Amsterdam Brussels Paris

9 min readOct 28, 2019

My trip to the European Trio this summer.

It has been sometime and I have been meaning to chronical my journey with my wife to these three beautiful European cities. It was an interesting journey for me.

Our starting flight was from Bengaluru at around 4 PM on the 9th Of July 2019. We were both not feeling well that day and had to repeatedly go to the washroom to relieve ourselves. This was probably partly due to the excitement of going to a different country. As a prologue, we had booked the package using ThomasCook who had already taken around 2 lakh for travel, accomodation, breakfast and dinner. The visa process at the Bengaluru European centre was sort of ok without much hassle although Saionee was quite tensed about it if we were going to be given visas or not. Before the travel we had around 30 euros taken from the airport at 100 INR per euro as the airport was not willing to given us any less. Later we learned that our co travelers had a lot of cash as the agents urged them to have cash with them for any expenses. That was a mistake. You should have minimum cash with you when you are traveling to Europe.

In any case we had filter coffee for 279 INR from the Bengaluru Airport and soon our turn came to board the flight at GATE 4 if I remember correctly. It was an Etihad airlines flight and it took around 5 hours. Because of the fact that we were traveling west, we gained time and hence we reached Abu Dhabi airport at 6:30 AM. Both of us are a little bit sleep deprived. The next flight was at 8:40 AM so we had a little time to kill. We had to go through some checking even though we were not going through immigration. We had coffee for around 353 INR. If you are traveling to the white countries, you become acutely aware of the bias that is meted out to the non white people around the world.

We then boarded our next Etihad flight that would take us directly to Amsterdam. This was a long flight and was for around 8 hours. We reached Amsterdam at around 4 PM. Time difference between Abu DHabi and Amsterdam is around 3 hours. We boarded the bus that was fixed by Thomas Cook and there we met our guide Rohit Patil. We gave the 3 euro tip for each person for the 7 days = 42 euros for the 7 days to Rohit who would give it to the bus driver. There were 36 people in the whole group with around 50% young and 50% old people. We went to Amsterdam central, where we roamed for some time and then we boarded the bus to the hotel by 9 PM. We had dinner till 10 PM. It was still day light at that time and was just starting to get dark. Adjacent to the hotel was the DuiVentros bar and we had some beer for 6.5 Euros. Then we went back to the hotel room.

We had breakfast at the hotel at 9AM. The previous day (10th July) we had made friends with Sanjeev Shreshtha and Swati Singh, who are a Nepali couple. We thought they were from Assam or west bengal but they were actually a rich family from Lucknow. Sanjeev is a business man in Lucknow and he had studied in London and has a fake accent when talking to white people. Swati is a bureacrat from the ministry of external affairs. And then we met with 3 girls from Delhi who were studying to become doctors. Nikita and the other two people. We decided that we would not go with the other members of the group on the Holland trip but would travel alone to Amsterdam. After some running around we found a bus at 11 AM. Took 10 Euros to travel to the Tilburg station where we would get a train to AMsterdam central. From Tilburg to Amsterdam it tool 20 Euros for one person one way. Which means up down cost us 80 euros. In the middle we changed trains at Eindhoven.

We reached Amsterdam at 1:30 PM. First we bought a charger at DamSquare which cost us 4.50 Euros. We had some cheese egg omelete lunch for 10 Euros and 1 Euro for charging. Also bought lolipop for 4 Euros from a sex shop. Took tram to the Reijcht museum for 12 Euros. At time it was raining and hence bought umbrella for 10 Euros. Came back with tram, this was free. Bought chocolates for 2.25 Euros and biscuit for 5 Euros. Went to 9th street. After crossing 9th street, found a coffee shop, got 2 joints from there at 10 Euros and coffee for 4.5 Euros. Went back to the Souvenier shop and bought bong for 5 Euros. Went to Mango in Dam Square and bought bag for 10 Euros. Mou dress for 10 Euros, misti for 5 euros. Ate pizza for 5 Euros. Went to H&M but did not buy anything. Lastly it was getting laste hence tried calling everyone but could only get Nikita, found that she and her friends had already got back to the hotel. Could not reach Sanjeev, hence decided to come back alone. So went to the central ticket station and bought tickets for 40 Euros. This train would go to S’hertogenbosch, we would need to shift the paltform for Rosendaal that would take us to Tilburg. Bought the worst coffee at train for 2 Euros. At Tilburg, we took a bus to Strastreep for 8.25 Euros. The bus driver was kind and took us to the hotel where we luckily got dinner. Later we learned that Sanjeev and wife came with the last train and a police office was kind enough to help them out.

