Wednesday 9.29.2010


En-Route


What a lovely morning. The story of our trip so far is that when it is time for us to leave, the sun reappears and that’s the case this morning. Today Peter is whipping up individual vegetable Quiches along with a very tasty bread pudding, a nice savory-sweet mixture. We’re joined at breakfast by a nice young Israeli couple on their honeymoon as well as the young couple from Manchester who we met yesterday. There is a lively discussion about global economic affairs and Peter is convinced there will be two Euros in the future, the haves and the have-nots. We expect that opinion is not shared by the have-nots, but it is hard to disagree with Peter. Not necessarily because he is right, but just because it is hard to disagree with Peter. We think his partner Tom may agree.


We take advantage of our last morning in Amsterdam with a nice walk around our lovely leafy Jordaan neighborhood. Actually we walk one block to our left and find some lovely blossoms blooming in their windows with the red light on above, so perhaps we’re between neighborhoods. There is much said about the sleazy drug trade in Amsterdam, but there is also a very proper, almost pharmaceutical, element as well. There are “Smart Shops” where drugs are professionally displayed in clean windows with brief descriptions such as, “a mild high with an elevated sense of joy and much laughter; 10 grams for four hours; 11.50 Euros.” Or perhaps, “a medium high with an enhanced sense of color and sounds; 10 grams for four hours, 12.00 Euros.” It sounds as easy as having a few beers and less expensive.


We meet Peter back at the B&B at noon and settle our bill amidst more animated conversation. Peter is the ultimate entertainer who enjoys being on stage and we thoroughly enjoy the fun. We would gladly stay here again.


We walk about ten minutes to the train station where we are catching the 1:16 Thalys to Brussels. We are a bit new at the train business so we are 45 minutes early whereas most of the folks show up with a minute or two to spare. It is good people watching and we are outside so it’s ok.


We have reserved seats in car #15 and there is room on the overhead rack for all of our luggage. The trip takes a bit over two hours with stops in Rotterdam and Antwerp. This is definitely easier than plane travel for this length of trip and we get to see a bit of countryside. There are a few old-style windmills still around and what seems like thousands of greenhouses supplying Amsterdam’s huge international flower markets.


Brussels is not pretty when we arrive. We now have a hazy overcast that greets us with one shade of gray. There were 100,000 “strikers" marching here today to protest against the economic policies of the EU and our train station is right where the march ended. There is trash everywhere including a few of the leftover marchers. We have a map to walk to our hotel from the central station and we check with a cop to get us on the right street. He points to an area about three inches off our map and says you are here at the south station, not the central. Crap.

We decide to walk it anyway and find ourselves hauling our luggage through all the trash from the marchers and into a middle-eastern neighborhood where old Minnesota tourists rarely appear. While we feel like curiosities, we never feel threatened and will walk back this way when we leave.


We really have no good reason to be in Brussels except that it is between Amsterdam and Paris. We do think that with the headquarters of the EU here, we will be seeing news from Brussels for many years to come so wanted to at least gain some sense of the city. Our hotel is a highly rated “bargain” hotel which is in a mixed neighborhood south of the main part of the city. It is definitely not the Ritz but the rooms are clean, we have Wi-Fi and the bathroom is nice.

We venture out to the Grand Place (Grahn Plahss), a massive square with magnificent ornate buildings surrounded by sidewalk cafes. We both think it reminds us of Piazza San Marco in Venice but with better buildings. It’s 5:00 somewhere (here actually) which leads us to an outside table for a couple of those wonderful Belgian beers. The couple at the table next to us is from Smithtown, New York on Long Island (Jamie and Paul) so we chat a bit about our mutual travels. They were in Paris for a few days and they aren’t sure why they are in Brussels either. They did give us a few local tips for food and explorations. We give them tips on retirement.

We have to have Mussels in Brussels so hit restaurant row right off the square. This is like Little Italy in New York where there are "hosts" out on the sidewalks waving (dragging) you into their cafes. Restaurant Leon has been recommended for the mussels so we each have the special which is a bucket of mussels steamed in a white wine broth with celery and herbs, a side of fries and a beer for E12.90. A steal. Even Mary does a nice job on her mussels.

There are heaters on the sidewalk where we are eating and a bit of blue sky has emerged just before the sun went down so maybe this isn't such a bad place to be. It is a nice easy walk back to our hotel and just before we get to our door a fellow pops out of an alley holding a rag over his nose and mouth that smells to us a lot like an acetone product. Then again, maybe this isn't such a good place to be. School is still out.

Today's weather: Sunny and warm in Amsterdam; Cool and cloudy in Brussels. Low, 55, High 67

Tuesday 9.28.2010


A Better Day in Amsterdam

It is better, but not by much. We wake up to gray skies this morning and while the rain has stopped, there is still a bit of drizzle from time to time. For breakfast this morning Peter is doing New York (New Amsterdam?) so we have bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon, sliced tomatoes, onions, Dutch cheeses and the usual supply of bread, cereal, fruit, yogurt, coffee and juice plus homemade apple turnovers. These breakfasts are saving us a lot of money on lunches.

Today we are joined by a fellow from Phoenix who is an international tax expert working with American companies trying to figure out how much they have to pay in overseas taxes. He has taken to B&Bs late in his working career to soften the pain of constant travel. There is also a young couple from Manchester England who are very pleasant. Peter, of course, leads the band. Before we leave we give him the “pink” shirt and he will blast it with bleach while we’re out.


We work our way across town following this canal and then that canal, past Rembrandt’s house, a few brave street entertainers, some art displays and finally to the Dutch Resistance Museum. This very impressive museum tracks the experiences of the Dutch people through the WWII years with documents, films and anecdotes from some of the participants of the resistance. Your life expectancy was shortened dramatically if you were a member of the resistance. We think this will be a quick stop but we wind up spending a few hours here.


On our way back across town we do a bug-eyed, jaw dropping tour of the red light district. It is mid-afternoon and about half of the red lights are on with the working ladies posing suggestively in their display windows. Each window is really a little door that opens for negotiations and it would appear that there is a small bed and sink behind the door. The workers come in all shapes and sizes and colors and ages—something for everyone. John normally has very little patience for shopping but today he seems content to continue browsing. While on this part of our tour we also pass multiple “coffee” shops and develop a bit of a buzz sniffing the fumes wafting through the open doors.

Back to business. We have pre-purchased tickets for a 4:15 entry into the Anne Frank House museum. There is a very long line of folks who don’t have tickets hoping for a chance to get in. We go to the other door and, even though we are 10 minutes early, the fellow there lets us right in. They let people in at half hour intervals so we are 20 minutes behind the group in front of us and 10 minutes ahead of the group behind us. Perfect.


Everyone knows the story, but to poke around the house itself with real pictures and videos of friends and relatives brings it to life. It is the number one tourist attraction in Amsterdam and we find it to be a nice complement to the Resistance Museum that covered the same era. We spend about an hour in the house and are slowed a bit by a small Japanese tour group (about 30) who plow their way past us.


When we get back to our room Peter provides us with a bit of ice (rare in these parts), a dinner recommendation and a newly laundered shirt that is a lot better than it was yesterday. We explain our theory of “No good deed goes unpunished” to him.


Our dinner spot, Cafe Restaurant de Reiger, is about a ten-minute walk across three canals and down some beautiful back streets. We get a small carafe of wine and Mary has a beef filet with bleu cheese sauce and rosti potatoes and John has the local favorite spare ribs with garlic sauce, veggies and fries. Two really good dinners with wine for 52 euros so we are definitely not in Oslo any more.


It is a spectacular walk home with the stars starting to peek through the clouds and all the canal bridges fringed in lights. There is a party in full swing on one of the houseboats in the canal and we make ourselves very visible, but no invitation was forthcoming. Too bad. Still a good night and early to bed.


