Brussels, Belgium

Before going to Brussels, I had to activate my Eurail pass. I ended up taking an earlier train out of Amsterdam as well which was a bad idea in hindsight. I got to Brussels in mid afternoon on the 9th. This was the first place that the language barrier kind of worked against me. In Belgium they speak French. I can't even really read it, much less speak it. Once I got to the train station I just started walking towards the hostel I was staying at. I didn't have the address but I knew it was north of the central station. My wandering around eventually got me about two blocks away and then I had to pull out the trusty Google street view. The crazy thing was that I walked totally around Grand Place. I didn't even notice it! I stayed at 2G04. It was a pretty nice hostel. The internet they had was total garbage though. I ended up meeting a few more Canadians and went out for some Belgian beers with one of the girls. It was fun sharing travel stories and definitely interesting comparing our schedules.

The next morning I got up and hunted down some Belgian waffles. Those things are great! They are nothing like the Eggo waffles you buy back home. I have to admit that in general, I have not eaten many healthy things on this trip because later that day I ate some Frites. They are basically just a plate of French Fries. Really, I did not eat anything healthy in Brussels!

I walked over to Grand Place later that afternoon. The architecture was pretty amazing. Brussels has different districts and skyscrapers as well. One of the experiences I got was trying to find a post office to mail postcards back home. Let's just say that they are not labeled clearly. I walked past so many of the drop boxes because they were covered in graffiti. So if you are in Brussels, just look for unlabeled red boxes covered in graffiti if you need to mail something.

One thing I noticed was everything pretty much shuts down at 6pm. Unless you want to go drink at a bar, you are out of luck in Brussels. I'm just glad I met somebody to go out with and have some great conversation with for the one night I was there! Brussels can easily be done in a day. Everything was within walking distance and really, there is not much there. I don't mean to insult the city, it's just that it's not for everyone. I'm glad I went because I have family history that goes back to Brussels. I've been telling people I went to Brussels to send my Great Grandma back in the states a postcard from my visit there.

I must also say that I THOUGHT Paris, France would be the rudest place out of the eight countries I visited. Not by a long shot. Brussels wins that award. (I'm putting together a ratings list I'll post later.)

Brussels pictures are posted here.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

I arrived in Amsterdam via overnight ferry and train from London to Harwich and on the Holland side, Hoek van Holland through Rotterdam. The customs guy was quizzing the crap out of me. Where you goin? Where you been? What are you doing here? Where else you going? He just smiled at me when I kept on rambling off all of my places. "Is this documented" he said. I told him to check my blog. On the way in I noticed a ton of graffiti and shanty houses everywhere. Business buildings and all were just covered in graffiti. The countryside had fields just like the states, but they have creeks of water running through them everywhere. They also have brown sheep everywhere. Nothing like the midwest.

Spent the first part of the day in Amsterdam just walking around. I met a few other travelers on the overnight ferry we took from London. They just happened to be from the US (Chicago, Miami and San Diego) and we decided to just walk around together. We went into one of the many cafes for lunch. I had a goat cheese sandwich and an ale from one of the local breweries. The cafe was cool. The place was full of bean bag chairs and low tables. We scheduled up a bike tour for three hours. One thing we all noticed was the amount of pot smoke in the air. It was totally unavoidable. It was Monday afternoon and every coffeehouse was open and had people in it. I wonder how Amsterdam has a functional economy? Oh yea, weed and prostitutes. Apparently, Amsterdam used to also have legal heroin usage but it was banned. The crazy thing is that the government still gives heroin to about 500 addicts simply because they cannot break the habit (according to the tour guide, I've not verified this.)

On the bike tour, we visited several different parts of the city including the Vondelpark (locals call it fondelpark) where public sex acts are legal and the Amsterdam Zoo, the many breweries Amsterdam has and eventually stopped at a cafe for more beer and some homemade falafel's. The tour lasted about 3 hours. It was booked through orange bike, if you are interested. We got to see an old jail where they used to put prisoners back in the day. When the water levels would rise, it would flood and the weak prisoners would drown.

FACT of the day: New York Central Park is modeled after the Amsterdam Vondelpark.

I met some more backpackers at the hostel from France, UK and Australia. We decided to venture out to the famed Red Light District. Holy crap, that was interesting. I wish that I could have taken more pictures but there is a no picture zone in place. (cmon, did you think this place had NO laws???) We were in the middle of the place and felt very safe actually. I've never seen so many sex shops in one place either. 8 way vibrator you say? This place has it! Pretty much everything on both sides of the street and in each alley was either a bar, strip club, coffeehouse or a red glowing window with a practically naked girl in it pointing at you saying come here baby! To be perfectly honest, most of the girls were not even all that attractive. Probably the most insane thing I saw was at the top of this building with the windows wide open and for all to see this guy was having sex with two girls and they were not trying to be discreet. Everyone was just looking on from below with their jaws dropped.

...and that was when I realized I was definitely not in America anymore.


I woke up on the second day in Amsterdam and walked around the market. I had to hunt down a McDonalds to verify something on the menu. Allen, there was only a "Chicken Royale." ... and what is up with not serving hashbrowns? What kind of crap is that? Burger Kings have been everywhere. No taco bells, but I've seen KFC. I didn't really see that many fast food places in Amsterdam though. The food at the street shops is way better and about as cheap anyway.

I walked back to the Amsterdam Centraal station and stumbled into Nate from Arizona. Another solo traveler. We met two Canadian couples who were all over 68 years old and have been backpacking, yes, I said backpacking for the last 42 days. So we are all on our way to Brussels now. I'm typing this on the train and will upload when I get some wifi. I'm already at 17MB of my 50MB of international data plan. Google Maps with street view rocks!!

My Amsterdam pictures are here.