Amsterdam
It was a pretty quiet flight from London to Amsterdam. Although we were excited to see more countries, we had just said goodbye to friends, neighbours, and the place we called home for an entire year. We quietly processed our present situation, each in our own way. But the flight was short and the world was waiting. We snapped out of our sombre moods once we saw the canals of Amsterdam! From the train station, one exists to see the crooked houses called “The Dancing Ladies”. Somehow, none of us were expecting them to be right there. I only noticed their obvious leans and didn’t connect them with the iconic photos until later in the day. Nonetheless, I stopped to take some quick photos while Erik navigated the narrow allies to find our hotel.
It was a small room with 5 single beds, no AC, and a tiny toilet room attached. The décor was bland and basic. The room’s only window opened into the courtyard’s smoking area. I was the first one to complain. I can put up with a lot of things, but the smell of smoke drives me NUTS! “Keep the window closed,” I told everyone. Except, the room quickly became unbearably hot. It was over 30 degrees outside and the room did not have any other air source than the window. No fans. No AC. Nothing. Near tears, I asked Erik if there was any other place we could afford to stay. No. Not unless we want to spend a LOT per night to be downtown.
In the end, the room was fine. We tried to find cooler spots to hang out during the heat of the day. The lobby had tables to sit at to work or colour and soft chairs to sit on to read. Thankfully, there weren’t too many guests smoking and the air wasn’t unbearable. But I digress. I’ve only painted a negative view so far. This city is unique and worth seeing. I can say that doing so in less than pleasant accommodations still yields a fun and pleasant visit.
On our first evening, we found some Asian food (don’t ask) and then walked around as the sun set and the air cooled. The colours of the homes started popping with the setting sun. We found some fun stores, one full of rubber ducks of all things, and planned our following day.
A short train ride from downtown brings you to the Zaan Region and a great museum showcasing the region’s innovation, owing to its use of windmills. There are a number of windmills still standing and a couple still operating, though mostly operating for show. We chose not to go inside one but it is an option to those wishing to do so. Instead, we took in the blue skies, the green fields, and the beauty of these buildings. At the museum, we learned about the region’s famous cheese maker and sampled some cheese. We met some cute goats, ate a stroopwafel, and spent over an hour in the museum.
Our favourite part was the interactive chocolate and cookie factory exhibit that had fun games to play to see if we’d ‘cut it’ as a factory worker. Some of us would.
In the evening, we joined a sunset canal tour and learned about the city’s history, about how the canal system and locks system keeps the water level consistent in the city, and about why many homes are so thin and tall (and also why they have pulleys at the top of them). We were amazed at how many bicycles are in the city. Our boat captain sheepishly admitted to owning three bikes. He also told us between 12000 and 15000 bicycles are pulled out of the canals every year!
Our second day was spent following an online scavenger hunt designed to give an interesting tour of the city. We had trouble in a few spots figuring out the clues which dampened the mood a bit. Add in the heat and we found ourselves bailing from finishing after two hours. Instead, we spotted a cute clothing shop and a playground. We hibernated for the hot afternoon in our hot room but then ventured out to visit Tony’s Chocolonely’s flagship store. This brand of chocolate was born through a social enterprise wanting to eliminate forced labour and poor wages from the supply chain of chocolate. They are now one of the largest growing chocolate brands in Europe. And we love their stuff!!
Before leaving, we made sure to try some of the tourist-typical foods such as dutch pancakes (yes, they are definitely worth eating!), paper cones of fries with cheese sauce, and bitterballen which are deep-fried balls of stew.
After only two days of seeing the city, we caught a train to…
Brussels
One of our logistical tactics for this leg of the trip was to book rooms that were no more than a kilometre from the train station. This way, we could easily arrive and easily depart without needing to find transportation. Also, train stations tend to be close to the heart of the city which bodes well for touring around easily and seeing the sites. However, this also means that your dollar (or Euro) won’t go as far for accommodations. And European hotels NEVER have family-friendly rooms with multiple beds. In Brussels, we found a hostel that had a room with two sets of bunk beds and one single bed. We happily paid the $300+ for the night in order to be close to the train station and all in one room.
