Day 15

We finished Benelux today. But that means Germany tomorrow! We woke up at 6 am and stopped in the cafeteria for breakfast. After taking some extra bread and meat for lunch, we left for the train station. We had our first encounter with the bus system today, and we soon realized that it was going to be more difficult than we had anticipated. They don't announce stops, nor do they stop at every stop, so you just have to guess. Luckily, I was able to communicate with the drivers well enough to get us to the right stops. Our first destination was Esch-sur-Sure. It was beautiful in the morning and we decided to go on a hike in search of our picture spot. What I though would be an easy hike turned out to be an intense uphill battle. For almost an hour we climbed in the muddy, slippery, poison oak filled terrain. My legs were burning and I was out of breath. We made it to the top and started our search for the view of the city. But we never found it. Instead, we found cows. We spent some time with the cows and then started our descent. While walking, I was surprised by a stick that I tripped over. It looked like a human spine. And after closer examination, we found that it was a spine! And there were plenty of other bones on the ground surrounding it. I'm not sure if it was an animal's or a small human's, but it was definitely a spine. I started walking much faster. We did stop at a nice picture spot and got some great shots of the city. So I guess not all was lost. We finished our descent and took a mini break before starting our next task. We saw the ruins of the city castle and had to climb up to see it. The hike was definitely not as bad as the first and the view was spectacular. We spent some time up at the top and saw another climbing opportunity in the distance. As soon as we got back down, we started climbing again. However, this time, we had a guide. And his name was Mr. Cat. This little guy found us at the start of the stairs and led us up the entire way. When we would stop to take pictures, he would grow impatient and meow at us. And if we were still taking too long, he would come back down and wait until we were ready. Don't worry, we got a video of it. After making it to the top, we climbed up a defense tower, without our trusty guide, and saw an even better view of the city. I would say that this hike was worth it. Now the next stop was Bourschied. After getting in to the city we started looking for the castle that we thought we would have to climb to. Unfortunately, our walk started going downhill. This was nice for my legs, but I knew in order to get back into the city, it would be an uphill climb. The castle was nice, but in ruins. We climbed in and out of the tunnels and up to the top. The panoramic view was gorgeous. We could even see the nice long uphill walk all the way to Bourschied that we would have to make soon. We relaxed a little in the castle, but my legs were still plenty sore when we started our hike. We found a shortcut along the way which saved us time, but the path was much steeper. After crawling to the top we were on our way to Vianden. This city also had a castle, but luckily for my legs, it also had a chairlift to take you to the top. We gladly hopped on that and rode over the city. After getting to the top we had to walk for a bit to get to the castle, but at least it was down hill. The castle was in much better shape than the other two and we were able to go into many of its rooms. We even saw the well that they used to use to get fresh water from the river. This was by far the nicest castle I've ever been in, but I don't really have anything else to compare it with. We shall see as the trip progresses. After our visit to the castle I was feeling pretty good because I knew that meant the day was almost over and I could relax. We took our bus back to the train station and the train back to Luxembourg. And by now, we were very very hungry. A ham sandwich just doesn't seem to fill me up anymore. We searched the city for some decently priced food or an open grocery store. It had neither of those. The choice was between Subway and McDonald's. I think you know where we ended up going. I splurged a little and got one of the fancy burgers with bacon and onions because my legs had been through a lot today. They needed it. We polished those off and are now back at the hostel for the evening. Germany is tomorrow. I can hardly wait!

Day 14

Whew. Today was another crazy day. We were spoiling ourselves in Amsterdam with all of the relaxing and sleeping in. But that all changed today. My 6:30 wake up call was not pleasant. But after showering and having a nice breakfast, we were ready to hit the city. We only had one day to see everything in Luxembourg city, which made our schedule pretty tight. We made our way into the city and stopped at a few picture spots to capture the morning, the very cold morning. It was about 45 degrees! And I just had my sweatshirt over my clothes. We walked to Charles Square and attempted to rent bicycles to ride over to the American Cemetery. We were unaware that you needed an international credit card with a chip in it, something that we don't have. So no bikes today. And no cemetery, sadly. We started our city walking tour, but the cold was too much and we had to make a pit stop back at our hostel for more clothes. So if I look cold in all of my pictures, it's because I was! After redressing, we headed back outside and made the journey back to the Charles square. From there we went everywhere. We stopped by the Place d' Arms and saw the Grand Ducal Palace. We walked over to Constitution Square where the statue of the Golden Lady was erected as a monument of one of the wars fought (Sorry, I don't remember which). We continued walking and saw more buildings and churches and statues. But the real fun came when we arrived at the Bock Casemates. The Casemates, which I guess is a fancy way of saying caves and tunnels carved into a big rock hill, were pretty neat. There were so many different passage ways and stairs and ramps inside. It's amazing to think that they had the technology and man power to build something so large and fortified. We spent a good bit of time inside, but only because we got lost in one of the corridors. After traveling up and down 20 flights of narrow, spiraled, slippery stairs, we finally made it back alive. The weather had not let up yet and it was still cold, misty, rainy and foggy. We descended into the Grund Valley to see the Quinin Chapel, a small church built into the side of a rock hill. We continued walking under the Passerelle Bridge and the Adolphe Bridge and found ourselves faced with a very long and steep climb back to the main part of the city. After what felt like hours, we were back at the Place d' Arms and ready for a nice lunch at ...... McDonald's. But I was hungry, so it would have to do for today. After a leisurely break at McD's we headed out again to start our Wenzel walking tour. We started back at the Bock Casemates and made our way once again into the Grund Valley. I was enjoying it even less the second time. We walked along the Wenzel wall which was once connected to the main fortifications of the city. We walked through the Gate to Trier and up into one of the plateaus. The view was beautiful and yes, we took plenty of pictures. We walked and walked and finally made our way through the lower part of the Grund and back into the city. We still had one more stop though before we could call it a night. But it was pretty close to the hostel, so I thought it would be fine. However, we made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up walking up a very steep hill only to find that it was a dead end. We had to walk back down the hill, continue on the street and then proceeded to climb another hill. This one was even steeper than the first and by now, my legs were burning. We made it to a forest and even though there was not trail, we could see our destination, so we proceeded ahead. We finally made it to Fort Thungen. I'm not sure if it was worth the walk, but since we had already put so much energy into it, we started exploring the fort and going down into all of the nooks and crannies. At least there was a nice view of the city to reward us. Now it was finally time to go back to the hostel and relax. Or so I thought. A few minutes after we sat down, we realized that we needed food. We tried to locate a grocery store, but the closest one was near the train station, a 1.3 mile walk. And it closed at 7. It was 6:20, so we had to make a decision. Food won, so just as quick as we had sat down, we were back up again booking it to the store. How we made it with 15 minutes to spare, I do not know. But a nice dinner of salami and cheese crackers was our outcome. And I had to stop to get a twix bar. I couldn't even remember the last time I had one. I enjoyed that on our walk back. We made it back to the hostel, watched the latest episode of Chuck, and then called it a night. Early 6 am wake up call tomorrow!

