I ain't never seen nothin' like a Galway girl: Off to the land of Waffles and Beer

This weekend it was time for another trip. I left for Brussels on April 1st with Christine and Liz again. We decided we were going to fly into Brussels, then take a bus to Amsterdam where we would spend one night and then we took a bus back to Brussels where we spent a second night. We left early on a Friday and came back on an early Sunday flight. The only problem with the really flights out of Dublin is that I live in Galway which means that it takes me to 3-3.5 hours to get to Dublin airport. I took a very early bus around 2a.m. to get to Dublin airport in time for my early flight. Once I got to the airport, I went through security and found my terminal and waited for Christine and Liz to get there. They live way closer than I do so they can sleep later and get there later. I got myself a much needed Starbucks coffee and waited for them to arrive. Once they got there we waited for our flight together and then got on the plane and we were off to Brussels.

Christine was a little tired when we were waiting for the plane.

Once we got to Brussels we had to figure out how to get to the city centre which was very difficult. The people do not speak a ton of English and it takes a train and some underground trains to get there. Once we finally got to Brussels we decided to walk around for a little and get some Belgium waffles. The waffles were amazing and we had all different times. On our first day I had one that had melted chocolate on it and the next two waffles I split with Liz and Christine. We had the two waffles as our dinner with some beer. One of the waffles had vanilla ice cream and whipped cream with fresh strawberries on it and the other waffle had bananas with chocolate on top. They were both beyond delicious although the strawberry one was way better in my opinion. After we were finished eating we left to catch our bus to Amsterdam.

Waffle #2 with strawberries and vanilla ice cream.

Waffle #3 with bananas and chocolate.

We are ready for opening day. GO SOX!!

The bus took a couple of hours and we ended up getting into Amsterdam pretty late and of course we had to figure out where we were and how to get to our hotel. Once again we decided to trick the hotel and book a room for two people even though we had three. This was mainly because most of the hostels in Amsterdam require you stay at them for a minimum of 2-3 nights which makes it close to impossible to find one if you are only staying for a night. Liz and Christine went into the hotel and checked us in while I stayed outside. We had become pretty good at the sneaking people in so we knew to give my luggage to Christine or Liz so that I could walk in a couple of minutes later. We decided we would meet on the third floor and I waited for what seemed like forever until they finally came up and got me and we went to find our room. The room was spectacular and the bed was really comfortable. It looked huge and I was so tired at this point that all I wanted to do was lay down in bed and sleep until the next morning. However, as per usual we had places to go and places to see.

Our bed in the hotel.

Now you see her!

Now you only kind of see her!

The weird stuffed animal that was in our hotel room.

Once we got settled in and dressed for the night we headed for the red light district. Liz was scared and nervous to go because she didn't want to get attacked or anything. I told her we were going regardless because you can't go to Amsterdam and not see the Red Light District at night. It was worth seeing and not scary at all. I cannot believe that this is how people actually live. After we had walked up and down the Red Light District we decided to head back closer to our hotel to get some drinks. We stopped in this area that had outdoor seating and lots of umbrellas. The area drew us in and we searched for a place to sit. We then got a couple of beers and hung out for awhile. It was a great place to sit outside and people watch. When we were done we headed back to our hotel which was quite an adventure because we got really lost. The streets are hard to navigate and difficult to read the signs and maps. Also, everyone rides their bike so it is hard to ask for directions. I got to the point where I asked someone who was riding their bike for directions, luckily they not only got off their bike but they also spoke English which was a double win. We found our hotel after a few bumps and then got right into bed so that we could get up early and roam around Amsterdam.