In Bruges

Wednesday, 7/27

You never know what opportunities may come your way as a traveler. We've read in guide books that say one should 'just say yes' to new experiences. Today was one of those days and we were very pleased with our results. We awoke to visit the breakfast buffet at the B and B where we had all the usual fair but added to the list of goodies were squares of Belgian chocolate. Really chocolate for breakfast? No complaints here! We each ate a few pieces and I even broke some up and stirred it into my coffee. Belgian chocolate deserves its reputation, it rocks! After breakfast, Jackie said she had arranged a tour of the brewery for any guest who would like to come. We were there with bells on! It was very interesting to see all the modern machines used for bottling and to hear about the process of making the beer. Did you know it takes them three to four months to complete the process and have it ready for shipping? We also learned that the brewery actually used to have a monk come and visit to make sure they were doing it right. Also before they made beer here, they made cheese! Wise choices St. Bernardus! Back in the common room, we perused pamphlets, we really had no idea what to do with our day. It looked like it might rain, so we didn't know if we wanted to ride forty-five minutes on bikes to the Trappist Brewery Sixtus, even though they have the reputation for the best beer in the world... We were approached by a friendly pair of young guests from Philadelphia who were eager to talk beer and sightseeing with us. They were very knowledgable and seemed to have done their homework on the area. They were headed to Bruges for the day, and offered to have us ride along with them. Having just met Evan and Amanda, should we accept such a generous invitation? Why the heck not! They were friendly travelers. Amanda is a French teacher and Evan and Greg had a love of beer in common. We met them at their rental car and headed off to see the city. It is really cool that we got this chance, because otherwise we would have missed seeing so much of Belgium. The drive to Bruges was a little over an hour, and during that time we got to see hop fields, vegetable patches, Flemish farmhouses, and other small towns, as well as getting acquainted with our new friends. We arrived in Bruges just in time for lunch. Greg had only one request; must have mussels. We all know that mussels and Brussels go hand in hand, but being in Bruges was close enough. A small but expensive cafe was found down a cobbled alley that provided us with great beer and Greg with a giant crock full of mussels, with some help from the table, he finished those mollusks. Evan had to run back to the car and feed the meter so to speak, these old cities have ridiculous time limits on parking. Then we walked the city seeing the quaint squares, old churches, and charming canals. Bruges was great but it was time to feed the meter yet again, rather than walk back to the car yet another time during our visit Amanda and Evan asked if we'd like to see another town on the way back to Watou and perhaps have a light dinner there. It sounded like an excellent plan as Bruges was quite crowded with tourists and parking was such a challenge. We ended up in Ieper, which we dubbed the undiscovered Bruges. Parking was free outside of the main square, it was blessedly free of tourists (except for us), and it had one of the most impressive churches we have seen in our travels. We also found something else I had been seeking all day in Belgium, a little chocolate shop. We bought a small box of white, milk, and dark chocolate (sad to say as of writing this blog tonight we've consumed almost half of it already, but we did share with our friends). We found a small cafe that served more local beer and sandwiches. It had been a long day, but a very fun-filled adventure exploring Belgian villages with two unexpected and much appreciated fellow travelers. Greg and I arrived back at the B and B around 9pm with enough time to shower and pack for the morning. Tomorrow we leave Belgium and I feel satisfied that I supplied Greg with a sufficient sampling of beer and myself with an acceptable amount of chocolate and we have both seen a nice smattering of what Belgium has to offer.

Bedding down at the Brewery

Tuesday, 7/26

Neither Greg or I were prepared for just how much we would love the countryside of Holland, so when it came time to leave this morning, it was hard to get motivated to move too fast. Plus we had experienced another mid-night round of fireworks, once again no one knew the occasion and we had to get resettled after looking outside to see what all the commotion was. We drug ourselves out of bed listening to the morning barnyard serenade and enjoyed one last breakfast delivered to our door. Hannie always rotated in something new to keep breakfast exciting each morning. Today, three types of cereal with dried fruit was added to our bread, jam, butter, yogurt, coffee, and eggs. Finally we realized if we were going to make the train we'd have to hustle. Bags were quickly packed, animals were bid a hasty farewell, and Hannie hauled us off in her van toward the bus depot. Once at the depot we realized the bus we meant to catch for Gouda had already left. We still had enough time to make the next bus and connect with our train but it would be tight. Hannie didn't want us to have to rush, so she insisted on driving us to the train station another twenty minutes away. Wishing Hannie a fond farewell at the station, we made it to our train with plenty of time to spare. The first train of the morning took us from Gouda (locally pronounced like HOW-DA as the Dutch 'G' sounds like the 'CH' sound in the Hebrew pronunciation of Chanukah...) to Rotterdam. Since it was another day the Eurail pass would be earning it's worth, we sort of went the long way around in order to utilize to the trains, then made several different connections until we were headed in the right direction. So the first leg to Rotterdam was only about twenty minutes by train from Gouda; in fact we could see it down the river on our bike ride yesterday. Rotterdam is a town that was leveled in the bombings of World War II. Hannie had explained on one of our many car rides that when they rebuilt the city, they decided to go very modern, the sky scrapers and big buildings are very unusual for this area. I have noticed a stark difference between American and European perceptions of the permanence of that war. While in the U.S. most of our WWII vets have passed away by now and the war seems a distant memory (as it was not fought on our land most of us don't have daily reminders), here in Europe people speak of it as if it just happened last year. There is no clarification about which war, it is "the" war. The landscape and the communities are still physically scarred by it. This was most prevalent in Eastern Berlin where certain areas were only now starting to be renovated, even in the last ten years since Greg's initial visit to the area he noticed that parts of eastern Berlin that had been sort of a wasteland were just now starting to be built up again. We hope that no one will ever forget that war, the injustices that were being combatted and the atrocities that were committed, but it is a much sharper reminder for Europeans who still see the destruction it reaped on their homeland and are still trying to heal it.

