Day 4 - Leuven

So day 4 was the day that we went to Belgium! I left on the 6:50 AM bus to Amsterdam because I had to then go to Amstel station to catch my bus. I didn't know exactly how long it would take me, so I wanted to give myself plenty of time. I was planning on being at the station by 9/9:30...I got there at 8:20 =] So I hung out for a while and what not, and then Ryan came, and we went, checked in at the bus, and then we were on our way! Our friend had emailed us and told us how to get from where the bus would drop us off at Brussels-Noord, to our hotel, on the outskirts of Brussels =] So we made it to Brussels, and we were starving, so we got ourselves some food, and I found out my phone didn't work...wonderful (if you are friends with me on Facebook, you probably saw the whole fiasco about how my phone didn't work to begin with in the Netherlands). I decided, whatever, I was with Ryan and his phone worked. So we grabbed some food and quickly found out English wasn't spoken as prevalently here as it was in Amsterdam. Cool. I knew a few French words, so we were good =] So we look at the train map and compare it to what we were told to do so we could kind of figure out exactly what we were doing, and off we went! Belgium has awesome 3 day train passes that were only 10 euros, and then gave you unlimited train use for 3 days. Since that's how long we were going to be there, we went for it, and boy, it was so worth it! We made it to our hotel, checked in, and were back off to the train station to go to Leuven to visit Margaretha! We texted her to let her know we were on our way, and once we were literally sitting on the train, she texted and was like, you should take this train. We were like...well...we are already on this train, so we'll see you there =] So we arrive in Leuven and we find her about 5 minutes later! It was so wonderful! We hadn't seen Margaretha since graduation back in 2008, so it was wonderful to see here again! And funny enough, no less than 10 seconds later, 3 LDS (mormon) missionaries walked past! I waved them over and was so excited =] It was on my list of things to see, LDS missionaries =] So I talked to them for a few minutes, told them why I was there, asked where they were from (Provo, Washington State and Argentina) so that was really fun! (of course I forgot to take a picture...).

I was taking this picture when Margaretha called to us! And when I saw the missionaries, they were walking from the left of this statue =]

After that, Margaretha took us around and showed us a lot of things! Leuven is the college town where she goes to school (Katholieke Universiteit) so it was fun seeing her university! We first went to university's main library and man, my library has nothing on hers! (Though mine is bigger, square footage wise...I think...) but it was beautiful! The university is really old, were talking hundreds of years, so that was cool.

This, is her library! So beautiful!!

Up close. I love that there is a clock/bell tower on top of the library. So neat!

Doors inside the library

Main study area. Love all the wood, and it is so detailed!

She took us past some dorms, and I was jealous! I really wanted to come to her university (but I don't speak Dutch...). We then saw their admissions building, the town hall (so incredible!!) and just walked around.

Some men's dorms. Love the courtyard area!

Outside of some women's dorms

Inside the admissions building. Love the staircase

Hallway in the admissions building

The town hall! It is incredibly detailed, and is the third most beautiful town hall in Belgium!

Town Hall again

Then we went to her house, and to the store to buy food for dinner, then back to her house to cook. I wish I had taken pictures of her house! I love it! So cool!

Prosciutto and melon (interesting combination, but good =] )

Pasta with tomatoes, mozzarella, cucumbers and ham (and mayonnaise love it!)

After dinner, we went to a monastery and to a store to buy some Belgium chocolate =] Oh and I forgot! On our walkabout, we got Belgium waffles =] So good! The monastery was so beautiful, and we went at sunset, so it was just lit up and gorgeous! Loved it! And we also went for a walk through a garden (though this was before dinner...)

Again, forgot to take a picture before we started eating =] I guess we were too hungry!

Loved this street! I just love the way the houses look, and the curvature of the street. Loved it all!

I love how they mow the grass!

The monastery

I loved how the red wall was lit up by the sun setting =]

More of the monastery. It was absolutely beautiful.

Right past the monastery. The sun was setting through the trees, and the broken fence, it was like out of a painting =]

Beautiful fields of green

Sadly, it was time to go. She took us back to the train station, and we all said goodbye =[ It was a short 5 hour visit, but it was wonderful none the less!!

Goodbye =] (I know it looks like this picture is in black and white, and we are in color, but it really isn't...)

Day 3 - Amsterdam

I'm behind, I know!

