Walk and Tram about in Amsterdam

Amstel Canal

Flowermarket

Had a great night sleep, which was good because what a day!  We began by hiking down to the floating flowermarket which took your breath away with the array of flowers and bulbs available.  There was even a beginner's cannabis kit that one could purchase.  Though tulips, lovely in their own right, have never been a favorite of mine, but there are many other bulbs that are available including calla lillies and crocus.   In amongst the flower market we stopped for breakfast where Rick had a Dutch pancake which is just a huge flat thin pancake that was more doughy and less cakey.  It was served with powdered sugar and molasses.  I helped him finish that off.

Dutch Breakfast

We then hiked on down to the museum district, dodging trams and bicyclists along the way, to check out the Van Gogh Museum.  There are many museums in this area including Hollands premier Rijksmuseum which contains over 7 million works of art.  Museums like that just overwhelm me and I prefer the niche museums which focus on one topic or artist.  The Van Gogh museum was excellent.  For those casually interested in the topic, like myself, one can work through the museum in a couple of hours.  It was well organized and led the visitor through his life and the evolution of his art.  It place his work in historical, cultural, and emotional context which lead to a comprehensive understanding of the artist and his work.  Van Gogh's effort to reach moments of transcendence through his work appealed to me and, I think Rick, particularly given Rick's work in photography.  Both Rick and I are glad that we took the time to visit the museum.

Afterwards we set off to figure out the public transportation which consists of buses, metro, and trams.  It turns out to be pretty easy but only after you figure it out.  To the first-time user it can be pretty darn confusing.  We decided to just hop on a tram that we knew was going to Centraal Station.  As it turned out we could purchase a ticket directly from the conductor which allows us to travel on any bus, metro, or tram for an hour.  When we got to the Centraal Station, we hopped around amongst the many information offices until we found the GVB (don't know what it stands for) which administers the metro, bus, and tram.  There we found a map for 2.50 Euros which showed all the routes and stops.  Then we went to another office where we learned that we could purchase a 48 hour pass which would allow us to travel on all three of these forms of transportation for 11.50 Euros each.  Perfect.  So we picked two of these up and we have been public-transportation-using fools ever since.

A tired me at 1st Class Cafe

The "Python" Pedestrian Bridge

Since we were at the Centraal Station we decided to have lunch at the recommended First Class Cafe which was indeed first class.  Rick had the burger and I the quiche and I learned that bathroom in Dutch is "toiletten".  We then headed off to eastern Amsterdam, using Tram 26, to the constructed spits of Sporenburg and Borneo where there was suppose to be some interesting architecture. 

Interesting single-housing architecture

Wow!  The transportation and building architecture here was all carefully designed to work together in order to great a huge modern art canvas.  The two pedestrian bridges connecting the spits were a photographers dream and Rick and I spent a couple of hours photographing these subjects.  Some of the buildings, given names like pacman and the whale, also were photographically interesting.  Personally, I'm not quite sure what the overall objective of the architects and land use planners was here, I just don't know enough to appreciate their efforts.  But nevertheless, it has peaked my interest in the field and I plan to try to learn more about this area.  It good to get out of central Amsterdam into slightly more wide open spaces and obtain a realistic view of how people live.

We then headed back to Centraal Station, where, for 50 cents each, we used the bathrooms.  You know, I've decided that if paying a few cents keeps the bathroom this neat and clean then I'm all for it.  We decided to walk around for a bit heading in the direction of Dam Square.  On the way, we passed the sex museum and the torture museum.  I like my niche museums but frankly this was a little much.  Dam Square is the site of the Dam on the Amstel River around which the city grew.  I saw no evidence of the dam itself for the Dam Square is now like any other town square comprised of an open plaza surrounded by shops and government buildings.  We were a little disappointed in the area given that the main feature, the Koninklijk Palace was completed covered by scaffolding and protective cover.  We were amused to discover during our walks the presence of "Smart Shops" which sell a host of substances, illegal in the states, including many varieties of mushrooms. We wondered about the origin of the name "Smart". No, we did not purchase any.