Enough with the historic commentary... From Rotterdam we caught a train to Antwerp which took us across the Belgian border. More flat green expanses and farm land paved our way. Antwerp to Kotrijk was a tight transfer. We had to run up the stairs to our platform and landed in our seats, huffing and puffing as the train pulled away from the station, barely making it. From Kotrijk to Poperinge it was only another twenty minutes. The larger cities in Belgium have reminded me a bit of San Francisco in that there are lots of tall skinny buildings that are shouldered right up against each other (but certainly a much less colorful, less hilly version of S.F.) The countryside is more spread out. We arrived at Poperinge hoping to make the transfer to the Belbus. We waited and waited, it didn't come. Hmmm....Greg asked in the train station. Apparently you have to call the Belbus two hours in advance, sort of like a taxi. We'd never heard of a bus like that. Could we get a taxi? No, the town has no taxi service. So Greg gave Jackie at our B and B a call, sure enough she offered to come pick us up. This has been our lucky day. As Jackie drove us through the fields of hops, she commiserated with us about the frustrating Belbus system and said she'd help us reserve a bus for our trip back to the station. We learned that Dutch (aka Flemish, around here) and French are spoken here, but most everyone has a little English. When we arrived, we found beautiful English garden like grounds. So you know I'm loving it. We also learned that we are on the property of the Brewery, so now you know Greg is in heaven. He watched each town that passed by on the train and counted signs advertising his favorite Belgian Brews. So we will be spending two nights at the St. Bernardus Brewery. There is a main house where breakfast will be served and a common room with serve yourself beer. Our room is off the main house, in a separate wing of rooms, with little patios out front. It is a large comfy room with a giant bathroom. We learned that these rooms were converted from a part of the property that once was the cheese-making facility. They've since gone to brewing and bottling exclusively, and run a tight ship operating six days a week to supply the world with at least six unique Belgian ales. To get into the little town of Watou, we were going to require transportation. Jackie showed us a variety of bikes. The fancy new beach cruisers were for rent at 10 Euro a day, but since we were just going to dinner there were a variety of less fancy bikes that we could take for free. Super, we'll ride a free bike any day. This ended up being hilarious. The bike I tried to mount was way to tall for me, the seat was locked in place, so it couldn't be adjusted. Greg kindly traded with me and his seemed to work better as I could touch the ground with my tippy toes if we had to stop. For some reason my bike fit Greg strangely and he sort of resembled the typical clown riding a tricycle. Aside from that the bikes squeaked and rattled so on the path to town that I had the cartoon image of all of the pieces falling away and us pedaling mid-air holding onto disconnected handlebars and eventually falling into a heap of rubbish coursing through my mind. We did arrive in town after some effort on the up hill as the gears didn't really work. We were starving by the time we got to Hommel Haus. We were pleased that it looked like a really nice restaurant but unfortunately the prices reflected this as well. What the heck, we are nearing the end of our trip and this place was recommended for pairing fine Belgian Beer with cuisine. I settled on a salad with warm goat cheese and croutons, crowded with fresh berries and a honey raspberry beer dressing. It was amazingly delicious. Greg ordered the monk fish with carrot and potato puree in a lobster beer sauce. The texture of the fish was like lobster, it was all excellent, as well as the two beers we sampled. After coasting back down the path to our B and B (it was much easier riding the bikes home, as it was down hill), we spent some time in the sitting room at the B and B sampling some beer from the fridge. I can't think of a better way to end the day.

No hills, windmills, dikes, and bikes!

