THE NETHERLANDS AND BELGIUM!

Hello everyone!! We're on top of a roof looking over the tiny city of Selcuk, Turkey. We're about 3 KM away from the ancient city of Ephesus, which houses one of the seven wonders of the world-The Temple of Artemis (only one column remains...)! We have yet to visit as it's been looking like it's about to rain all day, and yesterday, we went to the beach. More on this when we complete our travels here. Unfortunately, this won't be too long of a post. We didn't do too much in the Netherlands or Belgium, but I'll do my best to keep it interesting.

We arrived late on the 26th of August in Amsterdam. We didn't do too much that evening: got ready for bed and tried to prepare for the day ahead of us. The first thing we did the next day is rent some bicycles. We spent most of the day biking around the city and eating cheese and chocolate. There were a variety of great cheese we sampled, our favorite was most definitely a Danish Blue: a white cheese with little specs of blue all over it. Biking in Amsterdam is something of an experience. Everyone in Amsterdam bikes... literally everyone. I would go so far as to say that biking is the dominant means of transportation in Amsterdam; it dominates over car traffic and pedestrians. We saw people biking to work in business suits and dress shoes, heels and skirts. People attach little seats for their small children on the front or the back of their bicycles. It's seriously the way people get around there. As such, for the Amsterdam biking novice, this is a bit nerve-racking. I myself almost caused upwards of five accidents; luckily, everyone else successfully avoided my recklessness. After a friendly "excuse me" in good ol' American English, they understood our situation and pedaled along without conflict. 

The next day, we woke up late and biked over to the Van Gogh Museum. Sadly, they didn't allow pictures, so we having nothing to show for it.  We enjoyed the museum, but it was incredibly crowded. We walked around the museum tried to take in what we could, but kept getting pushed along by the crowds of people. My appreciation for Van Gogh didn't really increase after the experience. It was neat to see how his style evolved over the years; his later work was particularly interesting. However, the Museum also housed works by some of Van Gogh's contemporaries, like Odilon Redon. I think we enjoyed his work more so than Van Gogh's. He specialized in mostly black and white works, all of which were very detailed and surreal. After scouring the web, I couldn't find any pictures of our favorites, but here are a few works we saw:

We took these pictures in a park outside of the Van Gogh museum.

After this, we biked down to Dam Square and the Red Light District. Dam square didn't have much going for it; they were setting up some sort of concert event, and all of the cool architecture was interrupted by cranes, scaffolds, signs, and a make shift stage. We biked around a little bit, decided it was too crowded, and headed north toward the Red Light District. This was something to behold; not for children by any means. It seems like the whole area specializes in the obscene. There was a "coffee shop" every two door steps, a "smart shop" every third, prostitutes in windows on side streets, sex shops... whatever modern society frowns upon, is quite abundant in the Red Light District. We didn't spend too much time here; we walked through and didn't return. Most of the people were tourists, and shady at that. Not to sound too conservative, but this area attracts a certain type of hedonist that I'd rather not associate with. Regardless, I feel like it's somewhat necessary for a city like Amsterdam to have a place for this type of excess. It attracts the pot-tourists like a magnet; nice to get them out of the way, so we can enjoy the rest of the city. There is much to be said about Amsterdam's (and the Netherlands') liberal stance. From what I could see, alcoholism and homelessness are virtually non-existant in Amsterdam. Ashleigh and I spent a great deal of time biking around the city and I can't think of a single bum I saw drinking a beer at nine in the morning. Most everyone had a smile on there face, were happy to speak English to you and help you out, and overall had a pleasant disposition. It seems like everyone had some sort of job, a quiet place to live, and a bicycle. Amsterdam is one of the homiest places I've been to; maybe not the best place to visit, but Ashleigh and I both agree we could live pretty happy lives there. I haven't done any research, at all, into the political situation in the Netherlands, but it seems like there have been a myriad of reforms that have direct benefits on the people and their living situation; you can see it on their faces. If I take any image away from Amsterdam, it's that of a person out in front of their business or their home, up on a ladder, doing some sort of work. I saw multiple people doing this, and it seems that overall they were just happy as clams to have a place to live and a job. It was really amazing.

The next day we took a train to Arnhem, a tiny city outside of the fabulous Hoge Valuwe National Park. Ashleigh booked us a room on a house boat on the Rhine. It was very lovely. it had a little kitchenette, which was nice. Here are some pictures Ashleigh snapped of the view from our window.

The day after, we took a bus to Ede, where we thought we would have easy access to the park. Due to some road work, the buses weren't running to the entrance, so we spent the day walking around the little town. We noticed that even the small towns lacked any pre-WWII architecture. It was still nice to check out Ede and get a feel for the real Dutch life (not so different from American life, might I add). We had a drink and then made our way back to the bus stop. The bartender told us there was an entrance to the park in Arnhem... oops. We decided we would set off for the park in the morning. 

The next morning, we got up bright and early and headed for the park. We got there at a reasonable hour, after breakfast. Hoge Veluwe National Park is an amazing place. The land was originally purchased by a wealthy family to use as a hunting lodge. There are three different types of landscapes: forest, grasslands, and desert. After paying the entry fee, the park provides white bicycles for you to use in the park. There are paved roads to ride on, and you can witness the changing landscapes at a comfortable pace. It was really a great experience. We took a few breaks here and there to take pictures. Ashleigh also had quite a time trying to take pictures while riding her bicycle: some attempts more successful than others. There is also an art museum in the middle of the park which was collected by the wife of the family -  is only accessible by bicycle. Sadly, it was closed on the day we went, but we still had access to some sculptures outside. Here are some pictures from Hoge Veluwe:

(from the sculpture garden)

The next day, we made our way to Brussels. We booked our flight to Turkey from there, but decided to spend a day or so in the city. Upon arriving, we found ourselves utterly confused. The city was very busy; it reminded us a lot of New York or London. It definitely feels like one of the world's economic centers. We didn't do much but grab a drink and some food that evening. The next day, we set out on the town. We took a walk through Brussels' drab Jardin Le Boutanique and took some pictures. It wasn't the most beautiful place we had been, but there was a plethora of oxidized bronze statues, which was cool. We then made our way to the Bascillica. It was very amazing. There was a great park on the way up to the old church. We were taken aback by the magnitude of the building. After this, we made our way back to the area where our hostel was, and took a bus to the city Leuven. There is an old university there which offers graduate degrees in English, and I was interested in taking a look around. The town itself is really amazing. The city hall is one of the most ornate buildings I have ever seen. Here are a few of the pictures we took of our day in Belgium.

(city hall in Leuven)

The day after, we went straight to the airport and headed for Turkey!! We'll save our adventures here for another post. In a couple of days we plan on heading to the Greek island of Samos, and then I'm not sure where we'll be after that. Please comment if you can! take care!