Hello! The previous week wasn't too exciting...actually pretty crappy to be honest...but the weekend definitely turned around :) Katie and I had a three day whirlwind adventure to Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam...and it was quite the trip!
Katie and I left Galway at 1:45 am Thursday to take a bus to the Dublin Airport, where our flight to Paris was departing at 6:15 am. We then took a bus to central Paris, and got in around 10 am. We didn't know where we were, so we decided to stroll along, eventually ending up at the Arc de Triomphe.
We decided it'd be a good idea to catch a hop on hop off bus, since we only had a day in Paris, so we stalked one down and caught it at the Arc. The first thing the bus took us to was the Eiffel Tower, which was just as beautiful as it was when I visited a few years back. As you all know, the terror threat level is quite high at the moment, so the Tower is pretty well guarded. There was plenty armed men with rifles walking around...which was a bit scary.
Continuing on our adventure, we stayed on the bus until the Louvre. We passed many city parks, monuments, a "royal" hosptial, Place de la Concorde, and I even saw a glimpse of "The Thinker", which was pretty neat. We hopped off at the Louvre and explored the surroundings. We didn't go into the Louvre, which was fine by me since I've already been, and Mona Lisa is actually pretty small.
The next stop was the Cathedral of Notre Dame, which was luckily, free to get into. The outside is muchhhh more extravagant than the inside, which is pretty hollow. Nonetheless, still gorgeous. We explored the little shops surrounding the cathedral and grabbed some lunch before heading back to the bus.
We drove through the city, passing the Opera until we reached our bus stop to change busses. We hopped on the bus heading to Montmartre, which is where our hostel was located. We passed Paris's Red Light District, including Moulin Rouge--which is where the first can-can was done (and striptease, while doing it!) We then hopped off, and headed up the steps leading to the Sacre Coeur, which was quite stunning. I don't remember going up to see it the last time I was in Paris...so I'm definitely glad I saw it this time :)
Our hostel was located right behind the Sacre Couer, so we headed there to check in. We walked around Montmartre a little, and then went to bed super early since we had been on the move since 1:45 am Thursday!
We woke up early Saturday morning and took a taxi to the bus station where we caught a bus heading for Brussels, Belgium. It was about a four hour bus ride since there was some unexpected heavy traffic. We got into the city near Midi, and wandered around until we found the center of town, where we hopped on another bus tour (they've become our favorite!).
One of the first sites we saw was the Sablon Church, which was gothically beautiful...hehe, my sad attempts at a joke.
We passed some law courts that would have been nice to look at if there wasn't so much rennovations being done. However, the panaromic views at this location were breathtaking! Next we ended up at the Europoean Union district, since Brussels is the capitol of Europe. The buildings were very modern, since the European Union was recently formed.
Our next stop was Atomium, which was built for the World Fair. It's a very very very large metal atom. In this park you can also find Mini-Europe, which is like a little amusement park.
On the way back to the city center we passed the Royal Palace of the King of Belgium, along with his royal greenhouses. We hopped off the bus downtown to wander around. We ran into the Waffle Factory, and of course Katie and I got a tasty Belgian Waffle with chocolate and ice cream--sooooooo delicious! We did a bit of shopping and bought some chocolates. We then stumbled upon the town square, which is one of the most beautiful squares in Europe--and indeed it was!
We then found Manneken Pis, which is a statue of a naked boy peeing. I have no idea why, or what legends are exactly behind this, but it looks like a little boy jacking off, and thousands of people flood to see this. It's so so so strange. But anyways, we headed to see it and fought off the crowds of people.
We continued shopping and strolling along, passing many large chocolate figures of Manneken Pis. There was also a street performing band which were quite jolly playing next to the smelly escargot man. We also stumbled into a tempting little market in which I could potentially do quite some damage to my wallet. However, I refrained, even though it was quite difficult. We headed to our hotel for an early nights rest, since our train to Amsterdam left at 7:15 am Sunday.
We got into Amsterdam around 10:15, and immediately headed to the center of town, again not knowing exactly where we were headed. Of course, we head straight into the Red Light District where there were plenty of prostitutes out at 11 am. They weren't even mildly attractive, and rather disgusting actually.
Nonetheless we continued exploring until we reached the Dam, which is the city square. We found a map and headed towards the Anne Frank house. We wanted to go in, but the line was seriously astronomical, and wound around the block. With only five hours in the city, we had no time to waste.
We then headed the opposite direction towards the Van Gogh Museum, where again the line was ridiculous. However, the I AmSterdam sign was here, so of course I had to take a picture with it :)
We strolled through town and stumbled upon a little flower market, which sold pretty tulips :)
Of course Amsterdam is known for legalized marijuana, and there are "coffee shops" all around. The Bull Dog is the original coffee shop, and there are a few of them spread throughout the city. You can legit go in, buy the weed, smoke it, and enjoy. Brownies too :) Unfortunately, I did not partake since we only had 4ish hours in the city...but I shall next time :)
Amsterdam is also known for its canals, of course, and it was very hard picking only a few cute pictures of them. But there they are :)
It was a fabulous weekend, that's for sure, and a busy one at that! I have already been to Paris, and it was nice seeing it a second time around. Brussels was also quite beautiful, but Amsterdam was by far my favorite--not because of the weed or sex, but just because of the lovely canals and changing trees.
Hope all is well at home!
Love <3333
Christy
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