Netherlands and Belgium
We spent 3 nights and 2 days in Amsterdam over the weekend. We had a great time. We went on a free walking tour on Saturday morning to get an idea of what there was to see and do there, or at least get a feel of what the city has to offer beyond what most people believe it does. By the way, window shopping in Amsterdam has a whole other meaning to it. Amsterdam bleeds decadence, and not just in the red-light district. It has to do with them being very liberal, and thinking about how to make more money. There are nice parts to the town though, and the Anne Frank house is a pretty moving experience. We really recommend it.
We also randomly ran into an Estonian on the street who stopped us (in the middle of a crosswalk) because of I was wearing an Eesti shirt, and talked briefly. I guess she was living there.
We hooked up with Amanda, a highschool friend of Sarah’s, and her boyfriend Grant. They have been living in Amsterdam for the last three years. They took us out to a few of the more local bars, and we had a great time. The next day we rented bikes, Sarah got a flat tire on the outskirts of town (near Vondelpark) which required us to walk back 1/2 an hour to get it fixed. We then went and found a local brewery built in a windmill, Brewerij T’ij, which had some nice strong beers. We finished off the evening with a delicous risotto dinner at Amanda and Grant’s flat.
After Amsterdam, we tried to go through Den Haag and Rotterdam, but the train we took only went to Rotterdam, and then the lockers in Rotterdam where out of order. So instead of lugging our heavy packs around town, really looking like out of place tourists, we ate some lasagna on the train platform and caught the next train to Antwerp instead.
Antwerp is named after a giant who would cut off the hands of people and throw them into the river. Hence the orignial name ‘hand-twerp’ (excuse our butchering of the Flemmish spelling). Sarah says its a legend; I think its a fact. After spending a few aimless hours in Antwerp we moved on to Bruges (or Brugge).
Brugge is a neat town. I guess its considered touristy - but we never really got too much of that impression. The houses in the central part of town have a neat character to them. There are neat restaurants, charming brew-houses (check out De Garre if you’re ever there), beautiful parks, great chocolatiers, good ice cream places, etc.
We then took a day trip out to Ypres ( or Iepers) to visit the In Flanders Fields Museum. It is quite moving. We then hopped on the train to the next station, took a crazy little short bus to the St. Sixtus monastary, the only place in the world where you can get Westvleteren Trappist Beer. It’s quite good. We then returned to Iepers for the Last Post Ceremony, under the Menin Gate. They stop traffic and have bugles play every day at 8pm. They’ve done it ever since WWI, except during German occupation during WWII. It is worth seeing, and more moving than the museum.
We are now in Brussels. Today we went to see the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit which was quite interesting. We also went to a brewery where they brew tradional Lambic beers, which take 3 years to ferment and are not very carbonated. They definitely have a unique taste. There is not much else to say about Brussels, we enjoyed the rest of Belgium much more.
Tomorrow we fly to Glasgow. Then we are going on a tour of hte highlands for 4 days which sounds amazing. We’ll let you know how it goes!
