the day julia mounted many things

*NOTE* in holland park, julia mounted a statue of a running man. i hope this clears up any confusions.

Amsterdam - in amsterdam everybody rides a bike. they have seperate traffic lights and bike lanes. and erica found out early on that they will try to push you over if you walk in their bike lanes. furthermore, if you bike in their pedestrian paths, they will yell at you.

we stayed in an 8 bed dorm room, and the other 6 were guys - 3 were cool, 2 snorted coke in the bathroom, and 1 had a severe body odor issue. the first night we walked around the city and crashed early. it was a rough night with the combination of body odor, drunken boys coming in a 4am, and having a drunk guy fall out of the top bunk, onto you (erica). the next day we rented some bikes, and biked for most of the day with a small lunch break - through vondelpark, rembrandtpark, and westerpark (julia mounted a bike, a cow, and a tree). we saw a windmill! and a car accident - it was bound to happen, they are crazy drivers. the second night we decided to go out on the town with brian and sean (2 guys from north carolina). we had some drinks at the hostel before heading to the red light district, and hit the bars, and the kebab huts. it was a late night/early morning.

today (our last day) we spent some time walking around. we went to the van loon house (one of the few large houses in amsterdam). it had cool secret doors in walls. we also walked through some markets, went to a sex museum, and julia FINALLY got to see some tulips (even though they were not in the ground, just for sale). she also bought some bulbs to plant a little holland garden back home. we had a cheep but good dinner, and a sit in vondelpark while planning the itinerary for paris - TOMORROW!!!

the day julia mounted a running man

yesterday we started at the science museum, it was tons of fun with lots of interactive activities to do! our favourite was the thermal imaging screen. it was a schoolday and there were so many cute kids there, all in uniform. we had lunch in holland park (our favourite park in london), saw many beautiful flowers and even some peacocks!!!!! we went for a nice walk and ended up close to our dinner destination (in notting hill) but we were early so we did a bit of window shopping and erica found a super cute change purse with an elephant on it!! dinner was at geales (which is supposedly the best fish and chips in london). drinks followed dinner at a nearby pub, where we met locals (simon and max/megs?). after some conversation they insisted on buying us a round, so we reciprocated, so it turned into a longer conversation, of which we only understood about 5% of. nice people though.

early morning today...caught the eurostar to brussels, and then had QUITE a time navigating where exactly we were and where we had to get to. we found our hostel (the hotel mirabau), then went out to explore. had authentic belgian waffles, toured the musee du cacao et du chocolat, then wandered over to park van brussel, and had a snooze in the shade. since then we have been struggling to plan the next leg of our trip; but we have learned that going day by day can be more expensive than we planned. yay for learning!

the day julia mounted a sphynx

yesterday started with wandering around covent garden market.  julia had fun looking at the antique nicknacks, but cut it short to do other things all would be interested in...like getting lost. when we finally found ourselves, it wasn't where we were hoping to be, but it didnt really matter. we came upon a sphynx, and julia mounted it.  we walked along the other side of the thames and decided we needed chips, so we stopped into a wee pub and had chips (with mayo) and a pint. once satisfied we headed to hyde park, where we saw the diana memorial, a nice peter pan statue, and got in some guys' photo, which gave us all a good laugh.  we passed out early, followed by an early morning this morning.

it was our first day totally on our own (without our trusty tour guides, sascha, and his friend niels). we headed to buckingham palace for the changing of the guards, which we found a bit crowded and overrated. however, we did enjoy posing for a picture beside a guard (a little way from the palace). those guys mean business.  we got in a bit of trouble at westminster cathedral (but at least now we know that it is frowned upon to walk around during mass). we went up the tower at the cathedral to see an amazing view of the city!!!  we ended the day at the V&A, a huge museum (9 miles of artworks).  we were exhausted and still missed out on many exhibits. we made sascha dinner and are now figuring out the next leg of our journey....

the day julia mounted the queen's lion

we were a bit shocked yesterday when we left the flat, to find that london has quite a lot of superheros.  mostly supermen, but even batman, mr incredible,  scooby doo, and fred flinstone made an appearance.  when we stopped one superfan to ask, we were informed there was a football game taking place, and the fans were showing their support for 'super kev'.  

we walked around london all day, saw the tower bridge, london bridge (not as exciting as we thought, it didn't even fall down), big ben/parliament, buckingham palace (where julia rode one of the queen's lions),  the tate modern, picadilly circus. walking along the thames we saw a lot of street performers, but our favourite was probably a guy was making the biggest bubbles we've ever seen.  the kids, (and erica) loved chasing them trying to pop them.  a fun day, we are off now for day 2 of touring london.

when we left toronto it was pouring rain, and when we FIIIINNNALLLYYY arrived in london it was sunny and warm!!!  from what we hear...it is supposed to be the other way around!?!?  

sascha (our excellent host with the most) greeted us at the airport, and so far it has been more of a relaxing vacation than a backpacking excursion. (as we speak he is actually making us dinner and pouring the wine).  we're getting spoiled!

not too much exciting to tell yet, but we are off to a pub tonight!!!

oh and we love the accents A LOT.  julia has been having a hard time refraining from imitating them to their faces.

cheers

Here they are waiting in a very long line to check in with Air Transat!

Julia and Erica on the way to the airport, just a wee bit excited.