7D7N Amsterdam with the Baby

Tulips in Keukenhof

It's been a fun week, it's not easy to travel with an infant, but it wasn't that hard too, not as eventful as I thought it will be.

Bringing a baby slows everything down, we achieved only one destination everyday, take our time to stop and rest and enjoy the day.

Below is our itinerary before I go into details of everything, well maybe not everything, just things I think it's worth the mention.

Day 1:

• Arrived in Schiphol Airport at 7am
• Got our luggage, and bought train tickets to Amsterdam Centraal (Euro5.10 per pax per trip)
• Westerpark to check in to our apartment for the week
• Went groceries shopping for the first thing, bought baby diapers and water supply
• Went to Amsterdam Centraal to get ourselves OV Chipkaart for public transport in Netherlands
• Went to Prinsengraght to have lunch at Pancakes! Amsterdam (Euro19.70 for two)
• Walked along canal, stopped by Dam to buy shoes, Singel for Flower Market
• Got simple groceries, and got home for dinner

Day 2:

• Have breakfast in Piq Niq in Joordan (Approximately Euro17)
• Took bus to Haarlem 
• Had lunch in Stempels (Euro28.80 for two)
• Visited Teylers Museum (Euro12 per pax including audio guide)
• Took train to go back to Amsterdam
• Had dinner in The Pancake Bakery (Euro 28.70)

Day 3:

• Breakfast in Winkel 43 (Euro 14.70)
• Took bus to Keukenhof (Euro 28.50 per pax for combi ticket)
• Had lunch in Keukenhof (carrot cake, hot chocolate, herring, sandwich with ham and a beer)
• Went back to Amsterdam
• Had dinner in Kop Van Jut (Euro 46.20 for two)

Day 4:

• Woke up way too late, bought bread from Westerpark Bakery to have breakfast at home
• Went to De Kas for lunch (Euro 66 for two)
• Enjoy some snacks at Museumplein
• Sunbathing in front of Concertgebouw
• Had dinner in De Blauw Hollander (Euro 37.75)

Day 5:

• Woke up super early to catch at train at 7.17am to Antwerp
• Enjoyed the architecture of Antwerpen Centraal
• Visited weekly exotic market at Theatreplein
• Had lunch at Cafe 't Putke (Euro 25.50 for two)
• Visited Cathedral of Our Lady (Euro 6 per pax)
• Visited Plantin-Moretus Museum (Euro 8 per pax, Euro 2 for an audio guide)
• Had dinner at Maurice & Dietrich at Grote Markt (Euro 24.60 for two)
• Took a 7.30pm train back to Amsterdam

Day 6:

• Woke up way too late, and bought croissants from Albert Heijn Market (because Westerpark Bakery was closed) for breakfast
• Had lunch at Cafe-Restaurant in de Buurt (Euro 34.60 for two)
• Visited Rijksmuseum (Euro 17.50 per pax)
• Had dinner again at Cafe-Restaurant in de Buurt (Euro 43 for two)

Day 7:

• Had breakfast at home
• Walked to Westergasfabriek and enjoyed King's Day
• Had hotdog in the park (Euro 5)
• Had a super nice latte in Espresso Fabriek 
• Walked around the town just to immerse ourselves in the festive mood
• Bought cheese at Kaasland
• Walked back to Westerpark
• Had dinner at Bella Storia (Euro 20 for two)

Day 8:

• Woke up early, prepared ourselves and went to airport
• Said goodbye to this wonderful city

Heart of Brussels B&B

Heart of Brussels B&B is one of the best accommodation during our journey. It's value for money, and it's convenient. Besides, we really like the interior of this modern looking studio!

Foldable bed

Kitchen and dining table

Bathroom

Bathroom interior

Bathroom

Kitchen and balcony from living room

Common dining room where we have breakfast 

Common living area 

The owner Jan provided very good directions when we're communicating through email. Getting to the place wasn't super difficult (anyway we took cab). The B&B doesn't look interesting from the outside, just a normal apartment. But based on my experience in Zaragoza, I was quite confident that it will turn out well :) It did.

Breakfast was provided, every morning we came down to the common dining area where Jan provided a small spread of buffet breakfast, for only 3 guests. And he made coffee for us, every morning. Besides, he explained to use where to go, how to go with a map. Lovely.

It's walking distance to shopping street, Grand Palace, Manekan Pis, National Theatre etc. It's really convenient!

There are only 3 rooms, so book early if you'd like to go. Highly recommended :)

Atomium

Atomium wasn't in my planning initially. However, after I knew that it's built in year of 1958, I became interested in it. I didn't expect this building to be this old, even though not as old as all the other attractions which were there since a few centuries ago. However, I expect this Atomium to be fairly recent!

The Atomium

Closer look

The Atomium is a "body centered cubic", crystal structure of iron. It's built in year of 1958 for Expo. And was meant to be demolished after Expo. However, it got so popular, eventually it was kept until today.

If you purchase a ticket for entrance, you'll enter from the atom from ground, and like any other tall building in the world, you'll take a lift that goes straight up to the highest level to enjoy the view of the city.