So day 3 I was supposed to be on the 8:20 bus so I could get to Amsterdam to meet Ryan, but I missed by about 10 seconds...so I had to wait the 30 minutes for the next bus. I texted Ryan to let him know I'd be late and to come later. Well, when I got to Amsterdam, it was the exact same time I had gotten there the day before, even though I took a later bus.

Train station in Amsterdam

 So I took some pictures of the train station and then there was a beautiful cathedral near so I walked over to that and took some pictures of it.

Amsterdam Centraal Station (it was beautiful!)

Cathedral outside of the Centraal station. Love how the houses are just right on either side =]

Some of the detail of the cathedral

Then I took the tram to meet Ryan. We then walked to the Amsterdam Historical Museum. I didn't know really what to expect at the museum. We were going because it was free with our museumkaart =] It turned out to be a great museum! I really enjoyed it! It showed all about the history of Amsterdam, and while it really was geared more towards Dutch speaking people (all the explanations of the exhibits and such were in Dutch) it was still really interesting and I very much enjoyed it! After that we went over to Dam Square and walked around. The palace is at Dam Square, but it was closed =[ Sad day. We had pizza for lunch at this great little Italian pizzeria. It was sooooo good! We were super happy =]

The palace at Dam Square

Me at Dam Square

Street performers at Dam Square

Ryan at a statue across from Dam Square

Darling Chinese boy chasing the pigeons =] (I used my Chinese to talk to his mom and ask to take the pictures =] That was fun!)

Me at the statue

Delicious pizza for lunch! (I forgot about taking a picture till after we'd started eating =] )

After lunch we walked to the Jewish Historical Museum, which I very much enjoyed! (If you can't tell, I have this thing for Jews and World War II...I very much like learning about those topics). The museum was an old synagogue and I learned a lot more about the Jewish Religion because I really didn't know too much. After that, I wanted to go to the theater where the Jews were deported from. It wasn't too far from the museum, so we set off! Well, for some reason, it was a lot harder to find and we kept getting lost! But, we saw a lot of neat bridges and buildings and we came across an outdoor market in the process (I thought I had pictures of it...but maybe not), so it was a lot of fun! The downside was, once we did find the theater, it was closing in five minutes =[ Sad. But I will (did) go back to Amsterdam next week and see it and the Photomuseum and the Anne Frank House again. After that I decided I should head home so I could go out to dinner with my friends to the beach =] After I got off the train in Leiden, I saw that I had just missed the bus. Of course. Twice in one day! But I made it back in time to go out to dinner with them. It was so much fun! We had dinner on the beach, and I had scallops with a curry sauce. Very, very yummy!

Ryan walked through my picture, looking very confused.

A memorial related to the Holocaust

Another cathedral. I more just love how the picture turned out =]

The beach!! And the restaurant is right there =]

The town that is right there on the ocean =]

The Anne Frank House

Here is my post, all on the Anne Frank House, the thing I was most excited to see! So we looked it up on the map and figured out which canal it was on, and headed off. It was about a 20 minute walk from where we were, but we are too cheap to use public transportation. Plus, then we got to see a lot of neat things! Like canals and boats and bikes and flowers and lots of things! So we got to Anne Frank Huis and my dream was about to come true =] For a long time now (since probably the 8th grade when I learned about Anne Frank) I've always wanted to go visit her house. And now, I was standing outside her house! It was truly a dream come true!!!

Sign inside the entrance to the Anne Frank House

So we stood in line, and we got in and started walking around. I wanted to make sure I took my time, even though I knew I would be coming back at least once, maybe twice (its going to be twice!). Sadly, you can't take pictures (I was going to take in my little camera with me next time, but I learned that there are plain clothes officers in the house, so I might not do that...). It was absolutely incredible. I wish I had reread the book before coming, but they have a lot of displays and plaques telling all about what each room was, and how it played into their life. When we got to the secret bookcase, I got goosebumps! I was walking through the exact entryway that they had crossed through; I was entering the secret annex. I couldn't believe it. All this time of just reading about it, and now I was actually crossing the threshold into history. It was amazing!

Door to her actual house

All the rooms in the secret annex were amazing, but when I got to Anne Frank's room, wow, that was a powerful experience. I seriously almost teared up in that room. Knowing that a young girl, whose story I have read, wrote that story in that room, and lived part of her life in that room, fearing for her life and trying to be as quiet as possible so that the police didn't find her, it was all just amazing. And what was incredible too is that they have left some of the pictures and such that Anne had put up on the wall. After they were found, police came through and removed everything, but a lot of the pictures Anne had pasted on the wall were still there, and the museum has preserved it enough to where they are still there. That was incredible, to see what she had chosen to put up, to see what meant a lot to her. Absolutely incredible. Anyway, needless to say, that was an experience I hope I never forget!!

