A Tour of the EU Capital

Brussels, that is.

Today I woke up around 9, got myself ready and got on a 10:30 train to Brussels, Belgium. Yes. I went to another country and came back in the space of 8 hours. The middle of another country, even. Much like my experience in Paris, the amount of time I had really didn't let me actually do very much, but I did see a lot of things and I can legitimately say I have been to Brussels. I even have 25 euro worth of Belgian chocolate to prove it! And a few train and bus tickets. And some photos.

Before I tell you all about my day in the capital of the EU though, I'd like to discuss something I have learned about myself. I am a very shy tourist when I'm traveling by myself. I want to be completely inconspicuous all the time. I either do this by not looking like a tourist in areas where there aren't a lot of tourists OR by looking completely like a tourist where there are lots. I don't really much enjoy looking like a tourist at any time, since it limits where I am comfortable wandering. Unfortunately for me, speaking the language is part of blending in, so when I'm in a country where I don't speak the language I have to stay where the tourists are regardless of how local I may look. I had this problem to an extreme degree today, where I did not have it yesterday in Delft.

In Delft, while they do mostly speak Dutch, I could avoid talking to anyone and wander about looking normal (with my skinny jeans, cute flats, scarf and side bag I looked plenty Euro) along the quiet streets. I didn't need to go into any restaurants and could just get some frites from a fast food type stall. Easy. Quiet. Inconspicuous.

In Brussels, everyone speaks French and talking to them is somewhat necessary as you're bouncing about from shop to restaurant to tourist attraction and back again. And while they're definitely not snippy about it like the French are (they want you to at least try to say things in French in France, much like Americans are about foreigners speaking English) it's still a pretty large language barrier that it takes a lot of bravery for me to deal with. And that's even with my background in Spanish AND when they all speak English anyway. But, I'm getting ahead of myself, back to the beginning!

I stepped out of Brussels Centraal onto a city street and was promptly baffled. I had half decided on the train that I was going to hop on the nearest touring bus and use that as a way to see the city (because I wasn't sure how walkable, or not, Brussels would be) but the street I stepped out onto had no touring busses. I looked around and walked towards the nearest large looking street and turned the corner to find a bright green double decker bus with a big sign saying "City Sightseeing!" Naturally, according to my plan, I hopped on. A bit steep at 20 Euro, but honestly at the end of the day I saw a lot more on the bus than I would have trying to navigate my own way through the crazy streets of Brussels. Seriously, I did some of that later and nearly got lost a couple times. Anyway, the bus also had a very interesting audio guide that pointed out various buildings and parks along the way from place to place. Conveniently it was also hop-on hop-off, so if there was something I wanted to see closer, all I had to do was get off the bus and I could get back on the next one 20 minutes later.
The first place I got off was, I think, the Palais Royal. (I have to guess because there are about a dozen palaces in central Brussels alone.) I stepped off the bus and walked through the building (which was free!) and saw all manner of royal rooms, portraits and chandeliers. It was like Napolean III's apartments in the Louvre, only Belgian and a whole building. There was a ballroom too! and what was once I think a dining hall of some sort with beautiful paintings on the ceiling, that for some reason the Belgians had decided to use for a science exhibition? They even had a room, a very palatial looking room, with green fabric detailing on the ceiling, filled with Exploratorium type science games. I was very confused. I don't think the Belgians quite get it...
Anyway, some time later I hopped back on the bus for most of the rest of the tour. We went past the Atomium and the Justice Palais (spelled in french on purpose) and the other remains from the 1958 Worlds Fair, the inland harbor and the EU parliament. Along with a bunch of other EU buildings I couldn't name. Eventually we came around to the shopping district (Sablon) and I got off to see the Mannekin Pis (a tiny statue of a boy... well... pissing) and buy my chocolate. Here he is... and me with a dopey face.