Day 13

Well today is going to be a short post because we really didn't do too much. The morning started off bright and early at 7. However, it wasn't bright outside. It was gray and drizzly. We made our way to the Anne Frank House only to find that the line extended all the way around the building. So much for getting there right when it opened. We only had to wait 20 minutes or so before we were admitted in. We were informed at the door that pictures were not allowed so the only memory of this place that I have is in my mind. But I don't think I will forget it. I read The Diary of Anne Frank when I was in eighth grade and I will never forget the impact it had on me. The courage and strength that this girl had amazed me. And to be standing in the Annex that she hid in for 2 years was very emotional. All of the furniture was removed when the German troops arrested the inhabitants and years later when Otto Frank returned he decided to keep the Annex in its current condition, without furniture. Anne's room still had the movie star posters that she had put up when she was staying there. There was also the original copy of her diary on display, which was an incredible sight. I left the museum with a heavy heart and a new perspective on what people had to go through during the second world war. And the rainy weather was not helping at all. We walked back to the hostel for some more relaxation time, and decided our time would be better spent on a train rather than in a rainy city. But before we could leave Amsterdam, we had to make one last stop for lunch. And you guessed it. We had Wok to Walk again! I decided to change my order up by getting the garlic and pepper sauce instead of teriyaki, and yes, it was the right decision. With our bellies full we left Amsterdam and embarked on a 6 hour train ride to Luxembourg. And that is pretty much where the day ends. We got off the train around 7, walked to our hostel which is HUGE. And probably one of the nicest that we've stayed in. It looks like a hotel and I'm pretty sure I saw some ping pong tables down in the lobby. But, I have an early wake up call tomorrow and a busy day. And I was very pleased this morning to see that the Colts had won again!! But I'm sad that I'm missing it. Only 3 more games until I'm back!!

Day 12

Another day in Amsterdam. And it wouldn't be complete without visiting the Heineken Brewery. We started the morning off like all other mornings and walked along the canals and through some neighborhoods. I think I'm excited to leave the canal countries because I just can't take any more pictures of them! We walked for miles, at least it felt like it, and finally arrived at the Brewery. Now, they don't call it a museum or brewery anymore. It's an Experience. So we entered the Heineken Experience to learn all about the history of this world wide beer. The tour started off with the history of the first 3 generations of Heineken's and then moved on into the brewing process, something I am all too familiar with by now. We tasted the wort, which is the liquid made from cooking the barley and water. And I have to say that it was quite tasty, like a sweet corn drink. After the brewing process, we got to experience what it would be like to be brewed in a 4D simulation room. That was pretty cool, and a little wet. After we were brewed, we went to the tasting room. We learned how to properly taste the beer before moving on to the exhibits. We saw how popular Heineken was and watched clips of many movies that it was featured in, as well as commercials, sports ads and so forth. Overall, I would say it was an experience, but not quite sure if it was worth the 15 euros I paid. After the Experience, it was time for lunch. And since we were so successful yesterday with it, we decided to stop by Wok to Walk again. And it was just as good. I changed my combination today and got chicken and cashews with my fried rice. So good!! After we were completely stuffed at lunch, we cam back to the hostel for some R and R, which was much needed after my less than adequate night of sleep. We woke up just in time to head out again for our canal tour, something that I am getting rather sick of. We enjoyed a good hour and a half of the canals and the surround buildings, and even learned some interesting things about the city from our tour guide who was a native of the states. After about 20 minutes, I knew it was going to be a long and cold ride. And it was. When we finally got off the boat shivering, we knew it was time to go home. We had previously stopped by the grocery store and picked up dinner so we went straight to the hostel, with only a few picture stops. After we made dinner and watched some more TV, it was nearly bedtime. I can say that I got a good nights sleep and I'm looking forward to traveling to a different country today! Luxembourg! But I can almost certainly say that we will be stopping by our favorite Netherland Chinese take out spot for lunch today!

