Belgium/Amsterdam

My latest adventure took me to the exciting and never before (at least for me) visited lands of Belgium and The Netherlands. However this time, I was headed there as a part of the largest group we’ve had yet this year. Six of us, Julie, Ellen, Lucia, Justi, Caroline, and I, traveled from Baeza for a long weekend at the end of February. Once again, I have plenty to tell.

On Thursday, February 26, we all hopped on an afternoon bus to Madrid. Again I was destined to spend some sleepless nights in airports and train stations. Our flight was at 6:30 am the next morning and since there are no Metros running yet at the time we would need to get to the airport, we chose to sleep in the airport. If you can avoid it, I don’t recommend it, but I suppose we saved a bit of money. After arriving in Madrid, we took the Metro to La Latina and met one of Lucia’s friends for dinner at a nice little pizzeria there. A very nice part of Madrid that I would recommend to anyone. After finishing dinner, we got back on the Metro and made our way to Barajas (the name of Madrid’s airport) for a long night ahead of us. After picking out a nice little corner and settling down onto the cold hard floor we tried to get some sleep. I do not sleep well in airports, train stations, on planes, on buses, on trains, and especially on cold hard airport floors. I believe I managed a couple hours of sleep, which I was happy with.

After our 5:00 am wake up call, we checked in, went through security, and boarded our flight to Brussels. Many hours later, after a bus ride and a couple train rides, we arrived in Amsterdam, exhausted but ready to do some exploring. After finding the place where you can leave your luggage, we set out. Unfortunately for us, the day was a bit of a gloomy one with rain on and off. That doesn’t mean that we didn’t see our fair share of interesting things though. The architecture there is so different from the US and from Spain. That was interesting enough for me! After walking the streets for awhile, we headed towards the Anne Frank House. It was a very interesting and moving experience that I recommend. They have done a great job of keeping the house intact and at the same time, converting it to a museum. Although pictures were not allowed, I have some memorable and sad images from there. Following our stop here, we then headed to the Van Gogh Museum, only to find on arrival that admission was 15 euros. I was still willing to go in, but was the only one and so to my disappointment we did not go into the museum. I really would have liked to see that one and I’m sure some of you might be disappointed in me, but I’m sure I have already seen and will see many more great museums this year. I was very surprised to learn that the price was so high, especially when I paid zero euros to enter the Prado in Madrid and only six euros for the Vatican Museums, maybe the greatest collection of art in the world.

Following our brief stop here, we made our way to a bar to stop and have a drink. Unfortunately due to the time we arrived in Amsterdam, we really didn’t have much time to see much else. However, after a few drinks we did make our way over to the famous Red Light District. Quite an experience. I would not recommend this place at night to anyone traveling alone or who doesn’t really know what to expect. I’ll let your imagination run wild a little bit here but I will say that the multitude of girls in windows is definitely present and I was asked very secretly a couple of times as we passed by street corners if I would like to buy drugs. You can be proud to know that I hurriedly passed right on by!

Our plan for Amsterdam was to stay up all night there and take the first train back to Ellen’s parents house in the morning. This was a good idea at the time but after a night in the Madrid airport we were all very tired. After stopping into a few different bars, cafes, and McDonalds, we headed back to the train station and waited for our train to arrive. On this particular trip, I was able to sleep quite easily. Amazing what little to no sleep in 48 hours will do to you! After a transfer in Brussels, we arrived at Ellen’s town exhausted and ready for some sleep. Ellen’s parents and brother picked us up, took us back to their house, fed us, and then showed us to our rooms where we slept for the rest of the afternoon. To be honest, I probably could have slept straight through the night. However, we all got up around 7:00 p.m. and enjoyed a nice dinner before showering and getting back on the train to Ghent. This might have been my favorite stop and I wish we had been able to see it during the day. Its a beautiful city with a large university population, beautiful churches, a castle, and spectacular waterways. This is where Ellen went to university so we met a couple of her good friends who showed us around a bit and then took us out for the night. We had a great time at a bar that played some great music and met many young Dutch students who spoke english very well. A few hours later, we left our spot and hopped back in the cars with Ellen’s dad and brother. Although it was another late night, it was really nice to start to ease back into a normal sleep schedule.

After waking up Sunday, we enjoyed some more great Belgian food of which I cannot say enough about. I had so many good chocolates, beers, cheeses, and french fries during this weekend. I can still taste the fries! Following our meal, Ellen’s dad offered to give us all a quick ride on the back of his BMW motorcycle. It was pretty fun speeding through the streets.

