**More Pictures Soon**
Bruges, Belgium:
We got into Belgium in the Morning on Sunday the 24th. We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and took the train out to Bruges. Bruges looks much the way it did in the 1500-1600s. All the old streets, squares, canals, and parks were still intact. It is now a nice tourist town.Brussels, Belgium:
Grand Place in Brussels. A great place for Frites and Chocolates.We took the train back to Brussels that afternoon. there are only a few things to see there. We saw the Grand Place, their Court House, and the old royal palace. Brussels is known for its frites (french fries) with mayo and their chocolates. They treat chocolate like a fashion line. Each season they come out with a new line. I bought a couple boxes of the "Summer Collection" but they didn't make it out of Belgium.
Amsterdam, the Netherlands:
Monday we took the train from Brussels to Amsterdam (Holland). The city is known for its vices (Europe's Vegas), but there are a lot of good things there, too. We rented bikes to get around. In Amsterdam bikes have the right of way over cars and pedestrians. There are roads and lanes specifically for the bikes. We went to a few museums, the Anne Frank hiding place, a windmill, and a boat tour among other things. While there we ate a lot of falafel, stroopwafles, and breakfast chocolate (thank Jenn for telling me about the last two).
On my bike with some modern art.
One of the many churches in Amsterdam.
The canals are more important than the roads in central Amsterdam
Me at the Anne Frank hiding place.Paris, France:
After Amsterdam we took the train down to Paris. We stayed with a friend's parents. They are Awericans working there. We bought a two day museum pass that got us in to most of the museums, churches, and historic buildings. the foods of choice in Paris were crepes with nutella (chocolate/hazelnut spread), paninis, orangina, QuickBurger (fast food chain), and McDonalds (very classy in Paris--really tasty too).
View of the road around the Arc de Triomphe.
Our flight back was sort of a nightmare. We got to the airport in Brussels on time, made it through customs and got to our gate. We then found out that the electrical system that operates the galleys and entertainment on the plane weren't working right. They decided that they had to unload the hot meals and replace them with sandwiches. That took an hour or so.
Then we all get on the plane and the captain tells us what is up with the plane--it will get us to NYC, but there are no movies, hot meals, water in the bathroom sinks, reclining seats in business class, and reading lights. Some passengers freaked out about the water in the bathroom sinks (there was hand sanitizer and wipes) and they don't want to fly anymore. The crew opens up the plane and lets them off, but then we had to wait for them to get their luggage out of the cargo hold. This took another hour or so.
We were then too late to make our connection in NYC for our flight to DC. Delta screwed it all up and put us on the 10pm flight from JFK to DC. We tried to get an earlier flight, but with no luck spent 7 hours in the airport. Our 10pm flight was very late. We left JFK at 11:40pm and got into DC at 12:40am. We were supposed to get to DC at 5:30pm. I blame Delta and some bad ham sandwiches.
Overall it was a great trip. England last year. Belgium, Netherlands, and France this year. Next year--who knows?
After Amsterdam we took the train down to Paris. We stayed with a friend's parents. They are Awericans working there. We bought a two day museum pass that got us in to most of the museums, churches, and historic buildings. the foods of choice in Paris were crepes with nutella (chocolate/hazelnut spread), paninis, orangina, QuickBurger (fast food chain), and McDonalds (very classy in Paris--really tasty too).
In front of the Arc de Triomphe.
View of the road around the Arc de Triomphe.The road has no lanes--reminded me of MarioKarts
Me, and my friends from BYU who I went with--Dan and Frank.
We were imitating "the Thinker", a sculpture by Rodin.
Stained glass windows of St. Chappelle. The walls of the entire chapel are stained glass.
Catacombs of Paris. The city ran out of cemetery space, so they emptied the grave yards and moved them to a quarry and arraigned them in a nice pattern--creepy.
On top of the Eiffel Tower. I was freaking out--it was windy and the tower was swaying.
JFK airport in NYC:
Me, and my friends from BYU who I went with--Dan and Frank.We were imitating "the Thinker", a sculpture by Rodin.
Stained glass windows of St. Chappelle. The walls of the entire chapel are stained glass.
Catacombs of Paris. The city ran out of cemetery space, so they emptied the grave yards and moved them to a quarry and arraigned them in a nice pattern--creepy.
On top of the Eiffel Tower. I was freaking out--it was windy and the tower was swaying.Our flight back was sort of a nightmare. We got to the airport in Brussels on time, made it through customs and got to our gate. We then found out that the electrical system that operates the galleys and entertainment on the plane weren't working right. They decided that they had to unload the hot meals and replace them with sandwiches. That took an hour or so.
Then we all get on the plane and the captain tells us what is up with the plane--it will get us to NYC, but there are no movies, hot meals, water in the bathroom sinks, reclining seats in business class, and reading lights. Some passengers freaked out about the water in the bathroom sinks (there was hand sanitizer and wipes) and they don't want to fly anymore. The crew opens up the plane and lets them off, but then we had to wait for them to get their luggage out of the cargo hold. This took another hour or so.
We were then too late to make our connection in NYC for our flight to DC. Delta screwed it all up and put us on the 10pm flight from JFK to DC. We tried to get an earlier flight, but with no luck spent 7 hours in the airport. Our 10pm flight was very late. We left JFK at 11:40pm and got into DC at 12:40am. We were supposed to get to DC at 5:30pm. I blame Delta and some bad ham sandwiches.
Overall it was a great trip. England last year. Belgium, Netherlands, and France this year. Next year--who knows?
4 comments:
next year--Guatemala with marble
I'm on china time so I enjoyed reading this synopsis of your trip tonight since I can't sleep. I loved the catacombs in Paris and the nutella. So delicious. I can't wait to hear more stories in person and see pictures. And next year: New Zealand. Right?
Joe!! Great post... Bruges, the secret annex, the Catacombs... all of it is amazing. I am going to start reading your blog regularly. Don't read mine; it's boring and I never write on anything on it.
Oh, this is Marisa, by the way (the girl with really soft shoulders). Bye buddy!
Man, I didn't know you were here--I've been in Brussels the whole summer! In fact, I went to Bruges the same weekend you did. Crazy!
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