Bruges

Saturday we spent the day in Bruges, a small town about an hour train ride from. Brussels. We left Amsterdam for brussels at 7:50am and sat next to a sweet, lovely couple on the train who promptly informed us that we were on the quiet car before we even sat down. The train hadn't started moving and we still have 15 minutes so we didn't really think it was necessary to be silent before the train left.  We talked quietly and he again very rudely informed us that "quiet means quiet." we plugged in our headphones but I laughed as the man continued to remind every single person that got on the train that they had to be quiet. Even one word, and the guy got up and told them to be quiet. Obviously a disgruntled former elementary school hall patrol or something along those lines. 2 hours later when the couple got off, the whole car breathed a sigh of relief and everyone carried on  their own conversations in peace.

We arrived at the train station from Amsterdam, stored our bags in a locker and went to buy tickets to Bruges. This was the only stressful part of the weekend because there were long, confusing lines and the tourist information desks were both closed (ugh) but we finally figured it out and got our tickets for 13 euro roundtrip... Half of what we thought we were going to pay! Apparently prices are a lot cheaper on the weekends so that was great.

After sitting on the train from Amsterdam for 3 hours, the one hour train ride to Bruges felt like nothing. We got there, grabbed a map and walked to the city center. Bruges is the perfect place for a day trip.. The train station is a 5 minute walk to the city center (and a pretty one!) Bruges is often referred to a little Venice. It was really similar in many ways but mostly because of the canals that run throughout the city. Many houses are lined along canals and boats are a big means of transportation throughout the city. We decided to start out our day with a canal boat tour of the city. For 6 euro we got a 30 minute tour with an awesome tour guide. It was cloudy, (as it often is in Belgium) but still really nice.

Canal Tour

The tour was a great idea because it was cheap and we learned a lot of about the city and none of us really knew anything before we arrived.

"Bruges is home to 17 churches - we are very religious people. We also have 420 pubs" - our tour guide giving us a little background on. Bruges

It was hard to fathom just how old the city was. Many of the houses have the date they were built on the front. During the tour we passed one house for sale built in 1607 and going for 2.7 million euro... Just a littler over budget for me.

After the tour we went for lunch and quickly realized this is an expensive little town. The cheapest lunch we found was 12 euro but most were around 20 and up. We finally found a little cafe with sandwiches but they were still more expensive than usual. After lunch we got some Belgian waffles and coffee (so good.. I miss waffles already!) we walked around town some more. Walking around there really felt like walking back in time. The buildings were so old and there were tons of adorable little shops and restaurants. There were also just as money horse-drawn carriages as cars. We had a lot of fun just walking out and checking out all the different chocolate shops.

Looks like Dickens Village.. would love to see it at Christmas!

We stumbled upon one called chocolatier Duman. It was a tiny little ancient looking building with a stone front. It was so tiny inside with just a small front room and a back room that you step down into. While we were looking the owner of the shop started talking to us and after asking where we were from, informed us that she is recommended in Rick Steves books as the best chocolate shop. She was really modest. (but also a smart businesswoman!) The shop was completely family run.. Her mother worked behind the counter and her nephew was working the register. It was the cutest place and definitely the best chocolate. We were lucky to have found it!

Chocolatier Dumon

Inside Chocolatier Dumon

After we had wandered enough we decided to stop somewhere for a drink. On our canal tour, the tour guide pointed out the oldest pub in the city, built in 1515. We figured it would be a good place to go .. And it was! It definitely felt like being back in time. The bar itself was only about 5 feet long tops and very oldfashioned. There were several long wooded tables to sit at and it was open seating. There was a wood stove in the center and the decorations on the wall were very old. There were lots of framed papers from the 1600s and memorabilia from the bar. We ordered the cheapest Belgian beer on the menu and spent most of the time drinking it trying to picture what people at this bar would have looking like in 1515, but we still never came up with anything. Pretty cool to be able to say we had a drink in a bar thats been around that long!

