Steven and I got to go to Europe for two weeks. Our main stops were Amsterdam, Brussels, and London. The links in this post take you to videos that go along with the pictures.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Flying to Amsterdam from Salt Lake City was over 9 hours and 5,000 miles. Phew.
We took trains to get from Schipol Airport to our hotel. It took us a little while to figure out exactly how to get where we were going in our jet-lagged state, but after tapping in and tapping out a few times getting around anywhere in Amsterdam was so easy!
Bikes - We loved seeing all the bikes. The Centraal Station bike parking lot was especially amazing with just how many bikes were there.
Canal Tour - One of our first activities in Amsterdam was a canal tour. Definitely recommend! It was nice getting an overview of the city and its history.
Bike tour - Our favorite part of the whole trip! We zipped along the fields around Amsterdam on electric bikes, saw windmills and electric pumps, and stopped at a farm to taste cheese and watch some clog-making.
Vondelpark - Enjoyed walking around this park, which, according to one of our tours, is the lowest point in Amsterdam and almost 7 feet below sea level. Crazy.
Keukenhof Gardens - Our top reason for visiting the Netherlands in the spring: tulips! Before the gardens, we went on another canal tour to see more windmills and the polder landscape, the land that the Dutch reclaimed from the sea. Amazing to see water levels being higher on one side of a dike and lower on the other side while looking out at all the land that's below sea level.
Rijksmuseum - the museum of the Netherlands. So many great painters!
Koninklijk - Amsterdam Palace
Muiden, Netherlands - I loved walking through this city. So pretty.
Muiderslot - My first time at a real castle with a moat!
Utrecht, Netherlands
Canal tour - Utrecht's canals had two levels. Cool to compare and contrast with Amsterdam. St Martin's Cathedral is not done justice in these pictures, or in the video.
Food - We did it. We tried the pickled herring. I feel like we might have gone easy mode by eating it as a broodje (sandwich), but it wasn't bad. Rijsttafel (rice table) was probably my favorite meal there. The place we went to was an Indonesian and Tibetan fusion. Delicious! I also had THE best apple pie, and last but not least, stroopwafel! Eaten too quickly to get a picture, but I did get a video of the syrup getting added to a fresh, toasty-warm waffle. With the weather still a little cold and wet, we drank lots of coffee and hot chocolate too. Yum.
Brussels, Belgium
We left Amsterdam on a train to spend two days in Brussels seeing beautiful parks and more cool buildings.
Brussels Arc de Triumph, Cinquantenaire Arcade
Food - We had lots of sweets in Brussels! The chocolate was definitely good, as were the gelato and the pastries, but my favorite has to be the street waffles from the little yellow food vans. Didn't get a picture because it was too good and was devoured immediately. Also on the menu were frites and mussels. Tasty.
London, England
We arrived at King's Cross station in London on a train from Belgium that went under the English Channel. Our time in London felt like a whirlwind to me. It's the biggest city I've ever been in (population 9 million!) and so much is happening everywhere! You can't walk down a street without passing dozens of historical landmarks and cool old buildings. It's a city with a lot of history, but also a lot still happening in the now.
Canterbury, England/White Cliffs of Dover - We had an awesome bus tour one day that took us out of London to see the White Cliffs of Dover (with a peek at the French coastline across the English Channel once the rain let up) and then to tour the city of Canterbury. We were very wet after walking to the cliffs in the rain, but it was worth it. We also saw Dover Castle and a lot of old wood buildings in Canterbury.
British Museum - Very cool, very huge, museum. Highlights: mummies and the Rosetta Stone.
St. Paul's Cathedral - worth the climb to the top. View to the East, view to the South.
Tower Bridge - This was at the very end of our trip, and I was too exhausted to make it all the way to Tower Bridge. This is a picture of Tower Bridge from London Bridge. Luckily it was not falling down.
Food - Of course, we had fish and chips (complete with mushy peas! I like them), some filling English breakfasts, and lots of tea, hot chocolate, and coffee. The Indian food was also delicious!
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