September 2 - Brussels to Amsterdam

September 2
Brussels, Belgium - Amsterdam, The Netherlands

We woke up this morning on the cold marble floor of the Brussels train station. Sleeping wasn’t too bad after getting out my sleeping bag and finding a place to pee. Since every bathroom was locked, I was forced to use a Gatorade bottle and throw it in the trashcan. It was quite an experience! Peter was unable to sleep for more than an hour or two and got B and I up to go make the 6:00 train.

As soon as we found a nice spot on the train I fell asleep. When I woke we were in Amsterdam. The first thing I noticed upon getting off the train was that it was significantly colder. Not having a place to stay for the night, our first order of business was to book a hostel for the next couple of nights.

We visited the tourist information booth and asked for help. We were informed that the cheapest thing available for the night was a 140 Euro hotel. Not wanting to spend that much money, we decided to try to access the internet and do our own search. Unfortunately, the only internet access at the train station was at Ben and Jerry’s, which was not yet open. After waiting outside of the ice-cream parlor for more than an hour we decided to book the expensive hotel for the night (so that we would not have to spend another night in the train station – which I was willing to do but the other boys were not).

As soon as we left the train station we saw an apple store (with free internet). We hurried inside and booked a hostel for the remaining two nights in Amsterdam. A 5-minute walk got us to our fancy hotel. Since we only paid for a two person room, I waited outside for a while before sneaking on up.

By the time we dropped our bags off and showered, it was time for lunch. We checked out a few cafés and coffeehouses but decided that it would be cheaper to go to the market and purchase our own food. We settled on buying some bread, meat, cheese, and some other snack stuff (nutella, kit-kats, etc.) We ate our meal on the steps of the market. Our crumbs attracted a mob of pigeons that were not the least bit timid. They ran behind our backs and between our legs. To make matters worse, some of the local kids thought it would be funny to throw little bits of food at us (to make the pigeons even more bold).

After a couple hours of exploring the city it was time for a nap. We were all exhausted from only getting a couple hours sleep the night before. I fell asleep as soon as we got to our room (which just had one large bed…).

We rose from our nap recharged and ready to go. Not knowing what to do in this crazy city, we decided to head for the one thing we had all heard of: The Red Light District (no pictures allowed…). Our hotel was only a short walk from the area and we grabbed some dinner on the way. As you enter the infamous quarter, there are large red lights that signify you are entering the district. Most of the area is located along two different canals that each stretch 3 or 4 city blocks (it is a smaller area than I imagined). It was incredibly crowded and I was actually frightened the first time I rounded a corner and was met face-to-face by a girl in a window (wearing only lingerie of course).

After grabbing some dessert, we explored the area around our hotel and then went up to our room. We all fell asleep shortly thereafter.