What we hadn’t anticipated was the heat; both for the 1km walk to and from the station with our packs on, and for the non-AC room on the 4th floor that packs 5 people into its small space. Also, the hostel provided bed linens but not towels and we quickly discovered that there weren’t any hooks to use to hang our own towels to dry. Oh, and the bathroom had a sink, a toilet, and a shower spout on the wall – no curtain, walls, stalls, or any other way to keep the water from hitting everything in the bathroom. Sigh. So our feet got wet every time we entered the bathroom without a towel with which to dry them. We had to get creative.
I am only sharing this to show you that every step of this edventure required research, thought, prioritization, and often sacrifice. Europe is expensive, so we saved where we could by finding places to sleep that at least had a pillow for everyone, and then planned to be out and about most of our time. We therefore didn’t stay long in our hostel room and ventured out to find waffles. It was the top priority on the list (well, on my list anyway). On the way to a spot, we walked past the famous fountain, Manneken Pis. I seemed to be the only one in the family who knew about this fountain, not because I’ve seen it before, but because I ate a waffle once at a café named Manneken-Pis which had a small replica statue and a little blurb on their menu. I believe this place was downtown Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in Quebec. Anyway, the kids thought I was a bit strange to want to see a statue of a boy peeing, but were intrigued when they saw that I was not the only person in the city wanting to see it! There was a fairly hefty crowd trying to snap photos.
We found the waffles and took them to the famous Grand Place, the central square of the city. It is considered one of the most beautiful squares in Europe, and I would have to agree. There is something about the architecture, the layout, and the textures of the buildings that really draws your eyes up and around. I couldn’t stop staring and wondering what each building was for. The square contains former guild halls and the current town hall, among other things. Like much of Europe, it too has had its share of rocks, flaming balls, and bombs thrown at it so parts of the square have been rebuilt a few times, but it still looks like something out of medieval times.
We decided to wander a bit further and found interesting-looking candies, cute artwork, and the female version of the peeing-boy statue. Her name is Jeanneke, and her facial expression is one between a look of satisfaction and one of revenge. It’s worth seeing! She’s tucked into an alley, perhaps for privacy? We found some other beautiful spots, rested in the shade, and made our way back to our hostel for a break. After dinner, we heard loud music and the din of many voices. We walked to a neighbouring street to see what the commotion was all about. It was a fair. It turned out to be the annual summer street fair that stretches over a kilometre down the central divide of a large road. We got sucked into the vibe of the night and watched people spin on rides, attempt to win gigantic stuffed animals, and we inhaled the aroma of the deep-fried donuts. We abstained from participating, but only because we wanted to go to bed. Yep, we were that tired.
Luxembourg
The next morning, bright and early, we walked back to the train station, found some packaged foods for breakfast, and hopped onto the train taking us to Luxembourg. The ride was fast, at first, and then the train started winding up and down some bigger hills, following a river through a valley, and then up and down some more. The scenery was really lovely. I looked out the window the entire ride!
Neither Erik nor I had ever been to Luxembourg, nor had either of us spent much time learning about it beyond finding a place to stay and figuring out train timetables. So both our jaws dropped when we pulled into the station along a huge bridge looming over this valley with stone buildings, cliff walls, churches, and beautiful gardens. As it turns out, Luxembourg is built along the cliffs and on top of the hills surrounding two rivers. It’s gorgeous. The city is clean, orderly, and pedestrian-friendly, but hard on the cardio! We found our rental apartment after walking down some switch-back roads into one of the valleys and along a residential street. We dropped our bags and headed out again, almost immediately. All of us (except Simon) were eager to see more. We had to climb back up the cliff but, this time, used a long staircase that also led to a great playground. Finding our way downtown was also fun as we used a cycling and pedestrian underpass along the underside of a huge, stone bridge. It was really neat. We wandered the city square, saw some old buildings, found some candy, and explored some of the Roman ruins. I would love to spend more time in this city, except for its cost of living. We had a very tasty meal at a microbrewery in a hipster-esque area that was a gentrified factory and warehouse. Our walk home was bathed in the glow of sunset and nearly every turn of every corner earned another photo. It was truly one of the loveliest cities I’ve seen.
We could afford only a one-night stay so we caught the train again the next morning. This time, it was a fast train to…PARIS!