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Published: August 18th 2009
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While I'm on a roll, I might as well get up to date.
From Paris we got the train to Bruges, which is a beautiful place (thanks Fi for that tip). We spent a day and a half there doing all things Belgian. Or at least drinking beer and eating waffles. Around this consumption of Belgian finery we did find time to see the sights. We did a canal tour, walked around town, wandered through the two main squares Markt and Burg, headed to one of the town's churches to see Michelangelo's statue 'Madonna and Child' (clearly not the real Madonna though as the child wasn't from Malawi), and saw the windmills on the outskirts of town. Very pretty place, I highly recommend it!
After Bruges we had a bit of a run-in with the European train system and its commuters. First, our train from Bruges to Antwerp stopped halfway because there was a fire on the tracks. The second incident (extremely funny in hindsight, but not so amusing at the time) occured as we were about to board the train to Amsterdam. There were hundreds of people lining up along the platform to get on the train and
by some miracle the train doors stopped directly in front of us. We thought we were in luck until some psycho (and slightly sozzled) woman decked Joey, sending her flying headfirst over her suitcase, and barged onto the train, even pushing through the people who were still trying to get off, in an effort to get a seat. Some obnoxious American decided this was unacceptable behaviour (despite the fact that he'd been trying to get on the previous train without a ticket and had a fight with the conductor) and proceeded to yell in a booming voice, 'that is UNCOOL! UNBELIEVABLE!' We eventually got ourselves sorted and got on the train, just in time to hear the woman receiving a thorough talking to from some of our fellow passages. Don't think she really cared though. And to make matters wose, she was only travelling for one stop.
Anyway, we made it to Amsterdam in one piece and arrived at our very swanky hostel, which had designer furniture everywhere and two showers and basins in our bathroom, just in case we were having trouble choosing.
Best bits of Amsterdam were:
- Arriving in time for the Gay Pride March
(or parade of boats down the canal). Great afternoon of people watching, with plenty of people happy to pose for our cameras.
- Canal tour all the way round the city.
- The Van Gogh museum.
- The Rijksmuseum.
- Visiting Anne Frank's house, which is now a very moving museum about her and the people who helped hide her family.
- A night out in the Red Light District - always a good place to go with your mother!
Lowlight:
- All throughout our trip I had been getting into museums and other places as under 18 (there are some advantages of looking like a 12-year-old): therefore free or well below half price. This only (nearly) backfired once. We had bought our tickets to the Van Gogh museum and were walking in when the woman who sold us the tickets changed her mind and said loudly in front of everyone, 'I think you are older,' in a thick Dutch accent and demanded that I show her my passport. Fortunately I was able to do my best looking young and innocent and convinced her that I was only 16. If I can get into the footy at home as
under 14, surely I can pull off under 18.
Last stop of the mother/daughter tour was Copenhagen. Unfortunately 'Our Mary' didn't invite us round for dinner, which was a bit disappointing. Luckily there was plenty of other stuff to see and do, including:
- Amaliensborg Palace where the royal family currently live, and seeing the changing of the guard.
- Seeing Rosenborg Castle where the royals used to live. They had bloody horrible taste for a while - some hideously decorated rooms! Did get to see their extensive collection of swords, jewellery, wine, etc. Quite impressive.
- Going to the Frihedsmuseet, a museum about Danish resistance of the Nazis during WWII.
- Seeing the area of Nyhavn - nice coloured buildings, restaurants and cafes lining the canal.
- Wandering around Kastellet - a former fort, now military barracks with nice park areas and a windmill in the middle.
- Coincidentally running into Michelle and Stefan while walking down the main street - didn't even know they were going to Copenhagen. Very nice surprise! I've since caught up with them in London where they are now living and working.
And that just about wraps it up. Said goodbye to
a bit of a teary-dearie at Heathrow airport. Unfortunately some people have to go back and earn a living. Since then I've been seeing the sights of London, wandering around Oxford and heading to Wales this weekend for another U2 session - WOOHOO!
Ok, word out
B xo
Also, very big thanks to our personal travel agent, Fi, for organising that all for us!!
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