As I mentioned in my previous post, I just got back from a weekend in Amsterdam and Bruges. It was not just a bad hair day, but a bad hair weekend. The rain and my hair just do not like to cooperate. I always seemed to leave my umbrella behind just when I needed it.
On Friday morning, my friend Kat and I left our dorm at around 5:30 to take the tube to our bus stop which was picking us up at 6:05. We neglected to factor in that the tube does not run as often really early in the morning, so to say we were running late was an understatement. We finally arrived at our bus stop almost a half hour late, only to find out that the bus had left without us. Luckily, someone was there to assist us and point us in the right direction. We ended up having to take a cab to Lewisham in south London, which cost us 40 pounds, but at least we made it.
The bus then departed for Dover, where we stopped for a photo opportunity at Dover Castle. It was then that I realized that I had left my camera at home, which was basically the last thing I wanted to forget. Luckily Kat was generous and let me take plenty of pictures with her camera all weekend, so I will have plenty to post later on. We took a ferry from Dover to Calais, a city in northern France just across the English channel. From Calais we got back on our bus and started the drive to Amsterdam. The trip was a grueling 7 hours, and I can honestly say that I don't want to set foot on a bus again for a long time. Unfortunately the trip I am taking to Wales in 2 weeks will probably involve bus travel.
When we finally got to Amsterdam, we dropped off our bags at our hotel, and then took a short tour of the Red Light District. It is world famous, but also very small. Just from walking around the city for 10 minutes, it is pretty obvious that the Netherlands is a very tolerant country. There are coffee shops, as the Dutch call them, on practically every corner. And if you know anything about Amsterdam, these coffee shops are nothing like your run-of-the-mill Starbucks. After seeing the Red Light District, we headed back to the hotel and went to bed.
The following morning, we left for Zaanse Schanse, a living Dutch heritage museum. There, we saw demonstrations on how clogs and cheese were made. They had plenty of free cheese samples, and I am not afraid to admit that I went through the sample line more than once. I took home some goat cheese for myself, so I didn't feel so bad about it. After leaving the museum, we headed back to downtown Amsterdam and took a cruise through the canals. I found the cruise to be rather pointless and boring, and would have preferred to have more time to visit the museums. After the canal tour, we were given free time to explore the museums. I would have preferred that the trip was more organized, since the only museum we had time to go to was
Anne Frank's house. It was very moving, and although I was not able to visit the Rijksmuseum or the Van Gogh Museum, I am glad I got to experience at least one important Amsterdam landmark.
On Sunday, we left Amsterdam for Bruges, a small city in Belgium. Our tour guide explanined it as the Venice of the north, although I am not sure why since I saw more canals in Amsterdam than I did here. We were given an hour and a half to explore the city, which I found to be very pretty with all of its medieval buildings. To me, the highlight of Bruges was the french fries. I don't think I have ever had better fries in my life, and I would go back just to have them again. After leaving Bruges, we stopped at a chocolate factory, since it is one of Belgium's specialities. I bought some chocolate here, but ended up regretting not buying some in the actual city of Bruges, since the chocolate there was kind of disappointing. I was only upset I wasn't able to try some Belgian beer, another specialty of the country. From there, we headed back to Calais to get on the ferry to Dover. Again, we got on the bus, and headed back to London.
On the bus, Kat and watched the most recent episode of America's Next Top Model. Although it sounds strange, it really was the perfect way to end the trip. For those of you that don't watch the show, towards the end of each season the models go to a foreign country. Tyra usually surprises them at judging, by including some sort of challenge that involves the heritage of the country. Both the models (and myself) did not consider the fact that making them walk down the catwalk in clogs, was the hint she was giving them that they were going to...AMSTERDAM!
PICTURES HERE
A Bad Hair Weekend
Monday, October 27, 2008
Posted by Rachel at 11:17 AM
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1 comments:
Glad you back safe in London and enjoyed your trip. DId you have any french fries with Mayonaise?
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