Day trip #3: Brussels!

So yesterday was the last day of my first weekend extravaganza in Europe and we had a very nice day! Emily and I went into Brussels for the day to explore and see all the sites that I don't get to go see when I go into work every day. And, of course, lots of delicious food was involved! I apologize for this essentially being a food blog-it's rather disgusting but the food here is just so amazing that it needs to be talked about. Last night one of my roommates, Amy, was going through her photos from the trip and I heard from upstairs: "this is disturbing. EVERY picture of me has food in it. I'm either eating food or standing with it in my hand...did I do anything else??...oh look there's me with a waffle....op there I am eating chocolate fondue!" It is unfortunately true. Hopefully the walking and trips to the gym will help counteract it-if not, we should live it up while we can and go on a detox back in America! So worth it.

Anywho, Emily and I got into Brussels about 1 (had to sleep at least ONE day this week) and had lunch in the gorgeous Grand Place. If you haven't noticed by now, every city in Europe has one big beautiful square that everyone sits in and enjoys a cafe latte or a nice meal outside. It's quite lovely. I hadn't gotten a fresh waffle from a restaurant yet and they had some delicious ones on the menu, so I caved and had to get one. Great decision. Then we finished our meal, snapped some pics in the square and went down to see Mannequin Pis, the little peeing boy statue that is very famous in Beligum-they stick him on postcards, dress him up, it's a lot of fun. Growing up I also remember playing with a little knife that had him on the handle that was my grandpa's that he got in WWII in Belgium so there's a personal connection there too. I was going to see that little boy pee no matter what!

On the way, we passed all kinds of cute little shops that sold Belgian lace that they are famous for (it's all over there darn windows), little trinkets/magnets, and rows of chocolate shops with free samples! Yum. But then, then we saw the most wonderful waffle shop in the world. I was floored at the delicious little boats they filled with a warm waffle topped with strawberries, bananas, chocolate, jam, or any topping of your choosing. Emily turned to look at me with a "well we have to get that" grin and I just said I can't! I can't possibly have TWO waffles in the span of an hour! Turns out I can. And I did. I'm ashamed to say it but don't worry I didn't eat dinner AND went running/did P90X abb ribber so I probably worked off, oh, 1/4 of the waffle calories. Fair trade. That thing was the most delicious thing I've ever had though. Waffle paradise. I'm kind of proud to say I had TWO Belgian waffles, in Brussels, in an hour :)

After we got our waffles we were walking along and I see this gray fountain area to my left that barely catches my eye. I turn and after squinting my eyes I can just make out a little boy statue peeing into a fountain. The darn Mannequin Pis that I was so happy to see was about the size of a cabbage patch kid. Talk about anti-climatic. Emily looked at me and said THAT'S what you wanted to see?? We got a good laugh out of it and I still insisted on taking a pic with the little man though and even his larger cartoon counterpart at the waffle place. We spent the rest of our time strolling through the park outside the Royal Palace and enjoying the sunny weather! Great times in Brussels!

View from our lovely lunch spot in Grand Place

Waffle #1 of the hour

(words cannot properly describe the deliciousness so I must leave it blank)

Mannequin Pis and our waffles just chilling...nbd

And there he is ladies and gentlemen! The no-bigger-than-a-cabbage-patch-kid most mischievous little peeing boy in Europe! Good times

Such a wonderful weekend that I'm sure will be matched by Paris next weekend! Five of us are staying in one of the girl's aunt's APARTMENT IN PARIS!! SOOO excited for that. Yay Europe! Love you all! au revoir!

Day trip #2: Amsterdam!

On our second day trip, we went to Amsterdam! Although I am normally a huge rager and like to get my drink and party on, I kept it PG for this trip and refrained from the normal Amsterdammer activities. When we first got to Amsterdam, we walked right out of the train station into a smoky tourist trap with mobs of people and funny smells drifting through the air, and the first thing I thought was holy smokes what have I gotten myself into! But as we got away from the crowded main canal and the scores of tourists, I found out Amsterdam is actually very nice. It is definitely a very liberal city, I'd place it somewhere between San Francisco and the Woodstock concert, but also has it's own historic charm with it's cobblestone streets tucked in between glistening canals and lines of townhouses. Definitely a place to visit for at least a day and if you're up for the challenge even a weekend.

We started off by going to the Anne Frank house which was absolutely amazing. Walking through the secret annex and standing where those three families lived for two years is incredibly humbling and powerful. The annex is empty of furniture now because that is how Otto Frank wanted to keep it, but there were a few pictures on the walls of what the rooms looked like when they were living there and I could kind of flashback to what it must have been like and instantly got chills and was just floored by it all. They had the original wallpaper with marks on it that Anne and her sister Margo used to track their growth, and the cutouts of celebrities and royals that the girls taped onto their bedroom walls; after all this only happened 70 years ago! I still cannot fully grasped how they lived through such fear, racism and violence, and did it so bravely and even found a way to find happiness! Anne Frank and all of her family and people that went through this time are truly remarkable people and I am so happy to have had the chance to see that firsthand.

After that awesome experience, we walked around the city for a bit amidst the noisiness and wackiness that is Amsterdam. We got a little bit lost (later learning that had we chosen to go left on a particular street instead of right, we would've stumbled right into the red light district-close one!), but stumbled upon a perfect café in a little secluded square that locals visited. I'm sure they were thrilled to see us Americans walk in, but we enjoyed it nonetheless-see sometimes it pays to get lost! After a two hour lunch (meals are never short here in Belgium as I said earlier), we went on to probably the highlight of my trip thus far...