We then got back in the cars and Ellen’s parents and brother yet again took us to another site. This one, Bruges, or as they say in Belgium and maybe Europe, the Venice of the north. Its a beautiful city with countless canals like Venice and is also right on the sea. After arriving, we walked around for a bit, and eventually made our way to the main plaza. A beautiful square with classic Dutch architecture. The front facades all meeting to a high point and beautiful brickwork. Following our stop here, we headed towards the Half Moon Brewery, the only operating brewery in the city today. We payed the small fee for a 45 minute tour in english and waited for our time. The tour was actually really nice and filled with lots of interesting information. We saw how they make their beer and more importantly how it was done hundreds of years ago as well. Our tour guide was an older lady who spoke very good english and was pretty funny. One of the interesting bits of information that she gave us was her explanation about why foam or head on a beer is so important. Apparently it is very poor to receive a beer without any head in Belgium. Her reasoning was that when you first receive your beer and their is foam on the top, you have to wait to drink it. During this time, you develop a relationship with your beer. You want it. You yearn for it. The foam is very important for this reason.

After the tour was over, we enjoyed a complimentary beer in the tavern. I cannot say that I felt all of these overwhelming feelings that she was speaking about, but maybe if I was a typical belgian man and drank plenty each day, I would feel differently.

Following our complimentary beer, we stopped off for a nice little canal ride through the town. I really liked this especially because the tour guide offered lots of interesting information about the history and the architecture of the city. He not only spoke English, but also Dutch, German, French, and Spanish. We were really surprised at the last one as we were floating down the river and he yelled out to a group of spanish women who had obviously taken a tour with him earlier that day. I would not be surprised if there were a couple other languages that he spoke as well.

After the conclusion of our canal boat ride, we found ourselves back in the main plaza where we stopped at a little café for a drink and a belgian waffle. It was not terribly warm that day, so I enjoyed a mulled wine with my special belgian treat. Following our stop here, we walked around a bit more (I stopped for some fries!) and finally headed back to our pick-up point where Ellen’s dad was waiting for us. When we returned home that night, we enjoyed a nice dinner with Ellen’s family before relaxing for a bit and then heading to bed to prepare for our final full day in Belgium.

Our last adventure for the trip took us to Brussels. Unfortunately Ellen had some family business to attend to, so we separated from her and made our journey to Brussels alone and with nothing more than a map. About an hour and a half later, we arrived and stopped at another little café where we enjoyed a coffee or other drink before setting out. The first stop on our itinerary was the Cathedral of St. Michael, a very old cathedral that is actually on top of the ruins of an 11th Century Romanesque church. Its present-day Gothic style is really impressive with beautiful stained glass windows and a place where you can go below the cathedral to actually see the ruins of the former church.

Next, we made our way to the main plaza, another beautiful example of the strikingly different architecture that these Dutch countries offer. Just a couple of blocks from the plaza stands the famous Manneken Pis. For those who do not know, it is a statue of a small toddler who is apparently peeing into a small pool below. The reason for him being so famous lies in the history he has had. He has been stolen and moved many times throughout history and even once had to be reconstructed. Today he wears a different outfit each day, with more than 700 in existence.

After stopping for lunch, our next stop was the EU headquarters. They offer several free tours each day which we took advantage of. Although not very long, they give some good information on the workings of the EU. Justi and I elected to listen to ours in Spanish, which was good and quite easy to understand! Maybe my Spanish is getting better after all........

The last stop of the day brought us to the Atomium, a large steel structure that was made for the 1958 Worlds Fair in Brussels. Similar in this respect to the Eiffel Tower, but not nearly as well-known, it is a very popular tourist stop. You are able to go to the top, but as we were running short on time and because it is not at a very scenic part of the city, we decided to skip that and take a walk through the park next door. Finally we hopped back on the train and arrived back at Ellen’s a bit later. Once again treated to a great dinner, we ate, talked, had some final Belgium beers, and then packed our things for our early return journey the next morning.

Tuesday, our final day of the trip, was a very long one. Although you can get literally wherever you need with the public transportation in Europe, it can take some time. First we took the train to Brussels, where we then got on a bus to the airport, which is a ways out of town. Then, we boarded our plane to Madrid, where two hours later we arrived and got on the Metro to the bus station. After a two hour wait here and a small lunch, we got back on the bus for our final leg of the trip. Final destination: Baeza. Approximately 14 hours later, we were home.

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, the trip was another great one. We were all very lucky to have Ellen with us. It made the trip a lot cheaper and its always nice to have someone with you who speaks the language and knows the best sites to see. The other great thing about this trip was the large group we traveled with. I’m not sure if we will all travel again together before this year is up, but it was one that I’ll remember well if its the last. As for me and my next big trip: Paris and Berlin during the first week in April along with Russ and two of my best friends from back in Minneapolis, Zach and David. I’m sure to have quite a story after that one.

Talk soon.