We woke up SUPER early on Monday and then got ourselves to the airport for our flight. Then we thankfully got on a bus from Madrid to Sevilla at 5 pm that night. Wished it had been the 2 pm bus but at least it wasn't the 1 am bus!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Travel days...
This morning, Sunday, was awesome. There were blackout curtains in our room so we slept in a little bit. Then got up and got dressed and wandered a little bit more. I tried dutch pancakes, not my first choice but still good. Then we went and walked through a gorgeous flower market and then bussed it back to Brussels.
Vamos a Ámsterdam!
This morning started off well..We got up at 7:30 am and got out the door by 8:15 to get to our 9 am bus to Amsterdam. We were expecting quite the trek to get to the Brussels Noord Station but instead as we stepped outside there was a bus heading towards us that said "Noord". I pointed at it asking Sandra if she thought we could take it to the station and the bus driver stopped, opened his window and asked if we were heading to Noordstation. We said yes and he waited for us to get on the bus. When we were on he gave us the nod at our stop and then pointed us in the direction of our bus lines headquaters. SO NICE!!!
On the bus now, have been for almost 2 hours. They are not quite as prompt as they are in the UK but significantly more so than they are in Spain. I actually feel my punctuality (already limited) decreasing in Spain. Anyways, let me tell you about the man in front of me. He is wearing HEAD TO TOE camo. Not ABU's or ACU's or BDU's all of which you can still find on a real soldier, like the old school stuff that you can only get at the Salvation Army. He also has on a camo hat that has an American flag and an eagle embroidered on it. With combat boots. Speaking perfect French with a French accent. How could this possible get any better you might ask? He is wearing an over the shoulder Gucci man purse. If it wasn't so obvious I would have taken a photo.
We made a pit stop at the halfway point earlier. They had a vending machne with Douwe Egberts coffee, my favorite!! And, the MOST expensive J. Biebs CD ever! It was 18.95 euro. That's $26!
I knew as soon as I said things were going well I would jinx it. The bus just had to stop for half an hour to be inspected. Love life's sarcasm.
We have now arrived in Amsterdam. I love it even more than Brussels! We were trying to find our way and the lovely Dutch girl on a bike (SO MANY BIKES) stopped and missed her crossing light in order to give us directions. Then we got most of the way there and stopped and asked this other guy who happened to be Italian if he knew how to get to the hotel and he stopped and pulled out his iPhone and google mapped directions for us! We got to our hotel okay! Yes, Hotel! Yes, it was Amazing!! We both took long hot showers there before heading out. This is how I was meant to travel. In hotels. Not hostels. thank you soooo much mom!! :)
We got re-dressed and went to the Anne Frank house. It was so incredible. I can't believe that they really lived there. In Anne's room there were tons of photo's or news clipping glued to the walls like of Ginger Rogers and Greta Garbo. It was all very moving.
While we stood in line for the museum we were right behind the same couple that had been on the bus with us from Brussels so we started talking to them and they definitely have the life I want! They were probably late 20's, married, obviously well-off as she had Longchamp luggage and a purse and was wearing the pair of Hunter rain boots that I want from Nordstrom, and she said that they travel all the time. She will just find a deal online for tickets and then they just go. Like she booked their round trip tickets from NJ to Brussels for $280 each two weeks ago and they packed up and came. She was so sweet too! We were saying that we needed to go to an ATM because Sandra didn't have any cash and she offered to cover our entrance! How nice! We ended up being okay without it but still!
From there we were starving so we stopped and ate some food and then walked around all the shopping centers but by now it was after 6 so they were mostly closed. We ended up going on a canal boat tour which was okay but I was really motion sick so it could've been better. Also, it rained all day! But not just rained, it was that cross between snow and rain where it's just slushy rain. So cold!
After our canal tour we decided we wanted to eat in the hotel and watch TV, something we haven't done in so long! So we called it a night!
