Amsterdam We'd been looking forward to travelling to Amsterdam for some time...well, I had anyway. Unfortunately, whilst it was not the worst place of all time, and had some positives, it wasn't quite as interesting as I thought it could or should have been, but we still had a decent time there.
After arriving by plane, with our travel partner, EasyJet, we cruised into town by train from Schiphol and upon arrival we managed to track down our bus easily enough but for some reason, unbeknownst to us, the doors were locked and despite having a reasonable amount of time and opportunity to open the doors for us, the driver decided to leave the doors locked on us. Hmmm.
Whilst waiting for the next bus, we were witness to some complete tool chasing his young child, then throw a long umbrella at him and then proceed to have a fist fight with someone who had simply told him to calm down or not to be so aggressive.
After finding our hotel and travelling back into town, whilst on the bus and at a stop, we watched in horror as a young bloke riding his motor scooter was hammered by a car. Fortunately he was OK....well, he was limping but he seemed otherwise ok.
Then, it rained all night and we got soaked.....great.
An interesting introduction to Amsterdam, but what the hey, no big deal, we still had a few days here to enjoy.
Amsterdam itself is ringed by canals, with many narrow and tall houses, some of which have some amazing cornices and art on them...not to mention the very cool hooks at the top of the buildings to haul up goods to the storerooms, which I understand were at the top of the buildings.
These were quite interesting, and it was pretty but let's be honest, the canals do look reasonably similar to each other......
We wandered around, looked at the canals, visited the Anne Frank House, where Anne Frank wrote her diary of her life during the war years....sadly she died during the war after being betrayed by someone to the Nazi's.
We also visited the fabulous Van Gogh Museum which we enjoyed.
The flower markets on the canals got a workout and Samantha was mighty impressed with 50 tulips for 10 euros. Apparently this is very good value, but maybe people in Amsterdam get sick of tulips....who knows.
We had a wander through the red light district, which was mentioned quite vigorously prior to leaving Britain by various work colleagues. I don't know, didn't seem that interesting to me but maybe it's because Sydney has Kings Cross which is kinda similar, whereas Britain doesn't really have these areas as much.
Some of the women behind the glass doors were ok looking but seriously, there were some absolute shockers too! One was wearing Homer Simpson's Moo-Moo (from the episode where he figured if he was ultrafat, he wouldn't have to work hard!) and let me assure you, she wouldn't be going anywhere near my lad! Others can speak for themselves.
We did see a postcard that featured a giant cock which Samantha was keen to see....I pointed out that it was probably a photoshop picture (doctored image) and as we didn't find it, perhaps I was right.
There was also a cool shop called the Condomerie and we snaffled a Windmill shaped condom - for show only....quite funny.
Coffee Shops, with their pungent aromas of hash abounded also, but yet again, not that bothered to be honest. Ho hum. Maybe other Australians and Brits are keener for this, good luck to them.
One of the highlights was to witness the lighting of the Christmas Tree. This had Australian regional television written all over it, so I was particularly keen to capture the event.....only a few people were there to see it, but what an event.....the mayor (we think) and some other hangers on were there though and the countdown was certainly something special. Great stuff.
So overall, Amsterdam was ok...if a tad on the dull side of things really, with little interesting architecture and edging slightly onto the over-touristy side of things for my liking.
BrusselsHmmm, what can one say about Brussels?
The Grand Place, the main square in town, is quite nice...in fact, apparently Victor Hugo once commented that it was the nicest square in the world. Well, that may well have been true for Monsieur Hugo, however, I would contend that he needed to travel a little more.
Sure, as I said, it's fine, but certainly not the best town square in the world.
Some of the buildings are quite ornate and the projections onto one of the buildings in the place, plus the music, was quite impressive.
The Christmas Markets were ok with a big wheel at one end and a skating rink....several stalls, but overall, like Brussels, the markets lacked a bit of pizazz and well, authenticity I thought. Just a bit overrated all in all.
What else was there in Brussels? Not heaps it has to be said. Honestly. There were a couple of decent churches but the city was also quite shabby and had loads of graffiti. So, you might ask? Well, it's a major city for European politics and quite frankly, it should look and be cleaner.
One point though, Belgium is a small country, so we took the opportunity to travel across the country, in only an hour, to a stylish city called Brugge.
Finally, we did visit a cool museum, devoted to cartoons, including the famous Tintin by Herge, as well as Smurfs, to name but two. The museum was displayed really well and was in a fantastic art nouveau building with fabulous architecture, as you can see in the foyer shot below.
Brugge
We took the train to Brugge from Brussels for a day trip....and whilst it was absolutely freezing, we discovered that Brugge is a fabulous little town (116,000 people + loads of English Tourists - hmmmm).
There is even a church there with a Michelangelo sculpture of Madonna & Child, one of the few of his works of art outside Italy.
The main point of interest of Brugge is the architecture and canals, which are very picturesque. The main square had a Christmas Market and Ice Skating Rink also.
We also had a wander through a chocolate museum there, which was actually really good it has to be said...and the free sample was well, very tasty!
Luxembourg
Luxembourg is a very small city (country) with the city featuring three distinct areas...the more modern part, the old town (both of which are up very high) with both parts divided by a massive gorge that also has a small town inside.
It's a very picturesque place with older buildings and a beautiful royal palace...apparently the Lux people love their royal family and why not, as I understand, their tax system is quite preferable....however, it is a fairly pricey place.
We wandered around for a 
couple of days and had a good time in luxembourg.
Paris
Onwards to paris again....been there a few times already and no doubt, we will venture back again. 
We hadn't been in Winter previously, so it was a little different and quite cold, but no less enjoyable.
We didn't want to visit any museums particularly this time, as we have visited many on previous visits. Instead, we simply wandered around the various areas, including the Latin Quarter, Marais, Montmartre and near our hotel, we enjoyed a Parisienne food market/street, called Rue Mouffetard, which is really cool.
The French display their wares amazingly well, with everything looking great and inspiring you to purchase....unlike say, Britain!
So, a mini trip through Europe, covering, albeit briefly, four countries and five cities. Very enjoyable, some more than others, but hey, travelling of any kind is great fun and sure beats working any old day of the week....now for the next trip!
Let's start with this stylish pair of bright yellow trousers in Arles, southern France.
Let's start with this stylish pair of bright yellow trousers in Arles, southern France.
So, maybe it's just us, but why, oh why, are people wearing these incredibly coloured trousers?
