Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Brussels!

Date of this trip: November 29- December 2, 2013

Welcome to Amsterdam!

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. Although the country's official names is the Netherlands, the locals all seemed to call their country Holland.

Where vending machines serve fresh fast food! (Everyone standing in line for food was laughing because I was taking a picture of the food. What? It's a novelty to me!)

Ice skating rink in the plaza

One of the city's main attractions is the historic canals weaving together the city center.

One of our tour guides said that there are more bicycles than there are people in Amsterdam. I believe it!

As many lovely tulips as you could possibly want

As much cheese as you could possibly EVER eat

Beautiful buildings

I realize that most of my pictures of Amsterdam involve canals. Well, most of Amsterdam involves canals.

The house where Anne Frank and her family lived during the war. This was an incredible experience. Taking photos was not allowed, but we were able to tour their home and the store front. The museum exhibits her diary and videos from family friends. The entire visit was truly touching. 

Looking across the street from the Anne Frank house

An Oscar won for the film "The Diary of Anne Frank"

Love looking down the canals

Nighttime in Amsterdam

Having toured Amsterdam for the past two days, we decided we were up for a different adventure. With a little researching, we booked a day tour to Belgium for the following day!

Bus tour

Entering the Holland countryside

Windmills were used to manage water for land drainage. It is estimated that without the flood control system, 65% of the Netherlands would be submerged. Today, about 27% of the country is actually below sea level.

The dikes protects the land from storm surges and flooding.

Entering Belgium

Antwerp was our first stop.

The legend of Antwerp involves a mythical giant named Antigoon who used to charge those who wanted to cross the river. This statue in the center of the town square displays the part of the legend when a Roman soldier, Brabo, cut of the head of Antigoon and threw the head into the river. 

Christmas markets were getting set up throughout the city.

We stopped at a friterie to grab some famous Belgian fries.

Did you know that fries originated in Belgium? This is what the Belgians claim at least. (I did some research and found out, although it can't be proven, there is much historical evidence that the first fries belonged to Belgians.)

There were rows of fancy sauces in which to dip these yummies. We stuck with plain, ol' ketchup. 

I know. 

Typical Americans.

Check out those crazy trees!

Meet Antigoon. (He is the giant I discussed eight pictures ago.) His head is attached to his body this time though.

We paused to enjoy some delicious stroop-wafels before heading to Brussels. 

(FYI-If you live in the UK, you can get these at Sainsbury's.)

So. Delicious.

The city of Antwerp

Welcome to Brussels!

The Atomium was built in 1958 for the Brussels World Fair. (I guess it wasn't quite as popular as the Eiffel Tower...) The Atomium is a model of a unit cell that has been magnified 165 billion times.

The Royal Castle of Laeken is the official residence of the Belgian King and Queen.

Our first sighting of authentic Belgian waffles!

The Grote Markt, or Grand Place, is the central square of Brussels.

Manneken Pis is a famous Brussels landmark. I'm not kidding. The little bronze sculpture is a small boy who is peeing into the basin of the fountain. Manneken Pis actually has his own wardrobe and, therefore, changes costumes several times a week. Check out this website to read more about this little guy and to see what the fountain looks like without the Santa attire: http://visitbrussels.be/bitc/BE_en/monument/797/manneken-pis.do.

Belgian chocolate shop

Banana and Belgian chocolate Belgian waffle- You can't get more Belgian than this...

So delicious!

Surprise! We were in town for a parade!

The parade of Saint Nicholas was quite entertaining. I loved all of the stilt-walkers!

Next, we headed toward the German Christmas markets.

The German Gluhwein, or mulled wine, was the perfect thing to warm us.

Look at that pink and purple sky!

The locals were not pleased with this modern version of a Christmas tree in the Grote Markt. The visitors seemed to like it!

Visiting a beautiful church on our way out of Brussels

Early the next morning, we went for a morning run through Vondel Park, a lovely park right next to our hotel.

Our last day in Amsterdam

The Amsterdam train station

We absolutely loved our adventure to Amsterdam and Belgium!