Saturday, July 22, 2006
Amsterdam, Belgium, and Back Again
I'm writing to you now from a Sex Shop / Internet Cafe. I am pretty sure that this is my first time in a sex shop / anything. Just to make the novelty of this whole experience more novel, the proprietors seem to prefer "The Greatest Love of All" as their soundtrack of choice. Very touching.
Well, I am in this sex shop/ internet cafe in Amsterdam because I am not, as I planned, on a night train to Munich. My plan was to take a train to Amsterdam and then get a reservation for a night train to Munich so that I would arrive early enough tomorrow to really enjoy my last full day in Europe. My train from Brussels, however, was over an hour late (how does that happen?), meaning that by the time I arrived here, the train was sold out. I'm stuck in Amsterdam for one last night and so I am making the most of it.
Let me back up a bit. I left Amsterdam yesterday morning and spent the day in Brugges, Belgium. Brugges was beautiful. When I first arrived, I wasn't too impressed with the town. Lots of old austere, Harvard-like brick buildings and pretty squares, but nothing that jumped out and said that this place deserved to be the most touristed sight in Belgium.
Over the course of the day, however, the town began to win me over. I started my day at the De Halve Maan Brewery, enjoying some excellent beer and a very interesting brewery tour. I walked around some more, ate a delicious dinner in Simonstevenplain, and wandered for the rest of the afternoon through two of the town's most two beautiful parks.
At about 5pm, the town shut down. This was a bit odd because outside all the locked up shops were hordes of tourists looking for something to do and something to buy. It seemed like a strange business move to lock out all of these people from the shops. Was this town run by orthodox Jews? Did the shopkeepers need to hurry home for shabbat dinner or something? Me, and the rest of the non-shomer shabbos tourists scratched our heads and commented to each other about this, and none of us could figure out what was going on.
Nevertheless, when the sun began to set, the hidden awesomeness of the town came out. During the day, I guess, the sun was too bright and white washed much of the towns more detailed and hidden details. When the sun went down, all of these details, colors, enclaves, and animals (!) popped out to say hello. They seemed to scream "take a picture of me!" and so I did. I took many of them and I'll be sure to post them as soon as possible.
Just as I was discovering the towns charm, it was time for me to head back to the station to meet my train to Brussels. I arrived in Brussels at about 9pm and wandered around, looking for my hostel (the Sleep Well), but not able to find it. In my clueless staggering, I discovered a few great things about the town. First of all, its the most modern, America-like place I've been to in Europe. The buildings, the shops, the people - I might as well been marching down Broadway or any other major American street, except for the funny languages coming out of the passers-by.
The second thing I noticed was the fact that it was, apparently, a Belgian national holiday. This explained the premature bedtime for all the shops in Brugges. All the townspeople, in both Brussels and Brugges, were closing down early so they could go meet up at the central squares and parks of the town to watch the night's festivities. Huge fireworks displays and massive gatherings filled up the Belgian skies and streets late into the night and provided for an amusing soundtrack of explosions to keep me awake way into the night. I woke up early this morning, after yet another sweaty, un-airconditioned nights sleep, and took the three hours I had available to me to enjoy the town in the most fulfilling way possible. How did I accomplish this? I went on a Belgian Waffle tour.
Let's Go, my trusty European guide book, had on one of its pages a quick little tour, around much of the towns most famous sights, of some of the best and most delicious waffles spots. This was a great tour. Not only did I get to eat some delicious native cuisine, but I got to walk by the towns famed squares and (as Let's Go characterized) Brussels "most giggled at landmark," the Mannequin Pis - a little statue of a little boy peeing.
The only problem with my short day in Brussels was that it rained. Yes, it rained. For the first time in my month of traveling, I had to face the realities of European climates. It rained and it rained hard. It rained non-stop from the moment I woke up to the moment I got to the station, clearing up enough for me to watch the sunny skyline from a train speeding away.
Before I hit Amsterdam, I made a quick stop at the Brussels airport to drop off my parents phone which I had been using for the last two weeks. Now, I am back to my old phone until I leave on Monday. If you need the number, just send me an email (some of you may even have the number in earlier emails I sent from a few weeks ago).
Anyhow, I got to Amsterdam and faced the aforementioned disappointment of missing my train ride out. Making the most of it, I set out to find a place to stay for the night. It's Saturday night and Amsterdam is packed. Finding a place wasn't easy. I searched for about an hour, inquiring at hotels and hostels alike and finding, time after time, that if there was a vacant room at all, that it would cost me upwards of €100. Finally, in the red-light district I stumbled across a humble little place with a room with three beds. Me, and the two other random, room-less guys I meet in the lobby decided to split the rooms €150 cost three ways and try our luck.
I dumped off my stuff and roamed the streets looking for a good dinner (to reward myself for finding such a good, last minute hostel deal) and to maybe, if I was lucky, find Brendan and Tracy Walsh. I didn't find them (or not yet, at least) but I did find a great dinner spot at an Argentinian restaurant called Gaucho. I had probably the best stake of my life on a cleaner avenue of the other wise lurid red light district and watched all of the people walking by, keeping an eye open for any Walsh that happened to be heading my way.
Now I'm at the Sex Shop / Internet Cafe and I'm getting ready to head back to my room. I have a train at 7am tomorrow (gasp!) and hopefully I'll be in Munich early enough to make the most out of my last day of Euroschlepping.
Until we meet again...
-Adam ¶ 3:05 PM
I'm writing to you now from a Sex Shop / Internet Cafe. I am pretty sure that this is my first time in a sex shop / anything. Just to make the novelty of this whole experience more novel, the proprietors seem to prefer "The Greatest Love of All" as their soundtrack of choice. Very touching.