Monday, 7/25

When we woke this morning we were ecstatic to see blue through our skylight, which was still amid high striated clouds, but no sign of rain in the near future! The animals were singing a chorus of contented clucks and whinnies as Greg and I consumed another legendary breakfast (this time Hannie had noticed we didn't eat the meat from yesterday, so she left that out and replaced it with additional fresh boiled eggs!) I was chomping at the bit to get out the door and explore. We threw some sandwiches and some of Hannie's plums in our day pack and by 11 we were on our bikes and riding along the dike. Riding bikes here is really easy, bike lanes are everywhere and the land is so flat, there are virtually no hills. About a kilometer down the road from our B and B was a ferry station, where we were able to cross over to the other side of the river Lek. After we crossed over we biked past a variety of adorable small towns with a great variety of thatched roof houses. Greg found signs leading to a bike path that took us over cute old bridges and through pastures and past farms that led to a row of old fashioned windmills. Hannie had schooled us before we left this morning on windmills. She told us, "You will see many windmills. Some will have the wooden shoes and bikes out front. Not all of these are for tourists because people do actually live in them." Sure enough, we could see row boats docked up, laundry strung out to dry, lawn furniture, plenty of evidence that some of these windmills were residences. We did find one on Kinderdijk that was clearly labeled as a tourist sight, complete with ticket booth, and got to go inside and climb up the the many steep ladder like stairs to the top where the cogs and wheels were housed. Parts of the windmill were preserved inside to show how people long ago lived in them. Greg and I wondered how modern owners had renovated these to make them liveable. We sat near the mill to have our sandwiches and watched the proprietors attach the fabric sails to the blades of the windmill and the wind set it into motion. Lunch and a show! Back on the bikes, we made our way back across the river. When we crossed over and looked at the mile markers, we realized we were about 10 kilometer from home. This could have been a pretty quick ride back, but every 2 minutes there was another photo worthy sight. We were constantly hoping off our bikes to take a picture of that cow, or this house, or that garden! Towns with ding-donging churches, an ancient looking watch tower, charming homes and gardens, more goats, ponies, even some deer, were our distractions on the ride back. About an hour after crossing the river we finally coasted down our driveway. We had been on and off the bikes for about four hours so we needed a little rest, followed by figuring out our train/ bus schedule for tomorrow. A dinner of leftover Chinese take-out supplemented by instant noodles, plus trying to snack our way through some of the remaining groceries before we depart tomorrow, will hopefully fuel us enough to pack. It will be hard to leave since we've been so well taken care of by Hannie. Truthfully, we've had countless gracious hosts so far on this journey. Tomorrow, on to Belgium to meet another hostess with great reviews.

A day of rest

Sunday, 7/24

Sometimes you choose a day of rest and sometimes it chooses you. It rained steadily throughout the night, so we took our time and lingered over the breakfast that was delivered to the hall outside our door. Soft boiled eggs direct from the hen house (served in a hand-sewn cozy to keep them warm), fresh butter, goat cheese, breads and rolls, homemade berry and apple jam with various cheeses and meats and a large pot of coffee and fresh milk. I felt like Shirley Temple in the Little Princess when she and her friend/ fellow servant Becky are freezing cold and being kept in the attic (imagine with me people, we are in a room over the garage...sort of an attic) and a kind soul provides them with an amazing tea complete with warm rolls. Remember? Well that's how I felt and me and my Becky (a.k.a. Greg) sat and stuffed ourselves joyfully. Later that morning we tried to brave the day and took our umbrella outside, dressed in all of our warmest garments to stand in the driveway and stare at the animals beyond in the field. The cold was so severe that we were shivering, and the wind was so fierce that our umbrella was turned inside out in a matter of minutes. The rain was relentless and hitting the ground at a 45 degree angle, so that even after we righted the umbrella, it was still useless in keeping us dry. We huddled in the stairwell and Hannie joined us to declare, "Well, this is Holland." She offered to drive us to the bus station and we could tour a different town today, however the idea of going anywhere in this weather seemed dangerous to us and certainly unpleasant. The other option taking the bikes out locally would have had us soaked through in minutes. (Besides my grandma doesn't like the idea of me riding a bike in the rain, I'm sure she wouldn't be a fan of us mounting up on wheels in a storm and we aim to make grandma a happy lady!) So, we opted to stay at the farm today. Greg surprised me by eagerly starting work on the windmill puzzle. It is very cool to learn new things about your mate after five years of marriage, and today I learned that Greg is a puzzle machine! He worked constantly and strategically on the puzzle until lunch. I helped occasionally but often poked my head out the window to see how the animals were fairing in the weather. Despite the pouring rain, the horses grazed, the ducks swam, the heron fished, and the bunnies looked for shelter. We discovered two giant rabbits on the property today. They are super big; a breed called Flemish Giant! I've never seen a bunny that large, at first I thought it was a cat but in fact it dwarfed the cats. We pieced together a lunch of instant soup and cheese and apple open faced sandwiches. The storm continued to rage and Greg completed the outer circle of the puzzle. I did some yoga to warm up. When we peeked out of our room in the afternoon, Hannie had left a basket of plums just picked from her tree and kissed with dew as a rainy day afternoon snacks for us. Don't you just love her?! Finally around dinner time the storm began to slow down. Hannie volunteered to take us to pick up some Chinese Take-Out since she knew it would be too cold and wet to take the bikes out tonight. We enjoyed chatting with her on the car ride to the next town over and learned some more about her and the land. Satisfied with the most bland Chinese food we had ever had, Greg settled in to finish his puzzle. Around sunset (which wasn't until well after nine), I noticed the sun had actually made an appearance and the rain had seemingly stopped. I ran outside to visit with the geese, goats, bunnies and ducks and to take some photos not knowing if this might be my one minute in the sun to do so. Back in the room the light was growing dim, Greg was still trying to piece together the blue sky in the puzzle. All the pieces look the same, so it takes great patience to find which ones match. As he was searching out his blue sky, I was hoping that we'd see some in real life tomorrow and have a chance to explore this beautiful countryside before we have to leave. My time with the animals has been precious to me. Even watching them through the window is so entertaining. At dusk, we heard a ruckus in the hen house and peered out our bathroom window to see what was going on. The geese were being scolded for trying to come in the door by an obstreperous hen squawking on the fence, the goats (not Billy, but two others I call Hansel and Gretel) came over to investigate the scene and those two were allowed to enter the shed full of chickens without complaints from the brood. It's like a soap opera at times! With so many unique personalities there's bound to be drama. Though this was not the way we expected to spend our day in Holland, I think it is a day we will each remember fondly and it was a well needed rest from our busy and active travel schedule.