On the bus now, have been for almost 2 hours. They are not quite as prompt as they are in the UK but significantly more so than they are in Spain. I actually feel my punctuality (already limited) decreasing in Spain. Anyways, let me tell you about the man in front of me. He is wearing HEAD TO TOE camo. Not ABU's or ACU's or BDU's all of which you can still find on a real soldier, like the old school stuff that you can only get at the Salvation Army. He also has on a camo hat that has an American flag and an eagle embroidered on it. With combat boots. Speaking perfect French with a French accent. How could this possible get any better you might ask? He is wearing an over the shoulder Gucci man purse. If it wasn't so obvious I would have taken a photo.
We made a pit stop at the halfway point earlier. They had a vending machne with Douwe Egberts coffee, my favorite!! And, the MOST expensive J. Biebs CD ever! It was 18.95 euro. That's $26!
I knew as soon as I said things were going well I would jinx it. The bus just had to stop for half an hour to be inspected. Love life's sarcasm.
We have now arrived in Amsterdam. I love it even more than Brussels! We were trying to find our way and the lovely Dutch girl on a bike (SO MANY BIKES) stopped and missed her crossing light in order to give us directions. Then we got most of the way there and stopped and asked this other guy who happened to be Italian if he knew how to get to the hotel and he stopped and pulled out his iPhone and google mapped directions for us! We got to our hotel okay! Yes, Hotel! Yes, it was Amazing!! We both took long hot showers there before heading out. This is how I was meant to travel. In hotels. Not hostels. thank you soooo much mom!! :)
In front of our hotel
inside the hotel
We got re-dressed and went to the Anne Frank house. It was so incredible. I can't believe that they really lived there. In Anne's room there were tons of photo's or news clipping glued to the walls like of Ginger Rogers and Greta Garbo. It was all very moving.
While we stood in line for the museum we were right behind the same couple that had been on the bus with us from Brussels so we started talking to them and they definitely have the life I want! They were probably late 20's, married, obviously well-off as she had Longchamp luggage and a purse and was wearing the pair of Hunter rain boots that I want from Nordstrom, and she said that they travel all the time. She will just find a deal online for tickets and then they just go. Like she booked their round trip tickets from NJ to Brussels for $280 each two weeks ago and they packed up and came. She was so sweet too! We were saying that we needed to go to an ATM because Sandra didn't have any cash and she offered to cover our entrance! How nice! We ended up being okay without it but still!
From there we were starving so we stopped and ate some food and then walked around all the shopping centers but by now it was after 6 so they were mostly closed. We ended up going on a canal boat tour which was okay but I was really motion sick so it could've been better. Also, it rained all day! But not just rained, it was that cross between snow and rain where it's just slushy rain. So cold!
After our canal tour we decided we wanted to eat in the hotel and watch TV, something we haven't done in so long! So we called it a night!
Annnnnd we're off!
So today was amazing. We woke up at like 9:30 and started with our day. We had breakfast at the hostel, toast, and coffee. And naturally, I spilled blazing hot coffee all over my hand.
It.
Hurt.
So.
Bad.
I almost cried. But then we finished up and left for the flea market we read about in the most amazing map ever! It was a map written by locals for young travellers! Anyway, we got out the door at a quarter til 11 and went to the metro and bough an all day pass. Why? Not sure because we hardly used it and noone there even pretends to be using it even in front of the people who work there.
We got to our flea market and had an amazing time. We each bought an old family photo album with pictures still in it. Mine is from the 50's and Sandras isn't dated but still cool. He wanted 40 for them both but we paid 20. I think we could've gotten him down lower but 10 each isn't bad at all for what we got!
From there we went on to the Court of Justice. Incredible. Got whistled at while taking pictures. Story of life in Brussels it seems like. Then we went to the Royal Palace. Then to the Cathedral. Then to Grand Place. The most incredible square I've seen so far! Gorgeous! We stopped and had some waffles around this point. I swear I had a relationship with that waffle and I did not want it to end!
