Amsterdam, Netherlands, Holland, etc...

Alright, story first:
So when we last left you we were spending our last night in Belgium (which was quirky) and we were supposed to get up at 5am for our train at 7am to be in Amsterdam around 9:45am. I say "supposed to", because when I woke up in the morning and looked at my watch it was about 8:40am. Oops! Luckily for us this train ride is a common one that runs every few hours between the cities and was the cheapest of our transportation bookings. So we checked out got to the train station about 9:30 and went to the information window to ask how to exchange our tickets. The lady told us "hurry, go there now, the train is up there, talk to the train manager!" so we ran upstairs to find a train and many people who worked there, that lady told us she can not do anything and we need to exchange the tickets downstairs at the window. So we went back down and she said "no, I can do nothing, you need to talk to train manager". Back upstairs we went again (with our big backpacks on don't forget!) and that woman told us to talk to a man who said the next train to Amsterdam was at 11:50 and that we can just get on it and sit in the middle. We weren't sure what that meant but we went and got some breakfast (because now we had time to waste) and then jumped on the train that arrived at that platform at 11:50. We did not have seats and so we have to stand in the cafe car the entire ride, but it worked out and we didn't loose any of our money (if looking at the bright side) ;)

SO now were were in Amsterdam at about 2:30pm and checked into our hostel. The room here was actually in a hotel not hostel and so we had our own private bathroom and everything. So nice! But then we went out to explore the city. This first afternoon we shopped at the flea market in Waterloopein and found Rembrandt's house. We then walked to Artis Zoo but they were closing in 1/2 an hour and cost about 18 euros to get in! So we skipped that park and continued our walk to find some yummy dinner and another old cathedral. We saw pretty gardens and a dog park. Then we stopped at a grocery market for a few things (snacks and bought a new toothpaste) on the way home.

 On our way to the Waterloopein market

 Cathedral with a clock tower

 Rembrandt's House 

Before I get too far into our days in Amsterdam, let me tell you what we thought of it:
1. The people are just as trendy as London, but have as much character as Brussels.
2. It is interesting how there are beautiful house, boats and gardens right next to graffiti, smoking coffeshops, and sex shops.
3. We both LOVE all the bikes. So much fun- just hard not to get run over!
4. It is interesting how some of them can speak English almost perfectly- with no accent!
5. It seems that everyone is always either drinking coffee and tea or beer. The cafes are always crowded with people outside drinking one of those things!

The second day we woke up and went to the Anne Frank House right when it opened to avoid long lines. No cameras are allowed inside but it was really neat to see where Anne Frank, her family, and 4 others actually hid, the history of that story really came to life. I need to go back and read her diary again!

We then walked up and down the streets and canals through the Nine Little Streets shopping district. And we found mall to browse through. Then stopped and ate lunch at a cafe where they had DELICIOUS tomatoen soep (tomato soup). And of course panini and sandwiches like every other cafe in Europe.

We found Spui Square and Dam City Square also at different points through out the day and got to see the Netherlands National Monument.

The city hall

So many birds on this thing! ;)

We then walked through the blocks of the Red Light District of course (can't miss that when you are in Amsterdam!) and it is everything you've heard it to be.

We ended the day with the Amsterdam city museum with a little history about the place- turns out that that people here have always been nice to the poor and have had great success and wealth in what they do. 

The last day in Amsterdam we went to the Mueumplein. Which is a lovely green park area with the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gough Museum. We went through both of these in the morning and saw some fantastic artwork (again no pictures inside the museums- sorry we have nothing to share) and then we had some lunch at a cafe where we ate toasties (like a grilled cheese sandwich).

We then went to the "Heineken Experience" at the original Heineken brewery. That was a neat experience to see again how they make beer (although we saw this at the Guinness factory) but also the history behind the brandname Heineken. 

Last, before leaving for the airport we walked through a small part of Vondelpark. This is Amsterdam's largest and most beautiful park. We stopped and got a snack to munch on and watched the bikes ride by and the dogs run around with the kids playing near by. 

