Bruges/Brussels

Ten days in, and we've already experienced so much. We had to say goodbye to Jordan, whose adventure only went as far as Bruges; we had to say farewell to Ben and Mark, who were off in different directions on their own journeys; and of course, we had to say adieu to the charming city itself, which made a truly lasting impression on us all.

We climbed the hundreds of stairs to the top of the belfry in the main square and got one last magnificent panoramic look from above, then reluctantly returned to earth for one more round of mouth watering waffles from our favorite waffle stand.

We found a small, peaceful courtyard to eat in and visit a bit before finally parting ways. And just like that, it was just Joanie and me, trekking down the cobblestone streets of Bruges on to the train station toward Cologne.

But first, we had to stop for mussels in Brussels!

And although we only had a couple hours to spare for this pit stop, we were able to snap several photos of the bustling city center and all its grandeur.

Our traveling concluded for the day upon arriving in Cologne, where we were greeted by Conny, our host for the next three nights. It was very kind of her to let us stay with her, and a nice change of pace from all the hostels (particularly because we needed to do laundry!), though we did very much enjoy our hosteling experiences in each of the first four cities. And so we went directly back to Conny's and relaxed for the evening, enjoying dinner and drinks with her and her friend Boris. A fine finish to a day full of travel and transition.

Bruges: Day 2

If there was any doubt about the charm of Bruges, all that was erased on our second day. My day began with tea in the square, then waffles with Joanie and Jordan at a small stand on a side street off the main square, which had been recommended by the owner/receptionist at our hostel (who is originally from Bruges, so it stands to reason he'd know all the best spots). They were so amazingly delicious we pretty much just stood there in silence and scarffed them down. After that, we had pretty much fallen in love with this town. So the bike ride that followed was just icing on the cake...or waffle. Ben met up with us, and the four of us cycled for about an hour and a half, which was just about all we needed to circle the outer boundary of town and explore a good portion of the small cobblestone side-streets.

After our "best idea ever" (it really was the perfect way to see Bruges), we went to the most spectacular shop I've ever seen. The place was tiny, but packed from wall to wall and floor to ceiling with every kind of meat and cheese imaginable.

It smelled so good inside that you couldn't possibly leave without wanting to buy half the store--and eating the other half right then and there. The place was called Diksmuids Boterhuis, and the owner (Isabelle) was so nice and helpful--so long as we weren't touching her cheeses!

Finally, after mulling over our choices and with considerable help from Isabelle, we loaded our bags up with all sorts of sandwich ingredients and found a bench to picnic on.

Later on, we decided to hop on a canal cruise for a waterside perspective of Bruges. We learned several interesting things about the city from our informative captain, including that a piece of property on the canal would (in one example) cost 2.8€ million! I guess our newly formed dream of living in Bruges will have to wait quite a while longer.

Since one can never have enough chocolate while in Belgium, we poked our heads into yet another chocolate shop. Like several other shops, this one had some interesting things displayed in their storefront window--all made out of chocolate, of course.

The night was capped off by an awesome beer tasting at our hostel with a New Yorker named Kai (far left in the photo, always making a funny face for posterity), who has been living in Belgium for five years and was very knowledgeable and energetic about beer (my kinda guy). After sampling Duvel, Orval, Westmalle, Chimay, and Brugs, we each chose one beer to have our own bottle of and then proceeded to join Kai and his girlfriend on their previously scheduled pub crawl. Much drinking and merriment and friend-making ensued (our newest friend from the beer tasting and pub crawl was Mark, from SF), and we once again found ourselves getting to bed at a ridiculously late hour, yet still wishing it would never end and that sleep was optional.

Bruges: Day 1

We hit the road again, this time for Bruges. I think all the traveling and going out pretty much every night caught up with me because I started sniffling and my throat was a bit sore. Bought some lozenges and we all carried on!

Bruges is perhaps the most charming little big town I've seen in Europe (between this trip and my last). The cobblestone streets...

...the church towers...

..and bell towers...

...the chocolate shops and beer and waffles and outdoor restaurants...

...the canals...

...ahhh, Bruges!

Our hostel was charming too. We met some friendly people (Ben from northern England, Tara and Ceren from Wales) who were ready to explore town shortly after we arrived, so we all joined forces and began wandering the streets to see what we could find.

After gawking at all the beautiful buildings and shops, we settled for beer at the Beer Wall, where they have more bottles of Belgian beer on their shelves than I've ever seen. I went with a local favorite, the Kwak. Yes, I'm fully aware that I've now subjected myself to endless jokes. The beer was well worth it.

