D...I am kind of itchy...

Writing from Amsterdam...let me back track you to yesterday for a glimpse of our last day in Brugge.

Danielle and I decided to rise early and rent bikes for the day so that we could take an hour bike ride to the beach. We were told the ride went along the canal and through a really cute small coastal town, Damme. On our wobbly, rusty little bicycles we biked for 2 hours through the countryside of Belgium playing "HEY COW" as we went. Cows, sheep, goats--they were our little travel companions for the ride---Indiana is just always so close by when I travel. Hahaha. None the less we made it to the beach and had an absolute blast! Plus the bike ride home we seemed to be able to follow the map a bit more and we made it home in an hour!

Before we were going to leave for Amsterdam we were determined to visit the best Belgium chocolate shops. I am not even into chocolate but everybody said it was a must. Let me just say I think it was my first time having REAL chocolate. Our hostel keeper reccomended the abosulte best place--they cater chocolate for most of the royalty in Europe. Neuhaus was the shop (they have a store in NY and you better bet I will be checking in LA when I get home) and it was completely unreal. I paid 1 euro (about 1.25 us dollars) for a piece of chocalte about the size of a quarter it was completely worth it. As we headed for the train station I also sprung for a Belgium waffle with strawberries on it---I was kind of skeptic of this Belgium dessert because i don't really enjoy waffles but it was AMAZING! Oh...the sweet bug definitely bit me in Belgium!

Then off on the train we headed to Amsterdam--a four hour journey (with some delays on the train). Through this journey I began to realize that more than a sweet bug bit me--that little bedmite from Brussels must have had a good meal before Danielle killed him because I have about 10 bites across my body. Danielle has been laughing as we walk Amsterdam and I itch non-stop. The funny thing is that when I was little and had my allergy tests the only thing I was allergic to was bedmites and I remember my mom had to buy special plastic covers for the mattresses to ensure that I didn't get any allergy attacks--well too bad Barbie didn't come on the trip because the plastic liners were not packed in my bag. I will be researching how to say "I need anti-itch cream" in Dutch this evening.

Amsterdam has been unreal though--a true culture shock coming from the quiet little sleeping town of Brugge. Everything they say about Amsterdam is true yet everything they say won't prepare you for seeing the real thing. We began our morning with a tour of the Anne Frank house. It was very shocking to tour the home and live within Anne's diary and her time in hiding from the Nazi's. The visit to this museum is something I will never forget--studying Anne in school didn't even begin to compare to the experience of learning firsthand her experiences. Then we walked across town to tour the Heineken brewing facility. They had an interactive 4-D movie which was really fun. I am signing off to let Danille use the little computer that our hostel allows us to borrow. This evening we are doing a pub/club tour for 20 euro which should provide us with a fun time. Tomorrow we are off to Berlin and will be staying with my college roommate from my freshman. I have not seen her in three years since she moved to Berlin! We are very excited to have our own personal tour guide for Berlin! Until I post again, lots of love!

En Brugge--missing the 21st century bus...

Now...Brussels wasn't the most AMAZING city but Brugge--oh yes, have no fear Belgium you have not let us down (and thank you to Emily Voge for the huge recommendation on not missing this AMAZING city). Brugge is really neat--most cities became very modern with the 21st century move but Brugge--oh no--it missed that bus--it is still stuck in the 19th century and it is so wonderful in that time. Old city walls and buildings with gorgeous green parks and veerrrryyyy reeelllaaaxxxeeeddd lifestyle (we feel like we are going in slow motion).

We have only been here for a few hours but have walked most of the city. Tomorrow we are renting bikes and taking an hour stroll to a very old oceanside town and spending some time at the beach (yes, i miss LA--haha).

BELGIUM BABY!

The Eurostar train got us into Brussels, Belgium around 10:30pm at night. We were a little nervous getting off the train because we both don't speak 100% perfect French or Dutch (both languages are used in Belgium). We were prepared for the walk to our hotel from the train station due to "warning reviews" on hotel review websites (we couldn't find a hostel with rooms available so we had to opt for a very inexpensive hotel). Almost every review for our hotel noted that it was NOT in a safe/nice area of town. Let's just say we probably weren't prepared enough. The walk from Brussels Midi Station to our hotel was like walking through a third-world country amidst huge towering buildings while it is pitch darkness (no street lights). One look at our hotel and another look at the room and we just told ourselves that we needed to sleep and get up first thing and leave =)

And that is just what we did this morning--leaving our hotel we walked to central Brussels to get a feel for the town--wait... let me not forget Danielle first killed the bedmite that we found this morning on the wall...haha...we reminded ourselves, "Hey! We are backpacking!"