Day 11

Well, we had our first day of real rain while sightseeing today. It was less than pleasant. The morning started off with nice weather. We walked through the city and along the Amstel River, which was very peaceful. We made our way through the city and found ourselves near the Dutch Resistance Museum. Even though that was scheduled for Monday, we decided to visit it today to free up some time. The museum was all about how the Dutch dealt with the German invasion during the 1930's and 40's. Some complied, some resisted and some just left. We watched a short film about the different paths that people took and about some of the more well known people. Then we walked through the museum and saw all of the different exhibits. Everything was translated in English so that was a bonus. I had no idea that the Germans had occupied the Netherlands during the second world war and what was even more shocking was that many of the Dutch people joined support groups for the Germans. Whether it was out of fear or true appreciation for the Germans, I do not know. But the museum was very interesting and a little shocking. So many people died during those 4 years of occupation including small children and infants. After we left the museum it was time for lunch. And we were hungry!! As soon as we stepped outside though, we got our first bit of real rain. But it was crazy. After 10 minutes of decent rain, it just stopped. And there were blue skies everywhere (except for behind us). Luckily I remembered seeing a really good Chinese shop a few streets down. I know, I know, too much Chinese, but it was so good! It was called Wok to Walk and it's like the Subway of Chinese food. You pick your base, add your meat and pick a sauce and they cook it up for you. And it was so good. I had rice, fried rice, mushrooms, veggies and teriyaki sauce. After our lunch, we made it just in time for our bus tour to Zannse, a town with 7 remaining original windmills. The ride was short but our guide was particularly strange. She gave the tour in English and Spanish, and I am actually convinced that she was a robot. When we arrived in Zannse our first stop was the wooden shoe factory. We saw how they were made in the past and how they are made now and we even got a demonstration. It takes about 5 minutes to carve them with the machines! The store was filled with them! But apparently, they're pretty comfortable. We walked outside and saw the imminent sky and ran to try and get some pictures of the windmills before it started to pour. We made it, barely. We walked along the lake and made it into a clear section of sky and spent some time admiring the land. It was almost time to head back to the bus and the sky was not looking good. We made it back safe and sound and were now in route to Edan. Now, for all of you non cheese lovers, Edan is a very yummy cheese. So imagine my excitement when I learned we were going there to an original cheese farm! I could hardly contain my excitement during the presentation of how cheese is made at a cheese farm. And then I was ecstatic when I learned that we would be sampling all of the different kinds of cheeses that they make!! I made sure I was first in line and took several samples of each kind to make sure that I liked it. And trust me, I did. I especially loved the 2 year old sheep's milk Gouda cheese. It was all so good, and if I could have, I would have bought it all up. But it's expensive, so I'll just have to wait until I get back. After the cheese farm, we headed to a small fishing village called Volendam. However, when we arrived, it was raining pretty hard, so the walk to the harbor was less than pleasant. While we were walking through the city, the rain started to let up and then completely stopped. We walked along the lake and got a really good feel of this fishing town. After spending some time in Volendam we took a ferry to the neighboring city of Marken. The ride was very relaxing and rain free. When we arrived in Marken, they wasted no time and put us right back on the bus. We finally arrived in Amsterdam around 7 pm and were ready for dinner and more relaxation time. And then it was time for bed. Hopefully the weather holds today!

Day 10

Well we made it to Amsterdam! When we woke up in Utrecht after a decent nights sleep, our first move was to check the weather. It rained so much the night before accompanied with thunder and lightening. The prediction for the next 3 days was 30% chance of rain with a 97% chance of cloud coverage. After an interesting breakfast of something that looked liked pancakes, we left the hostel to go explore the city. We were pleased to find that there was zero cloud coverage and the sky was beautiful. But that really means nothing in the Netherlands. We walked around the city and saw some of its churches and main squares and spent some time around the canals. The city was nice a small and compact so we finished pretty early. Instead of moving on to the next city a little earlier, we decided that it would be nice to have some relaxation time. So we went back to the hostel and spent the next 2 hours watching TV and eating all the free food that we could (not that the selection was anything inspiring). We checked out and headed back to the train station. After a quick ride to Leiden, we were still excited to see clear skies. We walked into the city and I have to say that it was beautiful. 20% of its inhabitants are students at the University of Leiden which makes it a very college town. There were so many shops and places for cheap food. This was my kind of city. We walked towards the remaining refugee castle, but sadly, like many things on our trip, it was under construction. We walked along the canals and through many of the shops and decided that we should take a canal tour. For 7 euro, we got an hour long tour of the city, which was really relaxing and informative. It's hard to believe that in the 1600s there were even more canals then there are today! All of the streets used to be canals, but were filled in and paved over when the times started to change. It was very beautiful and relaxing. I may have even dozed off for a few minutes... We left the canal tour in search of food, and we found it. 10 lumpia (egg rolls) for 2 euro! Very tasty. After our lunch/snack break we walked through the city some more and stopped in some of the parks the enjoy the views. We headed back to the train station and were soon in route to Haarlem. With the skies still clear, we were hopeful for the rest of the day. We arrived in Haarlem, and other small city in the Netherlands and spent an hour or so walking around. The great thing about these cities is that everything is so close so you can see all of the main sites in a short period of time. We stopped by the Corrie ten Boom house, the place where many Jews hid out during the second world war. It was very inspiring to learn about how this woman put her life in jeopardy for complete strangers. We saw some of the churches and the main city square which was very busy at this time of day. We relaxed a bit in the park before heading back to the train station to go to Amsterdam! After getting off a stop early and having to wait for the next train, we finally made it to the city. It has such a different feel to it because it's so big and industrialized. But I was excited. We stopped by the hostel to drop off our bags before heading out again. We walked nearly 3 miles round trip to sign up for our canal tour but stopped at a grocery store to pick up some dinner. Sandwiches! Again. Oh well. After our dinner we had 10 minutes to walk to the neighboring hotel for our Red Light District tour. But sadly, we made a wrong turn and ended up running with 1 minute to spare. We made it just as the tour was leaving. The tour started off at the old stock exchange building and we got a quick history lesson on the city of Amsterdam. It's called that because in the 1600s they dammed the Amstel river. We made our way towards the seedier part of town and stopped by many of the famous coffee houses, which do not serve coffee. We saw the window that Quinten Tarantino stayed in and wrote Pulp Fiction. We walked through the 3 main streets that the prostitutes worked on. It was interesting and uncomfortable all at the same time. I'm glad I was able to see it, but I don't think I'll be going back to that section of town again. It finally started to rain towards the end of the tour, but thankfully it wasn't too much and stopped rather quickly. After our tour finished, we walked back to the hostel and headed straight to bed. But unfortunately at 2 am, many of our roommates decided to have a very loud conversation and take multiple pictures. Hopefully tonight will be better!!! But I have a nice relaxing tour today so it should be good, even though there's a 30% chance of rain.