We both really enjoyed Amsterdam and wished we could have more time to explore (wished we would have had time to rent bikes to ride around on). Also wish we could have talked to more locals and see more nature. Everything is just so green over here!  The weather has been cold and cloudy almost everyday here (I think it was sunny one day in London). It seems like the morning haze never goes away and next thing you know it is 8pm and it still looks the same. However in Amsterdam, one day the weather would change about 10 times in an hour. It was looking like rain one minute then the next the sky would clear and the sun would feel good but then it would go away and it really did start to drizzle! 

Okay, well I will post once more before we leave to tell about Prague a little, but we arrived safe and are here (just barely- we almost missed our flight!) but we love the hostel so far.  Let us know if you want anything while we are still here- we have free wifi in this hostel! 

Some more Amsterdam (I just couldn't put my camera away, I wanted to get it out every few feet to take a picture of something amazing or beautiful or unique or yea, you get the idea): 

 SO MANY BIKESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Becky and Clark :)

Waffles, Fries, Beer, and French in Brussels

We have spent the last two days in Brussels, Belgium.  We did the lower part of town one day and then the upper part of town the second. However, getting off the high speed train when we arrived from London (we went through the chunnel! ;)) was an adventure.  We had to try and find a cash machine that would let us get out enough money in the huge station (their train and metro stations are as big and nice as airports). And then we needed to find the trams, not the real train,s or the metro, or the buses... as that is what our directions said. But not everyone speaks English here as we found out! However after some time wondering, we made it to the hostel! And its nice and new compared to our others we've been in so far- even sharing a 6 bed room :)

The history and government of Brussels is very interesting and confusing as we have heard and figured out. If you're interested- look it up-but it will probably just confuse you more since the locals here can't even seem to keep it straight. They have more than one official language and so all the street signs and everything are in both French and Flemish, In fact most everything that has a sign reads about 3 to 5 different languages with English being one of them only about half the time. The tour guides even find out who there speaks what before they begin so they know what to speak as everyone here speaks about 5 languages too.  But the streets are full of character in the lower end and there are fascinating things around every corner.

We went to the Grand Place (which our hostel is just half a block from) which is the city's main square full of beautiful buildings. And in there we took the Town Hall tour and learned some interesting things along with getting to see some gorgeous government rooms/buildings.

Then we went and found the famous Manneken Pis (little boy peeing fountain) and the Jeanneke Pis (a girl peeing) and the newest statue the Zinneke Piss (the dog peeing on a street corner). I told you Brussels is kind of quirky and crazy- but fun!

We ate lunch at a beautiful cafe "La Mokafe"  in the elegant expensive Galleries St Hubert (which is an enclosed shopping area) and had a delicious authentic Belgium Waffle. Although ordering lunch was difficult since we didn't know what we were getting (it was all in French!) But the people here take their food very seriously and everything is presented so beautifully on the plate and always looks amazing!

We also went through the Chocolate Museum and all the little hand made Belgium Chocolate shops to try some DELICIOUS chocolate! My favorite :)

And we also found a cute toy store called the Grasshopper! So adorable, with old wooden toys and some new Euro style games and toys.

Last we found St. Nicolas Cathedral and admired yet another beautiful cathedral in Europe ;)

Then today we explored by walking the upper half of Brussels. This area is very different then the lower half- in fact they speak a different language! But the streets are cleaner and the houses and buildings are fancier. We spent the morning walking around and saw the Place Royale, the Royal Palace (yes- two different places) , the sculpture gardens, walked through the Mercedes House Museum, saw the Notre-Dome du Sablon Church, the Place de Petit Sablon (another garden) and an amazing viewpoint of the city.

We also went the the Musical Instrument Museum -since the alto saxophone was invented here in Belgium!!!

We then had lunch in the park and walked through the huge (well, large for Brussels)) Parc de Bruxelles.  Delicious!!!

