Belgian Waffles and Bicycles! ~ Brussels and Amsterdam

This past weekend my roommate Jen and I lived some truly wise words, 
taken from one of the most classic, inspired pieces of film of our 
generation... Up.

Adventures are out there!

With that in mind, we ventured off to Brussels and Amsterdam for the 
weekend!

 

We traveled this weekend completely by train, off a recommendation from 
a friend who had done Brussels and Amsterdam the same way.  If you ever find yourself 
traveling through Europe, I would definitely recommend this if ever 
possible.  It really is amazing how much more of the country you see by 
train; even though Jen and I didn't always know what we were looking at, 
it was amazing to see the intense green fields as we came into Brussels, 
and the windmills outside of Amsterdam. Such beautiful scenery!  And it 
certainly beat staring at the dull gray of a RyanAir seatback for two 
hours.

We spent early Saturday morning and afternoon in Brussels, Belgium. I 
didn't really know what to expect of Brussels; I hadn't actively sought 
out the trip with particular spots in mind, instead we took 
recommendations from our friend.  Jen and I went in with clear and open 
minds-- and were incredibly, and pleasantly, surprised at what we found!!

Now here's the little roadblock this weekend presented-- neither of us 
speak Dutch. Or French. Cue a lot of wandering, map pondering, and 
walking in circles.  Stay tuned, this gets funny.

On our friend Peter's recommendation we saw the beautiful Notre Dame 
du Sablon cathedral. It was beautiful, both in its exterior 
and interior architecture, and seemed to be a very nautical themed place.



Notre Dame du Sablon from the outside



Altar and gorgeous stained-glass windows

The park and fountain across the street from the cathedral

But one thing that our friend Peter did tell us we should find was a  small statue/fountain called Mannekan Pis (oh yes, you read that right), one of Belgium's most notable tourist  
attractions. Jen and I figured we would find the statue first, and from  
there get our sightseeing bearings. Easy enough, right?  Well remember  
all those lovely, completely foreign Dutch signs?  Yeah, still there.  If you're imagining me going in clueless circles, you can laugh now.  It's okay, I told you it would get funny. 
Well we made our way around the little village streets, constantly checking any street signs we could find to try to make some sense out of the language. 

We yelled and jumped for joy when we saw a directional sign for the statue (and may very well have yelled "Pis!!!" at the top of our lungs. When we got to the top of a hill, looked down, and saw a  
swarm of people with their cameras raised, we knew we were in the  
right place.

He's a cheeky little fellow, ain't he?

Around the statue was a great row of shops and food spots, as well. We 
hit every touristy thing we had planned for Brussels on that one street!

 

Belgian waffle with Belgian chocolate!

Beer shop, which held hundreds of different varieties and brands

Chocolate shop!

After a short shopping and waffle break, we walked down the block and found ourselves right in the middle of Grote Market.  This is the central square of Brussels, and one of the most memorable landmarks (after Mannekan Pis, of course... oh dear, what is our world coming to?)

The Maison du Roi (King's House)

The Brussels Town Hall

The Brussels Town Hall

We saw such beautiful architecture in Grote Market.  The buildings looked so prominent and amazing against the clear blue sky, and the golden decorations in the sunlight made for a nice touch!

Before we knew it, it was time to make our way back to the train  
station for our next stop-- Amsterdam! We spent the night in our  
Amsterdam hostel and were ready to go bright and early the next day.

Our first stop of the day was the Anne Frank Museum, an amazing  
collection of history and objects from the Frank family's time in hiding during  
World War II.  The entire exhibit is located in the actual house where the Anne and  
her family were hidden to avoid capture.  It truly is a site of such historical significance.  The museum takes you through a few lower rooms in the house while giving you introductory background and videos about the family and the anti-Semitic movement.  Upstairs was a small, table-sized replica of how the two-floored hiding spots were laid out.  When the museum was being created, it was Otto Frank's request that the rooms remained unfurnished, so that is how they sit today.  The stories of all the Annex residents are so inspiring, of their hope and faith in a time where people were telling them it was wrong to be who they were.  Anne captured that in her writing, and seeing the small space where they lived for so long is such a testament to their faith and conviction to their beliefs.

Later that morning we rented bicycles, and toured the city in true 
authentic Amsterdam style.

We rode to Museumplein for some touristy fun... Jen and I have climbed lions, hugged rocks, and now scaled giant letters! We're quite daring, if I do say so myself.

Errrr.....

And, of course, we had to enjoy some authentic Amsterdam food... french fries!  In cooones!!!

Before we knew it, it was time to hop the train back to Brussels. We  
spent a little time walking around Grote Market to see the lights and  
beautiful buildings by night.

Then it was off to the station for a train back to London.  It was such  
a great weekend; Jen and I agreed that although we didn't know what to  
expect, we enjoyed seeing the city with a fresh outlook, and just  
being open to taking our weekend one day at a time.  Wandering and  
renting bikes let us see things we may have missed, since we had the  
freedom to go where we wanted at ease.

I think Jen and I definitely earned our explorer badges this weekend.  
I'm so excited for even more roommate travel weekends coming up--  
adventures are out there!