From there we went to see the Mannken Pis, or peeing boy statue, it has become the symbol for Brussels and I don't know why! He can't be more than 18 inches tall in total. MAX 2 feet! All the replicas are by far bigger! After we got all the photos that we wanted from there we went to the City Museum in Grand Place. We saw 2 scaled models of Brussels and all the costumes of the peeing boy. There we SO many! My favorite was the Mexico one. Although, it should've been the Texas one. It was a cowboy outfit with a holster and a gun! So cute!
After this we wondered some more and got some frites and a burrito wrap thing that was AMAZING! So amazing in fact that I did not notice when it spilled all over my white peacoat. You were right mom. I should've brought the black one. I'm not sure if it will come out. :(
After this we went back to our hostel and drank a raspberry beer each. (Delicious)
It.
Hurt.
So.
Bad.
I almost cried. But then we finished up and left for the flea market we read about in the most amazing map ever! It was a map written by locals for young travellers! Anyway, we got out the door at a quarter til 11 and went to the metro and bough an all day pass. Why? Not sure because we hardly used it and noone there even pretends to be using it even in front of the people who work there.
We got to our flea market and had an amazing time. We each bought an old family photo album with pictures still in it. Mine is from the 50's and Sandras isn't dated but still cool. He wanted 40 for them both but we paid 20. I think we could've gotten him down lower but 10 each isn't bad at all for what we got!
From there we went on to the Court of Justice. Incredible. Got whistled at while taking pictures. Story of life in Brussels it seems like. Then we went to the Royal Palace. Then to the Cathedral. Then to Grand Place. The most incredible square I've seen so far! Gorgeous! We stopped and had some waffles around this point. I swear I had a relationship with that waffle and I did not want it to end!
Court Of Justice
Different view of the Court of Justice
No idea, but it was pretty. I think it's the back of the Palace?
Palace
More Palace
Cathedral
More Cathedral
Belgium chocolate.
Some statue that was cute
My waffle. My Slice of Heaven.
Yeah, like I was going to leave anything on that plate.
From there we went to see the Mannken Pis, or peeing boy statue, it has become the symbol for Brussels and I don't know why! He can't be more than 18 inches tall in total. MAX 2 feet! All the replicas are by far bigger! After we got all the photos that we wanted from there we went to the City Museum in Grand Place. We saw 2 scaled models of Brussels and all the costumes of the peeing boy. There we SO many! My favorite was the Mexico one. Although, it should've been the Texas one. It was a cowboy outfit with a holster and a gun! So cute!
Grand Place
Mannekin Pis
And his little Texas outfit...
Grand Place at night.
After this we wondered some more and got some frites and a burrito wrap thing that was AMAZING! So amazing in fact that I did not notice when it spilled all over my white peacoat. You were right mom. I should've brought the black one. I'm not sure if it will come out. :(
After this we went back to our hostel and drank a raspberry beer each. (Delicious)
Our assortment of beers.
Brussels: day 1
Ok so I typed out my blogs on my iPhone this weekend so they are from each days point of view so here you go,
Eventually we saw our beacon of light. I couldn't tell you the name of it, or the name of what we had but it tasted amazing. Fries and chicken on a po-boy!
As we waited in line for this wonderful sandwich a super creep walked up and started to talk to us. In some language neither of us understood. He was so intoxicated he reeked of alcohol and then pulled a beer out of his coat and offered it to us. Um no? And after probably 5 minutes of speaking to us in that language he realized we didn't speak it. And tried several other languages before he tried Spanish. At this point he asked me how much Pakistani I was. He was shocked when I told him I was all American. No Pakistani roots at all. Seriously? Finally his friend dragged him away when it was clear we were annoyed. Interesting 10 minutes though. After he left we somehow (he spoke no english or spanish) ordered our slices of heaven and left to go home. Great ending to a laughably bad day. I already love it here.
Well this trip didn't exactly start off as planned... I had one of those gut feelings about it the other night and as it turns out I was pretty accurate. Let me set the scene for you a little bit.
