brussels, amsterdam

devling back into the mists of time, more about europe...

brussels, cobblestones

we left paris on tuesdy morning, day four. took a death-ride in a very very smelly cab to the train station, and then a very fast train to brussels--we were there by lunch time. we stowed our gear in lockers and made our way into the city to have lunch and walk around. met up with some friends of raina's for mussels and beer, which was divine, and then just wandered about for a couple of hours. i bought my body weight in chocolate, drooled on some lace, bought a pink pashmina to try to keep from freezing to death, and ended up in an irish pub talking to a bartender from cuba. in belgium. small world. i also bought some fabulous handmade soap, which is now all but gone. *sigh* we really were not there very long at all before it was time to go. we took a slower train from brussels to amsterdam--very relaxing. i knitted and stared out at the countryside rolling by while raina and the hippie napped the time away...

amsterdam, boats


amsterdam, tree, branches


amsterdam, bartender


amsterdam, red light district

we didn't get into amsterdam until fairly late, tired and starving. the only place that was open for dinner was this random little italian place called sardegna, which turned out to be run by these grumpy old italian guys and totally fabulous. the next day (day five), it rained all day. i took a couple of pictures from the hotel windows, but nothing outside. we spent most the day in the glorious van gogh museum, grabbed a boring lunch in an irish pub (apparently these are universal), did some shopping, got caught in the rain AGAIN, and planted ourselves in a bar for the rest of the afternoon. that night, we went to see boom chicago, and awesome improv comedy group from the US. there's a bar attached to the theater where they perform, and after the couple of pitchers we had during the show, i am sorry to say that we just stayed in that bar. i drank some martinis. more than a wise person would consume. and i smoked all of raina's clove cigarettes. and then i stole some dutch guy's cigarettes and smoked those, too. then i think i may have had another martini. let's just say that this evening, which started out strong, did not end that way. i ended up soaking wet and weepy, napping involuntarily on the bathroom floor in the hotel for most of the night in between trying not to die. the next day, needless to say, was half wasted.

somewhere around 1pm on day six, the hippie and i struck out on our own into the city. i had half a roll and a cup of tea. we went to the rit museum, which was pretty awesome--the bulk of the museum is closed for renovations, which means that all we saw was what the museum personnel consider to be the cream. it was divine--small enough to do in an afternoon, not too overwhelming, and featuring some gorgeous vermeers, rembrandts, delft pottery, and these enormous beautiful pen and ink drawings of battles at sea that ended up being our favorite thing there. after, ready to actually eat something, we found a nearly-french cafe and had some lunch, then went for a long walk through the city. this is the only day i took any pictures to speak of. we walked past a beautiful enormous tree with this great whimsical sculpture in it. we walked over canals. we poked in cool shops. we just took our time and did a bit of wandering. we met raina for dinner and went to see boom chicago again--this time without the martinis! after, we did the obligatory walk through the red light district after becoming nearly hopelessly lost trying to find it. we saw the prostitutes in their window blackberry-ing each other and looking positively bored out of their minds. we passed on the sex shows--honestly, i don't think i have ever been in a place that made me feel less sexual. it was actually a little depressing. the red light district, she is not for me.

amsterdam is a city i would like a do-over trip to. there are things i would like to do there that we didn't do, and i failed to learn anything at all about the history of the place. the culture is so laid back that i think it could be a very relaxing place as well. the people are friendly and interesting and all speak english. but all in all--it wasn't my favorite place we saw. maybe i was just misisng paris too mcuh...

anyway--that's all i got in me to write about today. there's still sweden to go, and then i will have told you about the whole vacay at last. i have added all the brussels and amsterdam pictures to my european vacation photoset on flickr if you are interested. :)