Day 9

Today was busy, not that any of the other days have been relaxed. We woke up bright and early at 6 am so we could walk 2 miles to the train station. We got on and headed towards Ghent (Gent). Though this city is larger, it still has a somewhat medieval feel to it, similar to Bruges. We got off the train and searched for a luggage locker, and thankfully we found one that was big enough for both our bags! Score. After we loaded our bags and paid the 4 euro we thought we were set. Sadly, we had paid for the locker below ours. So after paying another 4 euros and making sure that the receipt was torn up for the other locker, we were off for a nice 1.6 mile journey to the center of town. We stopped at Pano's on the way there and I had a very delicious cherry and apple turnover. But sadly I ate some of Adam's sandwich which had pesto sauce on it. Pesto sauce = pine nuts. Pine nuts = a very upset stomach for me. We walked to the Gravensteen Castle and spent some time in that area. Similar to Bruges, many parts of the town were under construction. We walked along some of the canals and saw many of the old buildings. My SD card has been acting funny though and even though I should have more available space on it, it seems to be disappearing. I will have to figure that out soon... After we left the canals we went to the Markt square to check out some of the churches and the Belfry tower. Hoping to climb it, we went into the tourist office to ask where we should go. But sadly we were informed that it was some Military defense thing and for security purposes, everything was closed. Well that sucked. After stopping in the local McDonald's and looking up earlier train times, we left the city disappointed, but excited for our next stop. We arrived in Antwerp with beautiful skies and pleasant weather. The train station, which is an incredible building in itself, was right across the street from an ice cream stop. Keep that in mind for later. After we left the station, we walked towards the port and Antwerp's Castle. We stopped by Steen Castle for a few minutes before heading closer to the port. Antwerp has Europe's second largest port, which I'm sure is a very important feature of the city. It was beautiful though and I felt like I could see for miles. After admiring the port, we started walking back towards the Grote Markt (Main Market) and stopped at the Church of our Lady. Disappointed from Ghent, we were unsure if this one would be open. But luckily, it was and we spend a good bit of time inside. The cathedral was massive! And there were so many works of art inside that I might almost call it a museum. After hanging around for a while, we left the cathedral and the city center and started heading back to the station. And what just so happened to be right outside the train station? Ice cream. Pistachio and chocolate ice cream to be exact. And yes, I don't see anything wrong with having it two days in a row. It wasn't quite as good as the ice cream in Bruges, but it certainly wasn't bad. We got back on the train and were on our way to Delft. Delft is the oldest city in the Netherlands and it is also the city that makes that blue and white patterned china (if you know what I'm talking about). After a switch in Rotterdam, we arrived in Delft, but sadly, our skies weren't beautiful and sunny anymore. Instead, it was dim and rainy. Even though it was raining, we pushed on and started exploring the city. We stopped by the Oude and Neuw Kerk (old and new church?) and the markt square. I knew we were in the Netherlands as soon as I saw the cheese stand. There were so many different kinds and in such large quantities. Sadly, I didn't have the time or space to buy any. Maybe in Amsterdam. The rain had stopped towards the end of our visit so we were hopeful for the rest of the night. We were on our way to Utrecht. Once we arrived, we were disappointed to learn that the station didn't have any luggage holds and that we would have to carry our bags to our hostel. At least it wasn't raining. We made it successfully and got all checked in. The neat thing about this hostel is that they provide you with what seems like unlimited food. You just have to cook it! The bad thing is that there is one small kitchen for everyone in the hostel to cook their food in. We finally snuck into the kitchen around 8 and started making dinner. What accompanied the frying pan noises though, was thunder and rain. Even as I'm writing this now, 2 hours later, it is still raining outside. And it doesn't look like it's going to let up according to weather.com. Hopefully 30% won't be too bad for the rest of the weekend. One can only hope. Off to Amsterdam tomorrow!