We eventually wandered back to our B&B to be greeted our energetic proprietor inquiring as to whether we are enjoying ourselves. "Absolutely" we replied and the then said that he would like to offer us a bottle of wine, white, rose, or red? Of course red which he promptly brought up to us, a Chilean merlot. We invited him to join us but, perhaps, his English was not good enough (though it is leaps and bounds ahead of our Dutch) because he said yes, sure, and then left.

Amsterdam at Twilight

We unwound for a bit and then went out on walkabout before dinner, sightseeing, before ending up at a Country French Restaurant across the street from the Indian restaurant we visited the night before. The meal was >sigh< delcious, me a halibut in a white wine sauce that I could have had by itself, perhaps with a loaf of bread for sopping. Rick had a beef filet in a brandy cream sauce. We sipped on a nice French burgundy. But desert, oh, desert was divine. I ordered the cheese and port plate, where I received five types of cheeses and three ports. Bert, our informative waiter described the ports to me a young ruby and a young tawny and a 10-yr old tawny, and how they are made. The ports with the blue, camembert, and brie cheeses was a dreamy combination. Rick had ordered a nougat parfait, and Bert couldn't bear to seem him without a drink (the wine was all gone) with me surrounded by port, so Bert brought Rick a glass of muscat.

We made our way home in the rain (it has been raining off and on since we arrived) and collapsed into bed at around 11:30. It was a long but fantistic day.

Amsterdam - 9-15 to 16-2010

The Brown Bldg is our B&B

It was a little under a 3-hour ride to Amsterdam and we got in around 5:30.  It was chaotic in the train station and the 17-yr old at the tourism desk was, well, not the most useful in assisting us in finding our way to the bed and breakfast, so, with the imminent threat of rain, we elected to use a cab rather than public transport.  Not a good sign when your cab driver has no clue about the address you give him.  We did eventually make it through the maze of canals to the Amstel Canal Bed and Breakfast, though the accommodations themselves were not clearly marked so I had to get out and look at the addresses in the mailbox slots, and, sure enough, there was Amstel Canal House.  We ended up paying twice what we should have for the taxi fare and vowed to try to use public transport next time . . . though with the luggage it can be pretty challenging.

Narrow staircase!

Ken, the Chinese proprietor of Amstel Canal House, ENTHUSIASTICALLY greeted us and galloped down the hall with our luggage and hauled it up this most remarkable narrow,STEEP, spiralling, staircase that is about 24 inches wide.  The tourbooks warned us about this.  The books also warned us about quaint little bed and breakfasts right on the canals that end up being above or next to bars or clubs.  This B&B is certainly quaint and right on the canal, but the gods looked kindly upon us and ensured that we were in a nice quiet residential area, excepting for the occasional drunken group making their way home from the bars.  Amsterdam is definitely a City that lives for the night.

See the canal outside?

Our lovely room

Our room is large and spacious with a queen bed (score) that looks right out on the Amstel Canal.  Ken, an artist, is very proud of his establishment (as he should be) and showed us our suite of rooms including the bedroom, a sitting room and a bathroom. The bathroom is very small and you could pee, shower, and brush you teeth at the same time, but it is clean, neat and the tile floors are heated.   The only slight gliche in the room is that Ken, having only two rooms to let, does not take credit cards.  He also expressed a preference for the cash up front (hmmm) but easily conceded that we pay half now and half when we leave.

Canal at night

We settled in and then took off for a stroll in the rain looking for a Indian restaurant, which we found quite easily, and had a very good meal of chicken tikka and curry.   As the guidebooks warn, look out for the bicyclists for they really do have the right-of-way here.  Usually though they are very polite and ring their bells in warning.  Yes these are the bells that we girls had on our bikes when we were seven and even the manliest of men here in Amsterdam have hem and use them.

Zuiderkerk Chuch

We strolled around a little more and then stopped at a local grocery store for a bottle of port and chocolate and then headed off to wind down the evening in our lovely digs.  We have a lot planned for our visit here, so there probably won't be anymore posts until we get to Berlin on Saturday and I can use the 6-hour train ride to edit my photos and write the narrative.  Cheers!

