August 27: Goosebumps and Wet Clothes

I decided I didn't want to have another heat stroke today, so I ditched the sweater and beanie this morning. Except, when I stepped outside in a tank top and sandals... it was in the 50s. Not only that, but it was raining. But instead of going upstairs and changing, I figured I could handle it. I was wrong.

After leaving the hotel, we walked down a couple blocks to a restaurant called Mamy Louise. The concierge had recommended it and said it was one of the best around. He wasn't lying. Mom and I both finished everything on our plate. We then headed a couple blocks down to the bus stop. We jumped on a 'hop on - hop off' and drove around Brussels... in the rain.

Our first stop was the Royal Palace. I was not about it. Mom on the other hand was loving it. We walked through the upstairs rooms and saw all of the decor. The chandeliers were pretty. The ceilings were awesome. The paintings were creepy.

We got back on the bus and continued driving through town. Our next stop was at The Atomium... aka Brussels' balls. We hopped off, snapped a photo, and jumped back on the bus since it was still raining. Once we got to the next stop, it had stopped raining for a little bit, so we got off and walked around. We first went into The Waffle Factory. Holy Delicious. Then we went a street over and saw the Manneken Pis... aka the little boy peeing. Mom was confused. I had seen it before so I enjoyed her confusion. We then backed away from the naked boy and walked over to Grand Place.

Our plan was to go visit the Chocolate Factory, but we got there too late. All of the museums close at 5 o'clock, so we just walked around for a little bit. But then it started to rain, again, so we headed back to the bus stop, where we waiting for what seemed like eternity. We eventually got on the bus and I noticed that there was some white stuff on my backpack. I look closer and realize it's bird poo. No lie. A few seconds later I look at my umbrella and there is more bird poo. Except it looks like a family of birds decided to take a crap on my umbrella. Grossed out and afraid of getting it on me, I ask my mom to trade. In between her laughing to death she manages to say no. I'm stuck with the shitty umbrella. Literally.

Once we get to the hotel, we get all dolled up and headed out for a nice dinner. Except it was the opposite of nice. I think everything that could've gone wrong during a meal did. It was a disaster. Afterwards, we didn't even mind getting back upstairs earlier than planned. We cleaned up and called it a night.

Tomorrow... we're finally headed back to my new home!!!!! :-)

 Mom taking selfies on my phone :-)

 Brunch at Mamy Louise

 My meal: spinach and cheese tortellini

 Mom's meal: chicken + risotto

 The first time I wore sandals the entire trip and it's in the 50s :-)

 The view from the bus

 Mom in front of the Royal Palace

 Pretty pt. 1

Pretty pt. 2

 Waiting for the bus... the cold is getting to me.

*Bye guys, it was nice knowing you all*

 "Welcome to the balls"

 The Atomium

 The Waffle Factory

 My waffle

 Mom's waffle

 Mom loving life a little too much here *Just kidding*

 Manneken Pis

 and once again.....

 Grand Place: Right

 Grand Place: Front

 Grand Place: Left

 Grand Place: Back

Off to dinner :-)

August 26: Laterbye Amsterdam

First of all, my mom is a sweetheart. She let me sleep in today while she slaved away in the bathroom washing and drying our laundry. The sweetness didn't stop there. While I was snoozing away, she went downstairs and got me breakfast. So I got to wake up to clean clothes and breakfast in bed. Thanks Momma!

After packing up our things, we headed to the station and boarded the train to Brussels. It was only three and half hours long, and that's all I needed to finish my book. Since I was nose-deep in my book, I didn't take any photos on the train. Or the scenery. Or anything. Oops!

Mom had finished her book last night, so she was bored once again. I offered her my lappy so she could watch some TV shows or movies, but she assumed she wouldn't like any of them. Well, I made her watch the pilot to How To Get Away With Murder, and to her surprise she loved it. *teehee* Unfortunately for her, I only had the first episode downloaded so she was SOL for the rest of the ride.

Once we got to Brussels, I immediately started sweating. Since it was so chilly when we left Amsterdam, I was dressed in a sweater, boots, and a beanie. Here? Not so much. The sun was blazing down on me and I couldn't wait to get inside to the AC.

For starters, our hotel is amazing! Mom outdid herself on this one. It's huge and gorgeous and amazing. We've been sharing a bed the last couple stops, so getting my own bed tonight will be glorious (no offense mom). The bathtub here is so big and wonderful. Those are the two most important things to me when it comes to a hotel, a comfortable bed and a nice bathtub. 

After settling in, we walked a couple blocks from the hotel in search of a place to eat. We ran into happy hour central. There were four restaurant / bars on each corner and each place was completely packed with people enjoying their discounted beer. We popped into one of them and sat down. Once I approved of the menu (that's become our ritual since I'm so picky), we ordered some drinks and food. I enjoyed both... a lot!

We walked back to the hotel and settled in for the night. Tomorrow we will hit the town and see what Brussels has to offer.

 

  Bye Amsterdam

 My only photo from the train

 Belgium beer, Maes

 My dinner: steak + salad

(It looks burnt in this photo, but it wasn't, it was absolutely delicious)

 Mom's dinner: shrimp salad

 Here's my 2nd beer, Duvel 

(Please note my awful pour... how embarrassing)

I really, really enjoy SnapChat's stickers

 Walking into our beautiful hotel

It's National Dog Day, so I couldn't end today's post without a S/O to my day one, Benjamin Wyatt!

