[2014] Europe Trip, Days 6-9

brussels, amsterdam, germany, switzerland

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June 21st - June 24th

Unfortunately, the sixth day wasn't so great. We went on a train to Brussels but our bus was late, so we had to wait for over an hour Later we found out that a truck had crashed into our bus as it was on the way here; sadly, the truck driver passed away. We got a replacement bus that rushed here from Paris, but it didn't have enough seats, so a few people had to stand. People started arguing and the atmosphere was uncomfortable for a bit :(

Train station:

 We went to a city square-like place and saw nice buildings ^ ^

It was also the site of the Manneken Pis (well, nearby at least) aka the peeing boy statue. It was actually a lot smaller than I thought it'd be. It was just a small statue on a street corner, so it wasn't a huge spectacle.

Here's a pic of my mom and grandma for reference!

Then we made our way to Amsterdam.

Royal Palace (I think?)

Amsterdam had some nice buildings and I'm sure it's an amazing place but to be honest, we didn't have the best experience there. It felt kind of...unsafe. I'm really sorry if this offends anyone but I guess I just don't know how to put it. Some young guys shouted to our group, "Are you from the Japan?" and my dad nicely replied, "We're from the US, actually" and they all laughed at him, and I just felt really uncomfortable with the environment.

Then our tour guide decided to take us to the Red Light District there. Of course, my family and some other people decided not to go but when the people came back, they talked about it and said some stuff about the women that made me uncomfortable.

Oh and by the way they went to the Red Light District just to walk through for about twenty minutes. No one actually did...stuff here haha.

The next day, we went on a cruise on the Thames River. After that, we visited a diamond factory but it wasn't too special in my opinion, and most people hadn't wanted to go.

Then we headed to Germany!

Cologne Cathedral.

Before the day ended, we went on a Rhine River cruise.

On the next day, we went to Heidelberg Castle.

 The world's biggest wine barrel was there apparently :o

 We went to a cuckoo clock factory and I didn't think it'd be cool, but it was. They all had amazing details on them, and it's amazing that they're all hand-crafted.

Then we went to Switzerland to see this waterfall:

On the ninth day, we saw Lake Lucerne.

 But before the cruise, we saw Lion Monument. It's really special and empowering, and I'm definitely not going to forget about this place.

Finally the lake cruise! Unfortunately it rained quite a bit so my photos were unfocused, but luckily it stopped halfway.

 Good food o u o

A strange coincidence happened, actually. I ran into someone I knew in Switzerland! I played badminton with him before (not the same school) and saw him at badminton leagues. 

Me: "Hi....are you.....Steven?"

Him: "Oh hi Amaris."

I was in complete shock but he wasn't for some reason haha. Anyways, turns out we're on the same tour but just different groups. I also saw him in London but I didn't think it was him at the time.

Till next time! Thank you for checking out this post, and I hope you enjoyed it ^ - ^