Amsterdam

Amsterdam was our last stop on the trip.  We sort of book ended the trip we flew in and out of Amsterdam.  We got to Amsterdam in the morning fairly early so we had to wait a little while to check in so we ended up renting bikes for a few hours and biking around . We biked to that I Am Amsterdam sign and there was a book fair going on and so there is tents set up right in front of it and people are still obviously trying to get photos but Clark had this great great idea of of taking a photo on every letter and then photoshopping them together which actually turned out really cool. At one point I was trying to get down and Clark was helping me and I basically fell thank goodness he was there to catch me. We also rode by the Heineken experience it was just fun riding around seeing the canals. There are so many bikes and not very many cars so it's super easy to navigate.

We ended up going to the Amsterdam cheese store and getting 24 month old aged Gouda which was so good when we got home to Italy we ate at in about two days and we also went to the flower market which is insane!  There are so many tents and booths set up I think it's like every day on the street and there are tulip bulbs just like crazy amounts of flowers and bulbs and gifts it's crazy I ended up buying three sacks of bulbs to send back to my mom in the United States. There was special ones that you had to buy for the United States and Canada so they could clear customs. They ended up making it to her and she love them and to get tulips from Holland I think is pretty cool.

We went on a canal tour on a boat which was really cool it was awesome to learn about history of Amsterdam and to see the city from the canals which is how a lot of people see the city. So that was really fun and then in the evening we went to the red light district we had walk-through during the day but definitely it's worth it to walk through it again at night. It's very touristy these days people say so it's not as racy as it could be but still it's pretty cool I mean it is very touristy but worth it.

In the morning we headed to the Anne Frank house which we had tickets for which I totally recommend. The original diary is at the Anne Frank house so see that was awesome. We actually spent a good couple hours there and then by the time we were done with that it was time to head back to the airport to fly back to Naples am speaking of the airport the traffic on the way there is really bad and the Rent-A-Car place is a long way from the terminal so get there in plenty of time we did not have lots of time and we barely made our flight but I'm glad we did .

Dress: TJ Maxx

Shoes: Nike

Arnhem & Posbank, Netherlands

After Luxembourg we headed north back to the Netherlands. The night before we didn't know where we were going to stop in the Netherlands we knew we wanted to be fairly close to Amsterdam so we didn't have to make that long of a drive the next day but we were looking at places to stay and things to do and Clark actually found this town called Arnhem. He found it because he was researching world war two sites and the bridge and Arnhem is actually a place that had one of the biggest airborne missions in World War II, after Normandy. So we ended up driving up to Arnhem and staying the night there and once we got there we looked around the bridge and went to these tourist museums. We actually ended up meeting this really nice guy who gave us a lot of information on Arnhem and World War II his mother and father were actually living in the city when the Germans invaded. His mother is still alive so he says he asks her about the war all the time him and he was really nice and it was really fun to get to hear the perspective of someone who live through it. Unfortunately, the Germans actually won Arnhem and then that's when they secede the Netherlands for the rest of the war but it was still a very cool site and memorial.

THE DEVIL'S HOUSE

Most of the city was destroyed during WWII but the church remains and the building next to the church called The Devil's House still stands as well. The Devil's House is where the Germans set up camp, it was there hub for operations in Arnhem. They were planning more attacks. But the US Air Force bombed the bridge so that way they couldn't cross the river. 

We also came across this great national park when I was doing some research of Arnhem, called Veluwe National Park. There are these hills called Posbank in the national park. And these bushes and flowers bloom purple every year in the summer and luckily we just happened to be there within 30 minutes of where this was and so I knew we had to go so we ended up going around sunset and there were so many photographers set up just waiting for sunset with their big cameras on the lookout. We explore the trails a little bit and came across the Scottish cow with the long hair in front like bangs. We actually think he was lost he was doing this weird yodeling thing and then if we listened really hard we could hear the same thing in the distance and so we think he was trying to get back to his herd.