Day 8

Ready for day 8?? I sure was. After nearly 10 hours of sleep I was ready to start the day. We were going on our second Quasimodo tour and this one was of Flander's Fields and the surrounding area. Now it's time for a little history lesson. I'm sure grandpa knows all of this already, but I need to inform the rest of you. WWI was started in 1914 because of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand (the second?). There were the 3 main powers, Germany, Austria and Hungary, and then the Allies, which was everyone else, including the British, Belgian, French, Canadian, Australian, New Zealanders and eventually the US. Now, Germany wanted to overtake France and the easiest way to do this was to go through Belgium. Even though Belgium was a neutral territory, they had signed a treaty with the British that they would not let anyone occupy them. So King Albert upheld his end of the deal and told Germany no. They were pretty upset about this, but thought the Belgium would be an easy 5 day fight. They were very wrong. It took the Germans 32 days to capture most of Belgium. Once they had occupied 90% of the country, there was a small 10% left between them and the French border. And with the help of the rest of the allied forces, they never broke through. This area was called Flander's Fields. So after getting all of that information, we went to our first stop which was the Canadian monument remembering all of the lives lost there. It was very interesting and tall! We hopped back on the bus and went to several other monuments including the British Cemetery and and the New Zealand monument. It was a lot of information to take in but it was very emotional learning about all of this history. After that we drove over to a farm and were shown several of the remains that keep getting dug up as farmers expand. Every year Belgian farmers find around 29 unexploded shells just buried in the ground. They're supposed to turn them in, but sometimes they keep them. And our tour guide came very close to us with these artifacts. I feel that even in our enclosed van, some damage would have been done. Thankfully nothing happened...this time. After our brush with death, we headed off to Tyne Cot Cemetery which was once the location of the German bunkers. There were so many graves there, but the saddest part was that almost 80% of the graves were unknown. Many of the headstones read "A Soldier of the Great War Known Unto God." There was a wall surrounding the cemetery and all of the names of the missing soldiers believed to be dead were written on them. There were over 35,000 names. Our next stop was the Polygon Woods Cemetery. This place is one of the highest places in Belgium, which isn't saying much at 65 meters above sea level. But it was a very important place during the battles because it gave the occupier the upper hand. They could see what their enemy was doing at all times and could successfully thwart them. Maybe that's why it changed hands 18 times during the war. This is also where the Australian memorial was located. After spending some time in the cemetery we stopped by the Hooge Crater for a museum visit and lunch. The museum had all kinds of remains from the battle fields including replicas of each of the different soldiers. There was also a very large exhibit of ammunition, hopefully all ones that had detonated. We also learned about an excavation sight that we would be visiting later in the day. After lunch we traveled to Hill 60 which is a completely preserved battlefield. The only difference between 1918 and today is the grass that is growing there now. Bunkers are still visible, craters from where the shells exploded are there and there are even 2 undetonated mines somewhere on the field. Don't worry, I was very careful when I was walking. This place was amazing. It was so emotional being on land that so many people had died on. The British army had set forth a plan and had set up 24 mines in underground tunnels. At exactly 3 am on a night that I don't remember, the British detonated all of the mines killing more than 10,000 German soldiers in only 20 seconds. We also got to see some German and British bunkers that were still standing even after the explosions. Our next stop was the city of Iepers (Ypres) which had been completely demolished during WWI. Even though the city was around in the 9th century, every structure in that city is not more than 85 years old. Thankfully someone had drawn many of the town structures and they were able to replicate the town hall and main cathedral. We visited the Mennin Gate which was built in order to remember all of the unknown fallen soldiers. After that we went through the city and explored for a little bit. The second best ice cream shop was in Iepers, but sadly, I did not make it there. After we explored, we got back on the bus and headed to the excavation site that I mentioned earlier. A few years back they had found these trenches that had been filled with water. They successfully pumped out the water, and restored the Yorkshire Trenches and Dug Out. We got the opportunity to walk through them and see what it was like for a soldier at the lookout and firing posts. And what I thought was concrete at first turned out to be fossilized sand bags. It was incredible to think that soldiers had walked these very trenches and had fought battles there. Our last stop for the day was an old British dressing room, which was basically a place for soldiers to get patched up before they were sent to the real hospital. Now this was probably the eeriest part of the entire tour because we actually got to go inside these underground rooms. We stood in the very same place were "surgeons" operated on soldiers, were many of the soldiers died and were many of their lives were saved. It was all very moving. I spent the drive home thinking about all of the lives that were lost and how hard Belgium had fought and was truly inspired. When we got back to Bruges, I knew that I needed a pick me up from all of that history and decided to stop by the number one ice cream shop in all of Belgium. And yes, it was the best ice cream I had ever had! Double scoop pistachio and chocolate. After that we stopped by Astrid Park and then the grocery store for dinner. Yummy spinach and mushroom pizza. Even though it's not authentic, it is very tasty. Tomorrow we head out at 6 am for the Netherlands!!