Oldest bar in Belgium! 

After drinks we headed back to Brussels where we stayed in the same hotel we had stayed the first night. We were all exhausted and drained so we just grabbed dinner, showered and crashed at the hotel. This was such a great weekend and I couldn't be happier with how everything turned out. Before leaving I knew this weekend would be a whirlwind with lots of traveling and I was worried it would be too hectic and stressful for my first solo trip. That was not the case at all! Everything went so well and I never once felt like we were tying to do too much. I felt like I had plenty of time in each place and even thought it was only 3 full days, I feel like I was gone much longer (in a good way) and had plenty of time. We all got to see and do everything we wanted without being too exhausted to enjoy it. Got lucky with some awesome travel partners and we were all on the same page. This weekend only made me more excited for the rest of my traveling. Next stop... Dublin!

Amsterdam

Saturday we left the hotel at 7 and caught the continental breakfast. Hotel breakfast is almost always standard in Europe and it's usually pretty good. There was lots of fresh bread, fruit, cheese, meat, coffee, etc. For the later crowd they had eggs and bacon too! It was nice to get a free meal.

We headed to the train station and found our train without any problems. It was very easy to find our way around and we gave ourselves plenty of time. We accidentally ended up on the quiet car which we were a little worried about but at the first stop the car became crowded and everyone was talking at a reasonable volume so it was perfect compared to the other loud and rowdy cars.

After an hour and a half of sleeping and talking, we were really excited to arrive in Amsterdam... Until we realized what we thought was a 2 hour train ride was actually 3 hours...womp womp. The last hour was killer but we finally made it. While pulling into the station we watched the group of kids next to us roll up their joints on their seatback tray table... Welcome to Amsterdam!

The city was so much better than i expected. The train station was a beautiful old  building and we walked out right in front of a canal. The number of bikes in the city was immediately noticeable. The train station had a parking garage solely for bikes and it was packed full. There must have been thousands!

so many bikes!

Bike parking garage

With the help of the great information desk we found our hotel in no time only a 3 minute walk! The location was both a blessing and a curse. We were a little too close to the red-light district for comfort. But that also meant we were close to the nightlife, the train station, and dam square. The hotel guy was really friendly and helpful and spoke spanish as well as English which was refreshing! We dropped off our stuff and headed out to see Amsterdam

First we walked down to Dam square. It was nice, but a little disappointing because the main site, the royal palace, was under construction and completely covered up. After, we found a pancake place for lunch. I had no idea amsterdam was famous for pancakes, but i read it in my europe book on the train there (thanks Carrie!). Thank God I did too because it would have been a bad thing to miss out on, as ot was one of the best things ive eaten in europe! I ordered from the "savory" category (as opposed to sweet) and got a pancake with cheese and bacon. The guy brought out a HUGE pancake covered in really good cheese and big slices of bacon. It wasn't a fluffy, sweet type of pancake like at home, but heavier and thinner (but different from a crepe) it was so so good and I'm getting hungry just writing about it.

yummmmmmmm

 When we were finished we walked around downtown and got our bearings and suddenly found ourselves standing at the end of one of red-light district streets. It's crazy how they creep up on you. I think it's pretty much one of the most foul things ever.. Government funded prostitutes stand in windows half-naked waiting for me to come buy them. Obviously we had to check it out .. right of passage in amsterdam. During the day it was pretty tame (as tame as it could be, haha) but at night im sure its alot more intense and disturbing. When we walked through it was mostly a tourist thing. The street was only like one block and we all agreed we were THRILLED to get out of there! Definitely something to see in Amsterdam but not something we ever needed to see again! Soooo disturbing and sick that their government actually allows that.. sad!

