Winter Trip: Part 2

We had the amazing opportunity to travel through the two week winter break over the holiday season. We visited three countries and nine cities. We were able to visit with family and meet some new people while admiring architecture and eating and drinking our way through each city. If you haven't read part one yet you can find it here.

After sending Heather on her way back home, Chris and I left Amsterdam and headed to Rotterdam. We settled in our Airbnb and walked through the city on New Years Eve. It was rainy and windy but we found a museum to duck into. The museum was about tax and customs, it was surprisingly interesting and a great way to spend some time indoors. We wandered some more but the rain became too much, so we headed back to our place and attempted to get some rest, despite the crazy amount of fireworks going off in our neighborhood.

Chris and I rang in the New Year by taking a trip to The Hague. It was a beautiful city and it was a beautiful day. The city had beautiful mosaic art on its buildings and fun gardens to explore. Our favorite part though, was stumbling on a line of embassies. Being the nerds that we are, Chris and I attempted to name as many countries as we could, based off of the flag proudly displayed in front of the building. It was a nice day trip, and we were really happy that the weather held up for us to explore the city.

Although it was fun to explore the Netherlands, we were excited to travel to another country. On January 2nd we arrived in Antwerp, Belgium to the most gorgeous train station we have ever encountered. The city wasn't half bad either. The next day we explored the city some more. We found the cathedral that towered over the city, shaming the gilded buildings nearby. The entire city was also very aesthetically pleasing, between sculptures in the squares, to statues on buildings, to the facade of the building itself, the entire city kept us excited to turn the corner and see the next beautiful thing.

Although our morning of exploring had great weather, after a waffle lunch we decided it would be best to stay indoors as much as possible. We visited the Red Star Line museum, where we learned about emigration through the port of Antwerp. Chris and I found it interesting as it was a different point of view on the story of migration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After exploring the museum we headed back to our place, with a little help from the wind.

We enjoyed Antwerp, despite the weather, but it was time to continue on our way. We traveled back into Germany on the 4th and found a place to stay in Bonn. For those who may not know, Bonn was the capital of West Germany from 1949 until 1990. Chris and I were excited to explore the city and learn some Cold War era facts. The next day we went to the German National Museum of Contemporary History where we learned some interesting facts about how Bonn became the capital. We visited a few other museums but that one was the best. It isn't a trip to Bonn though with out a stop a the Haribo store. We bought plenty of gummy bears, most did not make it back to Sofia. We ended the day with a stroll past some castles and along the Rhine.

We left Bonn on the 5th for Frankfurt again. We did not do much back in Frankfurt. We stayed on the outskirts of the city so we settled for staying in the hotel. The next day we flew back to Sofia, just in time to get ready for classes the next day. Chris and I enjoyed our tour through Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. It went by quick but it was the best way we could think of to spend our holiday. We loved some cities more than others but we are definitely looking forward to exploring some more on our upcoming breaks.