So I bought my chocolate and then proceeded to wander about trying to find a place I felt comfortable getting some food/ maybe run into the Tintin museum. I didn't succeed at either really, until I looped back around and went to a place on the same street as the chocolate shop and the Mannekin. That was after I'd bought a Fanta at one place and crossed the same street about 6 times. It was especially hard for me to find a place because it was both an odd time to be eating (about 3:30p) and I was stupid hungry. But, I did find a place, sat down, ordered some spaghetti and ate. I felt much better afterwards, and slowly wandered my way back to the train station. I sort of wish I had actually found Tintin, but it was late and the museum closed at 5 and I knew I probably wouldn't have had enough time in there anyway. It's alright. On my next Europe trip, I will not only have a travel buddy at all times, but I will be spending a night or two in Brussels and will definitely have time to find and see Tintin AND go to mini Europe. This trip just made me familiar with Brussels. I just had enough time to get my bearings, and not really enough time to really be there. But it's really alright, it was a good trip and I know what to do for next time :) I had to mess up at some point on this trip, and if today was it, I've done quite well. I even got chocolate out of it!

Delft!

Today was another relaxed day. I woke up at around 11:30 and slowly got myself together to go out to Delft, which is the town just south of the Hague known for it's pretty buildings.

And well, I went there and saw just that! Unfortunately the famous windmill was down for restoration/ construction, but I did walk through a good deal of the town and it was quite pretty. Very quiet as well, in comparison to the noise of Amsterdam, Paris and even The Hague. It's a nice, residential, rural sort of area. A suburb really. But with some quite pretty cathedrals and official looking buildings. Lots of canals as well. I took many many photos with my nice camera, but none with my phone (partly because I was alone) so I haven't anything to post here. But I did go, and it was nice. I even had some more frites while I was there :) Several swans and other birds approached me to try to steal some, but they weren't brave enough to go after anything I was still holding. Pretty swans though.

On the way back I got off at Kneuterdijk, which is the name for the stop that the Binnenhof is closest to (thats the royal seat in the Hague). I walked through the Binnenhof and past the Maurithuis Museum (which houses the Girl with the Pearl Earring, I plan to go back there Wednesday morning)  and along some streets on my way to the Peace Palace, which is about 2 tram stops up. I wandered into a series of outdoor sculptures on the way and finally photographed a church I had seen from the tram half a dozen times. My feet were quite tired and it was about closing time when I arrived at the Peace Palace, but I did get some photos of the outside to go with my photos of the mini version in Madurodam. I then hopped on the tram to Keizerstraat, where I found a post office and mailed my 3 Parissien postcards. I bought another 3 in Delft that I will write sometime later this week and then pop into the nearest bright orange mailbox before I leave. After all that I returned to the apartment and rested for an hour or so before discovering I needed somethings from Albert Heijn (which I spelled wrong last time I think) so I took the bike out there quickly to grab the things I need. I eat a lot of cheese here, but its SO DELICIOUS. I also got some wine on this trip. The bottle claims its a Bordeaux Rosé. It's alright, a bit drier than I like though. Goes well with the chocolate I bought.

Speaking of chocolate, tomorrow I go to Brussels, Belgium! Just for the day. I already have my walking route mapped out on my travel book's map. I will be buying lots of chocolate. I'm excited. Next blog will be either tomorrow night late, or Wednesday. I can't believe I've been here a week!

A Walking Tour of Amsterdam

Amsterdam, the city of pot, prostitutes and bicycles. Oh, and canals. Children know it as the city with the canals. I saw all sides of it with Bethy (one of the interns and a long time friend of Jen's) who knows the city very well and lead me through all of the necessary areas (except the Jordaan and Anne Frank Huis, which I plan to visit on Thursday). 

We met in Den Haag Centraal station, where we hopped on an intercity train to Amsterdam. The same train that I took from the airport to Den Haag last week, only in the other direction. When we arrived we stopped to buy some coffee and then walked over to Saint Nicolasskirk, which is near the station.

It was very pretty inside. I took several pictures with my phone, since I decided to leave my big camera at home for this trip. I'm going back to Amsterdam though so never fear my photography inclined friends, there will be plenty of nice Amsterdam photos to look at later. 