Brussels - 9-14 to 15-2010

Tuesday morning we set off for the coastal resort town of Knokke to the east of Wenduine to see another piece of Belgium and do a little shopping.  Because of the weak dollar against the Euro, combined with the European 19.7% tax on goods (you can get this back on amounts of 126 Euros or more) nothing in any of the countries is inexpensive so we restricted ourselves to a breakfast and a thank you gift for Geert's parents.  Not that we weren't tempted.  Those of you who know me know that I am not a clothes-hound.  However, the clothes in the Belgium fashion districts are beautiful.  There were quite a few pairs of boots that looked quite appealing but the $300 price tag was just too much for me to stomach.

We then headed back to the apartment to get ready for Geert who was going to pick us up and take us to Brussels for the night.  However, first we stopped at a convenience store selling internet access and Rick quickly checked for the Steeler's score, happily discovering that they won in overtime.

European Union HQ

Geert showed up around 2:30 pm and we took off to check out Europe's financial center of Brussels (second to London ).  Waiting to pick up Misty after her work day ended, Geert took us on a quick tour showing us some highlights of the city including the Royal Palace, residence of the king (Belgium is a constitutional monarch), a number of churches, Brussels' equivalent of embassy row, Justice Hall, the Ministry of Defense (and we even saw the defense minister himself), ending at a bar just across from the headquarters of the European Union.  So Brussels is the headquarters of the European Union.  Did not know that.

Rick and Beer

Town Hall in Grand Square

I had a taste of Belgian beer, Stella and Leffe, both of which I liked but not as much as wine.  We met up with Misty, and Geert whisked us off to the Grand Market which contains the Town Hall and the House of the King.  It is truly a stunning area, especially when lit up at night.  Hard to believe that this is the "pit" of Europe as some call Brussels.  We then had a dinner of tapas, beer, sangria, and great Flaminco guitar.

Then it was back to our hotel, the Hilton Conrad, which is remarkably plush for just using Rick's accrued travel points to secure the room.   We luxuriated in the king bed, having been in doubles so far.  It was a little over the top in some ways (carrera marble bathroom, turn down service complete with a $10 bottle of water and slippers) but we definitely appreciated the space . . . and the wireless access.

Royal Palace

Old Town Brussels

Brussels seems more cosmopolitan than Paris because there is an astounding array of languages being spoken on the street.   Geert, in some ways, is a microcosm of Brussels, for, while conducting business over the phone, he can switch from Flemmish, to French, to English in a heartbeat.  You never know what you are going to hear or encounter.  Also, Old Town definitely has the old world feel much like Brugge, with narrow cobblestone streets, colorful housing facades, and box flowers.  Brussels does feel a bit grungier than Paris with seedier bars and establishments that I would take pains to avoid.  However, this might just depend on where I have spent my time in the two cities, so it is not a fair comparison.

On Wednesday morning, I did some sorely needed updating of the blog from the Hilton's business center.  Call me cheap but to access the wireless from our room at 25 Euros seemed  a little outrageous so in my pjs and slippers I hung out with the German, French, and English businessmen instead (not really).

St. Hubert Royal Galleries

Flower-boxes of Grand Market

We then headed down the Waterloo Blvd know as the fashion district resplendent  with Armani, Louis Vitton, and a host of other design stores as we made our way back to the Grand Market again which was well worth a second look.  We also checked out the beautiful St. Hubert Royal Galleries.  Curious how today it seemed as though everywhere we went, everyone spoke only French.  Then we headed on back to the hotel, checked out, and headed to Brussels Central Station to take a train to Amsterdam.   Much to our taxidriver's frustration, we incorrectly told him to take us to the Midi train station which actually refers to Brussels' South Train Station.  I thought it was an understandable error, wouldn't most people think of "midi" as "mid" or "center"?  Well the taxi driver, neat and tidy in his suit jacket and tie was not understanding and very annoyed at having to change directions in mid-trip.  Not sure why.  It wasn't as though we weren't going to pay him.

Anyway he got us there safe and sound and we managed to get on the correct train (not as easy as one might think), in the correct car and in the correct seats.  Score.