Afterward we decided on a more wholesome activity so we went to see the "iamsterdam" sign. With help from the tourist desk we took the tram a few stops away. The tram was really confusing on how to pay and we definitely rode at least one trip for free. Still not sure on how it works but at least we made it through the weekend! We took lots of fun pictures around the sign. We could see the people beginning to set up for tulip season.. I'm sure its so beautiful then!

me, Lizzy and Corey at the iamsterdam sign

Next we went to the Anne Frank house. We were on the fence about this because we heard there were long lines and we only had one day here. But it was cheap to get in and we had finished seeing what we wanted to see by 3. I'm really glad we decided to go! It was really cool to see the actual house where she was in hiding from the Nazis. I kept thinking back to reading the book in high school and it was very similar to how I pictured it. The museum was very well done and it was just very cool to be standing in this once secret hiding place. Cant imagine being trapped in there for 2 years.

Anne Frank's house

After the museum we spent the rest of the day exploring Amsterdam. We walked around, went into shops and took in the atomsphere. I ordered another typical amsterdam food, called Poffertjes, mini pancakes (kind of like silver dollar pancakes but smaller and much better). They were covered in something similar to syrup, powdered sugar and strawberries and whipped cream on the side. SO good! The lady in the cafe told me it was a typical dish and was really happy that i liked it so much. I had been craving this kind of breakfast food for a while (instead of spanish bread and salami) so im glad brussels and amsterdam could go above and beyond for me!

Poffertjes

A lady in another cafe making Poffertjes

Amsterdam was great but one day and one night were plenty for us, at least for being near the Red light district. I'm so glad to have been to Amsterdam. It was awesome, but none of us really feel the desire to go back!

Lizzy and I

"High Quality" Coffee shop

The Bulldog - one of the really famous
coffee shops in Amsterdam

Brussels

This weekend was my first weekend trip organized completely by me and my friends. I couldn't be any more pleased (and surprised!) by how well everything worked out!

We had a flight to Brussels leaving from Alicante at 6:55 am on the Thursday. We arranged a cab the night before and they were right on time. Corey and Lizzy slept at my place wednesday night since we had to leave at 5:15... Yikes. Getting the the airport only took about 15 minutes and we were checked in and through security in a matter of 10 minutes. SO easy!

Flying with RyanAir (a popular discount airline in Europe) was quite an experience. Our flight itself was only 60 euro roundtrip, but literally everything else is an added cost. Anything but one carry on item (a small purse counts as one item!) is a 30 euro fee to carry on. As far as boarding the plane, it was literally a mad dash. They called us all up to the front and a mob swarmed the desk. They checked our boarding passed and then people literally started running towards the plane. I wasn't really sure how to handle it. Very bizarre. Also there was no terminal! We went right outside and climbed up stairs to get on the plane. Luckily, we timed our morning perfectly and were one of the first to get on the plane. Instead of sitting 3 to a row, we opted to split up and each take windows.. The first of many GREAT decisions on the trip. The flight attendants dimmed the lights for takeoff and I made my self as comfortable as possible in my 90 degree angle, exceptionally small plane seat.

Shortly after take off, It was revealed how ryanair is able to make their flights so cheap. As soon as we were inn the air, the blinding cabin lights were flashed on. From that point forward, announcements were made literally every 3 minutes. They sold everything from perfume to pillows to smokeless cigarettes. It was ridiculous! The entire flight was like arching 2.5 hours of QVC on a tv where you cant turn down the volume. Luckily I was able to plug in my ipod and tune everything out enough to get some sleep.

We landed in Brussels where we then had to take a shuttle to the center of the city. We flew into the smaller, less central airport because it was 100 euro cheaper. The shuttle was an hour ride but not bad at all. Once we got to Brussels we asked our bus drive to point us in the right direction of our hotel (supposedly a 5 minute walk) We didn't have a map but Corey booked all of our hotels and she had good walking directions. We followed the bus drivers instructions and got post for a good 30 minutes. The upside is that in the process we found an incredible bakery where I had the best chocolate eclair of my life... Yum! We finally got ourselves on track and got to our hotel.. Which was actually really easy to get to if you just know what direction to go in!

