Dang guys, this whole backpacking thing is very painful to one's back. I packed super light and yet I feel as if I’m going to break in half any moment. I am a huge fan of this specific Osprey backpack though. Bailey got it for me for Christmas, and even though it’s still super heavy, it is as good as it’s going to get with its waist straps and other support things! I also love that it zips open on the front more like a suitcase. We used normal backpacks in China and loading/unloading from the top gets disorganized really quickly! Anyway, enough about my backpack. Contact me if you have any questions about it though, because I totally recommend the kind I have.
We bought Eurail passes and today was our first day using them. We were pretty stressed out this morning because we had no idea what we were doing, but finally we were on a train and we now feel like we have it all figured out! We even used the food vending machine to get some terrible food for our first train ride!
Our first stop was Antwerp. Wow. The train station was amazing!
We stepped outside and were surprised. The city had a totally different feel from cozy little Amsterdam. Antwerp is more urban, with lots of high end shopping and H&Ms. Like, you could be in an H&M and see another one just down the block. It was fun to walk down the streets, though, because the architecture is cool.
And there are some gems every now and then, like this statue of Van Dyke! Love that guy.
We went straight to the Cathedral of Our Lady. It was absolutely gorgeous inside! We spent lots of time there and took lots of pictures. I’m obsessed with stained glass!
I also had quite a few fangirl moments. The Cathedral had a nice collection of Peter Paul Rubens paintings, as he was from Antwerp. Oh my - they are so gorgeous and impressive in real life!
The Cathedral of Our Lady was part of Antwerp’s old city which basically rocked. So cool!
From there it was just a quick walk over to Het Steen. What we have loved most about Europe is how close everything is to each other! We haven’t had to take any busses because pretty much everything we want to see is within walking distance.
Anyway, Het Steen was super cool. Bailey loves castles! We stayed just long enough to get some pictures, because we were getting pretty hungry by that point.
Bailey got some fries, which was on our “to eat” list for the country. Not impressed, to be honest. I got some Japanese noodles from some random restaurant which weren’t really impressive either. We had fun eating and talking though!
Then off we were to the train station! We will spend the next two nights in Brussels before hitting the next country. So far we think Belgium is pretty cool!
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