Antwerp, Belgium - What an awesome journey so far (!)

Hey there, I'm gonna miss my Sparta :(

It has been a long and interesting journey! 

So, some few more days have passed and I've something more to tell, to keep you posted. 

So, we've been having fun in here, nice places, cities, awesome people I've met in here. It was sad to have so say goodbye to some of them already, it's always sad to leave and know we might never see each other again as we're quite frankly disperse in the world. However, I hope to keep in touch with the ones that touched me the most, and to someday meet them again. Nothing is impossible and the world is not that big!

Yesterday I started another trip to Belgium, I decided to visit Antwerp as I was told the city was super nice and one of the best of Belgium, I also visited a friend there. The city is in fact beautiful and has a kind of ancient look. I enjoyed it a lot, we had fun! 

I'm sad I'll have to leave the people I've met, it's super sad just to think about that, I don't want the 16th to arrive :(

Let's start the photographic report then! :

                  This was the view from the goodbye party, on the 32th floor. Nice ;)

 It did rain hail one day, we heard also that it snowed super super lightly this day for some few mins but I didn't have a chance to see it ahah.

Here we have MarktHall on the right (the so famous and modern new Rotterdam market). I also decided to do a portuguese dish as I was "thirsty" for something like this, our "Francesinha", it was super tasty hehe:

 This is the view I have near my house, one canal:

A kind of church here in Rotterdam

NOW ANTWERP (!):

So, this is the Rotterdam Central station - my trip was going to begin (!):

Here in the Central Station there are lots of these cute birds, like portuguese sparrows, I love them but they seem to be a plague in here!

Now I had already arrived to Antwerp!:

Antwerp is the world's most beautiful train station and I confirmed why! Let's check:

This is the outside of Antwerp Central Station

 Awesome, right!? 

Yeah but let's see what Antwerp has to offer in terms of street views and monuments:

 Huge "Cathedral Of Our Lady":

 This is a square called Groenplaats and it's quite big!

 Modern art museum:

 I like this picture a lot:

 It was getting dark and cold by the time:

 This is another museum:

 I had the opportunity to try the Antwerp tram (much older than dutch ones but I'd say it's similar as portuguese trams):

 This is the Palace of Justice:

 And it was dark now, in this square there were fire sources so that people get around and have a chat while warming up, quite nice!

At night we went to drink some tasty Belgian beers at a pretty cool bar (you can't see tho):

I started my return trip to Rotterdam with this awesome Belgian waffle! 

That's it, here you had the report of my last days, I hope you've enjoyed! See you soon, in a few days. My journey is ending, I'm a bit sad about it as I said previously.

Bye, Francisco

Amsterdam, finally !!! Sadly, the end of this journey is near

Hee!

Ok, I think that more or less one month has passed since my last post and so many things have happened since then! Ufff!
To start with, let me stress that I am very sad to leave this country in exactly 16 days, it's a shame it is already ending, but still I will try to get the most of the time I still have in here! I'll miss this country and culture.
Well, regarding the last month, I ended my classes in the beginning, had to struggle with 3 exams of Neuroeconomics, Organizational Behavior, and Methodology. I still have to do one last exam, OTD and hope to pass as I think I've passed with success to the other mentioned courses, let's see, I'll start studying Tuesday or Wednesday.
About the rest, well, I've been quite quiet in Rotterdam, didn't go to any other city or country, just had fun with friends and discovered a little bit more the city. Oh, It was Black Friday 2 days ago, on the 28th, so I decided not to miss the opportunity to renew my closet and didn't resist to buy some nice clothes, but it's secret still, I won't show that here, this is not a fashion blog hehe.
Ah, another thing, it is super cold in here now, almost negative temperatures the whole day, very very low and the sun is almost non existent so yeah... It will get better in Portugal ;)!
To finish this long text, yesterday I decided to go to Amsterdam and I enjoyed it a lot, the pictures are below, it is more or less about half of the pictures I have to show you today. So... let's get started!

Here I start showing you some pictures I took in a photography afternoon I gave myself here in Rotterdam, I hope you like it:

 It was night by now, and then I did some night photography:

More pictures follow and portrait my last month, let's get through it!

A nice view in a tricky day in Rotterdam:

 This, called "broas", came directly from my mum's - LOVED IT :)

 Take this nice view from the Erasmusbrug bridge:

 Seems like we're in Netherlands, huh? 

 The cubic houses again, from another point of view:

 Oh, that day (3 weeks ago) I decided my hair was too long so I took the risk and tried the dutch hairdressers' style, I think it wasn't bad :p No, honestly, the lady was nice and I enjoyed the haircut !

 This is my daily view on the way to university:

 And this is my campus, just a bit of it:

 Autumn showing up:

 My daily sight as well, enjoy:

I was in Amsterdam now. Had arrived to Amsterdam 5 mins ago and it was cold as hell! Actually I spent the whole day shaking, with my hands in my pockets because it was so but so cold outside, and I had to view the entire city. This is the Central Station, Amsterdam Central.

 The Central Station - front side

 PLAY ME: It was awesome to hear some regular persons showing their talent, I enjoyed it a lot their piano plays. 

This was a cheese shop, quite nice, and huge cheese!!!

 This is a square I forgot the name, sorry:

 Typical but so nice is this picturesque view, so many bikes and so classic streets and canals, love it: 

 Here alcohol is not allowed on the streets, 0%!:

 These are the oldest Amsterdam's houses, well preserved tho:

 A boat house, very peculiar! :

 Here I spotted the Homomonument, a monument representing the Past, Present and Future - in triangular shape, representing those three factors - and built to celebrate the deaths and the oppression that homosexuals faced in the World war and to currently support the LGBT community. 

 Funny thing: In the Netherlands there are lots of public toilets for men, it's just natural and interesting. It isn't common in Rotterdam, tho.

 I like this picture:

 This is the Vondelpark, a nice huge park in Amsterdam:

 If you ever wonder how I store my bike when I catch the train (I leave it in a storage) here is the answer:

This was in the end of the day, a view to a Dutch ship:

 And to finish the day I visited the Red Light and Moulin Rouge, only the street tho, eheh. It was interesting to see a very red, open, and relaxed environment:

It was the end of my trip to Amsterdam, now I had to head home and catch my train to Rotterdam again, it was a very nice day, quite cold though, I saw lots of interesting and typical things, famous places, and enjoyed a lot. I had to walk to much and so fast to be able to see everything before the night settled in that my feet and legs are hurting today!

Now I'll think in another city to visit, I might go to Belgium again as well, I still have to plan that, I'll keep you posted! 

I'll subscribe for today with a picture I took yesterday in Amsterdam:

See ya!