On 11th July we left Netherlands and crossed the border to Beligium on the bus. First stop was at Bruges. It was a waling tour. Bought chocolates for 15 Euros. At lunch had beer, wine, bread and sandwitch costing 21 Euros. Then again went to a walking tour in Ghent. Bought water for 3 Euros there. Lastly in Brussels had dinner at an Indian/Pakistani restaurant. Then went to the hotel at Best Western Brussels.

On 12 July, we came out of the hotel in the morning after breakfast. Came to the Brussels main square. There was waffle tasting for 3.5 Euros. Then bought chocolate for 3.70 Euros. Bought shawl and cap for 15 Euros. Bought overcoat for Saionee for 40 Euros. I also brought a tshirt for 5 Euros and stal for mom for 6 Euros. Lunch had pita and beer for 8 Euros. Took a chocolate packet for 10 Euros. Bought Espresso at Gas station on the journey to Paris for 3 Euros. Had dinner at Paris hotel welcome India. Went to Paris for a midnight stroll near the Eiffel tower, up down taxi took us 40 Euros. Once in the hotel took one day internet for 649 Euros. Also paid for the disneyland trip for 140 Euros as this was going to be the Bastille day for 14th July.

13th July was the Paris roaming day for us. We had the breakfast at the hotel. Came to bus with the bus going around the city. Near the Invalids had the tarte for 2.60 Euros. Then went to the Paris perfume shop. Ate lunch from McDonalds at 11.60 Euros. Took perfume from Pretemps at 20 Euros. Had Macaron at Eiffel tower for 3.2 Euros. Had to wait in the queue for Eiffel tower and then went to the EIffel tower view. Then we had the remaining tour and came back to the hotel.

On the 14th July, we decided that we would go to Disneyland as it was Bastille day in Paris. Started from hotel using the bus. Went to the Disneyland Park. First went to the science part. Took a ride for discovery land and star wars. The star wars was just taking pictures and the photos were horrible. Came out and went to a different section. But it was 1 PM by then and hence first had packed lunch. Then went to adventure land. In adventureland had the treasure hunt. The pirates of caribean ride was good. In fantasy land there was the boat ride. Then had train ride. Sat for some time and had an apple. Finally saw the great character parade. This parade happens at around 6 PM. All the famous disney movie characters were there. Went for window shopping towards the end. The prices in the shops were quite high. In the end lost our way while coming out and was lucky to find the bangalore couple who led us the way. Should have marked our starting point in the start. Then from disneyland went to have dinner at the Restaurant Bhojan. Then went to hotel to rest for the day.

On 15th the idea was that we will not waste the day, but roam the city and get some cruising done before we head over to the airport. The time that was decided was 6PM when we would meet with the rest of the people. With us were Sanjeev family as well. We checked out of the hotel at 10:30. Put the bags in the bus and booked an uber to go to the city. Going to the city with Uber cost 15 Euro after sharing with Sanjeev. We went first to the Louvre. Could not get inside Louvre as priority passes are expensive and hence took photos from the outside. Opposite to Louvre there were Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi shops which were selling items for cheap. So bought caps and bag + umbrella for 15 Euros. Then walked till Frogonard and bought scents for 28 Euros. Then within 500 mtrs went to Printemps and bought more fragrances for 8 Euros. Then had lunch at McDonalds for 11 Euros. Then came out and walked till Concorde square adjacent to the Reine. Took tuktuk ti go to Bateaux Moches as we had already booked the cruise for 28 Euros. The tuktuk cost us 20 which we divided with Sanjeev. Had the ride in the cruise for 1 hour. Came out at 4:30 PM. It was almost time to go back and join the group at Aeroville where the others were waiting. Took Uber to Aeroville for 25 Euros. At Aeroville bought some food for plane and wine costing 14 Euros. After immigration had some coffee to finish the remaining coins for 3 Euros. This was the end of the Europe trip.