We are finally caught up!! Amsterdam, Brussels, and our return to London

On Monday, we elected to take the 12:30 pm train from Berlin to Amsterdam. This meant that we could sleep in a bit and recover from the late movie the night before. After breakfast at the hostel, we picked up some food at the grocery stores nearby to have for the train and then used the hostel's internet access to e-mail our parents and update them that we were still alive and well. Nick also used this opportunity to check the US Open scores, and was excited to see that Tiger Woods would be playing Rocco Mediate in a playoff -good to keep up on the important world affairs once in a while : )

We checked out of the hostel around 11 and took the S-Bahn back to the Hauptbanhoff train station. We were there early enough that we decided to wait in line at the ticket counters to try and buy a seat reservation for the long trip – almost 6 hours. Even though our Eurail pass is all that is needed to board the train, we had learned our lesson from the ride to Berlin when a man with a reserved seat kicked us out of the seats we were occupying and we ended up taking seats on the floor. No more of that we decided. For a relatively cheap price we were able to buy our reservations and ensure that no one would be coming for our seats.

The train ride was long and, well, boring. We are becoming quite used to long rides, however. We're no longer on a trip it seems, but this is now our adopted nomadic lifestyle. When we arrived in Amsterdam we took one of the trams out to the area where our B&B would be. Unfortunately, when we got there, there was no one to let us in! Since we also had the address of one of the accommodation agents, we walked to his place and he was luckily available to help us. He contacted the owner, and said we would be let in an hour later. We almost had no place to stay. Everything worked out, though, and after getting dinner at a local supermarket we were let in.

The B&B was a very interesting place. It is a little apartment in a residential area. Joop (pronounced Yoop) owns and runs the place, and also lives there. Although the room smelled a bit smoky, it was nice enough and we soon went to sleep after an energy-draining day on the train. The next morning we woke up and headed out to the dining room to eat our breakfast served by Joop himself, in his bathrobe. After breakfast we set off on what was sure to be an interesting day of sightseeing in Amsterdam.

We started off the morning by taking the tram back to the Central Station. Amsterdam's station is probably the oldest we have seen, and the building was a sight in itself. We then walked down the main street through the center of the town and took in all of the sights which included several unique buildings, canals, boats, churches, and of course, a few explicit shops.

After a brief walking tour of the city we went to the botanical gardens, Hortus Botanicus. With origins dating back to the 16th century, this historical garden contained over 4000 species of plants including a random endangered fern that is apparently so important it required a special fence so you couldn't get too close. The garden also included 5 different greenhouses, a butterfly house, and a wetland area. They even had a North American redwood tree- which at only 35 years old didn't quite compare it its Californian counterparts. We spent a few hours wandering through the garden, which really turned into a quest for the best computer background photos.

Next it was time for lunch and we headed to the nearest Ah grocery store, which was our newest favorite for their delicious and reasonably priced complete salad bowls. After our picnic lunch we walked through the local market and then started towards the Anne Frank House. The Anne Frank House is actually the secret annex that Anne and her family hid in for two years during WWII. It was during this time that Anne wrote her now famous diary. We were able to tour all of the rooms of the secret annex, and you could even see the bookshelf that was built to hide the entrance. Unfortunately, many of the original items (including Anne's diary) were currently being restored and were replaced by facsimiles. We have a feeling that these signs have been up for years.

Just outside of the Anne Frank House was a new exhibit entitled 'Freedom 2 Choose'. It was basically an interactive video that highlighted different government decisions and then you voted on a remote whether you agreed with the decision or not. They all dealt with things like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, right to privacy, etc. It was really interesting to see how the US was portrayed as compared to Europe. The video really highlighted Amsterdam's extreme liberal tendencies.

After the museum we decided to take in a bit more of liberal Amsterdam and walked back to the train station via the Red Light District. Not one to disappoint, the area lived up to our lurid expectations complete with window prostitutes, sex shows, sex, shops, and more than one coffee shop that was nothing like Starbucks. Once we returned to our part of town, we picked out dinner from the grocery and relaxed in our room for the evening. We finally had a TV again and were delighted to find several channels at least partially in English.

The next morning we ate another good breakfast courtesy of Joop (in Asian styled silk pajamas this time) and then headed back to the train station. After a quick and painless 3 hour ride we arrived in Brussels, Belgium. After a short metro ride we arrived at our hotel which is surprisingly close to all of the major sights in Brussels. As an added bonus, we scored a bathroom in our room but only paid the price of a shared one. We picked up our signature rotisserie chicken dinner from a local grocery, and then spent the remainder of our evening catching up on the blog and watching TV.

We woke up fairly early Thursday morning for a full day of sightseeing in Brussels. First, we stopped downstairs for our complementary breakfast. Nick was thrilled to see the return of real chocolate croissants. After filling up on a variety of pastries, bread, and fruit we left the hotel and starting walking towards the main sights.

Our first stop was just down the street at the church of St. Catherine. It was a really pretty old church, but we were unable to go inside. Next we walked towards the Grand Place home to La Maison du Roi (the King's House), the Town Hall, and a few other impressive buildings. Apparently, Victor Hugo once called Grand Place “the most beautiful square in the world.” We agreed, and decided it definitely was one of the most impressive we have seen.

Unfortunately, the weather was not so magnificent so we took shelter from the rain in the Belgian Brewer's Museum. Although the museum was not very extensive, we did manage to learn more about beer than we ever really needed to know, and the admission price included a Belgian brewed beer- so not a bad deal at all. We did determine that we prefer German beer over the Belgian variety.

