This year, it was time to spread my wings and do a big trip somewhere besides Japan (though I’m itching to go back). I’ve always wanted to check out some different parts of Europe, and for this trip, Shannon and I decided on The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. I’ve only ever been to the UK before and central Europe always seemed very interesting to me so this was quite a treat.

I jotted down notes as we went so I wouldn’t forget to blog anything. There were some surprises, plenty of good times, and lots of beautiful scenery and history on this trip. Here’s my day-by-day journey through these cities, and some general impressions to wrap things up.

I’ve embedded some photo highlights, but the album link for the whole trip is right here.

Day 1 – Arriving in Amsterdam

We took an evening flight to Amsterdam and arrived around 11AM. I think I managed to get a couple hours of sleep on the plane, and it was a mostly smooth flight. Thankfully, on arrival it was super quick getting through immigration and customs took zero time.

The train from the airport was only a few stops away from Amsterdam central. The rivers and canals around the station were very beautiful, as were some of the old buildings. It was notably cooler than back home, some proper fall weather. Our hotel was less than a 10 minute walk from the station. We were able to find the hotel and get checked in a few hours early. The room was quite small, had no windows, and was up a couple floors of narrow staircases, but otherwise was okay.

While we were still basically on Canada time (which was well into the 7AM period with almost no sleep), we decided to tour around the area and get some lunch. We found a place nearby that had some toasted sandwiches which were quite tasty. The area close to the station was very tourist oriented, cannabis shops, boat cruises, souvenir stores, and restaurants lined all the streets and canals, alongside the beautiful old buildings. We did a little more walking and then headed back to the hotel.

The exhaustion and jet lag was catching up, but we knew we had to at least make it through until after dinner. We forced out a river cruise, during which I almost fell asleep. It was quite nice though. After a quick 15 minute nap back in our room, we found a restaurant near the hotel to get a pizza before finally crashing at 6:30pm.

Day 2 – A day in Amsterdam

We started our day at 8:30, a full 14 hours after going to bed the night before, though the sleep was a little uneven. It’s still the longest I’ve stayed in bed that I can remember. Got up and ready to go search for some breakfast by 9. It didn’t take us too long to find a place, there was a cafe where we got some coffee and some dutch pancakes. There were some sour apple slices under a thin pancake – it was quite tasty and light.

Amsterdam is known for many things, and while we didn’t hit up the red light district area this time, we did check out a Cannabis museum and took a quick tour. It was an interesting little place with different exhibits on the history of Cannabis around the world. They didn’t sell any there, but they were happy to point you to a nearby shop so that you could bring some back and they would vaporize it for you. The staff was friendly and we chatted about our travels and hear all about Amsterdam from somebody local which was pretty cool.

We decided to head to a park called Vondelpark for an afternoon stroll, but first got lunch at a restaurant called Lido. I had a steak sandwich that was a bit tough, and honestly hard to eat. Ah well, they can’t all be winners. The park was right across the street so we enjoyed our stroll.

Our next destination was the Heineken experience tour. That location was apparently the original brewery for Heineken, but that was later moved a bit further from the city where there was more room to expand. They showed us the original tanks everything was brewed in and walked us through the history and the process of making the beer. Towards the end, there was a room where your group was surrounded by screens and you are virtually ‘brewed’ and bottled in the video which was fun. Afterwards, the tour included a couple beers at the bar so I ended up trying Heineken silver, which I’ve not seen before. I learned Heineken is supposed to smell like banana as well, which I never knew.

Our tickets for the tour were also bundled with another canal tour by boat. We had a little time and stopped by a cafe while waiting for the departure. We tried some bitterballen; I knew it was Dutch food but it was a little different than I expected. I knew they were Timbit sized, but they are fried balls full of savory ingredients served with mustard, really good.

This cruise was also fun. It took us through some different canals in a different part of the city from the other one, so there were all sorts of different views. It also came with a beer this time, which was great. The tour guide was very informative and we also got to talk to some other tourists.

After a busy day, we found a place to get a burger for dinner, which was pretty good, then stopped near the hotel for a paper cone of fries with our choice of sauce (we got cheese). Apparently it’s a popular thing in Amsterdam.

Day 3 – Day trip to Zaanse Schans

We had signed up for a small group tour to a nearby city called Zaanse Schans. We hit up a cafe next to the pick up spot and grabbed a quick drink before the 20 minute ride by shuttle bus.

Our tour guide showed us around and told us about how this area was specifically designed with buildings and windmills that were moved there from other parts of Holland to preserve their history. A lot of older buildings were being demolished and rebuilt and windmills replace with modern industrial machines, so this is one place that those old parts of history can live on. It does seems quite old time-y, with the old buildings (all painted a dark green and white), the small farms with goats, and the clog maker, amongst other things.