Well, I am in this sex shop/ internet cafe in Amsterdam because I am not, as I planned, on a night train to Munich. My plan was to take a train to Amsterdam and then get a reservation for a night train to Munich so that I would arrive early enough tomorrow to really enjoy my last full day in Europe. My train from Brussels, however, was over an hour late (how does that happen?), meaning that by the time I arrived here, the train was sold out. I'm stuck in Amsterdam for one last night and so I am making the most of it.
Let me back up a bit. I left Amsterdam yesterday morning and spent the day in Brugges, Belgium. Brugges was beautiful. When I first arrived, I wasn't too impressed with the town. Lots of old austere, Harvard-like brick buildings and pretty squares, but nothing that jumped out and said that this place deserved to be the most touristed sight in Belgium.
Over the course of the day, however, the town began to win me over. I started my day at the De Halve Maan Brewery, enjoying some excellent beer and a very interesting brewery tour. I walked around some more, ate a delicious dinner in Simonstevenplain, and wandered for the rest of the afternoon through two of the town's most two beautiful parks.
At about 5pm, the town shut down. This was a bit odd because outside all the locked up shops were hordes of tourists looking for something to do and something to buy. It seemed like a strange business move to lock out all of these people from the shops. Was this town run by orthodox Jews? Did the shopkeepers need to hurry home for shabbat dinner or something? Me, and the rest of the non-shomer shabbos tourists scratched our heads and commented to each other about this, and none of us could figure out what was going on.
Nevertheless, when the sun began to set, the hidden awesomeness of the town came out. During the day, I guess, the sun was too bright and white washed much of the towns more detailed and hidden details. When the sun went down, all of these details, colors, enclaves, and animals (!) popped out to say hello. They seemed to scream "take a picture of me!" and so I did. I took many of them and I'll be sure to post them as soon as possible.
Just as I was discovering the towns charm, it was time for me to head back to the station to meet my train to Brussels. I arrived in Brussels at about 9pm and wandered around, looking for my hostel (the Sleep Well), but not able to find it. In my clueless staggering, I discovered a few great things about the town. First of all, its the most modern, America-like place I've been to in Europe. The buildings, the shops, the people - I might as well been marching down Broadway or any other major American street, except for the funny languages coming out of the passers-by.
The second thing I noticed was the fact that it was, apparently, a Belgian national holiday. This explained the premature bedtime for all the shops in Brugges. All the townspeople, in both Brussels and Brugges, were closing down early so they could go meet up at the central squares and parks of the town to watch the night's festivities. Huge fireworks displays and massive gatherings filled up the Belgian skies and streets late into the night and provided for an amusing soundtrack of explosions to keep me awake way into the night. I woke up early this morning, after yet another sweaty, un-airconditioned nights sleep, and took the three hours I had available to me to enjoy the town in the most fulfilling way possible. How did I accomplish this? I went on a Belgian Waffle tour.
Let's Go, my trusty European guide book, had on one of its pages a quick little tour, around much of the towns most famous sights, of some of the best and most delicious waffles spots. This was a great tour. Not only did I get to eat some delicious native cuisine, but I got to walk by the towns famed squares and (as Let's Go characterized) Brussels "most giggled at landmark," the Mannequin Pis - a little statue of a little boy peeing.
The only problem with my short day in Brussels was that it rained. Yes, it rained. For the first time in my month of traveling, I had to face the realities of European climates. It rained and it rained hard. It rained non-stop from the moment I woke up to the moment I got to the station, clearing up enough for me to watch the sunny skyline from a train speeding away.
Before I hit Amsterdam, I made a quick stop at the Brussels airport to drop off my parents phone which I had been using for the last two weeks. Now, I am back to my old phone until I leave on Monday. If you need the number, just send me an email (some of you may even have the number in earlier emails I sent from a few weeks ago).
Anyhow, I got to Amsterdam and faced the aforementioned disappointment of missing my train ride out. Making the most of it, I set out to find a place to stay for the night. It's Saturday night and Amsterdam is packed. Finding a place wasn't easy. I searched for about an hour, inquiring at hotels and hostels alike and finding, time after time, that if there was a vacant room at all, that it would cost me upwards of €100. Finally, in the red-light district I stumbled across a humble little place with a room with three beds. Me, and the two other random, room-less guys I meet in the lobby decided to split the rooms €150 cost three ways and try our luck.
I dumped off my stuff and roamed the streets looking for a good dinner (to reward myself for finding such a good, last minute hostel deal) and to maybe, if I was lucky, find Brendan and Tracy Walsh. I didn't find them (or not yet, at least) but I did find a great dinner spot at an Argentinian restaurant called Gaucho. I had probably the best stake of my life on a cleaner avenue of the other wise lurid red light district and watched all of the people walking by, keeping an eye open for any Walsh that happened to be heading my way.
Now I'm at the Sex Shop / Internet Cafe and I'm getting ready to head back to my room. I have a train at 7am tomorrow (gasp!) and hopefully I'll be in Munich early enough to make the most out of my last day of Euroschlepping.
Until we meet again...
-Adam ¶ 3:05 PM
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Hi Adam:
We all love your Eruoschlep. Glad your having a great time. I agree with your about the Goucho Restaurant in Amsterdam. Your Uncle took Cindy and I there and to this day, it is the best steak Cindy and I have ever eaten. Were glad you were able to see the little pisher in Brussels. Everyone was to tired when we were there last week. Have a safe fligh home.
Love the Kramers
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We all love your Eruoschlep. Glad your having a great time. I agree with your about the Goucho Restaurant in Amsterdam. Your Uncle took Cindy and I there and to this day, it is the best steak Cindy and I have ever eaten. Were glad you were able to see the little pisher in Brussels. Everyone was to tired when we were there last week. Have a safe fligh home.
Love the Kramers
# posted by 
: 3:55 AM
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