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We landed in Brussels around the afternoon and decided to drive straight to Amsterdam. It was a great decision to go as soon as possible, unfortunately, we decided to go during heavy traffic. It added about an hour more than anticipated, but it didn't matter. On the way, we stopped in some random town in Belgium to grab some food for the drive. Salami, a massive loaf of bread, cheese, and other treats to satisfy our bellies. We listened to whatever was on the radio: Dutch rap and other European techno music. Once we arrived in Amsterdam, we parked in a parking garage and went straight to roaming the streets. A bit chilly and wet from the rain, we ventured out to enjoy the city!
Let me tell you, everything is more magical when it's Christmas time! I knew I would like Amsterdam but I fell even more in love with all the twinkling lights. Everything about this city, I loved! Just the right amount of whimsical with European flair. Even the cute buildings had a bit of tilt to them to show their quirky side. We walked around the canals, snapping pics and admiring the window displays. We walked to the IAmsterdam sign, a place I've always wanted to take a picture at. It's by the Van Gogh Museum. We didn't go in but it's an excuse to go back in the summer!
After a few hours of roaming, we drove to our hotel for the night. After a much-needed snooze, we woke up fairly early to get to the city center to enjoy more of what we saw the night before. Took lots of pictures to prove we went to such an amazing place. I love going somewhere where I can imagine myself living, daydreaming of what life could be like. I imagine riding bikes to and fro, meeting up with friends for a stroopwaffle, visiting museums, and heading home with a bouquet of tulips.
Anyway, enough daydreaming and back to our vacation, we ate bouquets fries and curry sauce and warm stroopwaffles before heading back to Brussels. We got there when it was dark, so we went to this Eiffel tower-esque structure. I don't know the name of it but it was pretty lit up. Emre wanted to go in it, so I had to convince him that it wasn't possible. We checked into our hotel then headed out to the Christmas markets. Everyone has hyped the Christmas markets since I can remember and the one in Brussels was ok. We kind of just walked around. We started to head back home but I noticed a building lit up and decided to walk down an alley to get to it. Once I arrived, it was a huge square with beautiful buildings all lit up. The lights were synced to Sia Christmas music and it was one of my favorite moments from the trip! Emre was dancing around and it just made it so memorable; so glad we all enjoyed it!
The next day, Alastair had to drop off the rental car at our previous airport, which was an hour outside Brussels. So I took emre in the stroller and meandered around Brussels. Emre fell asleep and so I didn't have to feel obligated to entertain him, I just walked around to keep him asleep. I got lost a lot and didn't feel comfortable doing that. By the time I almost walked into a questionable area, Alastair called and said to meet him at the pissing statue. So I met up with him at this statue of a little kid peeing; the statue was much smaller than I imagined. There was even a chocolate sculpture bigger than the real thing. I thought it was crazy that there were so many people gathering to see the thing. At least the area had great waffle stands! We took the train to the airport and flew to Rome for our next part of our vacation.
