woke up in The Hague, applied for Brazil visas in Rotterdam and dined in Amsterdam

29 to 30 November 2004

On the 100th day of our trip, we did a whole lot. We woke up from our room in The Hague. Then we went to the Brazilian consulate in Rotterdam. And later,
we had dinner in Amsterdam. And in-between, we even arranged for our flight
to London and Sao Paulo at the Schiphol Airport. All with the help of the comfortable Netherlands train system. And our faithful Eurail pass.

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After checking into our room in The Hague, we went to Amsterdam hoping to find something cheaper and better. But unsuccessfully.

The 100th day!

The Hague to Rotterdam to Schiphol to Amsterdam to The Hague.
What a long day!

I took this postcard from the Brazilian Consulate in Rotterdam.

Our Eurail Pass usage chart. It’s only half being shown here.

End of book one.

tasty fries and some things nice in Belgium

27 to 28 November 2004

The fries. The peeing boy. The prono channel. The crowds of tourists.
The dog shits. The comics. The rain. My memory of Brussels and Bruges.

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I can’t imagine the hordes of tourist that flocked here to see the tiny peeing boy stature. Actually, I can. I was here too.

It was raining the entire day. That’s why I had to take pictures of these beautiful houses and draw them later in the dryness of our room.

weather: showers of confetti expected in Bern

22 to 26 November 2004

The showers of confetti was caused by the Onion Market Festival in Bern.
Almost everyone from young to old threw confetti at each other, even at
strangers like us… especially at strangers like us.

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These were some of the confetti I found on my hair and clothes
after the confetti attacks.

Swiss stamps.

In Paris, we stayed in this dingy hotel in the seedy part of the city.
But it was way cheaper than the ones the rude Paris Tourism Office staff had suggested.

Sad again. I so wanted to go climbing in Fontainebleau. So close,
yet… so far… sigh. That’s why I cut out these articles from some Paris guides, leaflets and brochures. I’ll just have to keep on dreaming about having a climbing trip in Fontainebleau.

swiss november, white november

21 November 2004

On the way to Bern, we passed areas that were covered with white patches.
I guess it was snow. And had it confirmed when someone told us that there
was a freak snow storm the night before. I so wish we had reached just
one night earlier.

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I didn’t draw this snow scene from the train.
It was done in our hostel room by memory.

how do you say ’strike’ in french?

17 to 20 November 2004

I don’t know… I don’t speak French. Anyway, the temperature in Lisbon was so comfortable. And no rain too. But San Sebastian was the opposite. Impossibly cold and constantly wet. We seem to be going in and out of good weather. Then we encountered our second strike in Europe. That caused us to make a big detour on our train ride from San Sebastian to Bern.

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Day 87. My simple sketch of Lisbon from the castle.

We spent almost four hours at the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum.
Outside. Just walking around. Snapping more than 300 photos,
and sketching this architecture masterpiece.

We encountered our second strike in Europe.
This time it was the trains in France.