We toured a cheese shop with tons of samples that were all really tasty. They sell a type of cheese there that uses unpasteurized milk and we were warned that it was not allowed to ship to Canada or the US. We also went inside a windmill that is used to grind limestone to make liquid paint. Those things are quite large, and there were a decent amount of them in that area. From inside, it was very impressive up close watching the 3000kg stones move so quickly by the force of wind.

Back in Amsterdam, we stopped for a late lunch, rested for a little bit, then decided to head out to the A’DAM lookout, and observatory at the top of a building across the river from the station. The ferries to get there seemed like they ran quit often, and they were free. Nice! We also took bought tickets for a swing contraption you can sit in that goes over the side of the building, up high. It was a bit of an adrenaline rush being up so high swinging around but it was a lot of fun. It didn’t feel like you were even strapped in that securely, it’s crazy. The view of the city from the top of the building was wonderful.

On the way back, we got a burrito at the nearby station, which was serviceable at best. The restaurant was a bit messy and like many other places in Amsterdam, it seemed understaffed. I stepped in a big pile of guac on the floor and thankfully didn’t slip in it! We ended up in one last bar in Amsterdam by the hotel to wish the city goodbye before heading out the following morning.

Day 4 – Travel to Munich

We got up bright and early to catch a train to Munich at 8:30. It’s about a 7 hour ride, but we decided that the total travel time wouldn’t be that much different and the train would give us a better view on the way. Previously, we had gotten emails that they had changed our schedule once or twice, but it didn’t really change the timing too much so we didn’t pay it a lot of mind. However, in the last update, we were supposed to transfer in Dusseldorf, but when we got on the train it turns out we weren’t even stopping there! We asked some staff and they had use transfer in Frankfurt airport instead. I guess these schedules can just change at any time with no notice.

Though we originally had some reserved seats, we now had to transfer onto a different train, so we no longer had a reservation. The second train was standing room only, and it was completely packed. There was a lot of beers and booze happening all around the train, but it was hard to move through the cars because they were so full. Lots of Oktoberfest energy already. It was a long 4 hours but finally got to sit for the last 90m. I don’t want to do that again.

We arrived in Munich and had to figure out the local train situation. It seems quite confusing – we had to download an app, but they never checked that we had bought the ticket and there was nowhere to scan it. We made it to the hotel and got checked in. Its a big hotel with nice big rooms, but a bit dated, no key cards or anything, real keys. There was a cockroach in the bathroom but other than that, it was a nice place.

There was a Turkish restaurant near the hotel and we got some fantastic donair meals. They shave the meat nice and thin – it was really good. I don’t even know what I ordered off the menu, and this was the first time we ran into a bit of a language gap, but it was easy to figure out.

We ran across the street to a billiards place for a beer before calling it for the night. The guy there also didn’t speak any English, but luckily, beer is the universal language. I ended up taking a look around – the front of the place was set up like a bar, but I couldn’t find any billiards or anything like that for the life of me – a bit of a mystery!

Day 5 – Oktoberfest

It’s the big Oktoberfest day for us. We got a quick croissant at a nearby bakery and then headed in to town.

Shannon was lent a dirndl, one of the traditional Oktoberfest dresses, from a friend. I was hoping we could get to Oktoberfest early and check things out in our street clothes, then try to hit up a lederhosen rental on the way back, and then change into the traditional clothes in the hotel before we headed back in the afternoon. While we did enjoy the day in our regular clothes, unfortunately there were huge lines for rentals so I gave up. Maybe I can Photoshop myself in lederhosen later.

It was actually felt nice and warm outside, despite only being 14 degrees. The crowds were massive! As we approached, we were walking with hundreds of people, all of us taking up the entire width of a street and shuffling towards Oktoberfest. It took us a while to work our way in, but once we got there, it was an absolutely massive festival, with tons of food, shops, carnival rides, and so on. Many of the rides and games seem very similar to what we have at home. From the outside, the beer tents looked like the size of convention centers, and there are so many. I’ve never seen a fair this massive in scale before. We had a tasty sausage on a bun and picked up a couple souvenirs.

We still went back to the hotel for a quick break before heading back into the fray, this time with at least one of us dressed up nice (not me)!

On arriving, I got a pretzel to snack on, then tried to get in to a smaller beer garden (but still pretty big). The line was more of a very tightly packed mob. After waiting almost an hour, we gave up. Nothing was moving that whole time. I think you are screwed without a reservation, especially on a Saturday. We could see inside and there was loud music and lots of people dancing, so at least we had entertainment during the wait.

