Bruges to Amsterdam
Joel and I opted to get up early today to go to the Groeningemuseum to see some Flemish art before leaving Belgium. We didn’t have much time because we had to check out of the hotel and catch our train to Amsterdam that left at 11:30am. So we went for just walking through the permanent collection of the some of the more famous Flemish artists including Jan van Eyck, the same artist who painted the Ghent Altarpiece. As must European art is, there was a lot Jesus and other Christian subjects but overall it was really interesting to see the style of painting and how the people were represented through paintings.
We went back to the hotel to get our bags, checked out, and met Chiara and Alberto at their hostel to walk to the train station. We had to transfer trains in Bruges, but made our reservation and got to Amsterdam in early afternoon. After some adventures with a broken ticket machine, we were able to take the tram to check into our accommodations.
This was probably the most fun day overall even though the weather was by far the worst so far. The walk from our hotel to Alberto and Chiara’s hostel was 15 minutes, then from there it was 30 minutes to the train station. It was raining so hard that by the time we got to the train station, we were all soaking wet. Even my jacket was soaked through and the fleece sweatshirt I had put in the outside zip pocket of my suitcase was wet through the zipper. By the time we got to Amsterdam, my pants had mostly dried, but my jacket was still soaked. We changed our clothes when we checked in, but then it was still pouring in Amsterdam so we immediately got soaked again. After walking around for only 5 minutes, I was soaked to the skin from head to toe. But after changing we decided to walk around the 9 streets, which we heard was a nice shopping area with lots of boutique shops. Of course everything was closed in preparation for the New Years celebration. Just at the end of the 9 streets, we stumbled upon a really great cheese shop. They had dozens of local cheeses and tons of free samples. They even had oliebollen and apple binets, which we heard were treats you can only find at this time of year here. Oliebollen are like balls of fried dough, similar to a donut, but more bread like and less sweet. Some have raisins and some are plain. We opted for a plain one and got an apple binet too. I preferred the apple binet and Joel liked the oliebollen best. He also had a coffee and we spent some time sitting in the shop to avoid the rain.
We decided to go searching for a bar since it was already around 7pm and our dinner reservation wasn’t until 9. We walked for about 15 or 20 minutes and decided we were so wet, we should just go inside somewhere. So we found a cute bar and went inside. We decided to stay there until just a few minutes before our reservation so that we would avoid the rain as much as possible. Joel had a beer and we just spent the time chatting.
Chiara and Alberto met us there and we walked to dinner. We had Indian food, which was not so great compared to what we usually get, but it was fine. But of course the best part was the company and the excitement of New Year’s Eve. We were told that fireworks are illegal in Amsterdam except the government makes an exception only on New Year’s eve for people to light fireworks in the streets. We planned to stay at the restaurant until close to 11 so that we could avoid the rain and not have to be outside for so much time while we were wet. But when we left the restaurant, it had stopped raining!! We walked to Dam Square where we heard most of the celebration would take place. Already people were lighting fireworks. It seemed to just be random people who had bought a lot of fireworks would walk around in a circle to clear an area in the crowd and then just start lighting the fireworks. We really had to watch out because sometimes the fireworks would just explode on the ground, or not fly high enough and explode very low close to people’s heads, or sometimes they would launch sideways instead of up. Also some people were lighting smoke bombs that made a very loud noise, but were not exactly fireworks. As it got closer to midnight, more and more people filled the square. At one point, Chiara and I stood up on a bench and in every direction as far as I could see, it was a solid mass of people with the exception of the circles cleared for fireworks launching. People were walking around with alcohol and of course the smell of marijuana was very prevalent. There was no countdown or anything at midnight, but the people setting off fireworks started to set off a lot at a time right at midnight. There was lots of cheering and yelling and celebration.
As the fireworks seemed to start running out, people started to clear from the square. We walked for a while and found a bar to go and have some celebratory drinks. I opted for… water…. no surprise, but Alberto, Chiara, and Joel shared a rose wine. Around 2:30 we decided to head back to go to sleep. Joel and I had quite an adventure finding the night bus stop and riding the bus through all the chaos still going on in the city. But eventually we got back and changed out of our wet clothes and went to sleep.
