
After dinner, we went to Delirium Cafe, an old but very "hip" 3-level bar where there is a menu of over 2000 different kinds of beer.  Some friendly Italians suggested one we might like, and we sat for a couple hours just taking in the crowded, lively atmosphere and looking at the poster and advertisement covered walls.

On Sunday, we wanted to have a great brunch and do a Brussels city bus tour before we headed off to Amsterdam in the evening.  Lauren ended up finding a brunch place called "Bla Bla" on her phone, but when we arrived it didn't look open.  Once we walked in, we realized it was a gallery-turned-brunch-restaurant on weekends and it was the best breakfast I have had since leaving home.  It was also expensive, but every bite and sip was worth it.  The bus tour was very informative, I always love hearing the histories of the cities we visit. I took a lot of pictures as we were driving around, but I am only going to add and describe a few of them:

There was a whole strip of Greek restaurants on one of the many, windy roads of the center.

Our Lady Church.  There were a lot of beautiful churches throughout the city of Brussels.

Brussels garden where many war ceremonies and treaty-signings took place in the olden days.

Royal Palace.  The current resident is Brussels' monarch, King Albert.  When he is not there, the flag atop the center dome is taken down.

The Twin Towers of Brussels in the business district.  In this area there are a lot of offices and office buildings for all three branches of the European Union: the Parliament, the European Council of Ministers, and the Commission of executive officers.  It is in Brussels where they prepare documents for Strasbourg sessions.

Right beside the red and green tented market, Chocopolis was a delicious shop (I tried various pieces and truffles).  Every other shop on the street, though, was a designer chocolate shop in Brussels.  There were also huge lines at waffle carts and fry shops, too.

 Brussels was a beautiful city to visit, and I am so happy to have visited the home of the Belgian waffle. 

Just a couple steps up from King's....kinda...