Well, Friday was a crazy one! Left Brugges at 6am, took the train through the Belgian and Dutch countryside to Amsterdam. Everyone had been telling me that since it was the off season, and that I was getting into Amsterdam before noon, that it would be no problem getting a room at a hotel or hostel. Well, they were dead wrong. As I began my search, I was nearly laughed out of the high class hostels, and shady "Hotel Finders" were telling me I was screwed, and I would have to pay 100 Euro ($140) for a hotel room. Finally, it [View Full Entry]

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All, Well, Saturday was an awesome day. I left the hostel at 6am and went and wandered the canals of the city, and stopped for breakfast at some little sidewalk cafe that served me up a bacon/cheese/croissant. Then I "opened" the Anne Frank House. As a backdrop here, I had never read the book, just basically knew the story prior to heading in. WOW, what an experience, just being in the same home as her and her family was eerie and 'motionally moving. It was almost as if you were able to step back in time. The feelings that came over [View Full Entry]

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All, What is up? Well, I am writing this blog from the Hotel Lybeer in beautiful, not as quaint as I thought Brugges, Belgium. I would imagine most people stateside have not heard of it, and I didn't before my travels either. Upon reading about Europe this fall, I stumbled across it over and over, and it was described as a hidden gem of northern Europe. So far, I would say it was worth stopping by. They call it the Venice of the North due to the fact that canals criss-cross the town, and it is la sleepy little romantic medieval [View Full Entry]

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All, Well, Wednesday was pretty much a mirror image of Tuesday. I got up early and headed out on the Tube amongst the morning throngs of businessmen and businesswomen. It's funny, although it may be expected because London is so big and cosmopolitan, when you are on the Tube, you honestly couldn't tell you are across the Atlantic. People acting just like they would in the States, everyone obsessed with their cell phone (Razrs every other one), people reading the celebrity magazines about Posh & Beckham, and pretty much dressed the same. FASHION ALERT: the one thing that has jumped out [View Full Entry]

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All, Ok, well now I can officially say that I have been to London in my life. I tried to get a nice mix of touristy and local type things done today. I woke up at 6:30 am, grabbed some croissants at the ol' Ace Hotel, and headed down to the Waterloo Train Station downtown to buy my train ticket to Brussels. I honestly had no idea where the train station was in reference to the "tourist sites", so I was just basically going to get my ticket. As I exited the Embankment stop, I was right there on the Thames [View Full Entry]

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All, Well, I have made it to London in one piece. I stayed up all night, and caught a flight out of the 'Lou at 6 this morning, and then flew from Chicago to London for 7 hours, which I did end up sleeping most of. Driving to the airport with my Dad was a nerve-wracking experience. I am not really nervous to be traveling Europe alone or anything like that, I guess I am more nervous about whether or not this "backpacking" thing is for me. For years, I have watched the Amazing Race or heard stories from others and [View Full Entry]

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