Green Acres

Saturday, 7/23

We slept in late again... the "Opium Den" sort of lends it self to that. (Don't worry, it's just another nickname we've given our Amsterdam basement room). We spent the morning listening to tragic news about Norway. Fairly sure these terrorist attacks are localized and sadly homespun, we feel safe with our remaining travels in Europe. Since our apartment owner Daniel, had said we should feel free to stay however long we wanted today, we took our time packing up, showering, charging electronic devices and set our check out time for 1pm, so we could enjoy a take out lunch in our room before heading for the train station. Our travel time today was short, only one hour by train from Amsterdam to Gouda and then 25 minutes by bus to Bergambacht. We called Hannie when we reached the bus and she was there to pick us up when we arrived. Immediately friendly and helpful, Hannie chatted with us about our travels and pointed out tidbits about Holland. She pointed out how the river was on higher ground than all the houses, basically all these farm houses are below sea level. I wish I could say that along with the beautiful landscapes we've found more beautiful weather but alas, it is still very cold and stormy. However Greg and I have managed to stay fairly dry today. We got settled in our apartment, a small studio above the garage (somewhat to our relief it is not actually in a barn loft as we had thought). We have a large bed under a sloping roof with a skylight/window (our bathroom has a matching style skylight/window), a couch with book shelves and TV and a small minibar area with a dining table. After leaving the bags in our apartment, Hannie loaned us two bikes to go into town with and get some food at the supermarket, then find dinner in town. She thought it would be inconvenient for us to have to cart our groceries to dinner, so she arranged to meet us at the market and bring our items back to the farm and drop them off in our room. This is one nice lady! So we had a cold but rain free bike ride into town, I can't tell you exactly how long our ride is (10-15 minutes, maybe?) but it is such a beautiful ride, we see all the straw thatched farm houses, beautiful animals, charming canals that crisscross the land, and the substantial waterway that separates us from a huge old fashioned windmill that we will try to visit in the next few days. We hurried into the market just as it began to rain and spent some time gathering snacks and lunch items for the weekend. As we exited, the sprinkles were stopping and Hannie was there in her car to take our bags back and wish us a happy evening. We parked our bikes at the bus station and walked into the tiny town center. It was virtually abandoned except for the main restaurant/pub which was packed with Spandex clad bikers watching the Tour de France. We enjoyed some local beer and a prawn dish with spaghetti. (Fusion food seems really big here in Holland, they serve some Italian/ Continental/ Asian and just present it with some fries and mayo and its fit for the Netherlands!) My favorite part about the food in the Netherlands thus far is the bread. Delicious billowy soft bread accompanies each meal with sweet butter or in tonight's case a tomato herb butter. It rained on and off as we enjoyed our warm meal, luckily as we headed back to our bikes it was temporarily dry again. It was a cold ride home, riding into the headwinds. Suddenly, I brought my bike to a screeching halt, something out of place had caught my eye, behind a wire fence near a bush. I shouted to Greg, "Stop! Koala!" I don't know why I said "koala" because that is not what I saw, but my mind couldn't come up with the name of the animal quick enough, plus I simply just didn't expect to see it here in Holland. What I had seen was a wallaby (one very close to the fence and a small mob off in the distance). We realized we were biking past some sort of exotic animal farm. There was an emu, some giant South American rodents called a capabara, and a tiny horned gazelle of some sort. It really threw me off to see these animals in the midst of all the cows, horses, goats, sheep, ducks, geese, and such we're growing accustomed to seeing in this area. Of course our expected animals are present, but how fun to see something so unexpected. We took a few photos of the wallaby closest to the fence, the whole time with me cooing compliments at her. Then something truly amazing happened, a small albino joey poked his head out of her pouch to have a look at us. I am in animal lover's heaven here! We continued our ride home and saw a giant Heron take flight from a light post. As we coasted back into the driveway, I made salutations to the sheep in the front yard. Hannie came out to make sure we had enjoyed our dinner and to help us park our bikes in the garage. We had one more question for her, did she know of any laundry mats we could visit. No she didn't, but we could use her machine, she even helped us get it started. Hannie is the best, she even added fabric softener to our load, a luxury we haven't had since leaving home. Back in our room, with what we hope will be our final load of laundry while in Europe brewing down stairs, we enjoyed the view out our back window. At 9:30 it was still bright out. There are animals galore on this farm. First there are the cats named Puma and Tiger. (We met Puma when we arrived, a lovey black cat who was keeping our couch warm for us and Tiger, a stripey girl, introduced herself by making a funny racket when it started to rain outside again). We have not been formally introduced to the horses yet but I can see them from the living room window. Of course I've given them all nicknames. The white one is Star Shine. There are 6 brown horses; Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Anise, Clove, Mace, and Allspice. (Devon, Greg said if you wanted to borrow any of those as possible baby names for Chuck, feel free!) A white goat shares real estate with the horses, for lack of creativity after naming all those horses, I call him Billy. (But I say it with an Irish accent like from the movie Billy Elliot. When the goat cavorts away from a gust of rainy air, tossing his goatee in the wind, I shout, "Go Billy!") In addition, there are two geese. I call them Cranky and Fussbudget. (More possible baby names Devon, I'm telling you I'm full of 'em today!) There are also a slew of ducks, too many to name so far. I am loving this place! While we do have TV here, I have other plans for tonight. I found a 500 piece windmill puzzle on our bookshelf and I am bound and determined to get Greg to help me put it together. Let's just hope all the pieces are there, wish us luck!