The afternoon we spent a little ways outside of the main part of Brussels at the Automium and Mini Europe.
Automium was originally built in 1958 for the World Expo in Brussels and is now considered the 'Eiffel tower of Brussels'. It is a huge (magnified 165 billions times) iron crystal. It has some strange exhibits inside, but a great view!

And then Mini Europe is an 'amusement park' of miniature models of famous places and monuments all over Europe. Like here we are at the Eiffel Tower in Paris! haha- it was fun!

We then ate lots of fries this afternoon and went to a bar that serves over 2,500 different kinds of beer! Wow!  The people here are not as friendly as the UK, they are kind of just fine with doing their own thing- it is more like if you leave me alone- I'll leave you alone.

Thanks all for now folks!

~Becky and Clark <3

The Rest of London

Okay, so quick post about the second two days in London.

We went through Buckingham palace and saw the changing of the guard. William and Kate's wedding stuff was a main part of the exhibit in some of the 19 staterooms we went through, We got to see her real wedding dress! No pictures inside the palace, but it was a pretty neat audio walking tour. The detail on the ceiling, walls, furniture, and floors was beautiful. Then attempting to see the changing of the guard was crazy on the streets but we saw the beginning part from the side way back and then went to the other side of the palace and sat up on a wall in the park and watched the rest. Very impressive!

Then we went through Covent Gardens to eat lunch and shop around. Went through a few neat local artists shops. The architecture of this building is so amazing too! Then we got on the tube and went up to King's Cross station to see Platform 9 3/4. We walked the length of the train platform from 9 to 10 and didn't see anything but then a man who works there asked if that was what we were looking for (I guess we were obvious with a camera in my hand and not boarding any of the trains) and he pointed us in the right direction up to the street corner. (I'm slightly disappointed it isn't in the appropriate spot- haha) Then we got back on the tube and went to the British Museum.

This place is CRAMMED with crazy amazing things!!! And it is all FREE to see. But I guess is does belong to the rest of the world and the British just "borrowed" it right? We saw SO many artifacts, history icons, art, monuments, etc that I can't even begin to list them...

The last day we went to Portabello Road Market and had breakfast at a cafe and then shopped. Got to see some need London culture that was different than the tourist-y parts. I haggled with a few market salesmen and got some jewelry.

Next we went to Kensington Palace. However a majority of the palace is under construction and so we decided not to go in, but took pictures in the beautiful gardens. Then we wondered through Hyde Park. Saw some memorial playgrounds/fountains of Princess Diana and then we found the Peter Pan statue!

Then it was off to Harrods!  And we got lost (not really) in there for hours. Very busy, but fancy-smancy stuff. We took some picture and marveled at some neat clothes, jewelry, furniture, electronics, musical instruments  appliances, etc...

W few more things we noted that are different here (since there isn't too much as we both speak English):
;) They say Lifts (for elevators) and dine in or take away (for take out). The food is pretty much the same in the US- a lot of different cuisines. We went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner last night. And we had the best ice cream ever with some yummy chocolate "flakes". Yummmmm :0)

Then we left for the Tube for our last ride at 5am for a very early and tired ride :)
Will update about Brussels later....

Miss and love you all!!!!
~Becky and Clark
(2 very sore-feet, tired-eyes, aching-backs worlrl travelers!)

First Half of London, England!

Okay, so I miss Dublin already, however London is amazing as well, but all for different reasons. Dublin was cute and quaint with friendly people and just a fun atmosphere. Here in London its definitely a huge city with the rush of people and the crowds of tourists. When we first got here we arrived in the airport early (our flight was ahead of schedule!) and then explored the Underground to get to our first hostel. We stayed at a different hostel last night (the Astor Museum) then we are staying for the next few nights (the Astor Victoria) just because none were available all four nights. Both are owned by the same company and are youth and student only hostels for everyone is laid back and friendly. We have private twin (bunk) bed rooms that are about the size of a closet but its nice to not have to share a space either. We get to lock our stuff up in our own rooms now as well as opposed to the 'luggage room' with everyone else's stuff- luckily nothing have been stolen so far ;)

We have just been running out of time everyday here in London, there is so much to do and see and everything is so busy and crowded and much further apart (can't walk everywhere like in Dublin, we have to hop on and off the tube). But the first day we went to go to see Big Ben and the House of Parliament and then Westminster Abbey. However the streets were so full and there was so many big groups of tourists there that we did not want to wait in hour plus long lines (plus then play $20+) for either so we just admired them from the outside.