Next up was finding some chocolate. This would simply be the first of many, of course.

After that, we found a fantastic beer place down a set of stairs and into a dimly lit bar. The beer continued to amaze. I decided it was time to try the famous Cantillon lambic beer, made in Brussels. Different, but good! Tara and Ceren had a couple different Belgians: Valeir and Watou's. Sooo good.

From there, we wandered further away from the center of town until we found a small restaurant-bar that had a chest full of costumes (or, as the British call it, fancy dress). Random, but that's beginning to be par on this trip.

The evening ended with a stop in a cafe restaurant in the main square for mussels and drinks. Meeting some really great people made our first night in Bruges all the more special. It's so much better to play in a new city with good company.

Amsterdam: Day 2

We set out to explore as much as we could on our second day in Amsterdam. Jordan and I began by walking down the street to an interesting cafe for breakfast. Seems that most places here are quite quirky; you really have to pay attention to all the little details. Note the artwork and the ceiling (felt kinda like a bat cave).

After breakfast, we continued to walk around and explore the many canals and streets of the city, until eventually we met up with Joanie at the Anne Frank House. It was a fascinating place to visit, and to gain some further understanding of what it must've been like for Jews like Anne to live in Europe during WW2. I really enjoyed this site visit.

After thoroughly exploring the Anne Frank House, we walked across the canal to a fantastic cafe, where I ate the best Reuben I've ever had. Just seemed to be exactly what my tastebuds wanted at that moment! Couldn't complain about the picturesque view either.

Afterwards, we hopped on a canal cruise that offered us a unique view of the city and informed us of several of the buildings around town. We also learned that most of the city's businesses are based on the north side of the main river, and that a large portion of the businesses in the city proper are more geared to tourists. And as we guessed, the city is dominated by bikes.

Upon departing our cruise, we walked across town to the Rijksmuseum (an art museum on the south side of the city center). Though we didn't make it before they closed (at 6pm) we continued exploring that part of the city, walking through Vondelpark and back to our hostel through the main plazas, most notably Dam Square.

The city is truly enchanting with all its canals and tightly packed streets; very European! And the park offered more of a local glimpse of everyday life for people that call this gorgeous city home.

We got ready for our last night out and then walked through the Red Light District before settling on a tapas style restaurant for a late dinner (seems like this is becoming the norm for us, to eat after 10). We walked around a bit more, through the Red Light and around our hostel before coming back and hanging out, shooting pool and just relaxing before getting some rest for Bruges.

All in all, Amsterdam did not disappoint, and was just about all it's cracked up to be, and more. Another city's visit comes to a close, but I suspect I'll be back again someday.

Amsterdam: Day 1

There wasn't enough time. First experience of many, most likely, but this is the way I wanted to travel. I'm really glad I got to spend nearly six days in Scotland, and I'm definitely going to come back someday, hopefully sooner than later. It was so kind of the Brownlees (Sandy et al) to have shown us around a bit, and pick us up at the airport in Glasgow and drop us off at the airport in Edinburgh. We all are so happy to have met them and spent some time together. It really made Scotland a special experience.

I only had enough time to check out the George Heriots School (which inspired the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in JK's famous novels) and to see the Elephant House, the cafe where she began writing Harry Potter. Looking out the window in the back of the cafe out and up to Edinburgh Castle made me feel like I was in a magical place. The shops and alleyways everywhere reminded me of what Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley might be like if there was ever a way to visit these fictitious places. Perhaps walking the streets of this city is the next best thing.

Our flight to Amsterdam was relatively short (1.5hrs) and the train ride from Schiphol airport into the city proper was a breeze. Better still, our hostel was a five minute walk from Amsterdam Centraal. I love it when good planning pays off!

Once we were all checked in and showered up, we went out to explore a bit. Eventually we grabbed a late dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant (not much else was open by then) and walked along the charming canals for a while after. The city is beautiful during the day, but even more peaceful and lovely after dark, with its twinkling white lights and little boats docked along the canal walls, and the sense that everyone is so relaxed and at ease (either naturally so, or substance enhanced--but the vibe outcome is the same). We finally decided to call it a night, with one last stop at our hostel's bar/lobby to enjoy the remnants of the late night crowd that seemed to be ever present there. New York City may have a rival for the title of the city that never sleeps.