A few more nights in the North

To the North Sea

Tuesday, 7/19

After a brief visit to the breakfast buffet (and constructing a back-up sandwich for the train), it was time to head back to the station. Today we would be traveling to Wilhelmshaven near the North Sea. I've been looking forward to this seaside vacation. While in Berlin, Winnie warned Greg,"Did you tell her about the town, so she won't be disappointed?" I'm pretty sure she was referring to the small size of the town and the total lack of anything to do there. At this point in the trip, having nothing to do for a few days sounded pretty great. Depending on the weather, we may spend some time on the strand, or simply enjoying the view from our hotel. We shall see. During our train ride today the clouds were high, white and billowy over the fields of wheat and corn, rain did not look imminent but we were hours from our final destination. On the first leg of our trip from Hamburg to Bremen, we found seats in a nice compartment in first class. Today we are without reservations but our pass allows us to sit in first class if there are open seats. The benefit to traveling with reservations is you have a seat with a number and you know you'll have a place to sit. The down side is you must travel on a very non-flexible schedule. Today we have flexibility but no guarantee of our seating arrangements. We were a bit nervous about that because yesterday Greg saw pass holders sitting in the aisle in second class, because they didn't have a reservation. (We did because our travel consultant had urged us to get them for that train). Today it was suggested that reservations were not needed, so we are going on her word and hoping for the best. I am really proud of Greg's German language skills. Today he had a conversation with an older lady in our compartment and seemed so at ease conversing. I could only comprehend tidbits of their conversation, so when he translated for me I was so impressed by how clearly he had understood her. So the trains moved quickly, just 45 minutes to Bremen, another 30 to Oldenburg, then just under an hour to Wilhelmshaven. (We had no trouble getting seats on each leg of the journey!) We arrived around lunch time and didn't even have need of the emergency sandwich. Instead we stopped at a restaurant just outside of the train station and had some pasta and pizza. We had looked at the map and expected about a 20 min. trek to the hotel. Luckily we had paused for that lunch pit stop because when we reached the bridge to cross over to our hotel, 20 min. later, it was out. While most of the bridges in this area are drawbridges and this one was not an exception, it was not just merely in it's swiveled state to let a boat pass. A large chunk of the bridge was dismantled and locked in the open position in the middle of the channel. Greg asked a passerby about another way to cross the water, she explained there was another bridge but it was quite a hike (apparently the bridge we were at had been in this construction stage for over 2 years already, but Google maps doesn't know that). So we walked, backpacks and all, along the strand, over the bridge, along the opposite shore to arrive at our hotel another hour later. (Reminding each other along the way to enjoy the sights of the bay and ignore the weight of our bags.) Though we did stop for 2 short back breaks, we were fairly tired and sore when we arrived. Soon after we dropped our bags in our room, all of the tribulations of the trip were forgotten. Our room is bright, luxurious, and we have a beautiful view from our balcony. The uniqueness of this particular town at the North Sea is that several miles out to sea there are a ring of islands. For some reason the tide creeps in past them filling the bay area between the shore and the islands very slowly and then emptying slowly. Each day the water should be full up to our shore line and then ebb out leaving solid earthen paths to the islands and then refill. These tides supposedly complete their cycle every six hours. I was doubtful as it was high tide when we arrived near 6pm. But as we watched, sure enough more rocks appeared, slowly ripples of land emerged, just like someone pulled the plug in a really big bathtub! Dinner was a unexpected as well, even though we are pretty good at figuring out the basic idea of the items on a menu, there are often misinterpretations on our part leading to surprises. For instance, Greg ordered crab and eggs. While he knew he'd get scrambled eggs, we were surprised when tiny reddish shrimp covered the plate. Apparently the word for crab refers to all sorts of crabs and this tiny shrimp like creature in this region. So what to do after dinner, yet another walk? Yes, we had mostly recovered from our backpack walk several hours ago and were able to enjoy a slow stroll along the shore, watching crabs scurry on the rocks and birds dive into the water to retrieve their own dinner. After our stroll, back to the room to peek out the balcony and watch the waters recede until midnight, when the whole process will begin again.