Belgian Chocolates in Royal Galleries

I'm beginning to get the hang of the Eurail Pass.  It seems to be that the general rule of thumb is that if you don't take the high speed rails (ICE), you can hop on anywhere at any time.  No need to stand in line and purchase tickets.  Just go straight to the correct, I repeat correct, platform.  There is a spot on the pass where you fill in the date, time, train number and start and stop locations, that is verified by the conductor in the form of a stamp.  You can do this up to the number of travel days and traveled countries that you purchased with the pass.  We purchased, for each of us, five travel days for four travel countries (Belgium and Netherlands is considered one country).  There are five date slots on our passes and once those are filled in, we are done using the pass.  Hope I get to keep the pass as a souvenir.

Brugges - 9-13-2010

On the Way to Brugges

OK, the apple beignets at 9:00 in the evening was a bad idea, but at least my lack of sleep allowed me the time to catch up with the blog.  Will need to wait until I'm in Brussels tomorrow to post the dailies.

Back Alleys of Brugges

Fortunately the rough night was not an harbinger of things to come.  Geert and Misty had to head back to Oodenarde for work so, upon Geert's recommendation, we took public transportation to the town of Brugges, about 10 miles south of Weindune. We took the local tram into Blankenberge and then from there a train to Brugges.  It was a breeze though I was taken by surprise at having to pay for the privelege of using the bathroom . . . and observe men using the urinals.  As it turns out, the washroom are coed and only the toilets are segregated . . . though if there is no door separating the rooms the men at the urinals are generally on display, NOT that I was looking very hard.

Canals of Brugges

Brugges is picturesque town that sits inland about 15 kilometers.  Much of the architecture of the town dates back tot he 14th, 15th and 16th, centuries.  Meandering through the Town are a number of canals, home of quite a few elegant swans that lend to the fairy tale feel of this town.  Though once upon a time in the 9th century this Town was a seaport for the Vikings, this identity was shortlived as the North Sea receded.

Architecture of Brugges

After that the town's economy over the centuries relied on trade in wool and cloth production.  When the industrial revolution occurred putting about half of the population out of work, the production of hand-made lace became the bread-winning activity.  Brugges now thrives on tourism as this has been called one of the most picturesque towns in Europe and because this Town is known as the capital of Belgian chocolate and arguably the chocolate capital of the world.  I wonder if anyone told Hershey this?

Chocolate Museum

This small town has 49 chocolatiers, a chocolate festival, and a chocolate museum which we did visit.  No we did not enter the Louvre or any of the other phenomenal French museums, frankly it was overwhelming, but by gosh we were going to visit the Chocolate museum.  Did you know that it was hot chocolate that generated the creation of the saucer to hold the cup, not tea or coffee?  The highlight was watching a patisserie chef make dark chocolate molds filled with praline (ground up hazlenuts, sugar, and butter).  We got to sample them at the end of the demonstration and even Rick, who is not a fan of nuts, regrettably ate his entire sample.  I picked up some chocolates made in Brugges from the chocalatier, Dumon, and the proprietor informed us that her chocolates came recommended by Rick Steves, the travel guide and proudly showed us the article.  That was good enough for us.

It is very hard to decribe in words just how lovely Brugges is . . . so there are plenty of pictures.  It is everything one might imagine an old style European town to be, cobblestone streets, flower boxes, buildings of brick and stone facades by lively colored trim, open air plazas, and lots of cafes, restaurants, and shops.  The main part of town is relatively small and we were able to walk the entire area in our daylong visit.

At Geert's recommendation, we ate lunch at Le Pain Quotidien in Brugges which was an amazing find.  In a country of filled with gastronomic delights containing potatoes, butter, bread, butter, waffles, butter, and cheese (and butter) this restaurant or maybe rather, teashop, bucked the trend, and served fresh vegetables and fruits as well as salads that don't contain meat or cheese.  We're not vegetarian but both Rick and I have been craving fresh produce.  Anyway, I ordered a Tartine (open-face sandwich) with heavy brown bread, a sun-dried tomato "fois gras," grilled vegetables, arugula and shaved reggiano parmesan.  It was so good, I was almost in tears.  The meal was accompanied by mint lemonade and Rick had a tartine with grilled chicken and veggies, and an herb spread.  We spent 2 hours savoring this food and then were ready to walk the rest of Brugges.