After a peek inside the church, Bethy lead me through the Green and Red Light districts. It was day time, so they were fairly quiet, but there were still girls in the windows in the Red Light. She explained to me how Red Light businesses are marked throughout the city, and that a coffeehouse is NOT where someone gets a cup a' joe. Not that I couldn't already tell of course, since I could smell it. Amsterdam is a silly town. 

We then headed towards Dam square. We stopped for street frites with fritessaus on the way. They were delicious! I don't know why we call them french fries at home, we should call them dutch fries, but then maybe we call them french because they pale in comparison. (No offense to french food of course.) I think I saw a place in the Hague that sells them earlier today. I will have to stop by next time I'm in Centrum and get them because they were AMAZING. Anyway, the delicious frites aside, when we arrived in Dam square, we happened upon the Homeless Cup. According to Bethy, this is a series of football (soccer) games played by homeless men from various towns in the Netherlands and all the proceeds go to charities that help these men. Holland is so cool. We should have something like this in the US. Really. Someone who plays more sports than me start this. I'll help with marketing. Here's a photo that includes the tents (as well as the Queens seat in Amsterdam).

We spent a few moments watching the game while we finished our frites, and then we walked in the direction of the Museumplein. It was a bit of a walk, but not too bad. We walked by the Bloomenmarkt on the way. That's the famous flower market, but it was all bulbs at this time of year. I wish I could bring some back to the states for my mother's yard, but I don't think California would be pleased (sorry Mom).

When we reached the Museumplein, we stopped by the "I amsterdam" sign for a photo (below) before heading to the Van Gogh Museum. 

The museum itself was very interesting, and just the right size for the amount of time I wanted to spent in a museum that day. It was really cool to see Van Gogh's early work along with the paintings everyone knows. I saw a lot of paintings I had never seen before along with a lot of familiar ones. We saw the recently restored Bedroom in Arles, it's so bright now! I don't think there is an image of it since the most recent restoration on the internet, but it's quite colorful. One of the most interesting things that the museum has done with Van Gogh's work is try to figure out what he painted on top of, since he is known for reusing his canvasses. They had xray images of several paintings and all sorts of interesting details about how he did his work. Maybe it's because I'm an adult now, or because it's a famous artist, but I really enjoyed our visit. 

After the museum, Bethy knew of a nearby bakery that we walked to. I got a Croque Monsieur and it was delicious! I feel like I've had one before now, but I don't know where. Perhaps in Puerto Rico. Regardless, it was a warm sandwich with ham and mayonnaise inside and cheese toasted onto the outside. Yum. 

At this point, I was pretty tired of walking, so we went to find a tram that would take us back to Amsterdam Centraal. On the way we walked through part of Vondelpark, which is very pretty, and past a movie theater showing a Jack Nicholson film festival. There was a fancy looking party happening on the balcony. 

We did find the tram soon thereafter and rode back through town, passing some places we had been earlier. We then took the train back, and I stopped at Lush on the way home to get a bath bomb to help ease my feet. 

Once I returned to the apartment, I relaxed for a little while and then went out again to Albert Hein, which is the main grocery chain here in the Netherlands. I took the bike which Peter has lent me, and followed the route that we took on Wednesday morning. I bought all sorts of practical things, including veggies, cheese and bread. I already know that I will miss dutch cheese dearly when I return to the states. It's better than any cheese I have had at home. The jong cheese tastes like... maybe mild cheddar but better, and the old cheese definitely tastes like white cheddar but again, better. I also bought some fresh pasta and spinach sauce which I ate for dinner last night. My evening was pretty relaxed after that, and I slept very early. 

Today I spent in the Hague, having a rest day. I went to lunch with Bethy in Centrum, and took a bike trip to Hema up here in Scheveningen (on Keizerstraat, a cute shopping area), which was near my destination of a bookstore with a post office. But the bookstore was closed, so I just went to Hema and bought a pen, since I forgot to bring one. I rode back part way along the beach and it was nice and sunny. 

Then here I am, sitting at the table in the apartment facing the window looking out on the beach, listening to the chaos of karaoke and real bands playing in the various clubs along the boardwalk. 

Tomorrow I am going to Delft!