We managed to find out way into a beer garden that was standing only. I ended up having a beer (very tasty) and a cola beer… it’s cola and beer! I had never thought to mix those two things together, it was interesting. For beverages, it seems like you have to pay a deposit for mugs or glasses at Oktoberfest and get a refund upon returning them, I guess it probably reduces theft and waste, and as a matter of fact, there wasn’t a lot of trash or trash cans at all.

We ended up at a restaurant afterwards where I ordered a half pig knuckle, which was way bigger than I thought. Really tasty though. It was very lively and there was lots of shouting and chanting in the streets, restaurants, and trains that were close to the main event. It was defiantly a highlight of the trip – a lot of fun. We stopped at the hotel bar for one last drink before calling it for the evening.

Day 6 – Marienplatz and more Oktoberfest

Woke up today feeling better after working my way through a cold the past few days. It’s time for the mid-trip laundry day so we took a train down a couple stops to hit up a laundromat. Went for a schnitzel lunch while waiting which was very tasty, especially the spaetzle. While we were waiting for our clothes to dry, some asshole took our clothes out of the dryer early so he could use it, and there was quite a line up of people waiting so we ended up taking our somewhat damp clothes and drying them on hotel beds and hangers. Fuckers.

After that, we went to Marienplatz, it was a beautiful old very historic building. We took the elevator up the tower and got a great view of the city. The streets surrounding it seemed like a very expensive shopping area, with some designer names and some high-end souvenir shops – there was even a band playing on the street with a grand piano, strings, and a flute, very classy. We stopped for a quick beer on a patio while we figured out what to do next.

We decided to take a bit of a scenic route and walk through a park and on our way back to Octoberfest again. It was a less busy then yesterday, and we were able to get into one of the beer gardens without a wait.

We bounced around a few different tables outside. We sat with some older German guys who had traveled in from out of town and told us some stories about before the Berlin wall came down. We then sat with some French people, and later a couple Americans. We had a good time chatting with everyone over some huge steins of beer. After one last tour of the fairgrounds, we went up the big Ferris wheel to enjoy the night view before calling it a day.

Day 7 – Innsbruck and the Mountain

It was a nice easy morning while waiting on our train to Innsbruck, Austria. We got seated on the train for a short hour and a half-ish ride. There was a mountain view on both sides of the train for much of the trip and it was a lovely view.

Innsbruck is a beautiful city in the a valley between two mountain ranges. We stayed at a place called the hotel Zach, and it was very high quality. The room was smallish, but very swanky with an outdoor balcony with a great mountain view.

Since the the next day’s weather looked looked rainy, we decided to go up the gondola to the mountain today. The trip up was nice. Fantastic scenery and view of the whole city on the way up. At the top, the view back down was amazing, and beyond the mountains there were just more and more mountains, as far as you can see. Truly breathtaking. There were lots of cute birds up there, too, that let you get real close. That mountain was another big highlight of the trip!

We had bought the gondola tickets in a combo pack that included entrance to the Zoo, which is also a stop on the funicular from the city. On the way down, we stopped by the zoo quickly, as we were almost at closing time. The zoo was built in to the mountain, so it was a very hilly stroll, but a fun zoo with some familiar and different animals.

After returning to Innsbruck, we went up the city tower which had a huge set of spiral stairs to make it to an observation deck with a great view. After stopping for some goulash at a nearby restaurant, it was time to hang out on that balcony a little and then call it a day.

Day 8 – Touring an Austrian castle

We got a hot breakfast at the hotel before hopping on a bus to tour an Austrian castle called Ambras castle. They claim to be the first museum in the world that is still found in the same place it was established, which is quite a feat. It was a former residence of some Archdukes and was an important part of the Habsburgs family. They had lots of interest historical exhibits on the rulers of Austria, suits of armor and weapons, and other cool things like that. Definitely worth a visit.

We stopped by a cafe in the castle and then walked around the castle grounds for a bit before heading back to town.

We walked around town for a bit, enjoying the sights of Innsbruck and checking out some souvenir shops before taking a pre-dinner rest.

After a grabbing a burger to eat, we stopped at a rooftop bar with a 360 degree view. The weather was still a bit cloudy but the mountain view was still beautiful. The drinks were fancy and the service was great, it had a high-end atmosphere and was a little pricey.

We ended up at a music bar next to the university for some different vibes. They had a bigger drink menu and it was cheaper. I liked it a lot better, thought I did feel a little out of place. I paid 5 euro to spin a wheel for a random shot and ended up with the jackpot – 10 shots of my choice! They recommended a mint liqueur so I went with that and handed half of them to a bunch of guys at another table. That was a fun night.

