Christmas in Europe: Amsterdam, Brussels and Bruges

This Christmas, I met two great friends from home (Christine and John), and we traveled around Europe together. I spent a few days in Amsterdam, then moved to Belgium, where we hit Brussels and Bruges.

Amsterdam was pretty cool, and a great way to start the trip. The whole city is built on a system of canals and is pretty easy to walk around. It actually is not that large of a city. The Dutch culture seems pretty similar to Danish culture - there are a lot of cafes, walking around, biking around, etc. Amsterdam is famous for its 'coffee shops' where you go order weed off a menu and can smoke right there in the cafe. They are also famous for the Red Light District...which we walked through once just to see, and I must say, it was a little creepy!

Belgium was great, although I was not a huge fan of Brussels. It seemed to be a fairly dark city, with not much to do. I met up with a Dutch/German friend that I met in Denmark (he is studying abroad in nearby Leuven). Brussels is not only the capital of Belgium, but the capital of Europe. Their are major European Union offices all over.

But the highlight of this trip was Bruges (you can catch a glimpse in the movie In Bruges with Colin Farrell). This is a magical, fairytale city. The buildings are so quaint and cute. We walked around for a few hours one day, and I fell in love. I highly recommend a visit to this city!

This is in Bruges - we made a Belgian friend, Pascal

Our historic hotel room in Bruges

The view from the top of the local brewery in Bruges

At the local brewery in Bruges - loved this beer!

The doors were very short in this section of Bruges

City center of Bruges

City hall in Bruges

Brussels

Palace in Brussels

Manneken Pis in Brussels

Vincent on the left is my friend from Denmark

Christmas tree in the city hall plaza

City hall in Brussels - light show every night

Train ride from Brussels to Bruges

Bikes by the train station in Amsterdam

This house leans forward drastically - houses were built leaning forward in Amsterdam so furniture that could not be moved in the narrow stairwells could be hoisted via the help of hooks near the roof

The hooks

The leather inside of my boots died my feet red after walking around in wet, sloshy snow all day

Christmas in Amsterdam

Stuffed animals in a tree!

At the Heineken brewery in Amsterdam

The palace in Amsterdam

Anne Frank house