Brussels

Saturday morning found me on a train headed out of Amsterdam towards Brussels, Belgium. We arrived about 2 in the afternoon and started trying to find the hotel. We had directions...but not from the station we were at. So we started trying to figure out where to go. The general direction was found and we decided to walk since the weather was beautiful. On the way we found a skate park where weecho and michael skated abit while I rechecked the maps. I found we were heading alittle too far south because I found the street with the hotel on the map finally. Off we went in the right direction and as we rounded a corner...we found a parade! not a small parade but a massive parade with floats and balloon characters...after watching a while( and being handed a events list) we figured out it was the Brussels Comic Festival! Comics are very big in Belgium so the festival attracted quite a crowd...after watching several bands and balloons go by we kept on to the hotel.

At the hotel we checked in and sat down for a minute before heading back into the center. The parade was still going and people were everywhere. It was kinda crazy considering we were not expecting it. so then some people got some waffles and we walked around. The main plaza had some pretty cool buildings with good lighting at night. We ate at a little restaurant and had the local beer which good...

We then went to a famous bar with thousands of kinds of beer and met a local who talked to us for a long while about everything he could think up to talk about...the bar was ok but crowded and look a lot like most bars in Texas...

Leaving there I headed to the place where the hotel complimitary bus picks up...the directions of where to meet it are vague so I guessed and was standing waiting when 4 students from Hong Kong came up and and asked if I knew where the bus picked up. We proceeded to stand and wonder together where we were suppose to be and were joined by a group from the Netherlands doing the same thing. 15 minutes late the bus showed up across the street so we all went over but it wouldnt fit everyone because it was actually just a van. The Hong Kong students, one girl from the Netherlands, and I stayed behind and waited for it to come back. While waiting we chatted about school and travel and home and generally had a good time. Finally the bus came back and I went back to the hotel and slept.

The next morning we checked out and put our stuff in the lockers at the train station we didnt arrive at and started to try to find the city center again...while searching we came across a massive flea market that was filled with people and random things like jackets and fruit...eventually we got to the city center and went to the Brussels art musem...it was decent but the modern art section was closed for renovation and that is the area it is known for...we got more waffles and went to the music museum which was in a cool building and had thousands of instruments and wearing headsets you could hear a song from each one as you read about it...it was cool...after that we grabbed some more food and went to the train station to head back to bonn...

so my Brussels review...it was a decent city...not always clean and very confusing to navigate at points...had great waffles and architecture...I had a good time and the beautiful weather helped...would go back if given the chance...especially if in the area...

Amsterdam

"Amsterdam, the big apple"-weecho
So...Amsterdam...not my favorite city but there have been worse. It was just abit too touristy.The trip to Amsterdam was actually an AIB fieldtrip, rather than just a weekend excursion...and instead of Lars, our normal AIB leader person, we would be led by Stephanie...who we had never met until early in the morning of our departure day at the train station...Stephanie is interesting in ways only being in Germany surrounded by Germans could make you appreciate...for one she wears bright colors...which if you have spent an hour in germany you will know that most germans dont...sure you may see a red jacket or a green scarf here and there but the standard colors are black, grey, and brown...on the first day of our trip Stephanie was wearing a bright purple overcoat with a hot pink scarf...a second interesting trait...Stephanie is constantly smiling and happy...very odd in this country...where everyone else is serious and straightforward...Stephanie is smiling and happy and kinda floats around...she never quite knew where she was going, she just kinda went...and we followed...

but enough about having an interesting leader/guide person...the trip! so we get on the train and Nick has just gotten a new skateboard in the night before...except it wasnt put together...so he brought it with him on the train...and nick and weecho proceed to assemble it while the rest of us watched(including some of the attendants who would pause and try to figure out what was going on)...i even took some scraps from the grip pad and made the finger holds on my waterbottle even grippier!...after that entertainment we proceeded to all dream and talk about mexican food till we couldnt stand it anymore...

once in amsterdam we headed to our hotel...which was not far from the city center...and dropped our luggage off. i stayed in a room with Nick and Jack...ok anyways we then went into the center and found some food(a very delicious sandwhich) and then went on our bike tour...
now amsterdam has a lot of bikes...more bikes than people...and the locals who ride bikes(which is most of them) ride like we drive cars...not much fooling around...it isnt a joyride most of the time...if you get in the way you will be run over...so toss 17 students on bikes that are too big for most people to touch the ground and have 1 guide to lead us...and you got what we had...a mess. the main problem was that the whole group could not make it through a green light...so the rest had to stop and clog the street...fun! this and 2 bikes broke during the tour...but eventually we got out of the busy part of town and it all sorta fell together and the tour went smoothly from there(i say sorta because i think at that point we all gave up caring and assumed one of us would be taken out by either a car or another bike).

After that we went to dinner in a cool restaurant in a converted warehouse. I had my first(and only so far) steak since arriving and it was delicious! After dinner we went to a small bar and had a drink or two and then hit the town and explored...

Now some might be wary of the famous red light district, but I see no reason in that. I was asked by other travelers after we had left about is it safe enough. The short answer is...yes. The long answer is that the red light district is really just a giant tourist trap. If you walk around it you find that everyone there is packed in groups of 10 and gawking at the shops and cafes. There were police in the area at all hours and once going I dont see how it can be described as anything but a theme park of things illegal in other countries. It was interesting to see but extremely touristy.

The next day we went early to the Anne Frank House. It was an interesting museum in its design and how it used so few artifacts and yet still stayed interesting throughout. Everything was left how it was when the Nazis raided it and removed everything. There was a small model of how it looked with furniture but the actual place was bare...overall a good museum but lacking the emotional impact I was expecting...

After that I roamed around the city just looking at sights until dinner...which was in a little italian place. Though I went in with low hopes to the place the food was actually really good...I had a pasta dish and a Heineken(brewed in Amsterdam)...a couple of us then went to a trendy little bar and had a couple of drinks...I had a jack and coke which is considered classy over here(so i was told...still an odd concept to me).

Next morning...woke up...went to an architecture firm...was kinda interesting...I atleast stayed away during the presentation unlike several members of the group...we then wandered over to the sight we are using for our studio project(except only 3 or 4 people are actually doing buildings)...and it was gated off so we didnt really see anything but weeds between the bars...o well...

Me and Steph and Blake decided we wanted pancakes since they are famous...no one else wanted to go so us three went off in search of a shop...we found one called Sara's Pancakes...now the pancakes are not your normal american pancakes...they are crepes...massive crepes...like 1.5ft in diameter crepes...and they were delicious! The best one of the three we got was the bacon, cheese, and banana(blake picked it)...I know it sounds weird but it is a amazing mix of flavors that you have to try if you go...

That ended the AIB part of the trip so me and several others got our bags and headed in the general direction of the hostel...the problem was the maps we had didnt cover that area of the city so we didnt really know where we were going...some people didnt like this fact and complained loudly the whole way there...even though we found a cool park that blake used for his project and we eventually found the hostel...we then checked in and took a short nap before going back into the center of the city to find some food...after that we came back to the hostel because everyone was tired and there were several people from the spain program there so we traded stories...

in the morning we had our breakfast of bread(like always) and multivitamin juice and went to the train station to head to Brussels...

So on an end note...Amsterdam is worth seeing but definatly not my favorite place...it is very touristy and everythings abit overpriced...if you do go...see the Anne Frank house...ride a bike if your daring...and get some pancakes...