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It was deliberate that there was no blog update yesterday. Our first impressions of Brussels were pretty terrible. Walking from the train station to our hotel was only a five minute walk, but it was really scary! It was very dirty and shady - and it didn't help that it was pitch black. The following morning (yesterday) we decided to do some exploring but it still ended up pretty lame. As soon as we stepped outside our hotel it felt so dodgy. It felt like a poor immigrant area, with rubbish everywhere and lots of males just staring at us. Honestly, you very rarely saw a female. We made it a nicer touristy area, but there wasn't that much to see still. It was pretty, like there were heaps of old buildings and little chocolate shops - but for a famous European city we were pretty disappointed. It was also raining quite heavily which made us reluctant to explore too far away from the hotel. So after a super yummy Belgian hot chocolate and ice cream, we headed back to the hotel.
It was pretty fortunately that we had a really nice hotel because we did spend a bit of time in it! We decided that since Brussels seemed so average we would use the time to catch up on things we have been putting off, i.e. booking some buses, sending some emails, filling in some applications, etc. It also gave me a chance to rest my foot! (Which is much better now by the way). In the evening we thought it would be a good idea to get some dinner so we thought we would check out local restaurants. We walked past one restaurant, which had about 20 guys sitting outside of, so we quickly headed towards the train station which we knew was very close by. We grabbed and sandwich and quickly sprinted back to the comfort of our hotel!
FORTUNATELY today was very different. That's why I don't feel so bad writing badly about Brussels. The weather was a lot clearer so we were much happier to spend time looking around. We went back to the same area we had been in yesterday and of course it looked a lot prettier without the rain! We got some yummy fries as they seem to be a big thing in Belgium, and then looked around all the pretty buildings. One of the nicest things about Brussels is that each and every building looks totally different from the one next to it! We also found a beautiful, beautiful area called "Grand Place" which has the most amazing buildings I have ever seen. They were all finished around 1697 and I just couldn't stop staring at them! Brussels is also filled with tiny little cobbled streets which was really pretty. Matt and I treated ourselves to a waffle covered in melted Belgian chocolate and another ice cream :) Our diets in the city pretty much consisted of chocolate the whole time! Yaaaaaaam! There was also a live band playing too which made it all feel so much cooler!
So we came to the conclusion that we were just staying in a sketchy area. Maybe that's a good thing - because we saw beyond the tourist hotspots - but it also meant that we felt really restricted as we couldn't walk around at night safely. Even during the day was scary! I can imagine that a lot of the city centre buildings would look absolutely beautiful during the night!
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We are now in Amsterdam. First impressions - dark, rainy, loud, smells like weed. Haha! But we did arrive very late. We went to get some food and the guys serving us were really surprised about only ordering two small burgers - they kept asking us again and again if we wanted more (they probably think everyone who walks in is stoned) and told us to hurry up if we want to go to the 'coffee shops' because they closed at 1.
I think Amsterdam is going to be an interesting experience.
- comments
Celia Hope you don't get chubby like I did in Europe haha! Too much yum food! You're probably walking it all off though ;)
Mum Can't beat Belgium Chocolate - yummmmmmm!
Nan Well you have to have a down to appreciate the up and it came good in the end, more importantly it gave your ankle some rest time. A big contrast Belgian chocolate and Netherland weed lol. I gather there is some interesting window dressing in Amsterdam too lol. Love you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx