Author: Alex

We were awakened to a text from the airline that our flight has been delayed two hours. While certainly things could be worse, I naturally am fretting far too much over the loss of two hours in The City of Light!

A silver lining, I suppose, was an extra two hours to ensure everything was in order. Hurray for positive thinking!

TSA was smooth sailing for the most part, which I always look at as a good omen for things to come. Also, we saw Jamie Moyer at the airport bar where we had lunch. Vacation is off to a good start.

Speaking of airport bars: Here's our cheesy — yet obligatory — pre-flight simultaneous beer photos!

We should be in the air shortly. Catch you in a couple weeks, America!

Bonjour from the City of Light!

After a 10 hour flight, we were physically exhausted. Yet, we were energized. The adrenaline and excitement of being in a new place to explore and experience always provides a nice kick to keep you going. A half hour, 55€ taxi ride later, we arrived at our hotel. It's a charming little place on the corner of Avenue de La Motte Picquette and Rue Cler. The window — complete with iron balcony flowers living happily — feels very Paris!

After getting unpacked and freshened up, we took the short jaunt over to the Army Museum. Here, we picked up our Paris Museum Passes. We then toured the grounds. This place has a lovely courtyard and of course tons of info in the history of France's military.

On the other side of the complex sits the stunning Dome church which houses Napoleons tomb.

We then made the trip next door to the Rodin Museum, dedicated to French sculptor Auguste Rodin. While there were some interesting pieces in the fairly small exhibit inside, for me the far more interesting but was the grounds and sculptures outside. Well maintained bushes, grass, walkways and a pond at the far end set the tone for a lovely property. Laced between everything are various pieces of Rodin's work. Perhaps the most known of them is The Thinker.

At this point we were pretty beat, having essentially not slept — save for a quick snooze here and here on the plane — for going on 24 hours. So we took a one and a half hour power nap back at the hotel, to build up the energy to head back out and take in the Eiffel Tower up close.

It's grandeur lived up to the hype. The long stretch of grass called the Champs de Mars that lies at the feet of he Tower provides a great place for a picnic as you stare up at this beautiful symbol of Paris.

Finally, we strolled Rue Cler and admired its many shops and restaurants. We had dinner and a much deserved beer at Le Tribeca. Sitting at one of these small, outward facing tables facing the road was high on my list of Parisian experiences. Kari had a burger and I had the beautiful lemon chicken dish below.

I'm literally fighting off sleep as I write this, so we will say bonne nuit for now! Time for a full night's rest so we can tackle even more Paris tomorrow!

Distance Walked: 6.93 Miles

Rain was forecasted for later in the day today, so the plan was to day trip to Ghent. This way, we could explore that town and then come back to Brussels for a rainy evening activity we're well-versed in back home: Drinking!

We busted down to the train station, and hopped aboard the first one heading west. Once in Ghent, we decided to walk to the city center. We typically do this rather than take a taxi or metro as a way to see a town, so we can stop for photos and to catch the vibe. Much of it was bland, but in the latter half we did get to see some cute canals. One thing we noticed: There are far more people riding bikes than walking in this town!

Once in the historical center, there was quite a bit to see. As with other little European towns, there are churches built with local trade money of yesteryear.

St. Michael's — or Sint-Michielskerk in Dutch — is no exception. Typically, the biggest trade in a town would build the biggest church, partly as a way to thump their chest. But unlike other big European cathedrals in small towns, this one wasn't the product of wool or crops. Nope. What industrial built this beauty? Beer! How Belgian.

St. Michael's bridge and church

We had breakfast outside, overlooking the church, old town center and canal. It's hard to get much more European than this. Sure, the breakfast was only so-so. But traveling, for me, is about temporarily immersing yourself as a local and feeling like you're part of where you are. Listen to the conversation of the locals, and soak in the sights they maybe take for granted.

Breakfast on the canal

We be-bopped about the town center for a bit before deciding this would be a great day for a canal ride. Not raining but also not sweat-inducing heat. For only 7€ each, this seemed like a solid deal.

It was a pretty nice ride! With only a short time in this town, we could have done a walking tour but it would have been later in the day. We felt like we got the same city history we'd have got doing that, but saved some steps on our tired feet and, well, who doesn't like a boat ride?!

(Video to come later, sorry bad cell service!)
Boat tour

On the boat tour, the guide spoke of the 12 original streets in the city — now appearing as narrow pathways tucked between everyone else. This is right up our, yeah, alley. I highly recommend weaving through the backstreets of a small, old town to see its charm and for a chance to see how the locals actually live.

Ghent back streets

Our time in Ghent ended here. So we took the tram back to the train station and zipped back to Brussels. We had enough time for a power nap and to freshen up.

