Daily Archives: September 30, 2019

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Vania Nettleford
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Places to Visit in Amsterdam | Vania Nettleford

By the time we visited Amsterdam, we read enough blog posts and talked to other travelers who raved about Amsterdam and figured we just had to go there. Amsterdam is a place of things to do over a place of things to see. If you really want to enjoy Amsterdam then you should focus on the houses, and museums, as they are the most stunning points of interest in the city. I’ve compiled a list of places to visit in Amsterdam.

As a person who enjoys the beauty of architecture and grew up in New Jersey, the architecture wasn’t as stunning in comparison to the other places I’ve traveled through in Europe, Brussels and Barcelona.

Amsterdam felt like a trip to Brooklyn, N.Y. on steroids, which made sense after I learned Brooklyn and Harlem were designed by the Dutch and New York used to be New Amsterdam.

I focused on place of things to do and places to visit in Amsterdam. This includes the best foods, museums and the major attractions to see while you’re there.

Places to Visit in Amsterdam

The visually pleasing attractions to see in Amsterdam:

  • Vondelpark(mini Central Park)
Vondelpark in Amsterdam
  • Rijksmuseum
Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam
  • Royal Palace / Konikljik Paleis Amsterdam
Royal Palace Amsterdam
  • The Canals (the beauty is determined by the houses and boat houses that line the canal)
canals in Amsterdam
  • Space Museum rooftop

Must try foods & snacks in Amsterdam:

  • Fries at Mannekenpis Fries (the famouus little Belgian pissing guy)
  • Freshly made Stroopwaffles
Melly's Stroopwaffles in amsterdam
  • Savory Dutch Pancakes
  • Chocolateat Tony’s Chocoloney (they have free samples)
  • CheeseatAmsterdam Cheese Company (they have free samples)
  • Food Hallenfood market (like Gansevoort / Chelsea market) — try the Bitterballen

Must Do Activities in Amsterdam:

  • Museums — pick one, two, three, doesn’t matter you will enjoy them
  • Canal boat tour — I’d recommend ‘Those Damn Boat Guys’, bring wine, cheese, meat and enjoy the ride
  • Red Light District(This isn’t really a must do more like a should, so you know what it looks like. Overall it was extremely underwheleming. I wouldn’t waste time or money on any sex shows as I’ve seen more interesting burlesque shows than the sex shows they put on)
  • Coffeeshop (Marijuana Shop) — They sell a space cakes you can take to go, if it’s your first time start there and don’t finish the whole thing as it can take up to an hour to kick in. If you’re a smoker then I’d recommend smoking in a coffee shop and enjoying the vibe.

Note: Only a select few ‘coffeeshops’ sell alcohol at theses establishments

I think 2–3 days in Amsterdam is more than enough to be able to enjoy what it has to offer. I’d schedule the visit for a weekend so you can enjoy the party scene in Amsterdam as well. I can’t say I’ll be back to visit any time soon, but I will say this is a place I could easily live in because there’s plenty to do.

Pro Tips:

Almost everyone in Amsterdam speaks English

The Dutch are very rude, but just be aware of it and accept it , New Yorkers are rude as well

Bicycles have the right of way, get out of the way or they WILL hit you

Look left and right before crossing and beware that you’re not accidentally in the bike lane

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Vania Nettleford
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Barcelona in 2 Days

I’m taking a 24 day, 6 country, euro trip, featuring friends and some solo adventures. I’m starting this trip in Barcelona, with two days in this city before I travel to Belgium. Being this was my first time in Europe, I did a bit of research before I left, but decided I would explore and discover new locations as I spoke to locals making any adjustments from there.

Day 1

I stayed at Hostal Nitz Bcn, in the Gothic Quarters, because what’s a euro trip without a hostel! This hostel offered private rooms, and a great location, I was in walking distance to everything.

I typically use Uber to move around because of the better rates, but it wasn’t available, so we negotiated a rate, then hailed a taxi. The first mission in Barcelona was to buy ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ in Spanish because the Spanish version wasn’t easily attainable in the states. We chatted up our taxi driver about why we were here and asked where we could find Pan’s Labyrinth. Luckily, our taxi driver was well read and, pointed out we could find, El Laberinto del Fauno, in any ‘Case del Libre’. — book obtained

Eixample

We checked into out hostel around 1 PM before we headed into the Gothic Quarters. We walked through the Gothic Quarters to Eixample taking time to mark off landmarks and get a lay of the area. On Paseig de Gracia we found a nice tapas restaurant called Tapa Tapa to pop our ‘authentic tapas’ cherry.

