Scotland: Day XI (Edinburgh)

Tuesday, July 5^th:

Edinburgh Castle:

            Today my brother, father, and friend Hogan departed to go back to the states after our wonderful golf trip. I left them at the airport and took a taxi into Edinburgh for the beginning of my three night stay in the capital city of Scotland. As the hostel availability was pretty thin for the time I was there, I ended up having to change hostels three consecutive nights. The first of these three hostels was the Argyle Backpackers Hostel. This hostel was very nice however it is a little bit far from the center of the city where all of the sites are. It did not matter, though, as I was pretty burnt out from all the golf over the last few days, and I really needed a day’s rest.

            As my camera broke during the golf trip, I decided to go to a store called Jessops to buy a new one. I settled on a newer Canon model with an upgrade from the 3x Zoom and 7.1 Megapixel old camera, to a 14x Zoom and 12.1 Megapixel new camera! In addition to that, the new camera has the ability to take HD video, which is pretty cool. After purchasing my camera, I walked back towards the hotel and stopped to get some dinner at a nice restaurant/bar called The Red Squirrel. Here I ate some nachos and Piri Piri Chicken Salad, while sampling some local Scottish beers. I walked back to the hostel after this, and spent the rest of the night hanging out there, talking to some other travelers, and catching up on some computer-related activities, as the internet there was actually fast for once. Tomorrow I will wake up early, move to my new hostel, and get moving to see the sites of Edinburgh!

A Scottish Bagpiper:

Scotland: Day II - X (Golfing)

Sunday, June 26^th - Monday, July 4^th:

The 18th Green and Clubhouse at Carnoustie Golf Links:

            I am writing this blog post as a collective post for my whole golf trip for the past ten days. This is mostly because some people don’t care about golf to the same level that I do, and because I haven’t had time, as literally each of my last ten days have been exhausting and filled with golfing, eating, and a little bit of Scotch drinking before going to bed early to rise early for the next morning’s round.

            St. Andrews is beautiful. I regret not going there for a semester abroad, and I will probably look for some abroad program in the graduate-level business school that I will inevitably enroll in down the road. There are seven golf courses at St. Andrews, and the town, albeit small, is bustling and filled with students. For scores here I had 85 at The Castle Course, 86 at The Eden Course, 76 at The Old Course, and 80 at The New Course. The Old Course is spectacular, and although our weather there was not great, the course is fairly easy from the “tourist tees.” I was actually surprised at how well I played there given that it was probably my 4^th or 5^th round of the year and that I had not swung a club for two months before coming to Scotland. While staying at St. Andrews at the Rusacks Hotel right on the 18^th fairway (beautiful!) we also played at Carnoustie, Lundin Links, and Kingsbarns, where I shot 82, 77, and 81, respectively. Kingsbarns is one of the most beautiful golf courses I have ever seen, and Carnoustie is really not “the hardest golf course in the world” from the tourist tees.

The View of the 17th at the Old Course (St. Andrews) Over the Famous Old Course Hotel:

Notable places to eat were the Dunvegan where we enjoyed some Scottish Steak and Ale Pie with potatoes and veggies, and Rusack’s Scottish Breakfast of Black Pudding, eggs, bacon, rolls, jam, fruits, yogurt, and cereal was awesome. I also ate a delicious lunch at The Eden Course clubhouse of a sweet chili chicken Panini. Beers to try would be McEwans Scottish Ale, Belhaven’s Best, and Maclachlan’s Best Ale. All are Scottish Cream Ales and are tasty. A great place to try them would be the One-Under Pub underneath the Rusack’s Hotel, where we also ate some delicious Crab, Prawn, and Lobster Spring Rolls with plum sauce. The spot on the 18^th hole is just breathtaking. We also had a great caddie experience at Carnoustie and St. Andrews, and I would recommend using the caddie services at both courses. Unfortunately, I dropped and broke my camera after playing Kingsbarns, so I will have to rely on my brother’s photos until I can get a new camera in Edinburgh after the golf trip ends.

            Following St. Andrews we drove up to the Scottish Highlands to play Castle Stuart, where the Scottish Open would be held during the following week. It was very funny, because the tents, TV towers, and grandstands were being set up while we were there. The course, which won “Best New International Golf Course for 2010” was very fun and forgiving, and we got to play it twice. I fired a trip-best 75 the first time, and an 83 the second time. The second afternoon, my brother and I decided to also play Tain Golf Club. It was a fun little track, I shot 79, and the highlight was an “Alps” style hole right near the water. We did happen to also eat at a nice restaurant in Nairn near our hotel, The Clubhouse, which was called the Golf View Hotel. There we enjoyed some really good steamed mussels while I also ate a Filet with Béarnaise Sauce and a potato and watercress soup. From here, we drove up the coast farther to the town of Dornoch, to our hotel called the Royal Golf Hotel, right on the first tee of Royal Dornoch Golf Club.

