Weekend Getaway

This week is half-term holiday...which means school is out again! I was really glad for a break though..the past couple days were wearing me down! I felt like the kids were getting crazier..I think we all needed a break!

On Saturday morning I left for Holland and Belgium. I started out the trip traveling to Dover and taking a ferry to France and from there we drove over to Holland. I went with a tour group so it was all planned out and worked out really well! Immediately I met a lot of great people. We stayed at a bed and breakfast that included dinner each night!

Our first stop was Amsterdam. The city whose coffee shops sell a different "fix" then what Starbucks is selling, and gives a whole new meaning to the term "window shopping!" On Saturday night I ventured out with some of my new friends to check out the Red Light District! Wasn't as crazy/scary as I thought it would be...but was definitely dirty!! It was a ton of drunk/high tourists and prostitutes (well there behind glass doors...they're not just walking around) It was a sight to see...but wouldn't go back.

In the morning we went to a clog and cheese factory! We got to see them make clogs and cheese! It was so cool

On Sunday we hung out around Amsterdam, took a canal river boat cruise and looked around the city. If you notice in the photo a lot of the buildings were built crooked! There's also tons of bikes everywhere! It's like no one drives cars, they just all own bikes- it was crazy. It was good, always fun to see new places...but Amsterdam just isn't my city! I found it to be very dirty (in all sense of the word) it was very touristy and not all that much to see (well there are 35 museums to keep you busy!) Overall final verdict on Amsterdam: not for me.

On Monday we left our hotel in Holland and made our way to Belgium in the city Brugge. I loved Brugge! Now that's my kind of city! :) It was really nice looking with lots of really cute shops! We ate at this really nice outdoor restaurant and had mussels and chips, it was soo good! The mussels were amazing. Then we walked around, bought Belgium chocolates and lace :)

I had a fabulous weekend, met new friends and got to cross off two cities off my list! Also through a slight mishap (on my part) at customs I was given two more months on my working visa here!! yay :)

Today was an extra fabulous day, because I saw Sex and the City with my flat mate Jim!! It was SO GOOD! Won't say too much because I know it's not out in the States yet...but it was amazing, even more then I thought it would be!

Tomorrow morning I head off to Scotland! Nadia's sister lives in Edinburgh so I'm going to stay with her until Saturday. I'm excited although a tad nervous because I hear how difficult it is to understand Scottish people...if I think British people can be hard to understand and they think Scottish people are hard to understand--I'm screwed!! haha :) Should be a fun trip! I'll of course take loads of photos and post them. I'm trying to find a website that would let me post all my photos so that everyone can view them all rather than you only seeing the ones that I post here...