Edinburgh: Day 2

It occurred to me for the first time that maybe we weren't going to have enough time to see everything we wanted to see while in Edinburgh. Nevertheless, we did our best to cram in as much as possible. The result was less sleep, but well worth it. And as long as we keep alternating days on which we sacrifice sleep with decent sleep, we should survive. Hopefully...

Saturday in Edinburgh found us at Tynecastle in Midlothian for a football (soccer) match between the Edinburgh Hearts and the Inverness Caledonian Thistles (CT). Hearing the Hearts fans cheer for their team and trash talk the other was worth the experience alone. Sing-song chants like "You're a wanker!" and "You don't know what you're doing!" will forever echo in my mind from that game. And of course, there were far worse outbursts that probably aren't blog-appropriate (yes, I'm starting a separate category for blog-appropriate and blog-inappropriate stories). After staking a 2-0 halftime lead, the Thistles got a gift in a questionable penalty kick that they converted into a goal and a 2-1 deficit. Then, in the 92nd minute (final 60 seconds of stoppage time) CT struck again, stunning the home crowd as they were already beginning to file out of the stadium, having assumed the victory was all but secured. As we walked out in shock, we were glad not to have been too invested in the team. We were also glad they didn't sell alcohol in the stadium; can't imagine a US sporting event without beer.

After the match, we returned to our hostel to freshen up for the night. We met Matt and his friend Mike at our hostel's bar, toasted to being together in a foreign city (such good fun!), and walked up to Edinburgh Castle for the most magical marching band performance ever: The Edinburgh Tattoo. Words can't quite describe how simply marvelous the performance was, with the best marching bands from Scotland, England, Australia, Canada, the US, Sweden, and Norway weaving in and out of formations to the backdrop of a castle that inspired none other than the greatest wizardry story of our time. The show concluded with all the bands coming together as the whole audience joined hands and sang the age-old Scottish tune, Auld Lang Syne. It was a very powerful and moving performance.

We headed back to our hostel to regroup and enjoy some of Matt's new bottle of Glengoyne Teapot Dram whiskey before sitting down to a late dinner at Arcade, a Scottish restaurant Matt and Mike frequent on their visits to Edinburgh. For some reason, it seemed like an acceptable challenge to try the Luxury Tour, which consisted of five Scottish whiskies of increasing quality. Let's just say the haggis and tatties helped a lot; I can see now why they're a good pairing.

After dinner, it was nearly midnight. So of course, the next logical thing to do was to go out on the town! We had tickets for a DJ show called Hot Dub Time Machine, a journey through music from 1956 to 2012. I've never had so much fun at a scene like this, and apparently neither had the DJ. He was so pumped by the end that he kept the party going for several more bonus songs, and awarded us Best Party Ever status. Maybe he just tells all his crowds that, but it didn't matter to us. What a blast!

We all agreed that Edinburgh, even without the Fringe Festival on, is a city worth revisiting, perhaps in conjunction with a more thorough exploration of the Highlands. For now, we've had a fantastic first taste of Edinburgh and of Scotland on the whole, and will have to reluctantly say farewell as we pack our bags again and head to Amsterdam.

Edinburgh: Day 1

One city down, loads more to go. After checking out of our hostel and with a bit of help from Sandy (purchasing train tix) we were on our way to Edinburgh. Upon arriving, we quickly discovered how "heaving" the city really was, thanks to the Fringe Festival--a massive arts festival that brings thousands of people into the center of the city for shows (theatre, music, comedy, plenty of street performers, and much more).

Exploring the city was no small task. We walked the Royal Mile and many of the side streets and closes around the area, walking around and trying to decide how to choose which shows to see. We agreed to check out a small theatre that was putting on The Last Five Years, a show I remembered Rachelle playing music from and having enjoyed. The two actors were British, which was impressive considering the characters in the show are supposed to be living in New York City.

After the show, we went to a raucous comedy show called Late n Live. Most of the comics were actually quite funny (and we Americans could understand their accents and humor), but one guy, Jeff, tanked so badly it hurt to watch. It was like watching an awful version of Russell Brand bomb on stage in front of maybe 300 embittered Scots. The boos and jeers rained down mercilessly, and the dumb bloke continued to dig himself a deeper and deeper hole. Finally, he left the stage and the show concluded with a strong finishing act that was basically a musical comedy duo: one guy played the keyboard and the other was a purple puppet, and the two joined in song in humorous verses. It was enough to satiate the restless crowd, and the host comic tied it all together nicely and sent the audience away grinning again.

Overall, a solid start to our second city, and a nice extra chance to visit with Sandy before leaving Glasgow. The fun and the Fringe continue...