It's Sunday night, 11:30 pm and I am just now getting home to Mercedes who "waited up" for me. Really she slept on the couch until I got home but it's the thought that counts and the thought was sweet. At this point I have been travelling all weekend and just want a nice peaceful week to rest when it dawns on me, i leave for Brussels and Amsterdam in TWO DAYS!
Do I have a hostel booked for Amsterdam? No.
Do I have a bus to get to Amsterdam from Brussels? No.
Do I have a way to get from the airport in Brussels to the city center of Brussels? No.
Do I have a second hostel booked in Brussels for our way back through? I bet you can guess the answer to that one.
Enter panic phase. I have homework to do and by the responses to my previously posed questions quite clearly I have a lot of extracurricular work to do. But, it's supposed to be fun and I'm going to make sure it is.
By Tuesday night my homework is done and I'm on to packing and beginning to figure out all the travel details. I finally finished packing and booking everything and writing down directions at 9 pm Wednesday night. Bus to Madrid leaving at 11 pm. This is where the trip took a turn for the worse...
1. Mercedes and I miscommunicated and she had dinner prepared for me as I was leaving to meet Sandra for dinner and then hurried to make me a bocadilla for the morning.
2. Sandra and I couldn't find the Mexican food restaurant we were so desperately trying to find! (she too is from Texas and missing Tex-Mex) So we ended up at McDonalds because by then we were in a hurry :(
Now starts the real heartbreakers.
3. I, being the super paranoid person I am, had taped my bus ticket into my planner so I would not loose it. This does not help however, when youl leave your planner at home! I couldn't buy another ticket for the same bus as everyone else so I had to buy one for the 1 am bus. By myself and could not seem to get across to her that the 11 pm bus was full because I had a spot on it! Finally, after 3 tries, Martyna and I went up to the counter together determined not to take no for an answer. She caved and said that she guessed she could go talk to the driver to let me on the earlier bus. Sigh of relief. But I was still out an extra 20 euro :(
4. Sandra and I got to the airport with Lyndsey and the girls going to London for the weekend. We checked into our flight and they made Sandra check her bag. Adding 70 euro to her total for the trip.
5. (The real doozie) Sarah, one of the girls going to London, had accidentally bought a ticket for the previous day and had to re-purchase another ticket at 7:50 and RUN to her new flight that left at 8:30. For the price of 211 euro. Ouch.
Well, we got off the plane after having been cut in line by no less than 6 people in line to get on it and found our way to the bus. At the bus the driver yelled at us for not having our tickets stamped and then wouldn't let us get on the bus and almost slammed my head in the cargo area while I tried to get our luggage off the bus before it left. We had to wait an extra hour to get on the next bus. We sighed with relief after finally getting on it and we got on our way.
FALSE! It stalled in the middle of the freeway in Brussels. Right next to an entrance ramp. Sweet. At this point what can you do but laugh? After a solid 10 minutes of honking by other drivers the driver FINALLY turned on the hazard lights.
40 minutes later. Still on the side of the road. A new driver joined us to see if he could help and there is a tow truck in front of us. How exactly does one tow a bus? I have a feeling I'm about to find out.
Nope. I'm going to have to get off the bus. In the middle of the entrance ramp. Get my luggage. And change to a new bus. Quite the ordeal.
Finally! We're here! David, the reception guy, is super nice and told us where we could go get food and a list of some beers to try and places to go get fries and waffles and chocolate :) We put our stuff down and made our way out determined to find some frites (fries). We got on the metro there, don't have to pay really because there are no barriers, and got to what we thought was Grand Place. We walked for a while and even went in one place. There were guys on the street at each restaurant trying to get us to come into their restaurant. One guy even offered us 3 free drinks and a massage!
Eventually we saw our beacon of light. I couldn't tell you the name of it, or the name of what we had but it tasted amazing. Fries and chicken on a po-boy!
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