A little more photography and shopping and then we were on our way home.  We took a short rest and then walked the beach and ended up at another restaurant along the beach for dinner where I had the fish of the day, sole, Rick had a steak and we shared a fine bottle of wine out on the boardwalk, next to the beach. We ended the evening with 20-yr tawny port and our Dumond chocolates, watching on TV the documentary "British Underground" trying to learn Flemmish from the subtitles. 

Au Revoir Paris, Hallo Belgium - 9-12-2010

Smug Me on the Metro

Decided to take advantage of the laundromat across the street, and do laundry this morning.  There were a few other English-speaking tourists (Brits and Australians) in there at the early hour so fortunately I didn't have to puzzle out the directions and run the risk of shrinking Rick's shirts . . . again.  Then off to breakfast for a carmelized onion and potato omelette served by a waiter who saw it as his duty to ensure that I correctly pronounced my meal. :-)

Geert at the Louve

With four days of Parisian experience under our belt, we were, of course, fully

Misty at the Louve

qualified to play tourguide and took Misty and Geert to see the Louve and the Arch de Triumph.  We 've got the Metro down cold.  The challenge arises once you get off the metro and try to figure out where you are in relationship to where you want to go.  We ask for directions a couple of times (Geert fortunately speaks fluent French) and we told at least once (in French) "Why do you make this so difficult?  Of course you can see you proceed ahead and and turn right at Rue de Rivoli."  We just prostrated ourselves and apologized for being idiots.

Me and ? at the Louvre

After the morning tour we stopped back at a cafe for wine and coffee and then moved onto a Japanese restaurant for a meal of miso, salad, sushi, tempura, and edamame.  We were, as always, sitting at a table along the sidewalk and weren't reallying thinking about the risks of sidewalk dining, until an elderly Frenchman in short pants, while walking past our table, upchucked next to our table and then without missing a beat, continued on without a second glance.  We relocated to another table.  Aside from that, the meal went well except for the fact that the wait and cooking staff kept leaving the restaurant, our order for edamame seemed to keep getting lost, and we didn't get some of the food that we had ordered or we got food that we hadn't ordered.  I just chalk it up to the gods punishing us for eating something other than Fench food while in Paris :-)  Time to move on to Belgium for some mussels and pommes frites (fries).

Hand of God at the Louvre

The author of our guidebook says that you have to be nuts to drive in Paris and we agree.  Fortunately Geert, a Belgian native, is a wee bit nuts :-) and he efficiently and safely manuvered us out of the city and on our way to the very tiny town of Weindune on the North Sea Belgian coast where Geert's parents have a condo that they graciously offered for our use.  For you cyclist fans, we followed Lance Armstrong's Radioshack for a short distance before Geert left them in the dust.

Lovely Flower Boxes

The Belgian countryside near the coast is as flat as a pancake and very unlike Oregon topography, which has the coastal mountains heading directly into the ocean, hence the waterfalls.  You feel yourself to be in the midst of a far large seaside coastal floodplain.  Clearly there is an import/export business at the nearby ports, but it seems as though agriculture is the primary economy here It took about 3 hours to get to our destination (it would have been 4 if we had followed the speed limit) and so we got in around 8:00, went to beachside restaurant where we were served dinner of Belgian comfort food by quite the perky waitress and finished with a delicious dessert of apple beignets which are slices of apple rings, dipped in batter, deep-fat fried and then topped with powdered and brown sugar, served hot.  Belgian health food, I say.

Meet You in Paris - 9-11-10

Luxemborg - Home of the French Senate

Our final full day in Paris started with a stroll through the Luxemborg Gardens, now home of the French Senate.  A little formal for our tastes but the plantings were nonetheless beautiful.

Then a one-hour orientation cruise on the Seine. The cruise took us up past the Eiffel Tower and then turned around and headed east past City Island, home of Notre Dame, and St Louis Island until turning around once more to dock at Pont Neuf (New Bridge - actually it is the oldest of the 37 bridges in Paris).

