The sweet trail from chocolate to brownies

The number one thing I associated with Belgium was chocolate. Is anybody surprised? So within an hour or so of crossing the border, we headed straight for Roose’s Chocolate World despite the fact it was 5.30pm and borderline “ruin your dinner” time. But when you are in the country that inspires thoughts of chocolate as soon as you think of it… you must, mustn’t you?

This place was supposed to be a chocolate factory, but turned out to be a giant chocolate shop with loads of tastings. We happily partook in the suggested activitiy of sampling. We then sat down for a hot cup of somethin’ and a couple of truffles and felt happy about life.

Contemplating how sweet life is at Roose's Chocolate World

After this, we headed to Brussels which was really gorgeous. Belgium is known for its excellent architecture and we weren’t let down. Incredible buildings, monuments and cobblestoned roads greeted us at every turn and we constantly were yelling and pointing at things out the window.

Our one day in Brussels was good fun, but we did run out of things to do which is why I guess some people think Belgium can be a little boring. We went to the Atomium which was massive and quite a spectacle.

Some spunk out front of the Atomium

We had a day of wandering around the  major attractions and Brussels was completely beautiful, just maybe a little sans atmosphere.

Our next stop would be abundant in atmosphere. We were headed to the place where drugs and sex are readily available, while rich in history and plenty of beauty. Amsterdam. We found the most amazing camping spot, right on the waterfront which was really quiet and the perfect place to come back to after the mayhem of Amsterdam.

Talk about room with a view... people pay squillions for waterfront views right?!

So I may have painted a sorry picture to garner some sympathy from y’all, but look, I’m tougher than I thought. Despite the bug bites, bad hair and occasional lack of shower (some campsites make you pay to use their dirty, wonky showers!), I really quite like camping! Who would have thought? Although please don’t tell Sean, as I reeeeeally like it when he takes me to a hotel every now and then and spoils me for being such a trouper.  He’s a good husband!!!

So Amsterdam, we hit it up in style. While we didn’t eat a brownie or smoke a joint, we both believe we were high just from the fumes pouring out onto the street as nearly every cafe has a little green symbol indicating they do condone drugs. Or at least, that’s our excuse when we both ordered double scoops of ice cream after an Italian dinner. Munchies. Not greedy or ice cream addicted at all, munchies was the cause of the ferocious desire to consume ice cream and there’s no other reason we’d resort to such gluttony.

We hired bikes for the day because there just isn’t any other way to get around in ‘Dam. Bikers rule the roads, walkways and tramlines here and we really loved that. Especially the fact our bikes were so much more comfortable than those crazy carbon contraptions we get around on back home. Why do we do that to ourselves when the high handle bars and big squishy seat are sooo good?

The basket up front totally suited Prawn, he may be trading in the speed machine for comfort and convenience. But probably not, maybe that's just me.

The days we were in amsterdam there was a major sailing event with tall ships happening there so there were people everywhere. Which freaked out Sean who claims to be a country boy at heart, but the bonus was there was a massive concert with beautiful orchestral music which was magic to hear.

Hoards of people and boats watching the concert, this was a nice part of Amsterdam as opposed to...

We went for a wander around the red light district which was interesting and sad. It’s hard to believe that the girls would live like this and put themselves on display, but hopefully they all have good lives despite being so very different to what I know. We did have fun walking around as there were street parties everywhere and everyone seemed to be in holiday mode.

Sean in the red light district which was going off, this was the furthest I let him get, I clutched his hand the rest of the time.

Amsterdam was a little overwhelming for us and I think it would have been better without the hoards of people. By the time we left we couldn’t wait to see some countryside, but before that, we were off to Germany. Next post will be Hamburg, Berlin and the Black Forest (with a very quick trip to Prague).

As many of you know from Facebook, we’re now in Switzerland and this has been the highlight of our European trip (apart from Uckfield and Fleur and Ricky’s wedding obviously)!! Beautiful, just beautiful. Plus today involved paragliding (for Sean) and being a star in a Bollywood movie (me) so you can’t reeeeally top that huh?!!!

Have a fab weekend and do something a little crazy. Bollywood, paragliding,  excessive ice cream consumption… something like that, do it, it’s so much fun!

Lisa and Sean xoxo