Realize there's only a little skyscrapper in the city that stood out among the buildings

Very gloomy day, nothing much to view actually

After viewing from top, you can go back down to ground floor, and take escalator or stairs to other "atoms" for some other exhibitions. However, to our experience, that's really redundant. The exhibition was so boring and totally waste of time. We simply walked a round because we have to get to the other side to get down.

Stairs to another atom

The entrance is 11Euro per person. In my opinion that was a bit expensive because the view was just okie. Maybe the weather wasn't very good. Besides, the exhibition was very badly done. However, I wouldn't say it's not worth to visit at all, at least I admire the engineering that was done back in 1958. It's still amazing even for today's standard. (sorry, I'm a nerd)

Maybe another better way for visiting the Atomium is to make reservation for dinner at the highest level . I think it'll be great to enjoy night view while having dinner. It should be romantic. We didn't make reservation because our itinerary was not fixed entirely. It's a shame.

How to go?
With Metro, everything and everywhere is accessible. Atomium can be reached by Metro, simply alight at Heysel station, Atomium is just a few minutes away.

Musical Instruments Museum (MIM)

Musical Instruments Museum is the only museum we visited in Brussels when we were there. We spent a long time in the museum, longer than we expected, almost half a day there. And I thought, it was one of the coolest museum that I've ever been.

Building opposite the back of MIM

MIM

MIM

I took this picture in the middle of the road

MIM is easily accessible. To go to MIM, you can either take metro to Troon station. Or, you could chose to walk from Grand Palace. We chose to take metro to MIM, and walked our way back to Grand Palace.

The reason I said MIM is only of the coolest museum I've ever been, is the audio guide, the abundance of musical instruments that you've never ever heard of, and the value of the ticket.

Some certain musical instruments have had some recordings. There is an audio sign on the floor for these instruments and all the visitors have to do is just to stand in front of the instruments with a guide, the guide will play the music from that particular instruments automatically. Besides, the screen of the audio guide will show the picture of that instruments too, so that you can be sure you're listening to the correct one.

There are total 10 levels in the building, and total 4 levels with display of musical instruments. I've learned a lot of funny looking/weird/interesting instruments, i.e. Jew's harp which makes funny sound, glass harmonica which was invented by Benjamin Franklin, Bible regal which is an instrument that looks like a thick bible etc. I also learned that saxophone was invented in Brussels, by a guy called Adolphe Sax. Because there are just too many things that were not explained in the museum, I bought a book in MIM, titled "50 Unusual Instruments", featuring the most unusual and popular instruments in MIM collections.

The ticket was only 8Euro per person, with an audio guide for each. With the abundance of instruments shown, I would say this 8Euro is really worth it.

After hours spent in the levels looking at the instruments, we decided to have our lunch at the top level of MIM to enjoy the view of Brussels.

From our table

Other side of the restaurant

From the outdoor seating which nobody wants to sit as it's too cold

Interior of the restaurant, it's simply packed with tourists

The food in MIM was actually good. I ordered a MIM salad, while the Man ordered Fish of the Day. As our bags were kept in the locker, I could not change my wide angle lens with a normal kit or my 60mm, I didn't take any photo of the lunch.

After the lunch, we made our way to Brussels Central Station which was only walking distance from MIM to get our train tickets to Amsterdam. And we enjoyed the walk back to Grand Palace.

For a moment I thought it feels a bit like San Francisco

Slanted street like SF

A building opposite MIM

Just like the contrast of that van

A park near MIM

View from the park to where I was at MIM

How to go?
Nearest metro station: Troon
Or you can walk from Grand Palace

How much is the ticket?
8Euro per pax

The Best Onion Soup Ever!

Jan told us about this small little shop, just next to flea market in Brussels.

La Clef D'Or.




This small, humble, unpretentious little shop is famous for its home made soup. We did not know what soup to order, so we asked the young chap. He told us they're famous with onion soup. I don't like onion, I definitely didn't have a good experience with onion soup before, at The Soup Spoon. However, we still decided to try it!

We ordered a bowl of onion soup, and a cup of warm coffee. And had a seat outside, facing the flea market. Enjoy the slightly warm weather on that day.





The first sip, was heavenly! The melted cheese inside the onion soup was just fantastic! Please remember to say yes when they ask you if you would like to add some cheese, say YES to the cheese! Definitely a deadly heavenly combi :)

I miss this soup so much I wish I could get it here!

