Day 11: Paris, FranceMore shopping today...yeah! We also went to Versailles Garden and Castle as well as Louvre Museum. It was such an exhausting day with so much sightseeing and shopping...but all worth the sweat!
Day 12: Brugge, Brussels, Waterloo-Belgium
Needless to say, we had Belgium waffles and bought lots of chocolates today! They were also doing some beer promotion in Brugge, so we had free beer! But then, everyone enjoyed so much of the drinks that we all had a difficult time not stopping the tour bus to go to the washroom.
Of course, we also had our historical and educational moments when we visited the battlefield and site where Napoleon battled Wellington. Finally, we wrapped up our day having dinner in Belgium's Chinatown but it was very strange because their Chinatown was not Chinese at all. Instead, it was more of a multicultural gathering of restaurants and convenient stores.
Day 13: Amsterdam, Holland
I didn't realize that Holland was famous for making wooden shoes until we visited their shoe factory today. And of course, we ate and bought some Holland cheese too. (However, this would lead to a highly worrisome story to come on Day 15.) We also visited the well-known red light district of Amsterdam...but of course...as predicted...we weren't allowed to take photos.
Upon sightseeing here, I learned that Amsterdam houses have the most narrow doors because their taxes used to be determined by the width of their front door! So of course everyone made their doors as narrow as possible and then cleverly made a hook near the roof and top window of each house, so furniture can get in. However, because most of their houses were built on water, they aren't very stable, and are now all beginning to tilt. I was also surprised at the biking culture here...they even have a multilevelled parking lot just for bike parking!
Day 14: Amsterdam ~London, England
We caught a morning flight from Amsterdam to London via British Airways (one of the best airlines I dare say). We then experienced a whirlwind of sightseeing from the British Museum (Honestly, it reminds me of a junkyard and is
nowhere near a match to the quality of items from Louvre.) to London Bridge, to London Tower Bridge to Trafalgar Square, to Westminster Abbey, to Thames River, and finally Queen Elizabeth's Palace. I felt that we were a bit rushed in London but I guess it was too expensive to spend longer than a day in London for this tour?!?Day 15: London~Toronto~Vancouver (Home)
We ended our tour on a nice finish at Windsor Castle, where there were lots to see and hear with the audio tour assistance but at the London airport was where the nightmare began.
It happens that I bought several expensive items at Swarovski and LV, so I had to do a tax refund at the airport. Well, after having lined up for 30 minutes at the typical tax refund line, I learned that one of my items was too expensive to have tax refunded there, so I had to line up again somewhere else after I've checked in! By this time, I was already worried because it was cutting close to our flight time. Then, we coincidentally learn that our flight was delayed for 3 hours! This would've been okay except the fact that this would mean we would miss our connecting flight in Toronto and may not be able to go home the same night.
Anyway, nothing we can do, so after the long check-in line up plus another tax refund line up, we can finally sit and rest at a nice restaurant courtesy of our food vouchers for a delayed flight. I was excited to see lemonade on the menu because I was hot and thirsty by this time and a lemonade would be just so soothing. When it arrived however, it was lemon soda, so we told the waiter it was wrong, please make it again...we witnessed from afar that it actually took 3 waiters together to make lemonade #2...when it finally arrived 10 minutes later...it was still the same thing!!! But to prevent thirst to death and poisonous substances from the 3 waiters having to make it again, I just took what they gave.
After a satisfying snack and not so satisfying drink, we proceeded to customs to check in, so we can do some shopping inside the terminal. Well, wrong choice! Because we were made to stand in the customs line along with everyone else, not even allowed to go to the washroom for 40 minutes due to some sudden security measure! When we were finally allowed through, nearly peeing in our pants, we thought we could finally relax and do some last minute shopping but no! Security alert!!! EVACUATION!!! So we were evacuated and cramped into a small terminal. All the stores were gated shut and nobody was allowed to go any where for another 30 minutes! But afterwards, no airport security or rep came on the P.A. to explain the situation...everything appeared normal again. Is this suppose to be typical?!?
When we finally arrived in Toronto after a long flight, we had to run to the Air Canada transfer flight check-in counter in hopes of spare seats on the last and only flight back to Vancouver for the night otherwise we would have to pay for Toronto hotel at our own expense. Because many people were in the same boat, it was a race for seats!!! I felt like we were trying to escape from war or something! Luckily, we got seats and were safe to fly home the same night.
After a long and 'adventurous' 20 something hours of flying, panic, and running, we finally arrived at YVR airport, but then my newest worry just began. Upon filling in the customs form to declare for tax purposes, it occurred to me that I should've kept my Holland cheese in my carry-on so I can show the customs officer that it's permitted (some Holland cheese are not permitted) but I'd forgotten to do so and it was in my large luggage. This meant I might be retained just so I can show them the damn cheese! So that worried me through the entire line up to a customs officer...luckily, I encountered a very friendly one that didn't ask to see it...phew!
Finally, I was home.
I should've taken a picture of the unforgettable cheese but I'm regrettable to say that by the time I got around to writing this post...it had already been ingested completely...
