Amsterdam & Brussels

Tulips in Amsterdam!

Brussels' most famous statue... not that exciting

Mega-trip, part II: northern Europe! We arrived in Amsterdam late at night, but even in the 45 minutes that it took us to go from the city train station to our hotel, I knew that I was going to like Amsterdam. People were so helpful and considerate! It also helped that everyone seems to speak perfect English, so we had no communication difficulties whatsoever. The next three days in the city only confirmed my love for Amsterdam. It's a beautiful city, full of canals and bridges and an old style of architecture that you don't really find in Spain. There are more bikes than citizens in Amsterdam, and because it's so few people use cars, the streets are more pedestrian-friendly and welcoming than any big city I've ever visited.

The highlight of our stay in Amsterdam was a bike tour in the countryside, complete with a visit to a cheese farm, a wooden clog factory, and an iconic windmill. I also got to see the Anne Frank house (sad, but very moving) and the Van Gogh museum, two major sites in Amsterdam. Other excellent memories include eating a fresh cheese-and-bread dinner in the middle of a music festival, sitting on a bench by a canal with the other girls for an hour in the sun, eating an apple fritter at the carnival (and then going back for another one the next day), and finding a pie in the grocery story with the word "deeg" on it - apparently, "deeg" means "pastry" in Dutch!

And then we headed to Brussels for our last stop. Brussels was less immediately welcoming than Amsterdam, but we had a great time there. Like usual, food was the highlight for me: Belgian waffles, Belgian chocolate (and the free samples you get when you walk into any of the zillion chocolate shops), Belgian fries, and a two-hour picnic and lounging in a sunny, grassy park on our last afternoon.

After this trip, I definitely feel like a better traveler. There are so many skills involved: comparing different modes of transportation; keeping track of tickets, reservations, and other miscellaneous papers; finding my way around a new city; developing strategies for seeing everything you want to see during a short stay; finding alternate plans when it rains; not giving in to temptations to spend tons of money; getting along with travel companions; figuring out whether tips are expected in this particular country; and so many other things I never thought about! Definitely the adventure of a lifetime.