Wilhelmshaven

Wednesday, 7/20

This morning we got to observe what good weather is in Wilhelmshaven. Our hotel owner had bragged we would have good weather today, so we were excited. Maybe we would layout, go for a swim, rent a Strandkorb (literally, a beach basket; a North sea equivalent to a lounge chair for two with a canopy). Well, it turns out good weather simply means a lack of rain. It was still overcast, cold, and breezy. So instead of a beach day, we settled for a museum morning. We went to the Wattenmeer museum to learn more about the tides, sea birds, fish and other sea creatures of the area. We learned how crabs were historically harvested here. We also got to see a cuttlefish bury itself in the sand (there were many aquarium like displays). There was also a great view of the beach (a panorama walk on the roof and huge windows inside) so we got to see more of the tidal magic while staying warm. It was a fun and educational morning. We grabbed a quick fish lunch at our hotel. After lunch and a brief rest, I felt the urge to go for a run. I had to question why this was the first time I was really feeling like running since we left Italy. It is true that it is sometimes hard to find a safe place to jog away from traffic when you don't know an area well, but more than anything I think I've been too physically exhausted to consider it. Austria was a whirlwind for us 3 cities in 3 days and lots of walking with on and off rain. We also walked our butts off in Munich and in the small towns that followed. In Berlin, we walked constantly and it seemed like the stairs were never ending (up and down 4 flights to the apartment, on and off the U-bahn). We took our long hike in Denmark and then our hour plus trek to find this place while hauling the luggage just yesterday. So I guess I've been getting way more exercise than I usually get at home. Nonetheless today I had some energy to spare and a long paved sidewalk along the shore. At first I felt like I got strange looks from the walkers and bikers I passed like, "Where are you running to, what's the hurry? Why so fast?" It is true I didn't see many other joggers. I did pass a soldier who tipped his hat at me and one other lady taking a jog, which made me feel less strange. It seemed that the majority of people out for a stroll, were doing so for pleasure, not for exercise. The only exercise I did see happening were a group of older Germans (ages 65-85, would be my guess). I called them the swimming cap brigade. They all gathered (men and women) at an outdoor shower near the water. Waded into the sea and swam slowly between a few buoys for about 15 minutes, then reconvened in the showers to chat and rinse off. No modesty in this group either, one lady of at least 70 had worked off the straps of her one piece and was chatting away with her friend as she absentmindedly put on a dry t-shirt. Still modest myself, I looked away before she removed the bottom half. All I could think was good for them! Finished with exercise for the day Greg and I got an ice cream and being that it was still pretty chilly out, returned to the room to warm up. The sun began to timidly shine through the clouds calling us to the sea side, just bits of blue sky penetrated the thick layer of white clouds. One more fish dish for dinner (this time with rice and tomato sauce, oh long forgotten rice!) and our first gay server in Germany. Oh man, that made me homesick, other than clandestine big city sightings, we've been really missing the LGBT community here in Europe. When our waiter learned we came from California his eyes lit up, "Oh, the state of the sun!" he declared. "I need to go there." He explained that he dances ballet and had traveled with a group to Michigan. Only two days by this murky but delightful cloud ridden sea side and we understood why the thought of LA could put a gleam in his eye. I realized comparing German ice cream to Italian gelato was just not working out in the German's favor, so perhaps we should try something else for dessert. Apricot cheesecake with cream, possibly the most amazing cheese cake I've had thus far in my life! Now the German's are leading the dessert game! Our waiter returned, "Any more wishes?" I loved the phasing of this and Greg explained that's just the direct translation in German for ,"Do you want anything else?" But isn't the former far more poetic? Alright, no more wishes for tonight, I've already had my fill of deliciousness for the day. Now it is time to retire to our room, snuggle in deep beneath warm comforters, search for patches of blue sky out the balcony window, and watching the water retreat to reveal fingers of shore that were not there an hour before. Sweet dreams from Wilhelmshaven!

