Amsterdam, Belgium and a look back.

The area in and around Belgium and the Netherlands is truly unique. It seems almost unchanged by time and technology. Walking through these old canal towns makes you feel as though you have gone back in time. Life seems much more simple and relaxed in Amsterdam and Bruges. The people are friendly and there is no real sense of urgency. This was a nice atmosphere to take in for my last week in Europe. I honestly didn't do a whole lot in this final week. I made as much effort as possible to relax and take in the beautiful surroundings. I highly recommend Amsterdam in Bruges to anyone traveling to Europe. I was not a fan of Brussels but I was really only there to fly out.

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I made it back home on Sunday night after about a 20 hour day of travel. It is surreal to be home after such a long time and after experiencing so much of Europe. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I will never forget it. There isn't a doubt in my mind that I will return there at least a dozen more times in my life. Everyone should take the time and experience what Europe has to offer. Where else can you travel just a few hours in any direction and be immersed in a different language and culture? There is so much diversity in such a small area and it is so easy for anyone to access.

I have to say that staying in hostels truly made this trip as amazing as it was. I made tons of new friends from all around the world. Backpackers make up a great collection of people from different countries and different backgrounds yet we all have a defining similarity. Behind each of us is a desire to know more about our world and the individual people that make it up. We are not the typical tourist and we don't want to be. The experience of meeting and getting to know locals and other travelers from different countries is something that wouldn't have been possible without taking a trip like this. And as skeptical as many people have been about my traveling alone, I would not have done it any other way. Being alone opens you up to diving into new experiences and forces you to meet new people and initiate conversations. Without this I would have had an entirely different and much less rewarding experience.

I suppose it is time to return to the real world. I have come to enjoy not having a cell phone, a car or any sense of time or date. I have been home 2 days now and my phone is still off, it's kind of peaceful. I return to work on Friday and am very excited to see everyone. Thank you to the friends and family that kept up with this blog during my trip. It made it so worthwhile knowing that you guys were a part of my experience, if only in a small way.

Au Revoir, Auf Wiedersehen, Zbohem, Tot Ziens, Goodbye.

A canal in Amsterdam near my hostel.

There are more bikes than people in Amsterdam and they find about 20,000 bikes a year in the canal.

A large courtyard in Amsterdam with a very old church and several residences.

Inside the Heineken Brewery Experience in Amsterdam.

Near my hostel in Bruges.

The Bruges Museum in Berg Square.

One of the three windmills in Bruges.

The river that flows from Bruges through the nearby village of Damme and to the ocean. (I rented a bike and followed this beautiful path along the river to Damme.)

The windmill in Damme.

An old post near a tiny canal bride.

Another windmill in Bruges.

View of Bruges from the roof of the De Halve Maan (Half Moon) Brewery.

Beguine Convent in Bruges.

Michelangelo's Madonna and Child in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges. One of the only Michelangelo sculptures to ever leave Italy.

The Manneken Pis in Brussels.

London is huge. This is a city of 8 million people and you can definitely tell that right away. I have really enjoyed my time but I am ready to relax for a few days. London is not quite laid out how I had imagined. It is very spread out and involves quite a bit of transportation time. Of course with my luck I chose to visit the week that the Tube workers decided to strike. This left me and the rest of London stuck using the bus. No trip on the bus will take less than 30 minutes and for me to go in and out of the city was averaging about an hour. This became very old very quick. Nonetheless I was able to see most of London in my time here but a return trip will definitely be necessary some day.

London has the most incredible museums, nice people, great shopping and fun nightlife. Unfortunately for me, to truly experience London you must have a whole lot of money to burn. Between high prices and a horrible exchange rate I was not able to much besides explore the city and enjoy the free museums. In the end, however, it was a great experience.

Also, I was lucky enough to be here on the Queens official birthday and was able to attend the parade where I saw the royal family. It was a once in a life time experience.

Enjoy the pictures. I fly to Amsterdam in about 13 hours from now. Then I'm home a week from Sunday. Time is ticking away fast. Take care everyone.


View of Big Ben from Trafalgar Square.

Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery.

Me in Trafalgar Square.

The Westminster Abbey.

The Albert Memorial across from Royal Albert Hall.

