Leaving Paris was a pain in the rear. It started with a half hour wait in line to validate my Eurail pass that ended with me in the back of the line at 5 minutes til my departure. After much "par lay voo anglais?" + running back and forth, I finally got a conductor to agree to let me on the train with additional 10 euros. Too bad two really big security guards chased me down with their german shepard telling me i look suspicious and therefore must be checked. Yay. Turns out, I didn't have to pay the 10 euros and the kind gentlemen validated my pass on the train. Thank you, Chase. Pretty sure I started bawling my eyes out after seeing Chase standing there, thank God, a familiar face. All's well that ends well no?
Although the weekend started off a little rough, I did manage to arrive in Brussels, Belgium safely with rest of the group on Thursday afternoon. Our hostel was incredible. The five of us girls stayed together in one room with giant puple doors and a private bathroom. We also had a balcony and a fake fireplace and duvet covers!
The view from the balcony.
Mustard, fries, chicken.
Chocolate hunting was fun. I spent quite a sum buying chocolates for family and the greedy little person. They better appreciate it is all I have to say. After the chocolate hunt, I got a huge waffle with chocolate and whipped cream on it before going off for some beer at Delirum cafe.
Lots of whipped cream.
This place is known for its 2004 types of beer. YIPEE.
After some power hour-ness (what we do best),
we decided to check out the live music downstairs and heard some dude playing Bob Marley! haha. The night ended with us going to a dance party where we got on the dance floor and started yet another party. Seems everywhere we go, we start the party. it's a little sad but we didn't care. The place had South Park on the wall and there was a man with skinny white tie and all black dancing on the dance floor.
The next morning we said goodbye to our humble abode and left for Amsterdam. Chase and I took a different train than everyone else and met everyone up in Amsterdam. The first thing I noticed was the relaxed stature of all the people there. Then there was the cool wind that brought the smell of.... The hotel was shit. It really shouldn't have cost twice as much as the Brussels one but we did have "free" breakfast. Since it was afternoon by the time we were situated, we left the hotel in search of food. We ate at an Indonesian restaurant and I had some very yummy chicken soup and rice.
The menu used the word "copiously" and we spent some time discussing whether copious can be used with the -ly part.
We also shopped at H&M that day and I finally got some skinny black pants. So did Chase. HAHA. The night started with a walk down the Red Light District.
Let me start by saying I was not allowed to take pictures. So sorry boys. There were over 30-something prostitutues in their windows that I saw. There were beds behind them in a adjacent room. The women were mostly pretty and had awesome bodies.
Red Light District
It was strange to see them standing there waiting to make money and have sex with men. Call me naive, but I just can't imagine what goes through their heads when they stand there. Some of them looked bored. Others were on their cell phones, eating chips, or sipping on red bulls. I guess they need the energy-boost. The job really doesn't call for the noraml 8-5. We ended the night at a coffee shop where Alicia Keys, Borat, and Pierce Brosnan, etc. have been.The next day started fairly early. After a quick breakfast, we went to the Anne Frank Museum. It was so strange to be at such a place. I read about it, I've tried to imagine it, but it brings a whole other set of emotions to be there. Her story is inspirational and she is a hero. To think that she's only one of thousands of faces that suffered through the Holocaust is really a bitter feeling.
Anne Frank House
We left the museum and went to Pancake Bakery, a local place that was recommended to by our trusty tourist map. We all ordered omelettes and it was very yummy indeed. Afterwards, we went on a canal tour that was more or less a waste of money. Food coma + going 3.5 mph = falling asleep. Plus we were sitting on couches and under a giant glass cover.
I did take some pretty pictures.
Boat and I.
After the Canal tour, we went to see Van Gogh Museum. It was very interesting, I never knew he had so many paintings and drawings. We saw the skeleton with cigareets, the sunflowers, the apples, and much more. After Van Gogh, Frances and I were determined to get our tattoos that we had been talking about getting this entire trip. So the hotel guy recommended a good place near by and we changed into our going out clothes and left the hotel early to go get our tattoos.
After getting looked at up and down and some old man licked his lips at me YUCK. we finally arrived at the place. Turns out my tattoo was too complicated to be so small and Frances' was 120-140 euros. We got the hell out of there. *I would still like to get that tattoo, maybe less complicated and bigger? It all depends. We shall see.
Trying to remain positive after failure.
After the failure, we decided to go sit by the canal and drink water + eat popcorn. We met some animal friends there along with a whole boat full of Asian tourists who waved at us happily. Cute. There really aren't a lot of Asians in Amsterdam.We met up with the others that night to get dinner at "Crystal Restaurant" which served falafel and mediterranean food. My meal was pretty good. After that, we went to the BullDog to get our drink on and left for some dancing. The group stopped at an Absinthe bar and had some "fun" there. I didn't but I hear it didn't taste bad. more like DayQuil? Everyone wanted to just go home because they were tired so Frances and I made a split decision to yet again try to be cool by venturing out into Amsterdam at 12:30am by ourselves with a map to find the club ESCAPE. Some random guy told us it was good but we really had no idea.
The club was obviously popular because the line stretched to the streets. After paying a much higher cover than we would've liked, we got in. The dancing started. We met some people from Michigan, France, Canada, Belgium (duh.). Grooooovy. The place was two floors and had these girls dancing up on the stage like go-go dancers without the boots. They were hott :D.
Blurry 1st floor.
The first floor played a lot of techno and second floor was hip-hop with some techno. We had fun through all the sweatiness. P.S. I should mention that we fit right in with our leggins and my romper. Just incase anyone was wondering. We stayed out til almost 4a.m. so I believe we got our $$'s worth. haha. The walk back was very interesting. The men in Amsterdam like to speak Chinese to me. This annoys me. Some dudes actually asked us "ni hao, 10 euros?" I replied "for 10 euros you can kiss my ass." Others said "hi bitches." I replied" dickhead." Frances' response was just plain funny such as "oh." or "ew." I thought the surprises were over but I was wrong. My encounter with three foreign men was to say the least...out of the ordinary. If you give a crap, you can ask me later.I love Brussels and I love Amsterdam. There really isn't much to it.
Oh, did I mention I'm wayyyy poor now?
Love from France,
coming home soon to a place near you! (6 days to be exact.)
<3
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