Bikini trufat de mozzarella amb pernil ibèric
Cassoleta de musclos a la planxa
Brie a la planxa, trufat i amb dos sèsamas
  1. Bikini trufat de mozzarella amb pernil ibèric
  2. Cassoleta de musclos a la planxa
  3. Brie a la planxa, trufat i amb dos sèsamas

This place was delicious! After stuffing out faces we walked to Barceloneta beach. This is the closest beach in Barcelona, shared by locals and foreigners alike. Even though this is a beach area this is one of the best beach towns I’ve seen. The restaurants come pretty close up to the sand and have very reasonable rates for food.

We walked the beaches, scoped out a few restaurants before we got coaxed into buying tickets to Opium, a beach front night club. We were told nightlife in Barcelona is a late night affair, people start to get ready at 11PM, have dinner before they head out to a club. Their parties start to pick up around 2 AM. I’m used to Jersey parties winding down at 2 AM.

La Planta

After we bought our tickets, we headed back into town to a local place called ‘La Planta’. I can’t remember who told me to go here, but now I’ mtelling you, GO HERE. This place is a hidden gem filled with locals. I watched a man decide to use his scooter seat as a table instead of skipping out on food since the tables were filled. I knew this place had to be legit!

Thankfully we were able to squeeze in at the bar and order a few tapas and red wine. The menu had 6 tapas & 3 wines you could choose from.

I ordered red wine with a pincho de butifarra, which is a type of sausage and one of the most important dishes of the Catalan cusine.

We ended our food journey and night at Alcoba Azul. Alcoba Azul has an interesting backstory, which I learned about when asking about the well in the middle of the floor.

This place was an underground tunnel, transformed into market where people would come to fill up their buckets with water from the well. Until Alcoba Azul was transformed to a restaurant, this continued for decades.

Day 2

Sagrada Familia

We started our day with a walk to Sagrada Familia. Sagrada Familia is a unique and spectacular piece built by Antonio Gaudí. Even if you don’t know who Antonio Gaudíis, you will inevitably and instantly be able to recognize his unique work, which incorporates colorful mosaics, natural elements, and skeleton balconies through-out Barcelona.

Placa de Catalunya

We continued on to Placa de Catalunya, where we did a self-guided waking tour, props torick & steve audio tours. Placa de Catalunya is one of the main squares in Barcelona, which holds plenty of restaurants, markets, large shopping centers, department store, and a bustling nightlife.

We did a modified version of the tour stopping at:

  • Placa de Catalunya
  • Las Ramblas
  • Walked Aviguda Portal de l’Angel
  • Els Quatre Gats Restaurant (where young Picasso would spend his time)
  • Font de Santa Ana
  • Casa de l’Ardiaca
  • Cathedral (Exterior)
  • Placa Sant Felip Nori
  • Jewish Quarters
Cathedral
Font de Santa Ana
Placa de Catalunya
Casa de l’Ardiaca

After we finished the tour, we walked random streets for a few hours, stopping in different restaurants for small bites to eat, grabbing snacks, while looking for gifts to take back home.

Churros con Chocolate (always ask them to be made fresh as opposed to re-heated), Wines from La Vinya Del Senyor

Farewell

We headed back to the room around 7PM to nap before waling over to Opium. We left our hostel at 12 AM, and it was as if everyone in the town was out. The beach was flooded with people, vendors were still out sells goods and now drugs.

We stayed out until 5AM and people were still laid out on the beach, people were still partying hard, there were still lines to get into the clubs. This was a whole new level of partying for me! Thanks Barcelona for the great introduction to Europe!

Opium Tip: We bought VIP tickets the day before so we didn’t have to wait on line. I’d recommended this. Our tickets said + 15 euros at the door, but don’t let them convince you that you need to pay 15 additional euros, because that 15 is for a ‘free drink’, which you’re just paying more for. The 5 euros is enough to get in and skip the line.