Corey really scored on the hotel. Brussels is a small city so really everything is close but we had no more than a 10 minute walk anywhere. For 25 euro a night person it was great! The hotel staff was friendly, the rooms were clean and it definitely felt safe. After dropping off our stuff, locking up our valuables and cleaning up we headed out to see the city.

Brussels is such a great city! The Grand Place is a giant square with beautiful buildings. The buildings are plated with gold and very detailed. It was a cloudy day so my pictures did not do it justice... It's something you just have to see for yourself!

Grand Place, Brussels

Grand Place, Brussels

After scoping out the square we went to another famous landmark in Brussels.. The Mannekin Pis. This is a statue fountain of a naked little boy peeing. On holidays they give him some clothes and dress him up in fun costumes. I expected the statue to be a little bigger but it was literally a 2 ft tall fountain tucked into a corner in between a waffle stand and a chocolate shop. Very interesting.

Giant chocolate replica of the Mannekin Pis

The Mannekin Pis

This picture really shows how little and insignificant this landmark is. On the
corner of some random street. So strange.

A fake Mannekin Pis peeing out beer... real classy Belgium

That brings me to my next highlight.. Waffles! Belgian waffles were incredible. You could can so many different toppings; bananas and nutella, strawberry and chocolate, strawberries and whipped cream, etc. Etc. They make it fresh for you and it was definitely the best waffle i've ever had, piled with whipped cream and strawberries. The only odd thing is they give you this huge waffle with the tiniest fork ever. It was almost impossible to eat. I can only imagine how much more enjoyable the experience would have been with a fork appropriately sized for humans, not mice. But it was great nonetheless! Also, we ran into someone from college park! Corey recognized him and we chatted for a while - he is studying in london for the semester and visiting brussesls for the weekend as well. This is the 2nd time this has happened to be in a random city in Europe.. Such a small world!

So many waffles, so little time

After waffles we set off on a mission to get some good Belgium beer. Lizzy had heard of a bar called Delirium that had the guineas world record for number of different types of beer served. We asked our hotel guy where it was located and he confidently marked it on our map...... WRONG! We wandered around for at least as hour trying to find this place and began wondering if it really existed. We were cold and tired so we decided to stop in another bar to have a drink. We had one VERY strong beer.. 12% alcohol content! Belgian beer is a lot stronger than the us so while its more expensive, you end up spending about the same in the end anyway. After we finished our drinks we went on our search a gain and Finally found the bar.. No where near where our hotel guy said it would be. Its ok though, because delirium was well worth the journey.

Delirium is definitely the coolest bar I've been to in Europe. We grabbed the last we seats at the bar and started talking to the bartender, and awesome English guy named Charlie. Naturally, we all immediately thought of this video:

Charlie recommended some beers for us and let us try a few before we ordered. We ended up with a blueberry beer, some kind of white beer (char lies favorite) and something else I can't remember. They were all good! After our first round around 4 pm, Charlie informed us that tonight they were hosting the world air guitar championships. Soon after, we made the executive decision to not leave the bar for the rest of the night. (2nd great decision of the trip!) we tried so many different kinds of beer. Some of the most interesting included chocolate beer (SO good) and cookie beer (not so good). It was so fun to be able try so many different kinds and an awesome bartender made it so much better. At one point, we asked charlie for the beer with the highest alcohol content. He thoughtfully informed us that that beer was 32% alcohol and 100 euro.. No thanks! We also ran into our frien from maryland again at the bar! At one point we need to go get some dinner so we asked charlie for recommendations. There were alot of restuarants on that street so we figured we would try one of those until Charlie informed us that they were " all complete shit!" he directed us a few blocks to a small street stand called Fritland. We ordered this awesome concoction of a sub with  questionable meat patties, french fries and special sauce. It was huge and so disgustingly bad for you that it was AWESOME. Charlie even told us we could bring it back to the bar, saying they dont care, just want everyone to have a good time. Bars in belgium are not allowed to serve hot food, so i guess that makes a big difference. We devoured our delicious heart attack sub and ordered more beers. We stayed on that bar until 10 when we decided to call it a night, it felt more like 3 am. This was awesome decision #3 for the trip. Our train to amsterdam was leaving at 8 am and I was worried how we were going to handle staying out late and functioning the next day. We didn't plan on going back so early but we all felt like we had had enough so it worked out perfectly!