We did a Beer Tasting experience, which was awesome! Our guide Maggie — a local — was extremely passionate, both about her country and her beer. She cracked the whip on people for chatting during her talks, which I loved! She explained not only the proper way to pour your Belgian beers, but also how to drink and taste them.

Maggie spitting fire

We had four beers between two bars. We started at Scott's Bar, then moved down the street to Delirium, the Guinness World Record holder for most beers at over 3,000!

We finished the night with waffles at Maison Dandoy, one of the top rated waffle spots in Belgium! Photo at the top of this post. It was delicious!

Anywho! With four beers down and 2,996 to go I better get off the blog and back to sip–hiccup–ping.

Cheers!

Distance Walked Today: 11.18 miles

They call this place the Venice of the North. While, yeah, there are a bunch of canals and little bridges that go over them, I don’t think this town should have that nickname.

First, there aren’t nearly as many canals or bridges. Second, there’s auto traffic here — there isn’t in Venice. Third, I think Bruges is actually a much better place. Yeah, there. I said it.

There are some some spots that really remind me of Venice, like the photo above. But there are also a ton more areas in the town with really great back alleys and secret passages to poke around through.

Today was expected to be quite packed as the Bruges summer festival was kicking off. But the crowd didn’t show up until around 11, so our wise early start paid off as we got to wander around, take photos and just soak this place in.

We followed the route drawn on a map by our B&B owner, who has lived here his whole life. This meant seeing some spots we saw yesterday when we wandered freely, but we got to see another side of the town we hadn’t yet.

We did a little shopping, photo taking and exploring before grabbing a lunch beer around 11. The presentation you get with some of theses Belgian beers….

Next, we toured a local brewery. It was pretty cool to learn about both their current and historical methods of making beer.

One of the neater things about this place is that as they grew, they wanted to stay in their historic building while also being able to produce more beer than their space would allow. How to fix that? Build a 3km pipeline to the other side of town to send your beer to for aging of course!

After the tour, we walked to the other side of town to check out another brewery. This one, we skipped the tour and just had beer. I think we might have a problem!

A tasty problem anyhow. Here’s the flight we ordered:

We grabbed some lunch at a pizza place in the Grote Markt. Then headed back to the room for a quick break.

We headed back out for some more exploring, eventually having a little bite and then going to the town center where Bruges’ summer festival was kicking off with all sorts of different areas to dance, sir around a fire and play games.

This medieval town was getting pretty wild tonight! Never thought I’d see an outdoor disco in front of a several hundred year old church, but hey!

Another great day in the books. I think we will carry fond memories of Bruges. What a town!

Distance Walked: 10.73 miles

If you've been following the blog posts for this trip, you have probably noticed a trend: Talk and photos of beer. As we ride out of Belgium and into The Netherlands, now may be a good time to have this conversation.

You're free to assume we are just lushes, but the reality is that there is a unique beer culture in this part of the world that we had to experience. It's not about catching a buzz, it's a deep rooted history that leads to things we may find off back in the states.

First among those, the legal drinking age is 14. Fourteen! The second thing that may seem odd to us is that there's a lack of an open container law. Mix those two together and, yep, we've seen young teenagers drinking in the streets right on front of armed law enforcement. Quite shocking!

My first Belgian beer was had in the streets

Many years ago, the water in this country was actually not drinkable. So to solve this, everyone — from toddlers to grandpas — drank beer. The fermenting process kills bacteria, you see. Also, we're not talking about 10% IPAs here. 1% alcohol is plenty to get the job done.

From there, a culture is born. You of course want to try different methods and use different ingredients. Hundreds of years and technical advancements later, you've got a pretty wild beer scene.

My favorite!

Everything matters to these folks: The pour, the glass and how you drink it. For example, during our first day in Brussels it was suggested to me by our walking tour guide to get a Westmalle Trappist. This was during a quick break on the tour.

Knowing we had to get moving in a few minutes and that I could drink in the streets, I asked for it in a to go cup (lol). The bartender gave me a look, and said: "No. You must have this beer in its proper glass."

Kwak comes in a wild glass, with stand

From there, the pour has to be right. In America, we try to pour our beer with as little head as possible because of the appearance of not having a full beer. Here, it's more of a requirement to have a LOT of head for certain beers.

To make things more interesting, you're actually given the bottle and have to perfect the pour yourself. Unlike, say, Ireland, where bartenders are trained to get that great Guinness pour.

In the previous photo, my pour actually was a bit off. The head should have gone to just below the word Westmalle — roughly two inches. You'll see people press their index and middle fingers against the glass to measure. For the Kwak, I nailed it!