A bike tour!! We met up with about five other people in our group and it was so much fun! What better way to see Amsterdam than ride your bike around? You know what they say, when in Rome...(sorry I just really wanted to work that expression in and I think I nailed the usage). Since we were only there for a day it was the perfect way to learn all the history about the city and get to see it all from a local tour guide. And in our case, I mean a local tour guide. If you were to look up the word Amsterdam in the dictionary, there would be a large smiling picture of Petra, our lovely tour guide. She was something else! I will do my best to describe her, but I doubt I can fully give her justice. Petra was born and raised in Amsterdam and has lived there all her life (if that doesn't tell you enough already I don't know what will), and she looks it! She is in her late 20s I'd say, is white, has long dreads, a lip ring, a nose ring, a tattoo of her cat on her right leg (which she showed us after asking us-in the red light district mind you- "hey do you want to see my pussy?"), and the most psychodelic personality you could imagine. Basically she is the perfect person you want to take you on a tour around Amsterdam. We loved her!

Right when the tour started I knew it was going to be great; Petra lead the way in her bright orange bike with a giant orange flower on the back, and as I was going I have to bat all these bubbles out of my face. As I look up I see Petra carelessly waving a bubble wand around while she is riding along. She was great. At first I feared that I would 1) get hit by/run into a car sharing the busy street with me, 2) get hit by/run into another bike on the street, or 3)take out several pedestrians along the path. None of that ended up happening however and I survived with one bus and car honking at me as I hightailed it across a busy intersection (I was NOT about to lose the group-we were in the darn red light district! If there was a gap in between those cars, I was finding it) and only one pedestrian that jumped out of the way to avoid my bike as I tried to spit my gum into a garbage can while still pedaling (I made it by the way-I AM a basketball player).

Bikes are definitely the way to go around Amsterdam-it was great! We hit up all the main areas of town - Van Gough museum, Rijcksmuseum, red light district (I felt a little bit dirty), Anne Frank house, central station, etc. etc. - and even explored through the main park that is apparently one of the last in the world that you can legally consummate in publicly; Petra told us she was conceived here. Figures. The tour took about three hours and was only 16 euro and totally worth it! Got a great taste for the city from someone who knows it best and it was all in all a great day. We boarded our train back to Leuven around 8 and successfully traveled to two cities in two different countries in two days! Success. Enjoy the photos!

Stylin and Ridin


This is Petra's staff description from the website-pretty much sums her up in a nutshell



Cute little houses along the canal-very Amsterdamesque!


The bike crew! With Petra and all..see, I really do have friends!

Amsterdam was indeed a success! I'd say I'm having a pretty good time on this trip :)

Day trip #1: Antwerpen

Sorry for the temporary blog delay, but it has been a busy weekend with three different cities in two countries in three days! So much fun though.

Our first stop was Antwerp, an old seaport and diamond city in western Belgium. I wasn't expecting too much (since who has heard of Antwerp?) but it was awesome! The city had the same mixture of city life and cafe spots as Paris, with the feel of Florence with it's charming orange rooftops...all with a Belgian touch of course! It was just very clean and safe and had lots of fun things to do.

We started the day at the zoo! It's one of the oldest in the world and was only 17 euros to get in so we couldn't turn it down. They had the traditional tigers, elephants, penguins, etc., but they also had some different animals too which was fun to see. I couldn't tell you what kind of reptiles they had because as usual I avoided that section at all costs! Made the mistake of wandering into the rainforest area and didn't figure it out until I turned to my right and came face-to-face with an IGUANA. Needless to say I jumped back about 10 feet and ran for the nearest exit leaving Emily behind to find her way. Other than that, the zoo was a success and well worth it!

After the zoo we were famished and decided to make a bold eating move and try some food that we could never have at home-pizza! I know I know it's boring, but the pizza here is so delicious and this place was outside on a cute street and had a lot of locals so we knew it would be good. We followed up our pizza with a big dose of diamonds! Antwerp is known for its diamonds and was a big trader and cutter of diamonds during the city's golden age, and they put together an awesome museum that tells you all about it. We skipped over the chemical makeup/cutting stuff and learned everything we could about the celebrities and royals that used the diamonds! They have a crown that Queen Elizabeth uses with a honking diamond in the middle and all kinds of other diamonds used by royalty. Very neat.

The rest of our day included two other museums about the history and seafaring ways of Antwerp, some shopping, and a visit to the local castle (only in Europe). We walked no joke probably five miles to and from the train station, and had to stop at a cafe on the way back to rest up for a bit. Only thing is, in Europe you don't just rest up for a little bit. Every time you sit down at a café or restaurant it takes at least an hour. You sit down wherever you want, and then 20 min later your waiter brings you your menu. Then after another 20 min he'll come and take your order. You'll get your food after another 20, and then good luck finding him to get your check! I get the whole relaxing thing, but the American in me just sees too much wasted time and I get antsy sitting and waiting for so long. We still haven't really determined if we are supposed to go up and find him to pay, or call him over; we've seen both and can't decide. We always call them over and ask for the check and are probably really offending them but oh well we tried. One cool thing about Belgians though is they don't tip! It is offensive to them if you tip them which is a-ok with me! MAYBE that makes up for the no free refills. Maybe.

So, all in all we had a wonderful time in Antwerp! Seems to be the theme of the trip: great times! I'll leave you with some pictures from the day...

Emily and I at our lovely Italian feast in Antwerp!

Grote Markt! I seemed to love taking awkward pictures by myself this trip-I promise I have friends!

Look it's a castle! See what I mean about the awkward pics by myself? I'll be better I promise

View of the city from the top of the MAS museum! So pretty and such a lovely day :)

Tot ziens!