On the morning of June 11, we woke up at our campsite in Copenhagen, packed up all of the tents and bags, and after a quick breakfast, we hit the road. Copenhagen was the last campsite of the trip, and since my air mattress had a slow leak so I ended up on the ground every night, I have to admit that I was eager to leave camping behind. But I can't say that camping all over Europe wasn't an experience, and heaven knows I love to try different things.
We made the two-hour drive down to the ferry port and had a picnic lunch of Spanish tapas. In case you're wondering, I also thought that was a hilarious coincidence. We then ferried back to Germany, and since we were going to a different German port, the trip back was quicker than the way there. We drove on, and we were in Hamburg by late afternoon.
After taking a few minutes to freshen up, we ventured back out to take a tour of the city on foot. We only had an overnight in Hamburg, and at this point in the trip, a lot of us were dragging (I wouldn't expect anyone to remember this since I started writing about this trip so long ago, but I joined the trip later than most of the other travelers, so by this point, they'd been traveling for more than three weeks.). My dad had told me that Hamburg was where the Beatles got their start, and I really wanted to visit the club where they played/slept and also Beatleplatz, a city square named after them. But it turned out that our walking tour stuck to downtown Hamburg around city hall, and Beatleplatz was a couple miles away. If I had more time or if I wasn't so tired, I'm sure I would have gone. But the truth was that I just didn't have it in me, so I missed out on seeing Beatles history, which is a huge bummer. But I guess that's just a reason that I'll have to go back to Hamburg! (Seeing more of Germany would never be a hardship for me.)
But I digress. Our walking tour, as I said, included most of the area around city hall, or the rathaus. I love any city that has a lot of water, and Hamburg certainly has plenty of it. I learned a lot of useless trivia about Hamburg, so where better to share this knowledge than on my blog? One thing I remember is that Hamburg has a lot of seconds. Hamburg is the second-largest port in Europe, as well as the second-largest city in Germany (Smaller than Berlin but bigger than Munich) and home of the world's second-oldest bank. Funnest fact I learned about Hamburg: The city has some 2,500 bridges that cross the bodies of water (canals, the river Elbe, etc.), which is more than London, Venice, and Amsterdam combined. Pretty cool, huh?
Speicherstadt, the largest warehouse district in the world and a UNESCO site
Hamburg Rathaus
Alsterfleet
Inner courtyard of the Rathaus
We also saw the ruins of the St. Nikolai church, one of the five main churches in Hamburg that were damaged during WWII, but the only one left in ruins to serve as a war memorial. I didn't think to take pictures of that, unfortunately.
After our tour, we had dinner at a Hofbrau Haus because many people wanted to have more pork knuckle. But personally, one pork knuckle, although delicious, was enough to last me awhile, so I had spaetzle, a cheesy egg noodle dish, with my beer instead. For the record, the spaetzle was as good as the pork knuckle. Honestly, I still have dreams about German food.
After dinner, we wandered back to our hostel and hung around a little, but a lot of us were really tired, and we wanted to be on top of our game for Amsterdam.
The next day, we were back on the bus, on our way to Amsterdam. We stopped outside the city, in the Dutch countryside, to see a cheese- and clog-making demonstration. Side note: if you ever have the opportunity even to drive through the Dutch countryside, do not hesitate. It is like a fairytale come to life. But anyway, we got to taste some aged gouda and watch a clog-maker turn a block of wood into shoes, so that was pretty neat.
At the clog-maker's shop
We got to our hostel, dumped our bags, and headed back out to have dinner. We had a short time before we were meeting up for an evening walking tour, which included the red light district. A couple of people and I went for Asian food, while other people on the tour went to sample some of the substances for which Amsterdam is famous. The first time I went to Amsterdam, I abstained from such activities; this time, I seriously considered it, but I decided to abstain this time, as well. I have never participated in such activities and I figured if I never did it at home, then I had no reason to be doing it in Amsterdam, either. But I digress. The activities of my tour companions prior to the walking tour made the tour extremely interesting, to say the least.
I have a confession to make. I went to Amsterdam in May of 2015 and took about a thousand photos because it's one of my favorite cities, so I was a little snobby this time and took hardly any. I apologize for being too cool and thinking, "Whatever, I already have photos of the Grand Canal and the Museumplein." But please, take it from me that Amsterdam is a breathtaking city and worth taking a thousand photos.
The first time I visited Amsterdam, I also abstained from doing anything in the red light district. Aside from the brothels for which it's famous, the red light district also has sex shops, museums, bars, and other forms of entertainment. My tour director had arranged for interested tour members to go to a sex show, if we were interested, and I figured why not? I'd rather not go into detail on here but it was definitely an experience. Probably not one that I need to do twice, but I don't regret going. When in Amsterdam, do as the Dutch do! (Although I can guarantee that the only people there were silly tourists like me.)
The following day, I had a free day. Literally everyone else on my tour was taking a bike tour through the city, but I decided to opt out. I had taken a bike tour the first time I was in Amsterdam, and although it was great and I'm very glad I did it, handling the Amsterdam traffic (other cyclists, pedestrians, scooters, and cars) was very stressful, and being on a bike for three hours hurt my butt in ways I cannot describe. So I slept in that morning, and finally rolled out of bed when it was closer to afternoon.