Amsterdam bound

Thursday, 7/21

We awoke on the early side knowing we needed to eat breakfast, pack, travel back to the station, and visit an ATM before our train left at 10:45. After yogurt, cereal, eggs and coffee had fortified us we considered walking back to the station (the buses weren't running during the 9 o'clock hour so our choices were few). Knowing the walk would take us at least 40 minutes and leave little time to visit the back and grab some lunch to take on the train, we opted to call a taxi. We had made it thus far in our trip without the aid of a taxi, as we had mostly been avoiding them because of the high cost compare to public transit. However we were very pleased that for only 8 Euro we were whisked to the station in under ten minutes, saving us an exhausting walk and giving us plenty of time to prep for the train. We stocked up on Euro and grabbed a sandwich for the train. Since it was our last morning in Germany we also permitted ourselves some pastry for second breakfast. I finally got to try a Berliner (the famous jelly donut, well know throughout the north). Our first train took us from Wilhelmshaven to Osnabruck in about two hours. We easily found 2 seats and space for our luggage. Greg is devouring book 3 of our series on the Kindle, so I napped and caught peeks of more cow pastures and farm land out the window,while polishing off our pastry. In Osnabruck, we had about an hour to wait for our connection to Hilversum, which would take us across the German border. This time our trip was slightly over two hours, but this leg of our trip had a reservation, so our spots were in 1st class. This seemed a long hall, but we did notice the German accent of the conductor switch after a short stop, and we were getting Dutch, German, and English translations all with a very different drawl. So we must be in the Netherlands. No passport check, but we started to spot the occasional straw thatched roof on the farm stead, different cows, goats, pigs, sheep, and horses made appearances as we neared our final transfer to Amsterdam. When we spilled out of the packed station onto the tourist clogged streets, I felt a bit short of breath at first. We had just come from a city that was so uncrowded and now the reverse was true. I was experiencing sensory overload; so many cars, so many bikes, strange people, lingerie ladies in windows, the sweet and smokey aroma from the corner coffee house mixed with the overwhelming oder of so many puffing cigarettes cut only by the stench of trash from bags lining the streets, YIKES! Plus, we have been a bit anxious about our accommodations. Our original accommodations had been to stay in a different apartment, but during the course of our European tour we received an e-mail from the coordinating company through whom we had made the arrangement letting us know that "Fred" had been leasing out his apartment without the knowledge of the city, he was in trouble and had to stop renting, but they had another apartment available for us. A little sketched out by Fred's irresponsible renting, we hoped the other apartment would be as affordable, centrally located and well appointed as the one we had originally rented. The company, Amsterdam Stay, sent us a link with photos, the price was the same, the neighborhood the same, so we decided to go ahead with the new rental. Very glad we did, it is a cozy little den on the basement level, no windows, except for the front door. The owner, Daniel, was very helpful, letting us know the low down on our neighborhood. We truly are in the heart of the city, we are on the canal, only steps from all Amsterdam has to offer. The apartment is the perfect place to hideaway from the bustling city, then when you want it you just pop out of your little hobbit hole and there it is. Daniel bragged that people have excellent sleep down here because they don't know if it is day or night outside. The furniture is comfy, the walls are purple and yellow (but it works), we have a kitchenette, nice bathroom and big ol' king size bed in this studio apartment. We stowed our bags and braved the city again to find some breakfast items to stock our mini kitchen with. Then we circulated through the city central to find some dinner. We found a cafe with daily specials and ordered a bowl of minestrone and the shrimp pasta that was beautifully spicy with garlic (an aromatic I really missed in Germany). From the safe, second story perch of this cafe, the city started to grow on me. I could filter all the new input and sort it. Look so many different types of bikes crowd the canal, that is cool. Such a diverse spill of tourists walk the streets, again cool. Ah, two street sweeping vans and humans who dismount to physically sweep the streets, perhaps the roads won't seem so dirty after dinner. Now home to enjoy peaceful sleep in our tomb like room.

Sleeping in, then Exploring

Friday, 7/22

We did sleep like the dead in our warm little basement room. We awoke, like hibernating bears, groggy and hungry. Greg figured out how to use the odd coffee press and we enjoyed a slow paced morning of Dutch dubbed TV. We crawled out of our hole in search of some sights and were greeted by another frigid overcast day here in the north. I had to see the Anne Frank house, though I knew we wouldn't wait in the line to actually go in. It was wrapped around the block and down an alley, but we did see the building. Along the way we encountered a cheese shop, a chocolate shop and a bakery. We looked at wheels of Dutch cheese, some of my favorite Gouda varieties were there, but they were only selling them in huge chunks, nothing that Greg and I could consume alone in the next few days of travel. The chocolates were also beautiful to look at but expensive. The pastries won out, we found a corner store that was selling small pancakes (these turned out to be more the shape and size of doughnut holes but did have the consistency one would expect of pancakes and were served with syrup and butter). After more walking through the town center we had crossed Dam square and witnessed many street performers perfecting their art. Our first pancakes were just a snack, so we were seeking lunch... more pancakes! This time savory with mushrooms, bacon and cheese. Our walk home led us through the red light district and amid sex shops, video arcades, and live shows were the typical girls in the windows, advertising their wares. We were both surprised that we popped out the next alley, we were back on our street. The whole time we had been less than a block from the famed district, with no clue we were so close. What a difference a block makes in this town. After a brief rest, we were ready for dinner. This meal was a cheese lovers dream! We had fondue with soft bread, carrots, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms, and French fries for dipping. I was in cheese heaven! While I am usually the one to push for an after dinner walk, Greg was the one taking the reins tonight. He wanted to check out a nearby island. This was a nice walk because as we headed out of the city center, the crowds thinned, the sidewalks cleaned up, the city even smelled better even! We crossed many bridges and basically walked to the end of the line, until there was only water to look out upon. A long walk back wound us around past the train station, past a few more prostitutes and finally home to our cozy apartment, which is nicknamed "The Snug". My feet are throbbing from all the walking but I think we saw a great amount of this city over the past day and a half. When we slipped of our shoes and flipped on the news we learned about the attacks in Norway. If anyone at home is worried about us being in Northern Europe, please rest assured we are fine. Norway is quite a space away from us. Tomorrow we head to the countryside and start our journey south. We will be out of touch for a few days, as we doubt the farm house we will be living in has Internet. Hopefully we'll enjoy some quiet and relaxation after all the hype of the big city.