Day 7

Bruges, Brugge, Brujas, Brugse. There's so many different ways to say it, but regardless of the spelling and pronunciation, it is a beautiful place. The morning started off early, just like every other morning on my trip so far. 7am came and I was up getting ready for the day. Because it had been so cold lately, I decided it would be better to wear a long sleeve shirt and my sweatshirt. And I was right. It was pretty foggy all morning and even though it didn't look like rain, it didn't look like sunshine. We made our way to the Markt square and saw the very beautiful town hall and Belfry Tower (which we would climb later in the day providing the weather cleared up). After walking through the city and grabbing some nice bread for breakfast, we spent some time near the canals and found some very hungry looking swans. We shared our breakfast with them and they proceeded to follow us all through the city. The next stop was the Church of our Lady and even though every city seems to have one, this one was special. It houses Michelangelo's Madonna and Child, one of his few pieces of work outside of Italy. It was beautiful. After the church we decided it was time for our canal tour. We hopped in a boat and spent a good 30 minutes touring the canals of Bruges (the Venice of the north) and learning about the history of some of its older buildings. The Hospital, which is no longer a hospital, was built in the twelfth century and is the oldest hospital in all of Europe! It was founded by the same woman that the Church of our Lady was named after. After that relaxing tour it was time to visit the Basilica of the Holy Blood. Now the interesting story behind this church's name is that a Flemmish man, I don't remember who, went on the second crusade and came back with a phial (not vial) containing a piece of cloth that is said to have drops of Jesus Christ's blood. It resides in the church and visitors are permitted to touch it, behind the several inches of glass casing. And that is exactly what we did. It was pretty amazing being so close to something like that. After the church, our stomachs told us it was lunch time. Now if you remember, I won a bet several months ago. Adam and I wagered a nice meal in Bruges for the winner of the NCAA basketball tournament bracket. And it was time to pay up. Luckily we found a nice restaurant that was offering a very good lunch deal. He ordered the mussels, which I sadly tried some of. It was not very good. Luckily I chose the safer option and had a nice chicken stew, which was very good. And very Flemish apparently. With our lunch deal we also got dessert which was some kind of chocolate thing. And you know me and chocolate. So it was gone in a minute. After lunch we decided it would be a good idea to climb 366 steps to the top of the Belfry. We made it, slightly out of breath. But the view was gorgeous. But sadly, the sky was still gloomy. We made our decent and headed over to De Halve Mann Brewery for a guided tour. After all of the brewery tours I go on during this trip, I will probably have enough knowledge to brew my own beer...not that I would want to. It was interesting to learn about Bruges place in the history of beer. This brewery has been running since the 1800s and has been run by the same family for that entire period of time. It is in its sixth generation. During the tour we got to go onto the roof of the brewery and watch an amazing view of the city. And lucky for us, the sky had cleared up and the sun was shining through. Afterward we tried some Brugge Zot beer, which means Brugge Fools. The rest of the day was spent walking through the city and taking more pictures, and picking up some dinner. I'm still full from my chicken stew so I might have to save my soup for tomorrow. Other than that, today was great and I can't believe it's already been a week! But I miss everyone at home, so don't worry, I'll be back in 5 weeks!!

Day 6

Today was a very relaxing day compared to all of my previous ones. After waking up at 7 but realizing that the showers didn't open until 7:30am, I laid in my bed for a while. Breakfast was decent and I had some nice toast and cereal before we embarked on our journey. Today's itinerary was Quasimodo's Triple Treat Tour which included a visit to Belgium's oldest castle, a very large Chateau, a chocolate store and a nice bar. We spent a little bit of time exploring the city before our tour bus picked us up at 9 and the sky did not look promising. We got picked up for our tour in Zand Square and were off to Tilligen Castle, the oldest castle in Belgium. It had been rebuilt several times so it wasn't too old, but it still looked neat. And it was owned by some fancy company, so no visitors allowed. Oh well. I did get to see a black swan for the first time. It was very pretty, in a sort of eerie way. We hopped back on our nice air conditioned bus and drove over to the Chateau of Loppem. I learned that a Chateau is not a castle, but meerly a very large house owned by very rich people. And boy was this house huge. It had 32 rooms just in the main house! Who needs 32 rooms??? Apparently the VanCaloun family. It was built in the 1800's and was historical for a number of reasons. During WWI the King of Belgium stayed there for 1 month and made some very important decisions for his country. Luckily this one was open to the public so we got to spend some time inside looking through all of the rooms. After a good bit of time there, and a very interesting and lengthy history lesson from our tour guide, we were finally ready for lunch. We stopped at some restaurant in the middle of nowhere and had sandwiches (which I think I might be getting sick of). But what I wasn't getting sick of was the Belgian waffles that they brought out for us. Man, that was probably the best waffle that I have ever had in my entire life. It wasn't round, like I thought, but it was crunchy and soft at the same time, covered in sugar and creme, and a little piece of heaven in my mouth. It was gone withing 3 minutes. This was also the location of the oldest Neogothic structure in Belgium. There was a barn like building out back and it was almost 800 years old! And still intact! After lunch, we hopped back on the tour bus and drove over to the town of Damme. The town hall, not to be confused with the church, was very beautiful and had some interesting stories to go along with it. Did you know that women who were convicted of gossiping had to wear very heavy stones around their necks and walk/crawl with them around town for a whole day? I don't know if I would ever gossip if that was my punishment. After a quick WC stop (WC = Water Closet = Bathroom)we walked over to the real church. Because the city had gone through so many different phases of population and riches, the church was pretty big, but sadly, most of it could not be used anymore. We went to the back, which is where the cemetery was, and learned about why they bury bodies above ground in Europe. Because they are so close to sea level, if they would bury the bodies under ground, they would get washed away. But sadly, some of the poorer people have to do this, and their bodies, or pieces of them, get churned up to the surface. Don't worry, I got a picture of "Uncle Henry". Haha. And on that creepy note, we left for the Chocolate shop. Now, I love chocolate, and I love eating chocolate, so this was the perfect destination for me. We learned about how chocolate is made (and why Belgian chocolate is the best) and then we got to sample many many different kinds. Knowing me, I assumed I could eat 30. Sadly, after only 3 I had to stop because they were so rich. I did manage to eat one more before I left though. After the chocolate induced diabetic coma I was sure to go in, we took the bus back into the city and stopped at a bar to sample some fine Belgian Beers. We had another little history lesson on beers and learned that there are over 750 different Belgian beers. Each comes in its own special glass as well. After sampling these, we left to go back to Zand Square. We left the tourguide (but not for long. We have another tour on Wednesday) and headed out to look for food. Luckily we found some kind of grocery store and were able to get some nice soup for dinner. After getting back to the hostel and relaxing for a bit, we left again to see the city at night. And it was at this point that I confirmed that Bruges shuts down at 7pm. We took some really nice pictures though. And that was it for the day. I didn't do too much walking so my legs held up. But I can't say that for tomorrow. We will be exploring the city on foot.