August 25: Rotterdam

Man oh man, when that alarm went off at 7am, I wanted to scream. I don't know why, but we've been going to bed at 2am or later every night... and last night was no different. Anyway, we got up and going super early because we had tickets for the Anne Frank House at 8:30. It took us a little over 30 minutes to walk there and we got there with two minutes to spare. :-) 

After walking through the first couple rooms, we realized that we were leading the pack. It kind of made the experience better because you weren't surrounded by people. It was just me and my mom, that's it. It was special. 

Even though I had already been through this museum, I still got the chills while walking through it. I reread every script, looked over each photo, and watched all of the videos again -- it's still just as unbelievable as the first time. It took us almost an hour to get through it, and when we walked out, the line was almost two blocks long. I'm so glad we bought our tickets in advance! 

After that we walked to the train station to head to Rotterdam! On mom's 'things to see' list, seeing windmills in Amsterdam is close to the top. It was a short 45 minute train ride, which means too short of a nap for me. We got some tickets and got on a boat that would take us to the windmills. After 30 minutes or so, we arrived to Kinderdijk... home of 20-something windmills. We got off the boat and walked up and down the bank for over an hour. Everything was so green and beautiful. We saw some dark clouds rolling in so we decided to head back to the boat before it hit us.

We got back to Rotterdam and the rain still hadn't reached us yet, so we walked around and found the 'MarktHal'. Inside this huuuge, round building were shops on shops on shops. You could buy flowers, fresh fruit, spices, homemade bread, fresh meat, coffee, and so much more. We settled on some dessert. We watched her make some churros and holy moly, it was fantastic!

Finally the rain hit us, so we got on the tram and headed back to the train station. Luckily there's a train running to and from Amsterdam every 15 minutes, so we didn't have to wait long at all. We jumped on board and headed back to Amsterdam. Since today was a long day, we settled for room service :-)

Tomorrow we're off to Brussels, Belgium!

 The only photo from the Anne Frank House

So glad we didn't have to wait in that line

 Is it really an Amsterdam river photo without a bike in it?

 Our breakfast

 Welcome to Rotterdam!

 Now to Kinderdijk

 So pretty

 

I liked this bridge

 

 Fun fact: a tiny dog that was by this windmill chased me off its property... K

 Windmill Selfie

 Cube Houses in Rotterdam

 The ceiling inside MarktHal

 So. Many. Shops.

 Rotterdam's train station

Rainy evening in Amsterdam

August 24: Day 1 in Amsterdam

We kicked off the day by jumping on a boat and cruising through the canals. The boat tour was only one hour long, but we saw quite a bit. After the tour we tried out the tram system and managed to get from point A to point B flawlessly. Our next stop was the Van Gogh Museum! Mom was definitely more excited about this than me, but anyway, we still went up and down all four stories of the museum.

Right down the street from the museum were the I Amsterdam Letters, so we made a quick pitstop there and snapped some photos. I must say... people can be so rude. They will literally step right in front of you while you're trying to take a photo. They're oblivious to the world. And no, I'm not talking about the locals, I'm talking specifically about people that live a little more east than Europe. *SIGH* Moving on. We got some good photos and continued walking around. Our next stop was the Heineken Brewery.

We made our way through the factory, stopping in every little room. They start off by showing you all the ingredients, how it's made, where it was made, and so on. Skipping a few rooms, there's the tasting room, then the game room -- where you can make your own photos and videos *see photo below*. After that we finally got up to the top where you get two free half-pints of Heineken. Mom started dancing so we had to leave. Just kidding. We had a good time :-)

Next on the list was dinner... you know, since we needed something to soak up all that beer. So we jumped on the tram and got off at the stop before 'our stop'. We walked around and found this place called Saint Paul's Lounge. It was delicious! Everything was made when you order it -- you could even see the chef cooking right in front of you.

After dinner on our walk back to the hotel, we really took in how beautiful Amsterdam is. Day or night, it's gorgeous.

Bikes everywhere, I tell ya!

New Beer of the Day: Grolsch 

My lunch: cheese burger

Mom's lunch: tuna sandwich

View from the boat

TBH, I forgot what this was called, but we're still on the boat

Anne Frank's House from the water

:-)

Found the cutest little steps going into the cutest little cafe

Delicious Hot Chocolate at Blushing

For all my coffee lovers out there!

Hi Mom

Hi me

Too many people around

OH, Mom found this gem while walking around 

Let the tour begin!

But first, photoshoot

Fun fact: I took a photo here with the same sign 2.5 years ago

I'm always the boy

Factory Tourin'

Exactly

This is called the "selfie spot"... I'm not kidding

Us just ballin' in the Game Room

Mom's happy

I choose sleep

Rainy day in Amsterdam

My dinner: chicken tortellini stuffed w/ spinach and topped with cheese

(It tasted a lot better than it looks in this photo)

Our hotel

So pretty :-)

The view from our room

It's always a good day when we get to FT this cutie & her momma