Brussels was okay--worth seeing but nothing too crazy. We did a neat Belgium Brewery tour in which you got to taste two beers--one of which is now my current favorite new beer--it is called Kriek and is a cheery beer. Very yummy! The Grand Place was the central area and was very breathtaking with majestic towering buildings. We also saw the "Mannekin Pis" statue--please just google it. And the poor little statue/child has outfits that they dress him up in--it was something else to see.

Excuse Me?! Excuse Me?! Can I help you!!!!

Whoah---the trip has seriously begun now. Writing from Brugges, Belgium at our hostel right now. Let's backtrack for a moment....our last day in London was filled with visiting some of the local markets. When I say market you think small right? Yeah...no! They were huge. We went to Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill--it is infamous for its antiques and of course lots of nifty crafts and unique food. I was on a picture spree photographing all of the unique booths and such when I got yelled at by an English bakery woman who did NOT enjoy me photographing her delicate treats! She yelled at me, "Excuse me! Excuse me! Can I help you?" I finally realized it was me she was yelling at and not you know the other ten people hovering and observing her treats--when I finally looked at her and shook my head she was definitely about ready to walk around the booth and push me aside--D and I were laughing for most of the rest of the market. Then we headed to Camden Market, which is North of Central London. Words just can't explain that area--more tattoo/piercing/gothic clothing shops in a one mile stretch than I have ever seen in my life. People pouring out into the streets and booths upon booths that were serving up heaping ethnic dishes. The pictures are unreal from here. We saw and a few more sites on our last day and then we were off to BELGIUM on the Eurostar train!! One country down---nine more to go!

I see London...

Warm greetings from across the pond! Danielle and I arrived safely into London with only a minor 3-4 hour delay thanks to those lovely Midwest summer storms--the midwest always delays me when I am trying to get somewhere! Snow in the winter and lightening in the summer!

Anywho we got to my friends families flat in London around 1pm, dropped our bags, showered and headed off into the city for 9 hours! We were exhausted by the time we got home last night but we had an absolute blast exploring here and there from the National Portrait Gallery, Big Ben, Parliament, London Eye, Trafalgar Square, London Institute of Contemporary Art, Leicester Square, Picidilily Circus and so much more...We even took about a half hour rest in the lawn of the Westminister Abbey to people watch and listen to the bells that played for at least twenty minutes.

Today we crossed the Thames (D kept asking me--"What again is the Thames?"--haha!) and we explored the Tower Bridge area. We visited the Design Museum, the Tate Modern, and Brogough Market. We walked along the river for quite a bit which was very fun--we are in constant amazement of the pouring out of locals from pubs during "Happy Hour". Entire sidewalks are taking over by people literally standing around drinking. Both nights it has stopped us and really had us gawking!

We leave tomorrow for Brussels in which we will spend one night and then off to Brugge to one night. I am really excited for Brugge as well as Amsterdam which will follow before we hit Berlin. Our hostel in Brugge seems among the most popular and is a haven for backpackers--we are staying in a coed room for 5 so it should be a unique experience! We met a nice group of gentlemen today from LA--they are backpacking the opposite route as us as they were heading off to Paris and were going to be ending in Amsterdam. It was neat to hear about their experience thus far in London and share stories as I am sure we will begin doing that much more as we get further into our journey.

Time to lights out--we are getting up early tomorrow morning for our last day in London. It is D's birthday and we are going to go celebrate with the guards at Buckingham Palace!!!

3 pairs of short, 5 shirts and my toothbrush...

I can't believe in about 24 hours I will be boarding a flight for LONDON! So crazy! Danielle and I spent the day in Indianapolis doing out last preparations for the trip...getting our packs fitted, buying a sleep sack and messenger day pack for me, eating an awesome brewpub American lunch with Barbie, and finally getting our nails done (of course). Tonight we are going to celebrate my 25th birthday at P.F. Chang's with Jenn Hagen (our other college roommate). Then the evening will commence with a crazy hour of me running around and trying to repack over and over again my little tiny 65 liter pack....I think this exact event has occurred nightly for the past week or so.