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Vania Nettleford
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Beautiful Brussels in Two Days Or Less

There was one reason and one reason only for me wanting to go to Brussels and that was for beer. Ok two reasons, beer and chocolate, but this trip gave me that and so much more.

Day 1 – Brussels

Parque du Cinquanentaire

Coming to Sancha, Brussels after bustling Barcelona was quite the change of pace. We landed midday, and had no idea what to do. I didn’t do any planning before because I has a simple mission, beer and chocolate, and that’s an easy mission to complete.

We started with the hotel map and took a walk over to the first point of interest, Parque du Cinquanentaire. This is one of the most beautiful parks in Brussels. This park is a decent size and I’d recommend taking your time walking through it to really appreciate it. This park had a bocce court, soccer field, cricket court, basketball court and track and field towards the center that leads to a breath taking view of ‘the arch’. Depending on what side you enter in from, you could easily leave the park without getting to arch, but make sure you go visit it!

Pro tip: You can take pictures from the top of the arch, which I didn’t originally know about. Don’t be like me, go to the top!

Pavilion of Human Passions designed by Victor Horta
Pavilion of Human Passions designed by Victor Horta

Square Ambiorix

Next we walked over to the Square Ambiorix. Square Ambiorix itself contains a series of well -landscaped 19th century spaces with sculptures and fountains, around which elegant houses were built in a variety of styles at the end of the 19th century.

What’s great about this square are the houses, surrounding it. The house that stands out is the Saint-Cyr House with its curving swirling ironwork on a house only 4m wide. 

The house was built between 1900 and 1903 in Square Ambiorix as the home of artist and decorator Léonard de Saint-Cyr. It was designed by Brussels architect Gustave Strauwen, who was a student of the legendary Victor Horta, when he was only 21 years old. 

House in square Ambiorix

City Center

After we finished our food, we walked about the city center. The city center made me appreciate the true beauty of Brussels. I’ve seen a ton of town squares and centers but the Grand Place knocks all of the ones I’ve seen (Cuba, Barcelona, etc ) out of the park.

We walked around the center and stopped at:

  • The Grand Place
  • Zinneke Pis, Manneken Pis & Jeanneke-Pis (trios of peeing statues )
  • St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral
grand place
Street near grand place
mont de arts

Then in true Belgian style, we stopped at Delirium Cafe for a few beers before we ended the night.

If you want to try as many Belgian beers as humanly possible you should come to this cafe, they have over 2000 beers from around the globe that you can try!

Day 2

City Center

Mont de Arts, it’s one of the sites that’s worth seeing duding the night and day. We took a longer but more scenic route walking down Toison d’Or Guiden Vlies and Avenue Louise. These streets are the main avenues with a ton of the shops and restaurants. If you’re looking to get some shopping done this would be the area to go to.

These are some other must sees of the city center:

  • Egmont Palace
  • Place du Petit Sablon
  • Halle Gate
Place du Petit Sablon
Place du Petit Sablon
Halle Gate
Halle Gate

Ghent

Ghent, has a more charming feel than Brussels, but I wish I had a whole day to spend here. The closest castle to Brussels by train is the Gravensteen castle. It’s an hour away by train and the fare is like than 10 euros.

Ghent castle

We got to Gravensteen castle just as it was closing, so we weren’t allowed in. Nevertheless, we were still able to appreciate the castle from the canal tour. We grabbed some beers and enjoyed the castle, church and city views.

Belgian Cuisine

Before this trip, I couldn’t even take an educated guess at what Belgian food could even be. We wanted to try some authentic food, so we asked a local about some typical Belgian food we could try. She mentioned, french fries, sausages with stoemp and a few others we could try at Fin de Siècle (La), which is located in the city center. This place was bomb!

We tried the sausages with stoemp and a beef stew with mashed potatoes. Both plates were amazing! The portion sides were a a good size, but the food was heavy so we split two meals between five people, and it was enough to be satisfied.

Overall Brussels was architecturally richer than I could’ve imaged. I was expecting it to be a hip and bustling town with many of the pleasing elements existing outside of the city center, but there was a multitude of greatly detailed pieces within the city.

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