Flying a Plane is baller
In mid-January, I came to Rotterdam, Netherlands (Holland), for another assignment. Talk about a drastic change in climate. After leaving St. Croix and a brief stop in the states, it was time for my own EuroTrip. This post will be a bit lengthy as I have been to alot of places. The cities visited are in order:
Rotterdam, Netherlands
I got here at the end of January in the middle of winter. Not the greatest temperature change. So for my first weekend in Europe, I toured the city. There isn't that much to see in this town and the city center is overrun by fairly young people, ample shopping areas, a few museums, and "coffee" houses. It does make home to one of the classiest bridges in the world called 'Erasmusbrug.'
It's very diverse, and people from as far as Suriname and Australia live here. The drinking age here is 16+ but you don't see teenagers out wasted on the streets. The people of the city ride bicycles... ALOT, even when its freezing cold, rainy, and windy outside (which is almost everyday). The bike lanes next to the roads are almost the size of a road lane itself. Alas, you need to watch out for pedestrians and bikes equally when you drive here... believe me, I almost hit someone on several occasions. Oh yeah, and did I mention the weather isn't the greatest?
The same weekend I went to this town called Kinderdijk (Kinder-dike) in Holland. Literal translation: Child dike. Ha. It is a windmill far from back in the day where people still live. The land lies below sea-level and they needed the windmills then and even now apparently.
Rotterdam Pics
Kinderdijk Pics
It was a really cold weekend. Really. Effing. Cold.
Antwerp (Antwerpen), Belgium
Antwerpen is a nice little town in Belgium with alot of history in it... so I decided to go, and walk...alot. If you're not into alot of historic museum-going (like me) there are only a few things to come to Belgium for: waffles, chocolate, beer, fries, and mussels (wouldn't know about the last one). Belgian beers are some of the best in the world. De Koninck, Duvel, Westmalle, Chimay.. to name a few. Get one, try one, but watch out. These bad boys have up to 9-10% alcohol.
Antwerp Pics
Brussels, Belgium
Cool city and probably double the size of Antwerp. Again, lots of walking, Lots of little bars and shops to go into and alot of the same story with the waffles, chocolate, beer, etc.
That is the city hall, in the Grand Plaza of Brussels. The story is that the guy who built it way back when killed himself right after. Apparently, he built it wrong. Can you notice what he did?
There is this statue of a mannequin taking a leak, appropriately called Mannekin Pis. Apparently the legend is that he peed on a bomb during WWII to defuse it. They dress it up most times when the city is busy. Somehow, it became a tourist attraction in Brussels. His sister is in another part of the town and her name is 'Jannekin Pis.' Yes of course, statues of baby girls peeing is totally normal.
On this trip, I met up with Andrew Novotny, one of my UOP co-workers. Cool guy, good fun, another story.
To the states for a bit...
The next weekend I came back to the states for a week to attend two weddings. Typical indian wedding mayhem and good to see friends and family. Back to the road.
Bruges (Brugge), Belgium
Neat, clean little city that is a staple and popular attraction in Belgium. Good chocolate, beer, and waffles once again. I visited the De Halve Maan Brewery while I was there and did a lot of walking. One of the beer rooms of Belgian beers is below. This was a good call.
I wish I would have stayed here for another day because there was a chocolate museum and diamond factory that I didn't get to tour. That would have been cool. What is a nice Belgian city like this without canalways?
London, UK
The following weekend I went to hang out with family in the UK. It's always fun coming here, even though I was just here in October ('08). I got see my niece, Sienna, and hang out with my cousins Rahoul and Parus. Good food, good times.... that you don't really recall. I plan on going back sometime very soon.
Stuttgart/Boeblingen, Germany
The next weekend's agenda was to take Germany by storm. Mission accomplished. This has been one of the brightest spots so far of my European tour. I went to see my old roomate, friend, and excellent beer drinker, Sebastian.
Southern Germany is very clean, and very generally very posh. I got to drive on the world famous German Autobahn. I hit some pretty high speeds, and topped my little car out. It was by far the greatest driving experience I have had in my life. I just had to get a picture of the glory:
I got to visit the Porsche Museum which is headquartered in Stuttgart. By night, the debauchery started and unfortunately ended. Let's just say that the stories told of Germans, their parties, and drinking capabilities are very true. Alas, I will go back hopefully soon. There is a BeerFest coming up in April :)
More of Stuttgart
That is all for now. I am not sure how much longer I will be on this assignment, but hey... I don't mind. Future trips will hopefully be somewhere in Belgium again, the UK, France, and Germany if I get time. I will try and keep the updates coming more regularly.
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