Stop-over in Hamburg

Monday, 7/18

This morning was about finding what we American's call a Danish. We found small shop with fresh pastry in many varieties and deemed ourselves successful at eating a Danish made by Danes while in Denmark. Before we knew it, it was time to saddle ourselves with those familiar backpacks once again and hike to the station. As we waited for our train to arrive, we watched local children play with a model train set in the center of the waiting area. We are not sure if our perception of this is correct, but Denmark seems to be very child centered. It seemed like every third woman you passed on the street is expecting and new parents pushing prams are just as numerous. This led us to wonder if there is some sort of amazing state aid for parents or maternity/ paternity leave that is standard in this country. We have had a great deal of fun people watching on our trip and Denmark has been no exception. In a sea of dark clouds, the white haired Danes stood out even more brightly than usual perhaps. We were in awe of how many blondes we saw who had that platinum, nearly translucent hair. (Reminded me so much of my cousin Nicolle's hair when she was a kid, white as the driven snow). Another thing to mention about Denmark is the language. There were pieces we could understand using German as a guide but mostly it was totally foreign to us. Greg had found a Spanish to Danish dictionary on the shelf in our room but that only managed to provide us with our pleases and thank yous that we are pretty sure we said incorrectly. Greg was fascinated by the language and would love to learn it but feels it would be pretty difficult.

Anyhow saying so long to Denmark, we boarded our train for Hamburg. We were pretty certain we could get some pasta for lunch on the train, poor quality microwave pasta, but a warm meal anyhow. So this is where I warn all future European travelers, do not trust the train to provide similar concessions on rides of similar length. All that was offered on this train were chips and muesli bars. It is because of this inconsistent unpredictable supply of food on the train that I have taken to making sandwiches from the breakfast buffet when we have one available the morning before a trip. I cut open a roll and smear it with some marmalade or jam, insert a few slices of cheese and presto, instant free lunch! Unfortunately there was no buffet this morning in Denmark, but luckily we had a apple and some cookies in our day bag to round our lunch of potato chips and a grain bar, but it was barely enough sustainance to get us through our four and a half hour journey. Fortunately with some good books to distract us (I now have Greg hooked on reading the Overlander series as well, he's already on book 3!) and more beautiful scenery than one can measure, our time went by relatively quickly. We were also entertained by the fact that our seats were in the first car only a stone's through from the conductor. (We could have thrown stones at him from where we sat but he kept closing his door to navigate in private. Too bad; we'd have liked to see more of the equipment, bells, and whistles that he uses... though it was sometimes disconcerting to hear a cell phone ringing, distracted driving?, and then lots of laughter coming from behind those sliding doors. How many people fit up in that area anyways?!). On this trip we had seats that were facing forward which was nice, because on the way up to Denmark we were riding backwards the whole time. This resulted in me feeling like I was being dragged backwards while sitting at dinner that night, a rather disorienting feeling. Happy to be facing the right direction, we enjoyed encountering pockets of pouring rain and staying completely dry and later witnessing a gigantic rainbow.

When we finally reached Hamburg it was nearly 7pm, relatively warm and dry! Our hotel was a short five minute walk from the station, a basic three star with clean modern decor. Depositing our bags in the room, we went in search of dinner. We found a simple pub that served hearty food. I was feeling thrilled that after spending two days in a country where I had to ask for an English menu to understand what was offered, back in Germany I could understand at least half of the words on the original menu. I was feeling relieved, comfortable, and at home. Greg was delighted that he could communicate with the waitress without having to resort to English. He enjoyed a plate of seasoned potatoes and fried eggs and I had the spinach auflauf (an augratin style baked dish). After finishing our meals, we wanted nothing more than enjoy some much needed grooming in the large bright white immaculate bathroom that was conveniently in our room, rather than down a steep flight of stairs as it had been for the past few nights. Sleep came quickly to the tired travelers and yet another day in our journey came to a close.