Day 5

Hello from Bruges!!! That is where I am currently residing. But the journey to get here is a much more exciting story to tell. We began our day at 5 am! We walked the mile to the train station and left for Maastricht at 5:57. We had two transfers, and one included a bus to Maastricht from Vise (pronounced vis-a, not vice, like I was mistakenly saying it). The sky was somewhat dreary, but we could see some blue peeking through. We walked across the main bridge and into the city and found the main town square, which was completely empty. We saw a few of the churches, but nothing too impressive. After walking around for a bit, we found the Hellpoort and Jerker Towers, which were remains from the old city walls. Those were pretty cool and there was a nice view of the river that ran through the city. Even though it was a little early for lunch, we stopped anyways at one of my favorite food establishments, McDonalds. It wasn’t expensive and it was a little taste of home. After hoppi9ng back on the bus and waiting 53 minutes in Vise, we were on our way to Dinant. What used to be an 11 minutes layover in Liege (pronounced Lee-age and not Leege) turned into a 2 minutes layover when our train was late. Luckily our legs weren’t too tired and we were able to run to the next stop. After one more 30 minutes layover, we were finally in Dinant. And I think that this has to be my favorite stop so far. For the last 4 months or so, Dinant has been my desktop background, so it was amazing to see it up close and personal. Now I have another picture of Dinant as my background, but it was one that I took. Our first stop there was the Grotte Marveliouse (I think that’s how you spell it) which translates to the Marvelous Caves. And were they ever. We ascended over 100 meters into the earth and saw these caves that were formed by rivers thousands of years ago. The truly were marvelous. And our guide was very interesting as well and gave the tour in 3 different languages, French, English, and Dutch. I guess that’s common over in Belgium to speak those three languages. It’s very useful for me. After exiting the caves, we headed back into the city and set forth to climb to the top of the Dinant fortress. Now, mind you, this was not the easiest task. It is exactly 408 steps to the top and they aren’t normal sized steps, but very tall steps. It felt like 1,000. After almost dying halfway up, I thought there was no hope. But thankfully, I made it and the view was well worth the price that my legs had to pay. After spending some time up there we opted for the easier route down and took the cable car. I liked that option much better. The rest of our time was spent in the city trying to locate a food source. Now, I didn’t mention it a few days ago, but while I was in Brussels, I had some traditional Belgian food, a Bicky and Frites which, in the picture, looked like burgers and fries. I was very wrong. The fries were normal, but a bicky is most definitely NOT a hamburger. Instead it is some foreign meat shaped to look like a hamburger. Added to that was carrots, cabbage, cheese and possibly onion. So when I saw the sign for 2.00 euro Bicky’s, I quickly passed on that. Hoping that we would find food in Bruges, we hopped back on the train. Now, we had left our bags in our Hostel to avoid paying a luggage storage fee at the train station. We had 35 minutes to walk to our hostel, pick up our bags, and walk back to the train station. Sounds doable? Well, the distance to the hostel is approximately 1 mile. And with a 30 pound backpack, that was a very difficult task. After nearly running back to the train station, we found out that it was running 8 minutes late. That would have been nice to know beforehand. At least the ride to Bruges was quick. But sadly, we had to walk another mile to our hostel once there. At least there was no time constraint. Once we had arrived and checked in, I was STARVING. (I’m putting that in caps because I ate a McDonald’s hamburger at 10 am). But sadly, Bruges shuts down at 7 pm so there was no luck for me. Oh well, Cheese-itz and Beef Jerky would have to do. All in all, it was a great day and I’m so excited for tomorrow!!!