Today’s weather: Cloudy with occasional drizzle. Low 48, High 53

Monday 9.27.2010

 Ah Amsterdam

Well here we are in good old Dutch Amsterdam with more canals than Venice, more prostitutes than Vegas, and more stoners than San Francisco. Our host Peter serves breakfast between 9 and 10 which we think is very civilized. Today there is a pile of pancakes, bacon and fruit with all the trimmings (21 toppings to be exact). Our breakfast buddies this morning are a couple from New Delhi who are very fun (they did the “Red Light” tour last night) and chatty. With Peter leading the conversation there are no uncomfortable pauses. Our Indian friends tell us that B&Bs don't exist in India because their culture requires that if someone knocks on your door you must provide food and a bed for them as they are messengers from God. To charge for that in your home would not be acceptable. Who knew?

One of the real perks that Peter provides is doing laundry for his guests. Before we go out for the day we present him with a bulging laundry bag with ten days worth of clothes.


We have light rain this morning that looks like it will last all day. Peter says the radar shows that it will clear in two hours but we are dubious. The first thing we notice when we hit the streets is that this is definitely a world city. Stockholm had the statuesque and fashionable Swedes, Oslo had the bold and wealthy Norwegians, Copenhagen the proud and feisty Danes, but this is something different altogether. We have plenty of folks of color, Hassidic Jews, Halal restaurants, stocky Dutch, and piercings and tattoos in every place imaginable. When people speak of the value of diversity, it is recognizable here with a very different beat, like it or not, than the other cities we have visited on this trip. When coupled with the 16th century architecture, the canals and the history, the current population completes a picture that is very interesting indeed. Even the Dutch language spoken in basso tones with elongated vowels adds an air of the exotic.


Unfortunately we view it all through each other’s umbrellas as the rain continues all day. We do a walking tour that is supposed to take three hours and we are out in the slop for six. It has something to do with, "I have to read the next page so we have to find an awning so you can hold my umbrella and I can dig this wet book out of my pocket to find out where we need to go next, and, by the way, where are we now?" Not overly pleasant but still entertaining.


The city is below sea level and the canals were built to capture the surface water so that the resulting land could become habitable. The canals form concentric circles extending out from the "centraal" train station. These canals are crossed by spokes of other canals and the streets of the city follow the circles and spokes in what appears to be an orderly fashion when looking at a map. When you are wandering around, however, you find that there are no parallel streets and if you follow a canal going south long enough, you will be going north. When combined with frequent street name changes, the loopy layout definitely requires that attention be paid.

And then there are the bicycles. Because the local powers that be have decided that the populace needs to ride bikes all the time, they are given the right-of-way over all other types of transportation including pedestrian. We have almost been dumped several times today as we cross the street with the light only to have to dodge bikes coming from the side. According to some estimates there are 1.6 million bikes in this city of 1 million people. Looking through umbrellas doesn’t improve our chances of survival.


Through it all we see the Palace/City Hall, the major squares and pedestrian malls and a pretty impressive flower market. The flower market is mostly selling bulbs to the tourists now, but we can imagine the summer displays.


We have no desire to go out again tonight so we hit the local grocery for meat, cheese, crackers and a bottle of wine. John thinks he also needs a chicken Caesar sandwich to make up for missing lunch. We tell Peter that he is a crappy weatherman and then entertain ourselves while watching old American TV and current Brit chef shows. Our laundry has arrived nicely washed and folded, but we do have an issue with a cream colored shirt that is now a tie-dyed pink. We’ll see about a solution in the morning.


Maybe the rain will be gone tomorrow


Today’s weather: Cold, rainy, miserable.

Sunday 9.26.2010


Back on the Road


It's moving day for us and now that we have figured out how to maximize the benefits of our breakfast buffet we will be well nourished through our travels. We drop our luggage at the front desk and move out for an hour or two of strolling some new ground. Our walk takes us back past the Summer Palace and on to the Kastellat. This is a star shaped former fortress surrounded by a first-class medieval moat that was used to guard the harbor from the Norwegians, Swedes and worst of all, the Brits. We have seen these star shaped forts before and sort of recall that they provide the most beneficial sight lines for the people shooting the big guns. The fort takes up a lot more space than the Royal Palaces but that is probably okay with the King's clan.