When I joined the tour, everyone who had already been traveling warned me that it was only a matter of time until I got sick. Apparently a cold had made the rounds throughout the tour group, beginning some time while they were in Croatia, and still hanging on when I met them in Budapest. I had felt it building since Copenhagen, and it finally hit me full-force in Amsterdam. I dragged myself out of bed that day, determined to visit the "I Amsterdam" sign, the only thing I'd missed the last time I visited. But honestly, I had to be grateful that I didn't get sick until I visited a city I'd already seen, so I couldn't find it in me to complain. So I ventured out into the city on my own. My first stop was visiting the sign, and then I wandered through the flower market and did a little shopping before admitting defeat and heading back to my hostel to take a nap.
The sign in front of the Rijksmuseum, the national art and history museum
Finally made it!
With the sign up close
Even rainy Amsterdam is beautiful
That night was the last night that everyone on our tour would be together, because some people were flying out of the Amsterdam airport instead of continuing on to London. So we had dinner together as a group one last time at a Chinese restaurant on the water. It took us ages to get there, but when we finally did, the food was delicious.
Everyone was going out that night for one last hurrah, and I went to the first two bars, but the cold was really bringing me down. Furthermore, being hungover on a bus was not my idea of a good time, so I ended up calling it an early night. But I did stay long enough to be in the group photo!
Last hurrah in Amsterdam
June 14 was the last day of the trip, so we boarded the bus for the final day. Our final destination was London, but we were stopping for lunch in Bruges, and I was really excited to be back in Belgium. I had made a lunch stop in Brussels once in the past, and I love how nice Belgians are. Plus, the waffles and chocolate don't hurt.
We took a quick tour leading up to the Markt, the main square in Bruges, passing by the famous Church of Our Lady and some lovely canals along the way.
I love any city that has canals
The Church of Our Lady
Provincial Court
Bruges Markt
Belfry of Bruges
Canal with Church of Our Lady in the distance
Our tour director then gave us a free hour to do what we wanted. A large group of tour members ventured off to a burger place (which admittedly horrified me. You can have a burger literally anywhere, and we're in the waffle capital of the world...But to each his own). Personally, I had my own list of priorities, so I hustled off on my own to find a waffle.
I polished off a homemade Belgian waffle with strawberries and whipped cream in record time (And it was undeniably the best waffle I've ever had. They're so good, they don't even need syrup) and continued on my way. My next priority was to run back to the Church of Our Lady to see the Madonna and Child, a famous Michelangelo sculpture and his only work to leave Italy during his lifetime. Historians agree that he probably intended it to be an altarpiece for the Siena cathedral, but two Belgian cloth merchants purchased it and brought it to Bruges. Furthermore, the sculpture had been stolen by the Nazis but it was returned to the church after the war. I didn't want to leave Bruges without seeing it, so I paid the small fee to get in the church.
The Madonna and Child is in the middle
Inside the Church of our Lady
It helped that the church happens to be really beautiful, so I felt it was money well spent. I hurried back to the shopping area of the Markt, because my next order of business was buying Belgian chocolate. I know Switzerland has the reputation for the best chocolate, but I'm partial to Belgian. I think it's a little sweeter and creamier, so that was also a priority.
My last stop in Bruges was to buy a cone of French fries. Despite the misnomer, Belgium is actually the home of the French fry, and they really are something special. When it was time for us to get back on the bus, I was pleased that I'd made the most of my free hour in Bruges.
We drove on to France and stopped at Calais. Since we were leaving the Schengen Zone, we had to get our passports stamped to ferry over to the UK, so we technically crossed the UK/French border on foot, which was pretty funny. Then we took the ferry to Dover, so I got to see the white cliffs of Dover from the boat, which was pretty cool. But the English Channel was really rough that day, so we were all eager to disembark.
We got back in the bus for the last time and motored on to London. I actually got to drive across the Tower Bridge, a first for me despite being my third time in the city. I didn't have the time or energy to do much except order Indian food and eat it in the hostel. A bunch of us were staying in the same hostel, so we ate together and talked and laughed and then finally said our goodbyes. I really enjoyed traveling with so many people from a variety of places, and at least now if I ever get to Australia/New Zealand, I know a bunch of people who live down under!
My last European hostel experience of course consisted of me in a room of all guys again. It felt like the universe was playing a big joke on me, but I took it in stride. At least it was clean. I had a lot of time to kill on my last day in Europe before I could go to the airport, because my flight didn't leave until late in the afternoon. But I spent most of it looking for a pharmacy to battle my cold symptoms, so it was a memorable day, to say the least.
I grabbed a train to Gatwick airport and checked my bag with only a few minutes to spare before baggage check closed. The flight home was mercifully uneventful, and I mostly watched movies to keep myself awake to fight the jet lag. Finally touching down in JFK was a completely surreal experience, but I was very glad to be home.
It is very bittersweet to know that my time as the Woman of La Mancha is over. I want to give my most heartfelt thanks to anyone who has continued to read my blog and followed me on this journey, despite the delays, mishaps, ramblings, and misadventures. It means so much to me that there are so many people who were willing to sift through all of the mile-long blog posts to share in this adventure with me.
However, wanderlust abounds, so I know my next adventure is never far away. Until next time!
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