Church right by Anne Frank's house. These are the bells that she mentions hearing in the book. So neat!

Day 2 - Amsterdam

Day two started nice and early, with me catching the 8:20 am bus to Leiden, where I then took a train to Amsterdam Centraal (you will notice that when I put places or stops or such, they will be spelled in Dutch =] I'm getting good at reading Dutch). I made it all nice and good to the train (where I purchased a OV-chipkaart, which is a card that has money on it that you can use for the bus, trains, metro, trams, etc) and then got on the train. The train I was on was to stop at Schiphol (the airport). When it got to the airport, a lady came and sat by me. She was white, so I figured she was Dutch (yes, I'm making assumptions about people...) and then a group of 5 girls (Americans) came and sat down near us. We all started talking and turns out the girls were from Duke and UGA and had a 7 hour lay over in Amsterdam before heading onto Ghana for study abroad. The lady sitting next to me ended up being an American from South Carolina and she had a 5 hour lay over in Amsterdam before continuing on to Dubai. The lady had been to Amsterdam before, and the last time she came, she went to the Rijksmuseum, but this time wanted to go to the Van Gogh museum, if she could figure out how to get there. I told her that I was going to the Rijksmuseum, and that the Van Gogh museum was right near it, and that to get to the Rijksmuseum, I was taking tram 2 or 5 to Hobbemastraat, and that should work to get to the Van Gogh museum as well. She was grateful she had met me, and then when we got off the train she said, Now, I'm not stalking you, I'm just following you. I said she was more than welcome to follow me, even if I didn't really know where I was going. So we both go out to the trams, find the correct ones, and off we go! It was so neat! Up to that point, it really hadn't hit me that I was in Europe, but being out in Amsterdam really did it for me. I was really in Europe!! So the lady and I made it to our stop, and parted ways.

I went to the entrance of the Rijksmuseum where I was to meet Ryan.

Entrance

Sign outside the Rijksmuseum

Street that the Rijksmuseum is on

More of the Rijksmuseum

 30 minutes or so later, he shows up! I was so excited to see him! I hadn't seen him in 2 years =] So we go inside, and buy museumkaarts, which allow us to get into over 30 museums in Amsterdam for FREE! Yes, the kaart cost money, but its super cheap when you figure that you get into over 30 museums (and thats just in Amsterdam, the kaart works for all of the Netherlands!). I've gone to 6 or so so far, and it prices out to be like...5 euros a museum, which is about half the price. If you are going to Amterdam and plan on going to a lot of the museums, get it! So we spent about an hour in the Rijksmuseum, where I saw paintings by Rembrandt and Vermeer and then moved on to the Van Gogh Museum (which was just a 2 minute walk from the Rijksmuseum), where I saw paintings by Van Gogh, Picasso, Rousseau, Cezanne, Monet, Manet, Renoir and Redon, all artist I've studied. That was so cool!

We spent about an hour there, and I really loved seeing all the Van Gogh paintings (though sadly Starry Night wasn't there...which I didn't figure out till we had gone through the whole museum =] ). In between the Rijks and Van Gogh museum is a wide open space, and that is where the I AMSTERDAM sign is. So we walked over to that, and took pictures like tourists =]

I AMSTERDAM sign, in front of the Rijksmuseum building

Ryan =]

Me =]

Then we walked over to Leidseplein, which happened to be near Ryan's hotel, and he had already explored that area and knew where all the restaurants were. I really wanted Greek, so we found a reasonably priced Greek restaurant (that was open...) and we ate there. We both had gyros plates, and it was so good! And a lot of food too! Ryan and I should have split a plate, but we didn't know how big it would be! We learned our lesson, and split the next meal we had =]

After lunch I wanted to go to the Anne Frank house =] That is going to be a post of its own =]

After the Anne Frank house, I decided I should go back to Wassenaar. Ryan and I were dead, seeing as we had only been in the Netherlands for 24 hours, and were still recovering from jetlag, and had just walked around for 6 hours! So yup, I went home, had dinner with the Neelands, watched Glee, and went to bed =]