Delirium.. the greatest bar in the world!

There were bills from different countries taped
all over the bar... we found 2 from UMD...GO TERPS!

Me and Corey inside Delirium

Cookie Beer! 

Carnaval: Costumes, Candy, CHAOS

This weekend marked the celebration of Carnaval in Alicante. Carnaval is celebrated all over Europe. I’m not completely sure about the background (I’ll get back to you on that) but I know it has to do with the beginning of lent and basically going crazy before lent begins. And go crazy we did.

Carnaval was definitely one of the most insane things I’ve ever experienced. Think Halloween in College Park times a million, plus Obama-inauguration sized crowds, plus live music and lots, and lots, and LOTS of alcohol. Then multiply whatever expectation you have in your head, times 100, and then you might be close to the craziness of Carnaval.

There were lots of celebrations leading up to Carnaval – a few parades seemed to keep popping up on the street outside my apartment, and lots of specials at the bars. The main night out was Saturday, where everyone dresses up in crazy costumes and hits the streets. The streets were packed full of people partying and going crazy and I saw some awesome costumes. Lots of people dressed as facebook, lots and LOTS of men dressed as women, but lots of other really creative and original ones. I’ll have to go around and copy some of my friend’s pictures because I didn’t get too many good ones.

Most of my friends went the simple route and just got masks (we are on a budget over here) and that worked out really well. Bianca and I got feather masks and boas and were birds. Taylor M was a black swan and Taylor R was a butterfly. We all did a pretty good job finding cheap costumes that turned out really cute!

Carnaval evening we started with a little pre-game/dinner party at our apartment. We invited our Spanish friend, Jose over and he brought 6 of his guy friends. I made chili and pizza, and we had lots of delicious bread, cheese, fruit and veggies with dinner. The guys seemed to like the chili even though it was a little too spicy (oops … Spaniards do NOT like spicy food!) We pre-gamed and played games in the apartment until around midnight and finally headed out to brave the crowds.

The set-up for carnaval was so much more than I expected. On the Rambla (one of the main streets leading down to the beach) there were 2 live street concerts with a full stage, a catwalk set up so people could show off their costumes and tons and tons of street vendors selling churros, bunuelos (like funnel cake balls) and all kinds of candy). We made our way down la rambla and went ot check out the port and the beach. The beach was so crowded you could barely see the sand in some places and the port was packed as well. Every single street was shut down and wall-wall with people. It was so cool. Alicante obviously knows what they are doing because in the weeks leading up to Carnaval, they began fencing off fountains, boarding up some windows, etc. College park should take notes.

It was impossible to stay in large groups so despite our efforts I quickly got separates from most of the group and spent the rest of the night wandering the streets with Corey and Bianca. After many hours of craziness I eventually made it back to my apartment safely - and with all my belongings (right down the feather that fell off my mask). I was pleased with myself! 

Despite being sick Friday and most of the day Saturday I had an awesome Carnaval! I slept most of the day Friday and Saturday to make myself better, then I was able to spend all of Sunday in bed recovering more. I’m finally feeling a lot better finally! Thursday I am off to Brussels and Amsterdam with Corey and Lizzy. Its my first weekend trip completely organized by me and my friends (Barcelona was with the help of my aunts and Granada was through USAC) so I’m excited to see how it turns out. Brussels in known for waffles, chocolate and beer.. so what’s not to love???

PS. My internet is crappy right now but I'll add some more Carnaval pics to this post when I am able to upload them!

pps. I am giving up Diet Coke for lent .. stay tuned on how that goes!