We made our way into downtown, where they were had "Winterland Amsterdam" going on. An annual winter carnival. We stopped and had some fresh made, powdered donuts and then visited a few more random booths as we meandered. The 6 of us all hit the hay early that night for a full day in the city on Saturday.
Saturday morning, Lauren, Jess and I woke up early and went to see the famous Amsterdam sign. We snapped a few photos, because, well, that's what all the cool people do, and went off exploring some more. There is not too too much to do in Amsterdam we realized. Especially since the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank did not accept credit cards and that is all we had available for us at the time. But we made the best of it. We took a really great tour of the city on our feet and saw a lot of the beautiful canals and town squares. I really loved how clean and pretty the city was. There were so many people out and about walking and bicycling. WATCH OUT FOR THE BICYCLISTS, THEY WILL HIT YOU. I was more scared of the bikers then the actual drivers on the road. But other then that, I loved the city. We made it all the way down to Dam Square an branched off side streets from there. We stumbled upon cute little shops, cafes, and restaurants which we analyzed the menus for lunch. However, just as 3 o'clock hit, the three of us decided to head back towards our hostel and over to the Heineken Factory. The Factory was one of my favorite visits on this trip.
As you entered, you wandered through walls filled with the history of Heineken. I enjoyed seeing the different bottles that the beer had been bottled in over the years. You continued into rooms that showed you how to make the beer and then into the rooms with the fermentation tanks. I liked this part because I didn't get to see these tanks at the Guinness Factory. We headed to the tasting room, the bottling room, and media and advertising room and then finally, "The ride". This was a ride where you were locked in a room and standing on a simulator with a screen in front of you. It showed you what it was like to actually BE the beer. It went through the entire process of Heineken production and when you became the beer, it sprayed you with water. It was a lot of fun. After, we were let out into the end of the tour, which is where we were allowed to drink 2 Heinekens for free!! And free is good!!
After the tour had ended, we met up with our other three friends who went on their own for the day. We all grabbed something for dinner at this nearby pub and made our way back down to town to the Red Light District. Not that we were interested at all in those kind of experiences, but everyone has said to at least walk up and down the streets to see what it is really like. I can not emphasize enough how ridiculous and quite distasteful is actually is. Although it is a very hyped up with all the lights and a neat place to be walking through, the women are banging on the glass and giving extremely awkward gestures to...well... gather clients. I couldn't believe it! Don't worry dad, it's not exactly my kinda place! I was glad to be able to say I walked through the Red Light District but wow, clean up your act ladies. I couldn't believe that this is what these women do for a living, and were so indiscreet about it.
The next morning, we woke up early to head to Brussels. Belgium was beautiful, and a place I wish I was able to spend more time. We spend the evening and night in the city center because that's where our flight was departing for Italy. We walked around down town, saw "The Mannequin Piss" and wandered in and out of all the tiny little chocolate shops. It was so cool. The Mannequin was a lot smaller than I had expected but was still rather funny to stumble upon. The Chocolate shops were like something out of Charlie and the Chocolate factory, so surreal. We found St. Michael's Church in the middle of the city and took some pictures out front. By then it was getting late and places were shutting down. We ended up getting ourselves Belgian waffles for dinner and heading back to bed. When we woke up the next morning, we made a point to get ourselves to the airport shuttle with enough time to go through all the appropriate screenings before boarding our plane. It just so happens that the shuttle was full so we had to wait for the next one. Because of our luck, the next bus showed up a half and hour late and left a half our late because some woman wouldn't let the bus leave without her friends- and she refused to get off. After a number of people shouting at her over missing flights, the bus finally left. However, we barely had enough time to make our flight.
After arriving at the airport, we ran to check in and get our passports checked. The man took 5 minutes to yell at us about how, "Being Americans, we should know better then to show up so late for a flight" and that "in America, we would never be allowed to run through security to get to the plane." We shrugged him off and kept going- making it through security and to the gate in under 9 minutes. Luckily it was a small airport. but unluckily, the plane left 10 minutes EARLY!!! So after dealing with a lot of very irritating and rude airport personnel, we had to stay in the airport for an early flight the next morning. It was awful! The airport was small and freezing, so we all curled up behind a vending machine that gave off a little heat and I was very thankful to be on the next possible flight.
Overall, it was a crazy experience, and a lot of fun. As much of a drag as it was to miss the flight, it definitely added to the adventure.
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