In the Winchester Gardens.

Winchester Palace.

The Parliament and Big Ben. (The light was perfect when I took these. This is one of my favorites from the whole trip.)

The Parliament and Big Ben.

The London Eye. (As close as I got. It is obscenely expensive to go up in it.)

The London Eye.

St. Paul's Cathedral. This definitely ranks just behind St. Peters in Rome.

The Millennium Bridge leading to St. Paul's.

Dinosaur inside the Natural History Museum. This place is massive and incredibly interesting.

The Rosetta Stone inside the incredible British Museum.

The Tower Bridge.

Shakespeare's Globe Theater.

The view down The Mall towards Buckingham Palace. (Also the parade route.)

The Queens Guards Marching.

Yep, that's the Queen of England. Pretty cool.

bErLiN

I think the best word to describe Berlin is: "cool." This is definitely the New York City of Europe. There is something for everyone here. Berlin has a really cool attitude to it, which is definitely a result of its unique and rocky history. I spent most of my time in the area called Mitte. It is in the former Communist east side of Berlin. The area was littered with great cafes, funky art galleries, different types of bars and tons of shops. Berlin is a truly massive city but between the subway, bus and tram I managed to cover the whole thing with ease. Also, I have seemed to notice a pattern in the weather on this trip. Everytime I arrive in a city it is warm and beautiful and then within a day or two it rains and becomes cold. This has occured in Munich, Prague and now here. It hasn't been too bad but it definitely takes some of the fun out of sightseeing.

There has been a revision to my itenerary. I needed to find another city to fill help fill my remaining time in Europe so I decided to head to London for 5 days. I fly out from Hamburg on Tuesday and then fly into Amsterdam from London on Sunday. I am really excited about this and I'm actually going to be there for the massive celebration of the Queens birthday. Of course, I have chosen to go to the most expensive city in Europe at the point in my trip where my bank account is running thin. My credit card has now become "worry about it later money". I should be fine though and I definitelty won't let it worry me. I'm on vacation after all.

Unfortunately the end is in sight and while I hate to leave here, I definitely miss everyone back home. After Amsterdam I hit Bruges and then fly out of Brussles on the 21st.

Hope everyone is doing great. I love all your comments so please keep them coming.

I have attached some pics of Berlin- hope you enjoy.



The Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe.

Inside the Memorial. It was a really interesting experience as you walk around inside. You feel almost alone and a little lost as you wander between the various sized columns.

The Reichstag.

The Brandenburg Gate

The Altes Museum which includes the famous Bust of Queen Nefertiti.

A stretch of the remaining Wall. Behind it is the remains of the former SS Headquarters where the Holocaust was planned and organized. It is now an outdoor exhibit called the Topography of Terror. The exhibit explains the history of the Nazi regime and the logistics of the Holocaust and its effects. It was very interesting.

The TV Tower. (Locals call it the "big asparagus")

Bugatti Veyron - Starting at only $1.1 million. (Inspiration to keep my GPA up.)

The Berlin Cathedral built in 1451.


The Ishtar Gate from Babylon. It was originally built in 575 BC by King Nebuchadnezzar II. (This gate is 47 feet high and 100 feeet wide. There is much more to the gate than this picture shows.)

The Market Gate Miletus in the Pergamon Museum. (This thing is 17m high and completely indoors.)

The foot from Monty Python.

The Pergamon Alter in the Pergamon Museum. (They pretty much took the whole thing from Grecce and reassembled it in the Museum.)

Checkpoint Charlie. (The biggest tourist trap in Germany. The locals call it Disneyland because it is completely fake.)

Inside of the Konzerthaus where the Berlin Symphony plays.

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. (We bombed it in WW2 and the remains became a memorial after the war. A very cool modern church was built around the remains.)

Longest stretch of the remaining Berlin Wall. It is a long open air art gallery now called the East Gallery.

Painter at the East Gallery

More East Gallery

The Sony Center in Potsdamer Platz. It is basically a group of skyscrapers with a canopy covering the area between them. (It's supposed to look like Mt. Fuji)

The Subway

A really nice courtyard in the Hackescher Hof

The French Church

The Jewish Museum (It is completely covered in zinc and shaped like a lightning bolt almost.)