It was cheap to eat here, it's only 4.20Euro for soup and coffee. We proceeded from here to Noordzee Mer du Nord, imagine how satisfied we were within that 2hours :)

If I would ever visit Brussels again, I will not give this onion soup a miss! Seriously :)


Address:
Place du Jeu-de-Balle 1 Marolles

布鲁塞尔的跳蚤市场 Flea Market at Brussels

我很少会把跳蚤市场列入行程里面。不过，在布鲁塞尔的最后一天，我无论如何要在Noordzee Mer du Nord用午餐，所以剩余的只有短短的半天。在欧洲，太早出门也没用。我们照常在B&B慢慢吃早餐，然后问问Jan的意见，该上哪儿去。

布鲁塞尔有个问题，就是旅游胜地都散布在城市不同的角落。东一个，西一个，除非停留在布鲁斯的时间非常足够，要不然就不可以那么贪心。我们在那里三天两夜，这里晃一下，那里闲一下，时间很快就过了，去的地方实在很少。

半天该做些什么？Jan建议我们到跳蚤市场，好吧～

根据他的建议，到跳蚤市场的最佳路途是搭地铁到Louiza，在Palais de Justice观赏城市的全景，然后乘搭电梯到底楼然后步行到跳蚤市场。















跳蚤市场真的有很多让人惊喜的东西。比如说，竟然看见摊子在卖婚纱！在这里我们什么都没买，纯粹抱着走走看看的心态。跳蚤市场的人群和城市里的有点不一样，他们对我们的单眼相机不是特别喜欢，所以我也不好意思拍得太多。

我常常对跳蚤市场有一些幻想。可能我用心寻找，说不定我可以找到莫扎特的小星星原稿？或者是爱因斯坦用过的笔？或者是……



跳蚤市场就不会是非去不可的地方，不过如果你象我一样，时间有点不三不四，这不妨是个去处。看看城市不同的角落，多一点了解她。

布鲁塞尔是个很特别的城市，第一天，那一刹你或许不喜欢他。不过，当你东南西北走一遍，你会发现这一区和那一区相差不到几公里，感觉却像完全不同的城市的时候，你会慢慢喜欢上她。

Belfry of Bruges (Belfort)

Belfort

This is Belfry tower, the bell tower of Bruges since the medieval time. Belfry is located just next to the Markt since year 1240. It is 86m high and to reach the top of the tower, you will have to climb 366 steps. It didn't sound like a lot. But the steps are very steep and narrow which only allows one person to move. So, whenever you hear a person would cross your path, you would have to stay at one corner of the steps and wait till they pass.

The steps get narrower and narrower towards the top. It gets more and more scary to the top. This is definitely not small children or wheel chair friendly.

View from top of the tower

This is the view when you're up to the top of the tower!

Another view from tower

And this too!

It wasn't as nice as this when you're up there, because there were wire mesh to prevent accidents. So, it was little bit disappointing. But what the heck, we still take pictures like crazy. It was very cold and windy up there. Plus, the 47 carillon bells ring once in 15 mins, which makes talking very difficult :P

Like any other high tower in the world, it indicates the distance between the tower to another city.

Brussels!

Brussels, where we are heading to.

Antwerp

Antwerp, where we changed a train to come to Bruges.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam, where our journey ends.

Entrance to Belfort is 8Euro per person. It remains open on Monday even though most attractions are closed.

I personally find that the 47 carillon bells are very interesting. However, I didn't take any video when I was there. So, I'll share some videos from Youtube below.



I supposed this huge music box mechanism is the one that control the bell at the top. You would see this half way to the top.



This is when the bell rings~

(Disclaimer: I do not own this videos, I copied them from Youtube)

Is it worth a visit?

Yes, why not! Plus, it's a UNESCO heritage! You should :)

The Markt

The Markt used to be a commercial centre back in Medieval time. Now, it's a square full with tourists! It's not a bad thing, it's lively. It's nice to spend some time there, enjoying the bell that struck every 15 mins from Belfry, and all the horses at the square. If you want to, you can always approach them, to have a horse ride around the city. It's a nice place to sit there and observe people too. I like to do this and make guesses where the tourists come from.

There are three very recognisable structures in The Markt, the Belfry, the Provincial Court & the statue of Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck. I do not know who are they, but you won't miss the Markt if you recognise these few structures.

The Provincial Court

On our first day it's cloudy so I turned the picture into black and white

The Provincial Court at night

The next day when the weather is all lovely and sunny

Roof of provincial court

Roof of the provincial court

The Statue

On a good day, the square flooded with tourists

The statue

The Belfry

The Belfry

The Belfry and the provincial court

We did visit the Belfry, so there will be post on Belfry in more details.

When I was doing homework for Bruges, a lot of posts warned tourists not to dine at the restaurants surrounded the Markt. When I checked in to Hotel Ter Brughe, the lady at the counter warned us not to dine there as well. According to them, the restaurants are overly charged with food that is not as good. So I'm just doing my due diligence to warn you the same thing again here :)

You can always visit Bruges with a day tour from Brussels or Paris. However, if you have enough time, it's always nice to stay at least one night here. To enjoy the small little town to the fullest. One good thing about staying here is, the day tour tourists will swamp out of the town by evening, leave this place to its peace and quiet. (Tips: Bruges is very accessible. You can come from Ghent, Antwerp, Brussels, Paris etc. Intercity train between Bruges and Brussels cost 13.80Euro per person, and it takes approximately 1 hour.)

I didn't get to do a lot in Bruges, but I surely like this place :)