Leaving Prague at 8:30 AM, our train headed north to Dresden. From Dresden, we headed southwest to Frankfurt airport. The airport may have been our favorite train station because we were able to get some dinner there. Hillary and I both grabbed some pasta and meatballs from a gourmet gas station, where we heated our meals and headed back to the platform for our connection. While there (about an hour and a half), we got wi-fi to Skype Hillary's mom, I got a Vanilla Coke (my first of the trip!), and Hillary got some Jelly Belly's (her favorite). Overall, this leg of the trip was fairly easy.
Next was the connection to Amsterdam. About an hour in to the trip, we got kicked off the train (with everyone else) to switch trains at Koln. We only had to wait about 10 minutes, but because we did not speak the language, we were VERY confused! Getting in around 10 PM, we walked the pretty short walk to our hostel.
Located very close to the red light district, our hostel was attached to a bar/club. Being a Thursday night, the place was packed and very very loud. After dropping our things, we took a quick 20 minute walk around the area. Our walk ended quickly as we could not stomach the sight of the prostitutes accompanied with the very strong scent of marijuana coming from just about every direction. Exhausted, we got ready for bed and passed out.
The next morning, I had registration for my SENIOR fall semester... Talk about time flying! Even though I was supposed to register at 5:45 AM (8:45 PM in California), I was not able to get wifi until close to 10 AM after an unsuccessful attempt at Starbucks. Luckily, I got into all the classes I needed, and decided to take an extra one to make the spring a little easier.
The Starbucks that we visited was the largest one in Europe and advertised their entirely green store, which really was very neat. We grabbed some breakfast and did some sightseeing. The oudekirke, neuekirke, red light district, opera house, and Margere Bruge (Skinny Bridge), Anne Frank House, and some other really neat sights. Hillary and I both decided that we enjoyed the city much better in the day time, but we could not find enough to do to keep us occupied. At around 1 PM we headed back to our hostel (to pick up our bags) and go to lunch. We found a cool Asian place called Wok to Walk, and tried some really funky combinations of noodles, meat, and sauce.
Our train to Brussels took about two hours and put us in around 4 PM. After getting lost and ending up in the main square, we found some wifi and got directions to our hostel. We managed to hike to the hostel (about 3.5 kilometers away) after making our way past the EU building (headquartered in Brussels), the Royal Palace, and some other cool monuments to important Belgians. Once at the hostel we laid down for a rest before trying to find dinner. Dinner was at a famous place called Maison Antoinette. Known for their French Fries (Pommes Frites), Hillary ordered some stew and frites, and I got a huge meatball with frites. We carried our food back to the hostel and devoured it before finding a recap of the NFL draft on ESPN and eventually calling it a night.
The next morning, we planned out a quick walking tour of the city. From our hostel, we walked to the Military History Museum, which had some beautiful gardens. From there, we wandered through the EU complex and headed to Mary's Chocolate. Mary's, known for being approved by Belgian royalty was a beautiful chocolate shop, and with our purchases, we got sample truffles. The big cathedral in Brussels was a nice sight, but nothing compares to St. Vitus in Prague.
Next on our list of sights was old town square, where we visited another chocolate shop (Neuhaus). Getting a bit lost, we eventually found the street leading to the famous Peeing Boy Statue (Manneken Pis). The Peeing Boy is a traditional site in Belgium, and is often dressed up in odd costumes. The day we visited, he was wearing a military outfit, and the statue was packed with tourists. Near the statue, we visited our last chocolate store (Leonidas) and got some Belgian waffles. Mine had nutella, banana, and whipped cream. Hillary's had fresh strawberries and whipped cream. The strawberries were super fresh and reminded me of going to the strawberry market in California with my mom.
Making our way up the main street, we were accosted by the sounds of a motorcycle parade with more motorcycles than I have seen in my life. Obnoxiously loud, and disobeying every traffic law, the parade passed us as we passed the Bourse and the Opera House. Across the street, we found another famous church and a portion of the medieval wall that had protected Belgium. Walking back toward the city center, we decided we had seen the city, stopping at a McDonald's for my mom's placemat.
Being fairly early in the afternoon, Hillary and I decided we had nothing to lose by trying to travel toward the coast and to Bruges. The hour train ride passed quickly, but the rain put a little damper on our adventurous spirits. Once off the train in Bruges, it began pouring, so we donned rain jackets and began our quick tour of the city... without a map.
A glance at the map, I noticed some windmills on the outskirts that I thought would be fun to see. Before I knew it, we were distracted by the quaint ivy covered brick walls. Just like an ivy league school, the architecture distracted us, carrying us away from things we may have wanted to see toward some gorgeous buildings. We eventually found an amazing store: To Be in Brugge. Here, they sell every Belgian beer imaginable, which fills more shelves than I knew possible. I carefully selected one with a re-sealable lid, and Hillary found some really neat cups.
Making our way to the edge of the city to try and find the windmills, it became a torrential downpour. Walking under the cover of some trees in a little park, we looked for the windmills, finding none. Feeling a bit lost, we spotted a huge ferris wheel near the train station. Making our way between the buildings, we finally made it back. Feeling demoralized by the rain and our utter confusion at the lay out of the city, we hopped on a train back to Brussels. Bruges was hands-down my favorite surprise of the trip. I had expected very little, but was blown away by how beautiful and quiet the city was.
That night, battling the imminent downpour in Brussels, we headed back to the same restaurant for more pommes frites.
Sunday morning, we packed up, and hiked back to the train station for our long return journey. With the tightest train connection of the trip (3 minutes) we managed to make it back to Frankfurt, then to Dresden, then Prague by 11.23 PM.
The next day at 6 PM, we had to do a presentation. We hadn't started. After a grueling six hours straight of work, we finished, presented, and did a great job! The teacher (a university of Michigan graduate) stopped us after class and thanked us for taking on the project with a different mindset than most students. If only he knew that we had done the project that day...
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