Adventures in Amsterdam

On Thursday we had nutrition class all day. In the morning we had class and then had our break for lunch. Every week we have one lunch together that is paid for by the program. This week we went to Brasserie 1898 as a class where the restaurant made us lots of different food so we could have a good sampling of Belgian cuisine. We had frites, mussels, salad, beef stew, meatballs, and dessert. Everyone was stuffed afterwards.

Mussels and frites

Lauren was super excited. I wish we had a picture of Ali with her muscles too!

After lunch we spent the afternoon presenting our presentations that we had done in pairs. Beth and I did our presentation on Belgian chocolate and it went really well. We even gave our own awards for our favorite chocolate shops around Brussels because we have been to so many. After class Beth, Melissa, and I headed downtown and got chocolate and ran a few errands. After heading back to the house, we all snacked for dinner, worked on homework, packed, and headed to bed early.

Friday started out as another early morning because we took the train at 7:22 to Amsterdam. All 13 people from our program went so it was really fun! We had to take the tram and then the metro to get to the train station so we had to leave really early from our house. The train ride was about 3 hours and after we got there we went to our hotel to check in and put our stuff down. We stayed at the Marriott which was wonderful! After we got situated we headed back out to get something to eat. We went to Pancakes! Amsterdam which was delicious. There wasn't anything I could eat but I had planned ahead and packed a sandwich but I still had some fresh fruit and a delicious glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. Everyone else loved the pancakes and Beth even rated it as one of the top 10 meals she had ever eaten (this is a very big deal).

So delicious

Once we refueled we were ready for the day and headed to the Heineken Experience. It was really fun and interactive so we all had a great time.

Wall made of Heineken bottles

Watching old Heineken commercials 

Next, we went on a canal cruise to see some of the city. We passed by a lot of important buildings including Anne Frank's house where she and her family hid before the nazis found them and where she wrote a lot of her diary. We also passed by the Amstel Hotel which is really famous and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands was sitting outside! Very cool.

Prime Minister of the Netherlands. He waved at us on our boat.

After doing some touristy things we were all hungry again so some of us went to dinner. I had a goat cheese and honey salad which was so good. The restaurant was very cozy and we all enjoyed it.

So goooood

After dinner, where we ended up staying and eating and talking for a long time, we were all exhausted so we headed back to the hotel and got a good nights sleep in our ridiculously comfy beds. We all needed a good nights sleep since several people in our group were starting to feel sick and we slept in in the morning. Beth and I went to a place called Cafe Americain for breakfast.

Omelette and orange juice for breakfast

After breakfast we went to the flower market to meet up with some other people from our group. Holland is famous for tulips so there were tulips everywhere!

Then Jessie, Beth, I headed towards the Van Gogh Museum and John, Ali, and Lauren came with us so we could all get a fun picture at the I amsterdam sign. There were people crawling everywhere on the sign so please excuse the extras in our pictures.

Jessie, John, Beth, Lauren, Ali, and I

After taking some touristy pictures, the 3 of us went on to the Van Gogh Museum where we ran into some Auburn guys that were studying abroad from Ireland. Not sure they were exactly in their right state of mind but it is always fun to see an Auburn fan in Europe. I really enjoyed the Van Gogh Museum except for the fact that it was insanely crowded. Even still I loved seeing a ton of Van Gogh works (yes, even though Starry Night is in New York) Once we left the museum we were planning on going back by the Anne Frank house to take some pictures and walk through the red light district, but once it started raining all we cared about was getting back to the train station. Once we got back we met back up with John, Ali, and Lauren and took the train back to Brussels. After getting back Ali, Lauren, Beth, and I went to Celtica where there were some creepy men, one that was trying real hard to get Ali's attention by continuing to pull his shirt up. Then we met some guys from California and eventually met up with a big group from the Communications program. It ended up being a really fun night and the musician even played Sweet Home Alabama which was exciting. 

On Sunday we slept in and then some of us got up to go check out the market that happens every Sunday at the midi train station. It wasn't too eventful, but there were tons of fresh fruits and vegetables which was fun to see all the locals shopping but we didn't enjoy the mass amounts of clothes from who knows where. After we went back to the house I ate lunch and finished up some homework. Beth and I went to go to laundry which felt wonderful to have fresh clothes and I ended up going for a run at one of the parks nearby while our laundry was going. There are parks everywhere is Brussels and it is a wonderful spot to exercise with all the locals and see them playing outside with their kids or teenagers playing games. We hung out at the house in the afternoon and a lot of people rested since several people are still pretty sick (Beth included). For dinner several of us went to Exki where I had soup, fruit, and yogurt. Yum. We ended our night at Celtica where we went to watch the the US women compete in the Women's World Cup final again Japan. Those of us that were really tired left at halftime and watched the rest of the game at our house. The United States ended up losing in a shootout which wasn't fun but it was still exciting and a really good game.

Today is Monday and we are on week 3 here in Brussels. I cannot believe in only 2 short weeks I will be coming back! Time is flying here. We had culture class in the morning and have nutrition this afternoon. We are planning on spending the afternoon and evening working on our midterm essays and starting our papers that are due next week for our culture class. I am sure this will be a resting week for most of us. People are getting over being sick and the rest of us are trying to rest to attempt to not get sick like the others. It is suppose to be a rainy cold week here in Brussels, so I am sure we will find some fun things to do! I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend!

Peace, Love, Study Abroad in Brussels