NETHERLANDS & BELGIUM: AMSTERDAM & BRUSSELS

Who would've thought that I went to not one but two countries in a weekend?! However, the trip did not start out according to plan. Right before I went to bed Wednesday night, I got an email saying our flight to Amsterdam for Thursday night was CANCELLED. Karly, Katie, Sarah Jane, and I went into a full panic while trying to find another flight. Luckily, we were able to make things work and got on an earlier flight Thursday afternoon, but it caused a lot of anxiety the night before we left. Initially, I was going to skip my two classes that day because they overlapped with my flight time, and I would've had to pay €400 to get a better flight. But, shockingly, both of my classes got cancelled! I guess everything happens for a reason. 

Due to the cancellation of our flight, our only option was to split up and fly to Amsterdam separately. So, Karly and I went to the airport Thursday afternoon, and Katie and Sarah Jane flew out shortly after us. 

Thankfully, everything on this flight went smoothly. Expect the passenger sitting next to me who could not stop humming. We took the train to Amsterdam Centraal and walked to our hostel. One thing that I noticed about the hostel was that the hostel itself did not match with the photos when we booked, and apparently we booked a 16-person mixed dorm. I'm not really sure what we were thinking, but things took a turn quite quickly, but I'll get to that in a little bit. We dropped off our bags and started walking to the Fault in our Stars bench. If you haven't read the book or seen the movie, it is an absolute must. It's a love story about two teenagers with cancer who eventually take a trip to Amsterdam. The bench itself was underwhelming, but I loved walking around the city. 

Spot the difference!

After, we were starving and stopped at a burger place to get a quick dinner before meeting up with Sarah Jane and Katie. Once we got to the hostel, we realized we were in a very sticky situation; one of the front desk workers accidentally put two people in Sarah Jane and Katie's beds. Thankfully, they had beds, but we got split up. So, Karly and I were in one 16-person room, and Katie and Sarah Jane were in another 16-person room. Karly and I lucked out and had the "better" room, but Sarah Jane and Katie were stuck with a room that smelled like pee. Overall, they were not comfortable with the situation they were in and wanted to see if there was another option for us to move into. Thanks to Sarah Jane's stepmom, she was able to get us two hotel rooms for the two nights we had in Amsterdam. We seriously could not thank her enough! 

Before going to the hotel, we walked through the infamous Red Light District and stopped at a pub for a cider. We got to the hotel and immediately after and went to bed after the long and stressful couple of days we had. One bright side of the hotel was free breakfast! This worked in our favor because Amsterdam was surprisingly expensive. After breakfast, we made our way to the bus station to take us to the Keukenhof Gardens for the annual tulip festival. 

The tulip festival was one of the main reasons we booked this trip, so we were extremely excited. On the drive there, we didn't see many flowers, and I was starting to think that we had booked this trip too soon. 

But as soon as we walked inside, the tulips and other flowers were in full bloom! They even had giant colored clogs around the gardens.

The gardens were a lot bigger than I was expecting, and they had a lot of different exhibits with various types of flowers, and, of course, everything smelled amazing. 

We spent most of the morning there, and there were scattered showers while we were there. I'm so glad that I packed my umbrella. Even with the rain, the temperature outside wasn't bad. 

There was also a huge windmill at the end of the gardens that you could go up!

About 15 minutes before we were planning on leaving, it started torrential downpouring. The wind was so strong that my umbrella would not stop flipping inside out. Besides that 15 minutes of heavy rain, it cleared up, and we had great weather the rest of the weekend. 

Once we made it back to the city center, we souvenir-shopped and looked for a place for lunch. Apparently, Amsterdam is known for its relaxed cannabis policies, so walking around always had a faint smell of skunk. You could not go into any gift shop without seeing weed snacks, shirts, and keychains. Don't worry, I did not partake in anything. 

Close to our lunch spot was the Amsterdam Flower Market! Each shop had real flowers but also these adorable tulips made out of wood. Katie, Sarah Jane, Karly, and I went crazy and bought a bunch of them. Too bad we didn't consider trying to fit them in our backpacks. 

For lunch, we went to The Chicken Bar, and everyone got chicken tenders and split fries. We all went back to the hotel after this to recharge our phones for a bit. Karly and Sarah Jane wanted to relax for a bit longer, but Katie and I were ready to explore more of Amsterdam.

Our original plan was to go straight to Vondelpark, but we had a few pit stops along the way. The first stop was getting stroopwaffles! 

They weren't very authentic, but they got the job done, plus Katie had never had one before. Of course, we turn the corner and see an actual stroopwaffle shop. 

We debated going in and buying one, but come on, look at how good they look!

I got a chocolate-dipped one, and Katie got caramel. To be honest, I prefer the first ones we got, and we were so full that we could barely finish them. 

We were inches away from the park when Katie spotted a bike rental store. Yes, you guessed it; this turned into our second pit stop. It was €8.50 to rent a bike for an hour, so we decided to do it. 

After arriving in Amsterdam, I learned very quickly that it is the biking capital of Europe. I think I saw more bikes than cars. Another thing I learned is that bikers have the right of way, no matter what. I can't count on my hand the number of times we almost got run over by a bike. Anyway, Katie and I had the best hour biking through the park. I cannot tell you the last time I rode a bike. We looked like beginners compared to the locals. At one point, a runner even passed us. 

We then met Sarah Jane and Karly at the food hall for dinner! I think I've found a new love for food hauls. St. Louis, London, and now Amsterdam? Say less. No surprise, it was packed. Thankfully, we were able to snag a spot to sit, which was much needed after biking. 

I got nachos as an easy dinner since I wasn't super hungry, and they were delicious! 

I forgot to take a picture before I started devouring them!

We ended our night by going to a bar called The Waterhole. It was a lot of fun, and they even had a live band that played the best music. Murder on the Dancefloor and Gimme Gimme Gimme were just a few of my favorites from the night. 

The next morning, we ate our hotel breakfast and took an Uber to the Anne Frank House! These tickets are super difficult to get and sell out quickly. I had to set an alarm in order to get them! But thanks to my booking skills, we got in at the first available time for the day, 9 a.m. 

I was really excited for this tour because I read The Diary of Anne Frank when I was in middle school, and since then, I've really wanted to visit The Annex, where she was in hiding for 2 years before getting taken to Auschwitz. 

I don't know if I missed the sign, but apparently photos were not allowed. Oops! So, these photos were taken before I got yelled at. The entire museum was built around the physical Annex, so we were walking inside what Anne actually hid in. The photo below is of the cabinet that hid a secret doorway to enter the Annex. 

I really enjoyed the tour, and it came with an audio guide, so we were able to listen to different aspects of her story, including many parts of her diary. We even got to see a few pages from her actual diary. If you end up in Amsterdam, I would highly recommend this tour!

Anne Frank's room.

After the tour, we found a bridge to take a few necessary pictures at.

The weather was beautiful! I feel like this is one of the first trips where I wasn't complaining about the weather. The sun was shining; there were barely any clouds in the sky. It was exactly what I needed after all the rain in Europe recently. 

We went back to the hotel to grab our backpacks and check out of the hotel. We had a little over two hours until our train to Brussels, Belgium, so we decided to go to the train station and find something to do over there. 

Once we got around the area of the train station, we all got fries as a midday snack/lunch. 

They had lots of fun sauces to try, but I was boring and got ketchup. Major regrets.

We ended up going on an hour-long canal cruise, and it was the perfect way to fill in our time!

With the weather being as nice as it was, everyone was out on the water, so it was fun to watch as we cruised by. 

Because we were at the gardens for most of the first day we were in Amsterdam, I didn't get to see a lot of the city, so taking the canal cruise was a great way to see more. 

New bucket list item: Stay on a house boat. 

After the tour, we went to the train station and took a 3-hour train to Brussels. I spent most of the train ride looking into plans for next week's trip as well as doing a bit of homework.

Sarah Jane taking a well-deserved nap.

Soon after, we arrived in Brussels! We had about a 15-minute walk to our hostel. 

Thankfully, everything with the hostel worked out, and we had no issues. We dropped off our bags and went to the city center.

There were lots of shops along the way, and the weather was beautiful. It was the perfect way to spend the afternoon and evening. 

We walked to the Grand Place and walked around that area for the rest of the night. 

Over spring break, Karly met a girl who visited Brussels and recommended a food hall called Wolf. Obviously, you already read about my love for food halls, so I was all for it!

It was a super fun environment, but it was very overpriced. I got a burger and fries, and it was good, but nothing special about it. What was special was the Belgian waffle I got with nutella and strawberries. I'm still dreaming about it. 

We walked back to Grand Place, and it was packed! People were everywhere, but all of the buildings were lit up, and it was beautiful. 

We ended the night by getting drinks and playing cards. We played BS and Go Fish (clearly, I need to teach my friends how to play real card games). 

The next morning, Katie and I woke up early to go to a few fountains that she was really excited about. It's been something that she has been looking forward to for months.

Before we went to Jeanneke Pis, we stopped at a cafe called BarkBoy to get a quick breakfast. I'm so glad we stumbled into it because it was adorable! They had delicious cinnamon rolls and they put my iced coffee in a cool container, kind of like a soda can!

Jeannake Pis was very underwhelming, especially because it wasn't turned on. 

After, we walked to the other fountain, Manneken Pis. I think Katie liked this fountain more because occasionally he is dressed in costumes. Of course, the day we went, he didn't have a costume on. 

It's quite comical the amount of tourism that this fountain gets. While we were there, at least three huge tour groups came by. 

Next door was the Manneken Pis Costume Museum. It was free, so why not? I actually enjoyed the museum more than I thought, and they had every costume you could think of from all over the world. 

My personal favorite was the water skier!

While we were planning our trip to Brussels, I found out that it's known as one of the most boring cities in the world. I was trying to stay optimistic during the weekend, but I would have to agree with that statement. One place that we found was Mini Europe, a tourist attraction with famous European monuments downsized. 

I personally didn't think it was worth the money, but Katie and Sarah Jane loved it. At least it gave us something to do! 

Right next door was the Atomium, which is a huge landmark in Brussels.

The tickets were expensive to go up, so we settled on seeing it on the ground. 

I was starving at this point, and we ubered back to the city center to find someplace to eat and get last-minute souvenirs. 

For lunch, I got a diavola pizza, and it was amazing. It came with hot honey, and I love a pepperoni pizza with hot honey!

We were going to walk around, but we honestly had nothing else to do or see in Brussels and decided to go to the airport to wait for our flight. During that time, I started planning the rest of my time in Europe! 

I forgot to add a picture when I went to Italy, but I added 4 new flags: Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, and the USA!

Best Part of the Trip: Hands down, biking in the park in Amsterdam and the Anne Frank Tour. 

Worst Part of the Trip: I hate to say it, but Brussels. It was not for me. There was not much to do, and it was one of the dirtiest cities I've been to so far. To be fair, our hostel fiasco is a very close second.

Overall Thoughts: It was a great weekend! Especially in Amsterdam, I had a blast. Even with a few hiccups along the way, we were able to make the most of it. I would without a doubt go back to Amsterdam; however, Brussels was not the place for me. I really liked walking around Grand Place, but beside that, I didn't really feel safe, and garbage was everywhere. With the weather getting better, I can't wait for my upcoming trip to Lisbon!