Eurotrip Part 1: London & Amsterdam

I just returned from an amazing 2-week trip around Europe. The trip itself was everything I wanted out of it and more. It was a too-quick whirlwind of a tour but I saw just about everything I wanted to see and ate everything I wanted to eat. I ate croissants in Paris and schnitzel in Germany. I rode a gondola in Italy and went paragliding in Austria. And so much more. 

But what could have been a great trip with amazing sights was made phenomenal by the people on my tour group. We came from very diverse walks of life – different countries and different careers. We had a doctor (a real one, not me), a cop, a nurse, a carpenter, a social worker, a teacher, an accountant... you get the idea. It amazes me how you can meet someone who lives on a different continent than you and just hit it off right away. I felt that the most with Tiffany from South Africa. We roomed together every night and cried together when we had to leave. I have already planted the seed for her to visit Canada someday.

We tried to learn a few words in each language like Hello/Goodbye and Thank you. Fortunately Dutch is similar to Afrikaans and Italian is similar to Spanish so we had people who could pick up the main ideas of what people were saying. The only time I was of any help was when we got lost in Paris and I understood the kind old man’s directions to get us back on track.

So many of these places have lived in my imagination in their idealized form for so long that it was incredible to experience them in person. I tried my best to see them for what they really were by eating all the local food and talking to as many local people as possible. The locals would always ask where we were from and we would answer “Canada, South Africa, America, Australia, UK, and South Korea” and we always got the same question next: “How do you all know each other?!” It was by chance that we had such a blend instead of one dominant country but I loved it that way. We also had people from Brazil, Colombia, Taiwan, and Singapore.

London (England) was the first and last stop on my travels through Europe. I did The Original Bus Tour on a red double-decker bus to see the tourist sites including Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. I loved how much it looked like Pinterest and every other time I’ve seen it on film – complete with red phone booths and fashionable people.

It was amazing to explore and learn about this 2000 year old city, but most of my time here was spent getting to know/saying goodbye to my tour group. We hung out at this spot called The London Pub that served British Lager and fish and chips.

Red double deckers

The tube

Hello Big Ben!

St. Paul's Cathedral

There was actually a group that risked their lives to protect this church from bombing during WWII

Red phone booths

Trafalgar Square

Big Ben framed by London Eye

Tower Bridge

Photo taken from London Bridge

Tower Bridge and Tower of London

Westminister Abbey

London Eye

On the ferry leaving the UK

White Cliffs of Dover

First bus day with my roomies

I had to include Amsterdam (Netherlands) in my first post because it was our first city to explore as a group and possibly my favourite city on the tour. The Netherlands are a very liberal country – the first to legalize both same sex marriage and euthanasia. It is where both marijuana and prostitution are not just legal but celebrated. It is definitely unlike any place I have ever been.  It is rich with history (I saw the Anne Frank House) and culture (of sex and drugs). Literally every second shop was either a sex shop or a “coffeshop” that they don’t actually sell coffee in.

We did a cruise through the canals so we were able to see the city of gable houses and pedal bikes from the water. The Red Light District is eye-opening on its own with skinny girls in the windows of Skinny Lane and curvy girls in Wide Lane. We went to a show and explored the different shops but I won’t give too much detail as I’m not sure if Amsterdam as a whole is blog-friendly. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed anywhere in the area.

Canal cruise

My one photo entering the RLD before I was told to put the camera away or I would have it taken from me...

So many windmills

ANNE FRANK HOUSE

Waffles

Monument of the Netherlands

The Bulldog - a popular "coffeeshop" chain

RLD was delineated with these posts with red lights

No trip to the Netherlands would be complete without eating some cheese