After polishing off our before noon beers, we decided to top of our nutritious start to the day by visiting the nearest frites stand. French fries are a big deal here, and you can purchase a large paper cone of freshly cooked fries for a mere 2 euro. While devouring our fries we planned out the rest of our day and decided that our next visit should be to see Mannekin Pis- a statue of a naked peeing boy that has become the much loved symbol of Brussels. Locals take much pride in designing outfits for the little guy to wear- all with an appropriately placed hole of course. We were surprised at how small the statue actually is, definitely shorter than 2 feet. We decided that he was similar to our bear friend Knut- lots of hype- not that much to see.

Once we finished snapping a few photos (zoomed in of course, so he looks bigger than he actually is), we decided that no trip to Belgium would be complete without sampling some chocolate. Apparently Brussels is home to over 2000 chocolate related shops, so finding the right one could prove to be quite the challenge. We found a small shop that was higher quality than the convenience store type shops, but not quite up to the standards of Godiva and went inside. After a small sample we were hooked, and proceeded to buy a 3 box pack that included truffles, Belgian shells, and pralines. Our intention is to bring back at least one box for our parents to sample, but we'll see how the next few days go : )

In order to fully round out the Belgium experience we had to make our next stop a waffle stand. There are two different types of waffles here- the first is a Brussels waffle which is very light and fluffy, fairly similar to those in the US. The second type is De Lieges waffles- they are denser and sweeter and have a delicious crunchy caramelized sugar crust- they are also the kind most commonly served on the street. We ordered our De Lieges waffle with whipped cream and caramel sauce, and it was incredible. While devouring our waffle we realized that all of our activities of the day had been food related. No wonder it had been such an enjoyable day.

Being overfilled with sugar and starches we needed to walk off our snacks, so we headed a bit across town and up to the Belgian Royal Palace. We were able to walk outside the gate along its perimeter, and it looked as big and cool as many of the other palaces we had seen. Unfortunately, it is only used for official state business and there were no tour opportunities. Nevertheless, as we walked down the street, it was apparent that something was going on as the was barricaded from motorists and a number of police officers were on duty looking more alert than usual for patrolling the streets. As we walked further down the road, at one end of the palace we saw about 50 police motorcycles and other important looking cars, then saw a helicopter flying overhead, and finally saw an explosion of flash photography as people walked through through one of gates at the end of the palace grounds. We weren't sure what was going on, but wondered if the circus was all for us? We later saw on the news at the hotel that all the leaders of the European Union were meeting in Brussels that day for an important gathering. And we saw them (from a distance, unknowingly)!

Across from the palace grounds was the Brussels Park. We walked through it, but it was not large and we soon emerged on the other side where we saw the European Parliament and the headquarters of the European Union. It was getting rainy by this point and was fairly cold, so we walked back down to the Grand Place area and strolled through the shops under the arcades of a large shopping center filled with chocolate shops and upscale stores.

It was now late afternoon and we were a little wet and tired from the day so we returned to the hotel for some rest. After the weather had cleared, we went out to find dinner- hopefully something that contained a bit more than sugar or starch. We walked through a different grocery store than the night before, but we couldn't find just what we were looking for. As we stepped outside the grocery we found just the thing- 'The Sultans of Kebab'. We have mentioned kebab places before, and we still can't believe they haven't made their way to college campuses across the US. This place was unique because they specifically served a chicken kebab in addition to the still mystery meat doner kebab. We ordered two reasonably priced kebabs in celebration of our last night in 'real' Europe before we headed back to London. We topped off the kebabs with a grapefruit and a yogurt drink (and a huge baguette that Nick insisted on buying and hauling around for 24 hours).

We woke up early this morning (Friday) to pack up our stuff and head to the train station for our second trip on the Eurostar. The Eurostar company thinks they are the greatest thing since sliced bread- they have their own check-in, their own security, their own waiting area, their special tracks, etc. But really, it's just another train and they were 35 minutes late. The ride was rather uneventful and short at only two hours. We checked out the on-board restaurant and spent our leftover 5 euro on a microwaved cheese and tomato sandwich.

Once we arrived in London we bought day passes for our favorite metro (the tube) and headed back to Palmers Lodge- the same place where we started our journey 6 weeks ago. We couldn't check into our room until 2pm, so we dropped off our bags and then took the metro back into town. Our first stop was Hyde Park to take a much needed nap under the trees. After we rested up we continued our walk through the park in the direction of Kensington Palace. Along the way we visited a fountain designed as a memorial to Princess Diana and a gaudy King Albert monument. We walked around the perimeter of Kensington Palace, took a few pictures, and then took the tube back to our hostel so we could check in to our room.

After eating a quick dinner and moving our stuff into our room (oddly enough, the exact same one we had before) we hopped back on the tube this time in the direction of St. Paul's Cathedral. There is an evensong service at 5pm every evening. Aside from being a way to experience a service in a famous cathedral, it is also an excellent way to save 8.5 pounds a piece by getting in for free. The service was very nice (and brief) and included several songs by their traditional choir. We decided that tonight's visit was a fitting conclusion to our 'Great Cathedrals of Europe' tour.

Tonight we are relaxing in our hostel and catching up on the blog. Tomorrow morning we are going to check out an event called West End Live in the center of London. It's a weekend long festival that includes performances from several of the big musicals that are currently in London. Hopefully it will be a nice finish to our visit here (and it's free!!). We will try and post one more time before our flight back to the US on Sunday. Cheers!