I amsterdam - Day 2

We left our hotel with all of our luggage because it was time to check out and we had to go back to Brussels later in the afternoon. We of course left very early and since we had too many people in the room we had to sneak out. Once we left the hotel we went to the I amsterdam statue. Luckily for us, no one was there since we were up so early. Usually the place is very crowded but we had enough time to take lots of pictures without having to worry about any other tourists. It was fantastic. After taking our typical tourist pictures we went to the Anne Frank House.

I amsterdam statue.

D is for Danielle.

I am.

Once again we got through the line quickly. Unfortunately, since we checked out of the hotel we had to carry our backpacks with us throughout the tour. The people who run the Anne Frank House make you carry your bag on your chest instead of on your back which after a very short amount of time proves to be VERY annoying. The house was very interesting to see. There was nothing really in it except for pictures and information about Anne Frank and her family. I always found it amazing that they were able to live in the attic for so long. The experience was also very informative because I always thought that the attic was very tiny but it is bigger than I realized. However, the size is not that important since they still had to stay in the same spot for most of the day so that nobody in the lower floors would know that they were there. I also found it interesting that Anne Frank told her father that she was writing her diary for herself and that she wanted no one else to read it. When the diary was given back to him after he was let out of the concentration camp only to find out that his whole family was killed, he thought for a little bit about what to do with her thoughts and feelings from the years they lived in the attic. Eventually, he decided to go against what Anne originally wanted and to publish the diary.

Liz, me and Christine in front of the Anne Frank Huis.

After the tour was over we went and had a typical Amsterdam experience and then we went to get some pancakes at a pancake house that was recommended to us. The pancakes were delicious. They were flat and there were so many to choose from but each of us got ones that we really enjoyed. I not only had a pancake but I also had a beer. I had yet to have a Heineken so I decided it was a must before I left Amsterdam. My pancake had cinnamon and sugar in it. I went for the basic type of pancake but it was delicious none the less. After we got food we ran to catch our bus back to Brussels.

Christine and I experiencing Amsterdam.

Drinking my Heineken while waiting for my pancake to be ready.

After a long bus ride back to Brussels, we found our hotel which was a little sketchy. It was far from the center of things or so it seemed and it wasn't huge. But the reception lady was very nice and we had a room for three people and it was cheap. The room was clean and we really only needed a place to sleep. Once checked into the room we changed and left to go find the Manneken Pis. We decided it was the only place we really wanted to see in Brussels. However, it took us forever to find the statue (a theme of the weekend). At one point I asked the millionth person where the statue was and it was literally directly behind me. I felt like such a tourist. After we took a quick picture of the very tiny peeing man and then we went to eat some more waffles. I had a Belgium Waffle with vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries. It might have been the best one I had the entire trip.

Manneken Pis Statue.

Belgium Waffle with vanilla ice cream and strawberries.

After getting food we went to Delirium Cafe. This place is supposed to have the best beer around with almost 2500 different types of beers. There are also over 200 beers on tap almost all of which are at least 8% alcohol content. Christine had the Delirium Tremens which was pretty good and I had Chamay which I already knew I loved. The place was a big hit in my book and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who goes to Brussels, although I would look up the address before hand because we had a very hard time finding it, especially since no one seemed to know where it was.

Delirium Cafe.

Me drinking my Chamay beer at Delirium Cafe.

Christine, me and Liz at Delirium Cafe.

A couple of beers later we headed back to hotel where we fell asleep until the next morning when we left early for our flight back to Ireland. I wanted to leave early because Erica Riccobono was going to be in Galway for the weekend with her friend. Overall, although the weekend was a blast and I got to experience a lot of different things, this trip was one of the more annoying and harder trips so far. The language barrier was very difficult and although everyone was very nice and helpful, there were still times that we had no idea where we were going and none of us spoke any French. We learned how to read maps very well and I finally got comfortable asking everyone and anyone for directions.