Just beyond the Kastellat is the home of Copenhagen's number one sight, the Little Mermaid. As one could predict, if we're here, the mermaid won't be. We actually did know that this little sculpture is in Shanghai in the Danish exhibition at the World Expo. She has been replaced on her rock just off shore by an LED screen that shows a live feed of her from Shanghai via internet. This is a non-stop connection 24/7 during her entire stay in China. Guess what. The transmission is down for the first time when we get there. We join a bunch of our Asian comrades snapping photos of where the Mermaid normally lives.


As we work our way back passing on a new street on the back side of the Palace, we see crowds forming on the Palace grounds. It is noon on Sunday so we assume there will be some sort of changing of the guard. We join the crowd and watch a few groups of Nutcrackers (sorry, but that's what they look like) march about but not much else is going on. Some guys from India ask what happens next and we say that we thought they knew. The crowd starts to drift away and so do we.


We do one final stroll around our canal. It is cool and gray so there aren't many folks in the sidewalk cafes. There is fall in the air and the locals are getting ready for cold weather. There are a few remains from the breakfast buffet as we get back to the hotel so we grab one final bite and a piece of fruit for our next trip. The Metro station right up the street is where we catch the train to the airport. There is no human being around so John tries to figure out the ticket machine and the proper "zone" to avoid the big fine for cheating the transportation system while Mary diligently guards the luggage on a lower level. The train whisks us to the airport terminal in about 15 minutes and we do the self-service check-in for the first time. Mary loves this sort of thing while John doesn't care for the learning curve involved. We get the bags checked and through security so Mary can look for the no-brain purchase in the duty-free shop. Alas, no bargains here (since Denmark is part of the EU & we can't shop duty free), and there is no obvious use for our final 95 Danish Kroners. We pass a little bar on our way to our gate and they have "Medium" Carlsbergs for 45DKK. Two please.


It is an easy flight to Amsterdam on a half-full plane. We leave Copenhagen at 3:15 (On a 3:20 flight) and pull up to the gate in Amsterdam at 4:30. The alternative is a ten hour, more-expensive train ride with a change in Hamburg so even with the hassles of air travel the plane makes a lot more sense. The ticket machine here for the train into the city won't take our credit card (it doesn't have the "chip") so we pay half the price when we get to the ticket counter where there are human beings. John is delighted. We find an ATM to get some Euros--our currency for the rest of the trip-- and get down to the track to wait for out 5:30 train. The ride into the city takes about 20 minutes and once we get oriented we get started on our ten minute walk to our B&B.


The first observation in Amsterdam is that there are about a million bikes and most of them are parked at the train station. They are in a bike parking ramp, they are on double decker bike racks, they are in the street and on the sidewalk and there are bikes chained to bikes chained to bikes. Most of them look fifty years old (less tempting for bike thieves?). We have seen thousands of bikes in the last ten days (and no helmets) but this is astounding.


The second observation is that the canals are pretty cool. We hit our first canal about 50 yards from the station and follow another canal into our lovely neighborhood. Our lodging for the next three days is Boogaard's B&B on a tiny little backstreet between two canals. Our proprieter, Peter Boogaard, is Dutch by birth and American by immigration, a former opera and broadway singer, former New York retail maven, and now entrepreneur with partner Tom. A colorful character with a big personality. Peter gives us the low down on making the most of our next three days and whips out his phone to make a dinner reservation just down the street at "Seasons". He gives us a couple beers, shows us how to make coffee for early wake-ups and we make a date for breakfast in the morning.


Season's is a nice little restaurant a five minute walk from Boogaard's. Another Peter greets us at the door and we get very nice full dinners for less that $30--a great change from Scandinavia prices. Mary has a fiery shrimp that is served with basil mashed potatoes, and John has broccoli soup and a mixed sate' of beef, cornish hen and scallops with about a pound of french fries. The big news is the dessert which is a maple syrup and pecan sundae with candied bacon. Yes that's right. Ice cream and bacon. Life doesn't get any better than that.


A peaceful walk home to our comfy room, nice bed and a million pillows. Another change from Scandinavia.


Today's weather: Cool and cloudy in CPH; Sunny and warmer in Amsterdam. Low 45, High 67.