Joel and I opted to get up early today to go to the Groeningemuseum to see some Flemish art before leaving Belgium. We didn’t have much time because we had to check out of the hotel and catch our train to Amsterdam that left at 11:30am. So we went for just walking through the permanent collection of the some of the more famous Flemish artists including Jan van Eyck, the same artist who painted the Ghent Altarpiece. As must European art is, there was a lot Jesus and other Christian subjects but overall it was really interesting to see the style of painting and how the people were represented through paintings.
We went back to the hotel to get our bags, checked out, and met Chiara and Alberto at their hostel to walk to the train station. We had to transfer trains in Bruges, but made our reservation and got to Amsterdam in early afternoon. After some adventures with a broken ticket machine, we were able to take the tram to check into our accommodations.
This was probably the most fun day overall even though the weather was by far the worst so far. The walk from our hotel to Alberto and Chiara’s hostel was 15 minutes, then from there it was 30 minutes to the train station. It was raining so hard that by the time we got to the train station, we were all soaking wet. Even my jacket was soaked through and the fleece sweatshirt I had put in the outside zip pocket of my suitcase was wet through the zipper. By the time we got to Amsterdam, my pants had mostly dried, but my jacket was still soaked. We changed our clothes when we checked in, but then it was still pouring in Amsterdam so we immediately got soaked again. After walking around for only 5 minutes, I was soaked to the skin from head to toe. But after changing we decided to walk around the 9 streets, which we heard was a nice shopping area with lots of boutique shops. Of course everything was closed in preparation for the New Years celebration. Just at the end of the 9 streets, we stumbled upon a really great cheese shop. They had dozens of local cheeses and tons of free samples. They even had oliebollen and apple binets, which we heard were treats you can only find at this time of year here. Oliebollen are like balls of fried dough, similar to a donut, but more bread like and less sweet. Some have raisins and some are plain. We opted for a plain one and got an apple binet too. I preferred the apple binet and Joel liked the oliebollen best. He also had a coffee and we spent some time sitting in the shop to avoid the rain.
We decided to go searching for a bar since it was already around 7pm and our dinner reservation wasn’t until 9. We walked for about 15 or 20 minutes and decided we were so wet, we should just go inside somewhere. So we found a cute bar and went inside. We decided to stay there until just a few minutes before our reservation so that we would avoid the rain as much as possible. Joel had a beer and we just spent the time chatting.
Chiara and Alberto met us there and we walked to dinner. We had Indian food, which was not so great compared to what we usually get, but it was fine. But of course the best part was the company and the excitement of New Year’s Eve. We were told that fireworks are illegal in Amsterdam except the government makes an exception only on New Year’s eve for people to light fireworks in the streets. We planned to stay at the restaurant until close to 11 so that we could avoid the rain and not have to be outside for so much time while we were wet. But when we left the restaurant, it had stopped raining!! We walked to Dam Square where we heard most of the celebration would take place. Already people were lighting fireworks. It seemed to just be random people who had bought a lot of fireworks would walk around in a circle to clear an area in the crowd and then just start lighting the fireworks. We really had to watch out because sometimes the fireworks would just explode on the ground, or not fly high enough and explode very low close to people’s heads, or sometimes they would launch sideways instead of up. Also some people were lighting smoke bombs that made a very loud noise, but were not exactly fireworks. As it got closer to midnight, more and more people filled the square. At one point, Chiara and I stood up on a bench and in every direction as far as I could see, it was a solid mass of people with the exception of the circles cleared for fireworks launching. People were walking around with alcohol and of course the smell of marijuana was very prevalent. There was no countdown or anything at midnight, but the people setting off fireworks started to set off a lot at a time right at midnight. There was lots of cheering and yelling and celebration.
As the fireworks seemed to start running out, people started to clear from the square. We walked for a while and found a bar to go and have some celebratory drinks. I opted for… water…. no surprise, but Alberto, Chiara, and Joel shared a rose wine. Around 2:30 we decided to head back to go to sleep. Joel and I had quite an adventure finding the night bus stop and riding the bus through all the chaos still going on in the city. But eventually we got back and changed out of our wet clothes and went to sleep.
Pittsburgh has great Indian food :)
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