Solo in Italia: Delirium and Disneyland

Almost every detail of our trip to Brussels and Amsterdam was planned out. Flights, trains, the addresses of our hostels, directions to and from our hostels, every bar we would go to our first night in Brussels, and even how we would spend the awkward four hours between our arrival in Brussels from Amsterdam at midnight and our flight back to Bologna at the God-forsaken hour of 6:00 AM. At least such were our thoughts until the tram that was supposed to take us to our hostel in Amsterdam suddenly crashed into a Mercedes. I was jolted a bit from my seat only to be greeted by the too tranquil voice of the tram conductor: "I'm sorry, there has been an accident." And basta così.That was all he had to say. To add to the chaos, the specialty beer I had just bought in Brussels exploded all over the white shirt I was wearing. I was not a happy camper at the moment, but before long we had begun musing in and out various streets, buildings, and coffeeshops. Three hours later we finally made it to our hostel to check in.

Although I must say that up until that point things had gone pretty smoothly. Our first night in Brussels turned out to be a huge success and in less than 24 hours, I was sufficiently introduced to several of Belgium's most prized possessions: Waffles, Beer and Chocolate. And aside from a few initial minor mishaps, I couldn't have better things to say about Amsterdam.

For me, it was like a Disney World for adults. I am in complete agreement with my "Let's Go Europe 2011 Student Travel Guide" when it says "Yes, marijuana is legal here, but there is so much more here than drugs and tulips." (And I didn't even get to see the tulips when I went). Not only was the city drop-dead gorgeous with its cobblestone streets, miniature canals and picturesque style of Dutch architecture, but it was also the most biker-friendly city I have ever seen in my entire life.

This may seem like something a bit lack-luster to emphasize considering the fact that there are indeed innumerable places in the U.S. and throughout the world where bikes are a common find. However, Amsterdam is the super-capital of this type of crunchy,“go-green” lifestyle. They really aren't joking when they warn you about getting run over by a bicycle there. In Amsterdam, bikes are not inferior to cars, but instead give a new meaning to the term “right of way.” Don’t think for one second that a biker will slow down for a pedestrian without a red light or a good reason to stop. Every road that can be accessed by car, is also just as bike-friendly. Bike lanes (and I'm talking extremely legitimate bike lanes) are as natural a thing as riding the subway in New York City. The bike lines in Amsterdam aren’t dinky little side-walks meant to be shared by walkers, runners, and the like and are instead fully equipped with stop-lights, lanes, and a pace of traffic that is high-speed and anything but a lazy ride through the park. But it's reputation as the cycling capital of the world isn’t the only thing that made Amsterdam such a memorable place for me. More importantly, it was the type of lifestyle that it inherently promotes. A lifestyle that is healthy for the environment, the body and the soul.

On our second night in Amsterdam, after a long and exhausting day of exploration, we found ourselves caught in the middle of a rainstorm at 10 or 11 at night with a 20 to 25 minute bike ride to make back to our hostel. But even under less-than-ideal circumstances, the ride home proved to be one of the most magical moments I could pinpoint during the entire trip. The cool and slightly icy breeze whipped my hair back as I pedaled through beautifully lit streets and canals unable to stop myself from thinking that I could really get used to this type of lifestyle.

Moreover, getting to visit exhibits such as the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum made the whole experience that much more incredible. We even found ourselves neck deep in the middle of a huge Pillow fight that occupied the whole of Dam Square.

And even after delirious last night in Belgium preceded by a full day in Amsterdam, I found myself wishing I had just a little bit more time to spend there. I say delirious because being the cheap, poor college students that we are, we decided not to book a hostel for our last night in Belgium since our flight back to Bologna was so early in the morning. Instead, we booked a late train back from Amsterdam that landed us in Brussels around midnight with 4 hours to kill until our train back to the airport. We spent those four long hours in one of Brussels' most distinguished bars: Delirium. We were five extremely exhausted girls surrounded by over 2,000 different types of beer. After sampling a liter of Cactus-flavored beer (in a glass shaped like a boot), we spent most of the time chilling and people watching. In hindsight maybe it wasn’t the most ideal situation, but, it was an experience nonetheless. When we finally got back to Bologna around 11, I practically slept for the next day and a half. But it was worth every second of time I was able to spend traveling.