Day 4

Another day gone! This one was a long one, a very long one. We started the morning right with a nice breakfast at our hostel. I never knew that butter, jam and bread could be so filling. And the brownie was a nice addition as well. We made sure to take our gloves with us today because 45 degrees is just too cold. As we started walking towards our first destination, I was happy to see that Mannekin Pis had on some clothes today (even though he was still peeing). We stopped by Grand Place again and noticed some very yummy waffles being made. Sadly, I had already had my jam and bread. We stopped by the Bourse stock exchange building which was pretty cool. There were so many detailed carvings on it! Next stop was St. Catherine's Church and the Black Tower. I wasn't sure what to expect when we were walking over there, but both were so neat looking. The Black Tower is one of the last remaining structures from the old city walls. And it was stuck right in the middle of the city with modern buildings built round it. St. Catherine's was really cool as well. In addition to being a really old church, there was a public urinal built along the one of its outside walls. We started walking towards the Place des Martyrs and saw a decent sized grocery store along the way. We made a mental note to stop back and look for that alarm clock. The Place des Martyrs was an empty square, but right in the middle stood this huge monument. Unfortunately, I couldn't translate why the monument was there, but I can only assume that a lot of people died for something... We walked over the the Monnaie Theater and took a little pit stop outside of it. At this point, my feet were good and the rest of the day looked promising. We hadn't seen a single cloud all day and the sun had started to warm everything up. We took the metro over to a different section of the city and located the Notre Dame de Laeken, probably the biggest church I've seen so far. Sadly it was under construction on the sides, but the front had already been completed. It was really cool seeing the differences in the sections. Unfortunately we were unable to go inside because of a service, but instead we got to see the huge cemetery behind the church and the Royal Crypt underneath. Apparently in Europe they don't quite bury the bodies underneath the ground and they like to add pictures to each grave. The crypt was really neat as well. I got to see the graves of King Leopold I, II, III and the Queen that the church was named after/for. I was in the presence of royalty. We continued our journey to the Palace of Laeken, but could only see it from a distance behind a gate. Next stop was the Atomium!! I had seen it from a distance several times and was excited to see it up close. We paid our 8 euro to go inside of it, and took several elevators and stairs to get to the middle and surrounding sections. The inside had a lot of different art and architecture displays. Apparently the Atomuim was the thing to visit that Saturday because the line to go to the top was ridiculous. Even though I paid 8 euro for it, we decided to pass on the hour line and started heading over to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. I had started to feel a little pain in my feet but I figured it was manageable and kept on going. Even in the distance, the Basilica was HUGE! When we finally made it inside we knew we had to go to the top somehow. There were a bunch of stairs leading somewhere and I grew very concerned that I was going to have to climb all the way up. Luckily, for a small fee, there is a glass elevator that does all of the work for you. The view was breathtaking. We could see the entire city! I don't remember how many pictures I took, but it was alot! We made our way down to the bottom and walked back tot he metro station for our last few stops. We had missed the Brussels Palace the previous day, and we had to make a pit stop there before we left. By this point, the pain in my feet had increased to a level 8 out of 10. The palace was beautiful (and again, was behind a fence). We stopped by the grocery store on our way back and grabbed some salami, edem cheese and a nice baguette for dinner. The last stop of the night was the St. Hubert galleries, which is a glass roofed mall area. It was pretty neat, but my feet started controlling my thoughts and all I wanted to do was get back to the hostel. On our way back we encountered several different parades of sorts including one that was firing off guns or shooting pigeons (I'm not entirely sure). After making it back to the hostel, we ate our nice dinner and now, even though it's only 8:45, I am about to head to bed. Our train leaves at 5:57 tomorrow, so we will be in route to Maastricht bright and early. That's all for today!

Day 3

After a good nights rest, we were off again this morning. The first stop was the famous Manniken Pis statue. I didn't realize how small it was! Then we walked over to the Grand Place, which is the main square in Brussels. And at 8 am, it was completely empty! And very cold. All the building were so big and I could barely fit them in pictures. The next stop was the Notre Dame du Sablon, which we didn't quite make it to, because the Justice Palace distracted us. Even though the entire front of the building was covered in scaffolding, the inside and side views were pretty nice. I guess it was modeled after the Romans, which was pretty interesting to see. After that we started walking over to the Porte de Hal, Brussels only remaining city gate. I learned today why the parks are so nice in Brussels. Apparently, you are not allowed to walk in the grass. Some one let me know loudly in French. After some more walking and sightseeing, the Musical Instrument Museum was the next stop. There are over 1500 different musical instruments inside, and they gave you headphones so you could listen to them. Pretty nifty, if I so say so. We stopped in a nice cafe for some soup and sandwiches. We stopped by the EU headquarters before making the long journey to the Cantillion Brewery. And it was at this time that I thought my feet were going to fail me while I was walking. The tour was pretty interesting, and I'm still unsure about the beer that they gave us at the end. But, when in Belgium... After a nice 4 hour nap at the hostel and a recovery session for my feet, it was dinner time. We found a really good Chinese restaurant and I had a huge place of chicken fried rice. And apparently asking for water will cost you almost 2 euros. I won't make that mistake again. Now I'm just sitting in a very loud bar with very slow wifi and getting ready to end the night. Hopefully I can upload some pictures when we get into Bruges on Sunday. Until then, you'll just have to imagine everything (or look up a picture online). Hopefully my legs will get used to all of this walking. And hopefully I wake up on time tomorrow. Apparently without phone service, our phones can't display the time, which means no alarm. I looked all day, but Brussels doesn't have a Target. Maybe in Bruges...

Day 1 & 2

I finally made it! After only 2 hours of sleep and 33 hours of crazyiness, I made it successfully through my first two days. After departing LAX and surviving a 10 hour flight (which feels like 24) I landed in London and hopped right on the tube and headed over to King’s Cross Station. And I bet you can guess what pictures I took there. We headed out into the city and saw so much stuff that it might bore you if I listed it all here. I’ll just mention the highlights. I walked through all the major squares of the city including Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar’s Square and many of the surrounding parks, some of which are considered royal. Who would have known? I got to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, which reminded me of my old marching band days in high school. I saw Westminster Abbey and Westminster Palace (Palace of Westminster?) and took plenty of pictures. Just as we sat down for lunch though, an unexpected rain shower visited us. It was short lived and by the time we came back outside, skies were bright and sunny. We kept on walking and finally made it to St. Paul’s Cathedral where I spent a good bit of time sitting down and relaxing before continuing on (the very long) journey to the Tower Bridge. I think the lack of sleep finally got to me, because I swore, as I was walking, I was falling asleep. Every time I sat down, I feel asleep. After seeing the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, a pretty cool fortress, I decided that my poor little feet had had enough. We hopped back on the tube and headed back to King’s Cross/St. Pancras Station to get ready to board our Eurostar train to Brussels! In an unrelated note, I found out that I am officially allergic to pine nuts, or possibly a pesticide that they are treated with. As soon as I laid my head back, I was asleep for almost the entire 2 hour ride. And now I’m in Brussels! It looks like it had just poured outside, so thankfully we missed that. But currently, I’m laying on my bed, typing this up, and most certainly thinking about sleep. My body needs to recover from the estimated 20 miles I walked today. But tomorrow is a bright and early day and can hardly wait!