I couldn't stop myself from taking pictures of the purple flowers that were blooming. I just don't think that any of them did it justice. But that it usually how it is. Everything is better in person, am I right? After we went back to Arnhem and strolled the streets and listened to street music and had a wonderful time. Don't judge me, but I did end up getting a McFlurry at McDonalds! They had Peanut M&M McFlurries! I knew I had to try it and yes it was as delicious as it sounds. yum. 
love, Carlee

Leggings: Nike

Shirt: American Eagle

Shoes: Nike

Dinant and Esch-sur-Surè

 After Brussels we drove to south Belgium to a city called Dinant. Which is where we had the best Belgian chocolate ever, we actually just ended up picking a bunch of pieces and trying them as we went and the city had absolutely gorgeous cliff faces.  Belgium and the Netherlands which is where we drove through was mostly flat. So it was nice to see mountains and there is even a castle on the cliff and this amazing church on the water. We walked around for a little while went into different candy stores and then we headed on to Luxembourg. But I am telling you Dinant is such a gorgeous little town and definitely worth the stop if you are in southern Belgium. We were only about two hours away from Luxembourg and since Luxembourg is such a small little country and I knew that we were close I thought we can't be this close and not go to it so I was researching where to go we didn't necessarily want to go to Luxembourg city so we ended up going to Esch-sur-Sure.

Esch-sur-Sure was so cute there was two castles on the top of these hills that we climbed up and we ended up having lunch at this little café.  One thing that we weren't expecting was that no one spoke English in this town. In the Netherlands and Belgium (keep in mind we were in the bigger cities) it was super easy and we didn't have any issues and then here in Italy not a lot of people speak English but we know some Italian so we can get by but in Luxembourg most people spoke French or German and we don't speak those languages really at all and it was really hard to ask for anything I wanted water and I couldn't even ask for a water so I ended up getting a Coke lol. 

It was really great to get out of some of the major cities and see some of the countryside we also came along this World War II museum right by Ardennes and Clark noticed it because there is a street on Fort Bragg called Ardennes and we saw these American flags and we were like why are there American flags in the middle of southern Belgium and then we came across as World War II museum so we stopped and we went inside and that was really cool. You should've seen me also get really excited about cows and sheep in the countryside. Everything is more exciting on vacation, am I right? haha

love, Carlee

Leggings: Nike

Shirt: American Eagle

Shoes: Toms

Brussels, Belgium

I absolutely fell in love with Brussels, Belgium. I think one of the reasons that this city made me swoon was because I didn’t have an expections for it or preconceived notions. We just talked to our landlords the other day and told them how much we loved it and they thought it was so funny because they said it even one of the best cities in Europe. He said Budapest, Paris, Rome, and Prague are the best cities in Europe or the prettiest so I can’t wait to visit those. But even still we loved Brussels. 

We stayed two nights in Brussels at the Atlas Hotel which was in the perfect location. In the center and close walking distance to everything. We mainly walked and did a hop on hop off bus tour while there. We got into Brussels late after our flight so we basically just had one full day there. We saw so many beautiful churches and The Grand Place. We actually just ‘accidentally’ came upon it while walking threw a back alley and let me tell you that is the way to see it. Just coming onto it when you least expect it. Takes your breath away. I usually do tons of research before we go to a place which is good because we get to pack a lot in. But since most of our trips here so far have been fairly short notice I haven’t been able to do that. Which is kind of nice actually because that means everything is a beautiful surprise. I mean, obviously some planning and research is involved but not to the extent as other trips.

LOTS OF STREET ART! 

WORST TRAFFIC JAM EVER! 

We saw beautiful churches and alleys and ate too many Belgian waffles and we saw Manneken Pis (he is so small haha.) We saw the giant atom built for the Worlds Fair and we were stuck in the worst traffic jam in our lives. Luckily we were not driving but we were on the bus so everyone on the bus was just laughing because there was really nothing else to do. Now if Clark or I had been driving that would have been a different story haha. The street art was also something that I totally adored. There is even a walking tour you can do to see all the comic murals around the city. We didn't have time to do it but we did end up seeing quite a few murals and lots of other street art. They even have an open wall where one can paint anything. Such an amazing vibrate city.
love, Carlee