We had a couple nice flights

It may be hard to tell in some of these photos, but their beers are typically coming in smaller bottles and glasses than we have back home. Again — the idea isn't to get smashed, but to enjoy good beer. Yeah, three small 11% beers will still have you stumbling, so don't have three!

"Culture" may sound like a slick way to mask alcoholism, but it's really evident here. From Trappist monks who make beer for the sole purpose to give all proceeds to charity, to being named to UNESCO's cultural heritage list, this beer thing ain't no joke here.

Cheers!

Today, we day tripped to Leiden. It's not that far away, but because the Delft train station is undergoing works right now, we had to first bus to The Hague. Then we hopped on a train for the one stop north to Leiden.

The rain was a bit brutal at times today. While it was on-again, off-again, it's hard to read a guidebook while walking about a town and also holding an umbrella. But this didn't stop us. We followed Rick Steves' Leiden walk, which took us to windmills, churches, fortified hills and a university.

Perhaps the town's most famous son is Rembrandt. The little square above is where he grew up. Now stands a full size replica of him as a young boy, looking at one of his many self portraits.

We were able to poke into the campus of Leiden University, where many well known historical figures either learned or taught at. Albert Einstein was a professor for a period here, while US President John Quincy Adams was a student.

This church holds some US historical significance, as pilgrims fleeing England for America stopped here in Holland before being able to make the journey across the Atlantic. They would attend their church service here and lived in the square around it.

Like other towns we've seen along our journey, there were many small alleyways stocked with charm. It's almost like heading back through a time warp. Especially due to the weather, the tourists and locals alike weren't out in abundance.

I love the canals in these Dutch cities, full of geese, ducks and other birds I don't even know the names of! Watching them plunge their long necks into the algae carpeted water, popping out with a little fish to gobble down is quite enjoyable.

Our last stop before headed back to the train station was to climb up through an old windmill. We went up six flights of narrow, creeky stairs. At each level you could admire the tools that made these things work.

Along the way, there were information boards and even a video on one level to help give an understanding of how the various mills were used to make bread, saw wood or reclaim land from the sea.

Wow, okay then, Leiden! We're out!

Distance Walked: 9.8 Miles

***

Bonus: We went out for some night photography this evening. Here are a few snaps!

Welp. Here we are. The final day of this particular journey. We woke up with no agenda and would see what adventure we'd find.

After breakfast we headed toward the heart of the city. After considering some day trips, we decided on hopping a train out to Zaanse Schans, which is a working windmill village just northwest of Amsterdam.

This isn't just a tourist trap. Sure, they charge to go into some of the small museums and windmills. But these mills are actually still working. Not just spinning, but working. One cuts logs into lumber. Another is making batter.

We were able to wander through the village, snapping photos and taking video. Watching cows and sheep graze, ducks hopefully waddle toward someone with bread.

Continuing the no agenda theme, toward the end of the row of windmills we spotted a "ferry," which really was just a boat offering €1 rides across the water to the town of Zaandijk. So aboard we hopped and scooter across the channel.

The boat drivers were two old men, complete thick accents and pipes hanging from their lips. They were nice though, asking us where we were from and giving us a little info sheet they made about the town we were cruising to. Oldest building, where the original town hall is, places to eat. Things like this.

We happened upon a small brewery, so naturally we had to check it out. We haven't had enough local beer on this trip, you see.

After sipping these fine brews and gobbling down a couple sandwiches — by the way, the bread we've had here has been amazing! — we headed out and to the train station. Back to Amsterdam we go!

We wandered through the Red Light District and the heart of town once more and back to the hotel. A quick break at the room before heading out to do the Heineken Experience.

While this wasn't quite as cool as the Guinness Storehouse tour in Dublin, this was still pretty fun. You zig zag your way through historical bits, listen to some talks about the brewing process and take part in some fun virtual reality stops.

I was hesitant about this place, but am glad we did it. And not just because you end up with three beers along the way. It was genuinely a fun attraction.

After the rooftop panoramic views, bicycling VR video and strategically placed gift shop, we headed out for dinner.

One thing we've definitely noticed here: The Dutch eat just like us. A wide array of foods, from burger joints to pizza parlors. Mexican food to Chinese. I really don't know that I once saw a place that was traditionally Dutch. Some places had Dutch snacks or dishes, but these seem to take a backseat.

Tonight, I had ribs and Kari had pizza. What a way to wrap up Amsterdam, eh?

My feet are tired. I'm ready for my own bed and a meal that isn't heavy and expensive. Ah, that end of vacation feeling. In a couple of days I'll be mad at myself for thinking these thoughts and will start planning the next adventure!

Distance Walked: 12.31 miles