A View of a Few of the 37 Bridges of Paris

The Tower and the Alex III Bridge

This brought us to around lunchtime at which point we were suppose to meet our friends, Misty and Geert, who were going to stay the night in Paris and then take us up to the Belgian seaside the following day.  Due to traffic (no big surprise, Paris traffic is wretched), they were delayed, so we picked up a sandwich and had a picnic in the park.  We have been told that this is a very Parsienne thing to do, especially on such a lovely day.  Geert and Misty got in around 1:00 so we proceeded to a bistro and snacked while they had lunch.

Notre Dame from the Seine

Because Misty has never been to Paris before we decided to take the river cruise again and then back to the hotel for a shower and off to a wine bar for wine and a dinner of meats, cheeses, and bruschetta.  While the boys wanted gelato for dessert, we girls opted for bloody mary's at a local bar where the friendly locals purchased us shots of some locally made liquor that is aqua blue in color, the taste of which Rick equated with "Lysol".  We limited the shots to one each (my first shot ever :-)), thanked our hosts, and were soon off to bed.

A Leisurely Day - 9-10-10

Cafe

A more leisurely day today.  Got up later than normal (7:30) and decided to go check out one of the open air markets.  We strolled up to a nearby café and grabbed a coffee and people-watched for a while.  There is no such thing as coffee here.  The closest equivalent seems to be cafe which is in small amounts and very strong.   I imagine you could order an Americano (espresso with water) but language-wise that seems like too much work.  I wonder if Starbucks has the same menu as back home? 

It is helpful to understand that Paris is made up of 20 municipal districts call arrondissements.  They are numbered 1 through 20 and start at the center of Paris and spiral out like a snailshell.  The Eiffel Tower is in the 7th arrondissement and the Arch de Triumph is in the 8th.  Each arrondissement has its own character.   The 5th arrondissement, where we are staying, is considered the Latin or intellectual quarter, contains many universities and is very  multicultural. We have three Indian restaurants and seven sushi shops on our street alone.   It is also considered one of the oldest parts of Paris with lots of old buildings, small back alleys, and little shops and cafes.   It is also a popular place for tourists and a great place for first-time visitors such as myself with little to no French-speaking capabilities.  Many of the proprietors speak multiple languages, but you can also find places where only French is spoken.

Pantheon

St. Etienne du Mont

The open air market we went to visit is in the 5th arrondissement, so nearby. On the way Ricked purchased for me a souvenir of a beautiful silk scarf.  Then we stopped at at the pantheon which houses a “reconstitution” of Foucault’s Pendulum, which (I had to look this up) was conceived by Foucault to demonstrate the rotation of the earth.  We also stopped at the church, St. Etienne du Mont, in place since 531 AD though it has been modified and added to substantially since then.

Fresh Seafood

Open Air Market

The open air market was just getting started when we arrived at around 11:00 am.  It is colorful and full of delightful smells and sites and things to purchase.  The cheese and meat stalls alone had us transfixed.  Of course there were a considerable number of  bistros and we took our lunch at one, Bistro Gourmand, where I had Quiche Lorraine and a salad and Rick had vegetable soup and herb roasted chicken.  We shared  a bottle of rose, and I finally learned how to ask for a carafe of tap water which is free compared to the 10 dollar mineral water that you would get otherwise.

Take a Drink at the Wine Bar

Botanical Garden

Dinner

 

We then wandered over to the Botanical Garden which houses the zoo and the museum of natural history.  Then back for a quick catnap and shower and then we walked four doors down to a lovely little wine bar with just  three outside tables.  There, the proprieter, Eve (a man), introduced us to some French wines and we had a good chat with him about his hometown of Lyon and his getaway on the Island of Corsica.  His friend, Azouz, stopped by and we learned that he was the Minister of Equality under Jacque Chirac so we had some good political discussions.  Then, like good Parisians, it was off to dinner at 8:00 pm at an Italian bistro for some simple pasta (the butter and mayonnaise in the French cooking is killing my cholesterol; no wonder the French drink so much red wine!) where we again sat at a table on the sidewalk and watched the nightlife, and then down the street for some gelato and observed masseuses giving massages in the town square.  Anything goes.