Wesminster Abbey

 The House of Parliament and Big Ben

We then walked across the River Thames and went to the London Aquarium Sea Life which was cool and relaxing.

Then back out onto the streets we discovered on the South Bank a festival that had street performers, art galleries out, and lots of food to be eaten! We were so amazed and just walked around for hours entertained :)

We then walked over to Tate Modern and explored the free art exhibits (one was about power and energy in the urban life- so Clark enjoyed it) and then walked to Shakespeare Globe but it was closed by the time we got there so we again just walked around to look from the outside,  We walked from there across the Millennium Bridge and walked back through the streets (saw shopping and residential areas) to our hostel. Which took us longer than I thought and so we were exhausted when we got back. But then we ate at a local chain of Italian Food  on the corner and then went back to the hostel and fell asleep instantly after dinner at about 21:00. Oops! We were wiped out!

The next morning we switched hostels and then walked along the south bank to the London Eye and went on that! Which was amazing- pictures can tell you this:

After that we were through some really cute shops and shopping areas and then walked to the Tower Bridge and went on a really neat tour inside it. Then we ran over to Tower of London but had just missed it and it was closed so we walked around the outside and took pictures. Then we ended with exploring St Pauls Cathedral and dinner in SoHo district.

 Tower Bridge

 Tower of London

Another Cathedral (Clark's camera has St. Paul's pictures on it)

Many streets and buildings are under construction here right now and it wasn't until the second day that we realized it is probably because of the Olympics being hosted here next year, But it causes even more back up on the streets and for pedestrians.

We are still not sure what to ask for when we have to use the restroom as they were just called toilets in Dublin but we have seen them as the loo and the WC water closet here.... hmmm :/

Thoughts on the tube:
It's hot (really hot down there)
It's crazy how deep down under the track go (many large stars and escalators going down and down...)
It's fast paced- people don't want you to get in their way!!!
Clark feels like a hamster running through tubes :)

Yay! Now we're off again :)
~Becky and Clark

The End of Dublin

Well so far Dublin is my favorite place ever and I never want to leave here (although I may say this everywhere we go...)! I just love the city streets, the green nature, and the people (I love to hear them talk!).

A few more things that I like are the bright green "Post" boxes and offices. The street sweepers just going up and down the curbs on streets and side walks and go around people. There are a lot of diverse people here but they still all have the wonderful accent! And when the locals talk to each other they are quiet and polite to each other. We have not seen any screaming people walking down the streets or in stores on their cell phones (like the Americans!) The "Garda" (police) are everywhere too in their little neon yellow jackets!

It was a lot warmer today, probably in the mid 70's with sunshine as opposed to yesterday's constant raining and coldness. And this was a good thing since we spent a majority of our day at Phoenix Park. This park is the Europe's largest gated parks. There was saw several beautiful monuments and statues, a castle, an abandoned decaying fort, the home of the Irish President, the residence of the American ambassador, and the Dublin Zoo.  We ran into a deer while walking around through the thick trees and had to turn back to make our way around him. And we also had lunch and tea at the Phoenix Park Tea House.

 At the zoo in the African Savanna exhibit

 At the Liffey 

Walking through the park

Other food we ate today included some European candy (a euro kit kat) and some European Mars ice cream bars. In the afternoon we went to the other Museum of Ireland location the Art and History one. Then we went on a tour at the Jameson Whiskey Distillery which was pretty cool. We had pizza for dinner with fries :) and then went to another Irish pub at night.

Needless to say we are both exhausted and sorry this is a shorter post today but we need to go to sleep because we have a 7:30AM flight to London tomorrow!
Will update again soon hopefully!
Love,
Becky and Clark