Exodus to Amsterdam Göteborg

This was one of those random “THAT’S something you don’t see every day” moments that makes living in Europe so awesome.

We had just returned back home from an afternoon at the market to find an anonymous jazz marching band coming up our street. No idea who they were, where they were going, what (if anything) they were celebrating, but on a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon… who cares?

Between outdoor markets, pub patios in the sun, and random marching bands, it’s been a pretty stellar day so far, and it’s just past 4:00 in the afternoon. I wonder what the rest of the day holds?

amsterdam, you big tourist market, Prinsengracht, pubs, would you shave already

Last weekend, Shannie and I took advantage of the fact that European countries are small, relatively close together, and connected by high-speed rail lines and spent two days in Belgium with two of my co-workers and one of their significant others. On Saturday morning we met up at Amsterdam Centraal Station with Matt, Kim, and Kyla and hopped a 4-ish hour train ride to the city of Brussels.

The next two days were filled with many walked kilometers, delicious beer, waffles, peeing statues, delicious beer, giant atomic structures, good food, subway rides, chocolate shops, and delicious beer. The weather, which was forecast to involve monsoon-like downpour, held out very nicely and actually gave us a mostly sunny day on Sunday other than some morning showers which mostly took place while we were eating breakfast (waffles, obviously).

Overall, Shannie and I took over 300 photos, a smattering of which are found below. Click on any thumbnail below to view the full photo.

Also, in other news, tonight was supposed to be my international rookie debut as a field hockey goalie on the company team, but unfortunately this evening’s match was cancelled. I like to think that it’s because the other team had to forfeit for some reason, granting us a technical win and, as such, making my lifetime record 1-0. Now the world will have to wait one more week.

you big tourist Belgium, Brussels, churches, pubs, rain, RIOT, statues, travel, walking

Number of times our pilot apparently got lost approaching Frankfurt: 1.

Pubs visited: 2.

Number of those before eating our very first meal in Europe: 1.

Times accidentally wandering into the Red Light District: 1.

Hours slept out of the last 30: 0.

Cats that are very angry with us: 1.

Cats that, given the circumstances, are acting like nothing has changed at all, despite being locked in a cage in the belly of a plane for 14 hours: 1.

Boxes of belongings that got badly abused by the airline: 3.

Number of those boxes that contained expensive bicycles: 1.

Novelty photos taken: 1.

amsterdam, you big tourist cats, lufthansa baggage tossers, pubs, red light district