Days are starting to run together but I believe we are on Day 11? Crazy how fast time is flying. Yesterday we were in Brussell Belguim today we are in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Weird! Yesterday was another travel day, but we are starting to get into a routine and are getting pretty good at it! Check out for the hostel in Brussels was very strict about check out, if you are a min past 11 you dont get your deposit back, which is like 50 euros. So we had to make sure that we got up early to pack our stuff up. (we had a private room so we kinda went nuts and just through our stuff everywhere) The night before we bought some food from the grocery store, me and christie tried this weird new cheese (which was amazing) and some salad, pita bread and sausage. We ended up meeting Luke from Australia, who gave a ton of tips. Hes been traveling alone for 5 months! I dont know how they do it. We went back to the same pub as the night before, got some cheap drinks and listened to fellow travellers stories. Point is, we were up late and kinda tired. So I set my alarm... I swear I set it. And it didn't go off. So 1030 rolls around, I look at my clock and panic! My biggest stresser has always been time. Then we were off....I grabbed half my stuff and ran downstairs to check out. There was a line and I only had 15 min to check out! I made it with 5 min to spare. So I had to pack my backpack in the lobby. O well. We also lucked out. The day before we met these two Canadian girls from Thunder Bay, Sandra and Tressa. There both 24 and nurses who are backpacking for 3 months. They just got started and are going to amsterdam as well. They had not taken the train yet or validated their eurorail passes so we offered to go with them and take the train together. The train from Brussels to Amsterdam is called an intercity train, so we didn't have to make a resorvation and the train comes every hour. The train ride was 3 hours, but riding the train is wonderful. You get to see the scerny, get up move around, its calming and cormfortable. LOVE riding the train. IT was also a great time cause we had the company of these two girls. It was alot of fun!! Once we got to amsterdam we went seperate ways and traded emails for facebook (yes thats the way to contact people in europe) and we plan to meet up with them later on.We were straving at the train station so we found this burger joint with a vending machine type thing beside. For 2 euro we got a burger....that tasted like sausage....but was really good! Our hostel was really easy to find, the tram system here is amazzing!! The hostel is in a really nice part of town. Just cobblestone roads, next to the canal, alley like streets with tons of resturants. Wonderful! The staff here were really friendly and the lounge and kitchen are nice. He tells us where our room is and we head on our way. Theres no lift? No....there is no lift. 4 long flights of narrow stairs later we reach our room. WOW.....SMALL. There is 3 bunk beds and a tiny sink....only one person can fit betwen the beds. Bathroom.....gross....I mean Im used to outhouses but this is way beyond anything ive smelt. Shower......really gross.....and unfortunatly after I write this blog I have to shower. Cant even put it off another day. And no luggage lockers....fortunately they have a safe for our GPS and netbooks. So we put on our money belts and left our backpacks under our bed hoping no one steals our stuff. Walking around amsterdam is beautiful....the roads and building are in wonderful shape. We went for dinner at this spanish looking place were you can get chicken, salad, fries and a free drink for 10 euros. It was delicious....everyone was sooo friendly and the portion was huge!! Then we walked around for awhile and by 10 we were ready for bed. Its gets very hot in those rooms and I hate sleeping in heat. So I asked the two other people if I could open the window. They said yes. THen later on another person comes in and closes it. I didnt say anything....but I can not believe window open closing could be such an issue. It really is. Today we slept in a bit to recover from the lack of sleep in brussels. Today we have to book our ticket to munich, and plan out the next couple of days. Pray our luggage does not get stolen.
