Well the adventure continues. We are changing our pace a little.... We have done three countries in 8 days. We took the train from Paris to Amsterdam then hopped down to Brussels and then flew to Dublin. We are back in London but that blog will be later. For now the first three...
We went to Amsterdam the day after New Year's and as you can guess the place was trashed. The famous party city of Europe must of had quite a bash because the streets were littered with cans, bottles, and fireworks. Amsterdam is an interesting place. It seems that it has turned into the frat party city. I am sure that this is very exciting for many people who ascribe to that lifestyle but for us it just seemed too much. Too many people were into exploiting the lifestyle that it seems some of the Dutch culture is now lost. On our travels we have met many Dutch people and they all seem to have some sense of shame in the city. It's gone bad and too touristy...frankly I agree with them. Amsterdam is a place that could be such an amazing city but it has banked, rightly so, on the fact the more drugs and sex they have the more young people will visit hoping to drop a quick buck and enjoy themselves. While in Amsterdam we visited the red light district it was a very interesting place as Amanda described it its like a Disneyland for adults. Its quite strange walking down narrow streets shoulder to shoulder with other people looking in full length windows at women half naked. There are no pictures of the red light district for two reasons. First it is shunned upon to take pictures of the district most likely to protect both the identities of the women and of the men visiting. Secondly I feel its one of those things you have to see yourself. Its not something I would advertise and the feeling you get is more real when you see it in person than in a photo... So we saw the red light district and saw a Chinese parade. We mainly just walked around the city looking at the buildings and people. We made a couple new friends. A girl from Australia named Les short for Leslie. We might meet up again in London. We also met a girl from Denmark named Mirjam. They were very fun to talk to and we had many interesting conversations.
We left a couple days later and made our way to Brussels the capital of Belgium. Belgium is an interesting place; it is a strange combination of creativity and art and commercialism and industrialization. The city is sprawled out and you need to take the metro to get to some sights. Brussels is the home of the European Union, the Belgium waffle, Tintin, and was the home of my favorite painter, Magritte, for 24 years. We never made it to the European Union building but from what I read, its just a building. We did get to try the waffles which were great, and we got to see some Tintin art on a building. We took the metro out to the Autonium, a crystal model of metal magnified 165 billion times. Some more info taken from their website: The Atomium is 334.6. ft. high ; the spheres have a diameter of 59.0 ft ; weight of 2400 tons. It was quite a sight to see. We also visited the Chinese Pagoda and the Japanese tower. Inside were very different art styles. The Japanese tower was filled with Japanese Samurai stained glass art. The Chinese pagoda was quite different looking more like 17th century Italian royal chambers. The highlight of this trip for me was being able to visit the home of Rene Magritte. Magritte lived in Brussels for 24 years where he painted the bulk of his most influential works. It was great to see how the apartment influenced him. From the fireplace to the picture window and the bowler hat all featured in so many of his works of art. We made some new friends in Brussels too; David, Brendan, Josh, Brian, Silvana and Rohit. All made our trip there more memorable. On the 7th we had quite a travel day. We left for Dublin...
The trip to Dublin wasn't too bad; two busses, two metro rides, and a plane trip- all in all the travel worked out. But when we arrived at our hostel we were rewarded with news that the hostel had lost our booking and gave our beds away. We spent the next hour looking at two other hostels who also were booked. It was Saturday and with all the cheap flights and travel so accessible to many we were out of luck...Luckily I emailed Uncle Dick...a family friend since my birth and my unofficial Godfather. He gave us some contact info for his ex-wife's father who lived in Dublin, so we gave him a call. He wasn't there but his daughter Maura and her new husband were. They very graciously invited us to stay with them for the two days we were in Dublin and we got to catch up...and made closer ties to friends we had lost touch with. Maura and Livi were pen pals for a time and I remember swimming with her in the UCLA swimming pool when I was just a little boy. Both Maura and her husband Robert were great down to earth people and they always have a free place to stay in any home we have. So we made the short trip on the DART to Howth an amazingly quaint seasidede port town 30 mins. by train from Dublin. The apartment was small but very cozy and welcoming. We were only in Dublin for one real day and we sure tried to make the best of it. We went into the city first and walked around. We visited a castle with a great garden. Amanda took a quick 30 min. cat nap in the sun. Then we visited museum in the adjoining library. We ate at a classic American diner, and walked around the city seeing the sites. I think if I were to make enough money to live for part of the year in another country, Ireland of what I saw, would be on the top of the list. Well that's all for now..I know its quite a long blog but three countries is a lot to talk about. Right now we are staying with Lindsay Rutter and her great family in England.. Stay tuned.
Now the pictures:
Amsterdam:The nice side of Amsterdam:
A view of the streets after the New Year's festivities:
I win!!
Food despensers:
More of the canals:
Couldn't figure out what street I was on:
A great Chinese festival:
Amanda on the computer:
Some friends:
Les:
Crazy Mason church/meeting place:
Brussels:There is still some holiday cheer in this town:
The Waffel Truck!!:
At night after the shops close local merchants come to sell their wares:
David, Brendan, and Amanda in front of a dreary Brussels landmark:
Some Tintin:
Stuck in the street:
Great Samurai outfit in a store...I really wanted it but it was a little out of my price range:
The Japanese tower:
Stained glass art inside:
The Chinese pagoda:
Its lavish interior:
Us and the Atomium:
Magritte:
His appartment (the lamp-post infront is featured in some of his art):
His front room; (the fireplace is in one of his pictures with a train comming from it- maybe it was inspired by the furnace? Also note the picture of his wife on the wall, she was the muse for his art):
The famous hat:
After a few rounds: (Me, Brian, Rohit, Josh, Silvana, and Brendan)
Dublin:Sights of the city:
The castle garden where amanda took a nap:
The castle from another view:
The nap:
Images of Howth:
The condo on Howth that was our haven for a couple days:
Thanks again all our friends and family.... stay tuned as the adventure continues!!!
