Scubophilus Thistler

Over a week into the trip and this is the first hostel I’ve stayed at with free and unlimited internet access. Photos are online, and Ive added a few to this post. The itinerary has been updated to reflect the few changes we made on the road. Now finally, an update as to what’s happened so far.

Since leaving Leeds on the 9th of December, Ash and I have visited The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. France and Scotland are still to come before heading back to Leeds for exams. We started off in Amsterdam, an eccentric yet beautiful city. A lot of the time here was spent just wandering around the city’s huge network of canals in awe of it all. We also took a visit to Madame Tussauds – very cool getting up close with loads of stars.

After a couple of days in Amsterdam, it was onto Rotterdam. The city was almost completely rebuilt after WWII bombings, leading to lots of interesting architecture. We visited the city’s main museum – Boijmans Van Beuningen, which had a massive collection of medieval and modern art. We got up close with some works of Dali and many others. We also made it to the Netherlands Architecture Institute, which documented the design of many of the buildings we had seen in Amsterdam, and the reconstruction of Rotterdam after the bombings. Whilst not an attraction of the city, we got to see the Queen Victoria cruise ship depart the harbour. On a stroll through the city at night, we saw a bunch of rabbits. Quite a shock to see so close to the city.

On leaving Rotterdam it was onto Belgium. We had just one night in Antwerp, which was a nice introduction to Belgium. We met fairly bad weather there, but still made the trek under the river (pedestrian tunnel) to see the city from afar. Due to a train strike the next morning we were forced to hot foot it on the last train to Brugge. It was a bit disappointing, having to leave before exploring the city some more, but we were lucky not to get stranded there.

In Brugge, we were met by hundreds of British tourists and a few locals. It was quite a contrast to the other cities, but the city still felt quite medieval and in total Christmas mode. Plenty of Belgium chocolate and beer consumption. We climbed all 366 steps of the Belfy in the city centre for some priceless views. In Brussels, we took a tram out to the Royal Museum for Central Africa, which houses artifacts from the time when the Congo was a Belgium colony. The extraordinary Grand Place was lit up for Christmas, and an awesome light show saw lights on the Town Hall flashing in time with various songs. The St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral was quite epic, and inside were nativity scenes constructed by each of Brussels international communities.

From Brussels we caught the quick and quite Thalys train to Cologne, while we only stayed one night we still managed to experience authentic German Christmas markets and visit the city’s world renowned Cathedral. Beautiful views of the city were to be had from across the Rhine. It was only a short trip from Cologne toDüsseldorf, where we are staying now. Over the two full days here we hope to experience loads of markets and wander through the Altstad. Already we’ve been up the Rheinturm tower, for spectacular views of the city, and through the frost-covered parks along the Rhine.

On Sunday its a bus to Paris, which is quite exciting. Its been an awesome trip, I’ve seen so much and everything’s gone really smoothly.