Well I can now officially cross a couple things off my To Do List in life. I can now cross off waffles and chocolate in Belgium, riding a bike in Amsterdam, seeing the Sunflower by Van Gogh, riding on a train through France, and eating a Bratwurst in Germany. I have only been traveling for four days, but they have been a fantastic and full four days.
Monday morning around 5am we left on a train from Helsinki to Tampere, Finland to catch our flight to Bremen, Germany. We were only in Bremen for about 3 hours, but I loved every hour of it. I saw spring officially for the first time all year. Yes, I saw a little blip of it in Stockholm, but Bremen was full on! I saw trees with full green leaves on them, I saw real green grass, and I smelled spring! I also wished upon my first dandelion, if you know me at all you now how much I love wishing on dandelions. Spring is so beautiful to me now since I was deprived of it for a while. I mean the smell of pollen was so amazing!! I’m sure all of you in the States are annoyed at those yellow things that fall on your car, but right now I could just lay in a pile of those and be so happy. The little things mean so much when those little things are absent for a while.
In Bremen we walked around a park for a while that led to this beautiful windmill surrounded by flowers in the shape of the city seal. It was so pretty!! Bikes were everywhere in Bremen (although not nearly as many people rode bikes compared to Amsterdam). Then we went to the city center where we ate Bratwurst with mustard in this tiny bun.
On the train ride to Amsterdam we saw some beautiful landscapes. It was full of fields and crops. My favorite was the yellow flower field. I am not sure what the flower is exactly, but they are everywhere, so bright and pretty. We (Amanda, Brad, and I…. that is who I am traveling with at the moment. They are an American couple from West Virginia. Brad studied in Helsinki and Amanda in Stockholm this past semester) also saw a lot of cows, some more windmills, cute houses, and then some more fields. I have really enjoyed riding on the trains from country to country. You really get to see some beautiful parts of the country.
Amsterdam was amazing. I loved it. So far it has been my favorite, but I still have many more to go. I completely misjudged it thinking it was all about sex and drugs. Yes, prostitution and pot are present in the city, but they are also present in any other city. We took a tour of the city and learned that it is all about tolerance. So while most cities try to hide the fact that prostitution and drugs exist, Amsterdam makes it legal to a certain extent. There are still many rules to them, and the city is slowly trying to make them illegal again. Nothing went away when they made it illegal a long time ago. It just went underground. So they made it legal so that they could regulate it and control it.
Anyways, there was so much more to the city than sex and drugs, also known as the Red Light District. Canals run throughout the city, lined with trees, house boats, and then long narrow streets. The houses are all compacted together and a lot are leaning slightly forward. While Bremen felt like spring, Amsterdam felt like fall. These leaves or flowers were falling off the trees everywhere, making it feel like fall. Plus, the weather was a little cool and windy with some rain. I felt like spring and summer was completely taken away and that I had gone through this time machine.
We ate a lot of food in Amsterdam. We ate their pancakes, which can have cheese and bacon cooked in them (amazing!!), Belgian fries in a cone with mayonnaise (we ate them in Brussels too), and these snacks called Stroopwaffels. They are these crispy waffles that have this syrup stuff inside. They are amazing.
The first day we just walked around the city and fell in love with the canals! The second day we took out free city tour where we learned so much about the city! I won’t put it all in here, but just know it is a city full of history and amazing stories. During the tour we were walking by the Red Light District. The guide kept telling us NOT to take pictures of the girls in the windows (the prostitutes) when we get there. He really stressed this, which stressed me out because I thought I was surely going be the one to take the picture. The girls get really mad and have been known to throw things at you. So, I told myself over and over again not to take a picture! Well sure enough I took a picture, but I did not mean to! Here is the story. I had no idea we were in the Red Light District. It looked just the same and we were on the side, so we didn’t see any actual red lights. So there was this sign in a window up high that read “You are Beautiful”. I really liked it. I thought it was sweet. So I zoomed in and took a picture…. But it was right above some girls in the window… yep…. They knocked really hard and kind of got mad. I was lucky to not get anything thrown at me. I really felt bad. I didn’t know they were there! I felt bad for the guide because he is the one who gets in trouble for it. Oh I felt so stupid. I knew I was going to be the one to do it!
The third day we rented bikes!! It was so much fun! The Dutch bikes have a back brake, so that was a little hard to get used to. We rode our bikes to a windmill on the edge of town, but we were too early for their open hours. So instead of taking a tour inside, we ate our lunch in a park by the canal. Then we rode our bikes to the Van Gogh Museum. Now, if you know me and my love for dandelions, then you must also know of my love for sunflowers. I love sunflowers a whole lot. So I was pretty pumped to see Van Gogh’s Sunflower painting. They also had a night exhibit that showed his Starry Night. Usually the Starry Night is in NYC, so the fact that we were able to see it was a big treat. We also saw all of his other paintings. I am not much of a museum person, but seeing Van Gogh’s original paintings of windmills and peasants and nature was so fascinating and amazing. Obviously the Sunflower was my favorite part and I even snuck a picture! I don’t know how long I stood in front of that beautiful painting, but I took my time. In all, Amsterdam was simply amazing. I even tried on a pair of wooden shoes. I absolutely loved it and highly recommend it!
Thursday was spent in Brussels. We took the train which again had a beautiful view the whole way. We only spent one night in Brussels. But we saw the EU Parliament which handed a whole bunch of free pamphlets, maps, and information books. Then we went to the town square, which claims to be one of the best preserved in Europe. I think I can agree with that. The Cathedral alone was beautiful. I find it fascinating how intricate and detailed some of those building are. It was also weird to see such medieval buildings on one street and then a high rise on the other. I hadn’t seen a sky scrapper in a long time. There is a famous statue of a little boy peeing in Brussels. After searching for a while, we were a little disappointed when the boy was tiny. We were expecting a giant little kid. It was still cool and funny because it was a fountain where the water came out his pee pee!!! Yes I just said pee pee. We ate Belgian Waffles and a lot of chocolate!! I even got my waffle with bananas and chocolate on it. It was amazing. I am eating really well over here, but I justify it by saying I am embracing the culture.
I’m sure there is a lot I am leaving out. However, it is late, I am in Paris (I will write about that soon…. A couple countries at a time here), and I have already written way too much. So if you have gotten this far, thank you for staying with me this long. I am having a blast, being safe, staying away from Swine Flu, and soaking up every moment I can.
The pictures above should be described in the post.
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