Day 9 – Arriving in Switzerland

We had another beautiful train ride to Zurich. It was a three and a half hours of mountains the entire way, as well as a lake on one side once we were in Switzerland.

We got to the hotel, but we were a little confused at first. It turns out we were staying at a place that is also a restaurant on the bottom floor, I wasn’t expecting to check in at a bar counter. We dropped off our bags while they got the room ready. It seems like Zurich is one of those cities where most restaurants close between lunch and dinner and it was already the afternoon so our options to eat were a little limited. We ended up finding some donair lunch and boy does it seem like things will be expensive here. If those prices were in dollars instead of Swiss francs, they would be reasonable, but those francs are expensive!!

Back at the hotel, our room was ready. It was a big room but there’s shared shower and toilet facilities. Seems pretty good overall.

We headed out to a busier part of the city and took a little boat tour of the lake. The weather was clear and crisp and it was an enjoyable hour-long ride. There was lots of duck, gulls, swans, and other birds at the waterfront, so it was nice to take a break there and watch people feed them.

Stopped for some Japanese food before hitting up the bar below our room for a drink. The Japanese food was great, but it was almost 90 francs=$160CAD.

Day 10 – Zurich Tour

The morning of our last full day of the trip was a cool one. We stopped for a quick coffee before hopping on a tuk tuk tour through the city. It was a fun and educational tour. Our guide explained what all the buildings as we drove by, their history, and gave a lot of interesting facts as we travelled. He took us through some areas we otherwise wouldn’t have seen. I highly recommend it!

After that we stopped for some ramen at a nice restaurant where they make their own noodles (and you can watch it happen). We then proceeded to do the last of our souvenir shopping for this trip.

We went back out to look at a nice viewpoint by the university that was pointed out by the tour guide. It really was a nice view, looking down at the city and the lake. We wrapped things up by hitting a patio by the water for a beer, then trying some tasty Raclette, a dish with small potatoes and freshly melted cheese poured over top. It’s as tasty as it sounds.

Final Thoughts

That was the trip! It was smooth sailing on the way back home. This trip was full of all sorts of new experiences and packed with fun memories. To be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect and I didn’t look that closely into things beforehand so I was going in to most of it blind. Some things were a bit surprising or outside my expectations. Here were a few final impressions of each place.

Amsterdam impressions: The service was lousy in Amsterdam, the restaurants seemed understaffed and it always took forever to get a bill and pay. The food was also not very impressive, definitely not a foodie city and not that cheap either. There wasn’t much ‘Dutch’ food besides the bitterballen and the pancakes unless you really went looking for it, it was mostly Italian and other European foods. The hotel was very cramped, there were no windows, no lights in the shower, and it was up a bunch of narrow stairs. They also served Heineken at some restaurants in a 250ml cup! And that wasn’t cheap either. The area we were in seemed 100% dedicated to tourists, but it was a lot of cheap souvenir shops and cannabis stores and the likes everywhere. You have to watch out for bikes, there are so many bikers everywhere. On the plus side, the buildings and canals were beautiful, and the atmosphere of the city was really nice.

Munich impressions: This feels like a real city, not one which relies heavily on tourism. Not as crowded as Amsterdam (well, except Oktoberfest), and ran into more people that didn’t speak English, compared to the other cities. In my opinion, they had the best food, which was great because it was also the most affordable. Likewise, the beer was amazing and also very affordable. The difficulty of getting a beer in Oktoberfest was shocking, because I pictured it as beer everywhere, but unless you can get into a tent or beer garden, there isn’t really any to be had (and security won’t let you take any in). Was my favorite place on the trip.

Innsbruck impressions: The scenery is incredible. The food and drinks were very similar to in Germany, which is to say, very good. The mountains just keep going forever, and the vibes of the town were very nice. Going in blind, for some reason I figured it would be a smaller and more touristy place, a quaint mountain town type of thing. While there was definitely a little section that was mainly tourist focused, there was a lot of things going on outside that, which I was pleasantly surprised by. Also the best hotel room by far, very modern.

Zurich impressions: Infrastructure is crazy here, they have so much transit options. It was hard to understand the trains when we first arrived, like how to buy a ticket, scheduling, etc.. Every restaurant is very expensive and they are only open for short windows for lunch or dinner, for the most part, except fast food. Beautiful city and the mix of lake and mountain is hard to beat.

Other impressions: The trains are nice but frequently late. City trains and busses seem like an honor system, never got checked for a ticket, which was a big surprise. Not being expected to tip everywhere was really nice.

And that’s it for the trip. We’re already planning on going back to Japan in the spring so look forward to the next one!