Our Foursome on the Swilken Bridge on the 18th at the Old Course (St. Andrews):

            The next morning we played Brora Golf Club nearby, a funny course because sheep and cows roam the fairways to keep the grass short. The greens are surrounded with fences, which, as I found out at one point, are electric. I shot a 78 here, and we drove back to our hotel to play Royal Dornoch. Royal Dornoch was my favorite course of the trip, and it was in Club Championship shape with fast greens, as the tournament was happening during the weekend we were there. We did have a little trouble with a pace-of-play argument with a caddie, but other than that, I really thoroughly enjoyed seeing the course that inspired the great golf course architect, Donald Ross, who was a former professional at Royal Dornoch. We also ate two incredible meals at the Royal Golf Hotel. At the first, I drank some Tenants Ale while eating Mussel and Prawn chowder, Cullen Skink Risotto (with fish, prawns, and olive oil), and a Roasted Loch Salmon Filet with plum sauce. I also tried some Glenmorangie 10 year Whisky here, which was wonderful. The second meal brought me a potato and leek soup as well as the Chicken Supreme, stuffed with Haggis. I also tried some Orkney Brewery Dark Island and Northern Light beers, as well as a Caol Ila 14 year Whisky. I also ate some really tasty smoked salmon and eggs for breakfast before we left for our next hotel.

The 9th at the New Course (St. Andrews) and the Eden Estuary:

            The following day we drove down to Cruden Bay, where I shot an 82 that was really good until the last 5 holes (+7…). The course was very Irish-like, as other Irish links I had played in the past. We stayed the night at the Kilmarnock Inn, which had a particularly lively bar with an entertaining band. I also tried another beer, Tenants Ember here, which was more of a creamy ale than the regular Tenants. The next day we played a delightful old links course called Peterhead Golf Club before playing another highlight of the trip, Royal Aberdeen Golf Club. Royal Aberdeen will host the Walker Cup this year, and it should be very entertaining to watch, as the front nine is one of the best I have ever played. I shot 77 at Peterhead, and 81 at Royal Aberdeen for my golf scores. I should note that we also ate a great meal at the Cruden Bay clubhouse. I enjoyed crawfish tails with peppers and pasta as well as Indian Style Meatballs with rice, peppers, and onions. Following our round at Royal Aberdeen, we endured a brutal three and a half hour drive down to Gullane to our hotel, Greywalls. Greywalls is one of the nicest small hotels I have ever stayed at, and it was our ticket onto Muirfield.

The 15th at Kingsbarns:

            The following day, we woke up and played our round at Muirfield. We had a wonderful time joking with the great caddie personalities who were betting on various events during the round as well. The course is in pristine shape and is gearing up to host yet another British Open in 2012. I had a dismal 86 here, but it did not deter me from having a great time in the beautiful weather. That afternoon we played our final round at North Berwick West Links. This course was very old, quirky, and fun, and we got to also see Bass Rock, an island colony of 13,000 birds just off the coast. I had an 81 here, which should have been better as the course was pretty easy. We then ate at The Roux restaurant at Greywalls, which was one of the best meals of the trip. I had broccoli soup and Rabbit, as well as a very tasty beer called Joker IPA. Greywalls is also special because a lot of golf professionals stay there with the British Open is at Muirfield, and pictures on the walls show Tom Watson, Nick Faldo, and Ernie Els all with the Claret Jug in the very bar we were drinking in. All-in-all we had a wonderful trip. I played 306 holes of golf, and it probably rained on us for less than 25 of them, which is unheard of in Scotland. I wish I had a little more season playing experience under my belt, but I did not let my play detract from the sheer awesomeness of the courses. I will proudly be wearing all of the garb I purchased over there for years to come.

Scotland: Day I (Golfing - St. Andrews)

Saturday, June 25^th:

The Royal and Ancient Clubhouse of St. Andrews:

            This morning was a super early one, and I am quite angry at EasyJet. No wonder the fares are so cheap, the baggage fees absolutely destroy you. I shared a taxi to the airport then walked to check in, and was told that the maximum for checked baggage for each person is twenty kilograms. My first bag weighed about that, not including my second one. On top of that, it is twelve Euros per-kilo over the weight limit. Ouch. I have a ton of these flights coming up, so it is nice that I may be able to give my dad some of my stuff to bring home… presents and things at least. Hopefully I can figure it out before my next flight from Edinburgh to Dublin in about two weeks. Other than that, the flight was easy, and I just waited around at a café it the Edinburgh airport the three hours or so until Brad, Hogan, and my Dad arrived from the United States. We have a tee time at the Castle Course at about 4:30pm, so off we go!

Netherlands: Day IV (Amsterdam)

Friday, June 24^th:

The Westerkerk (West Church):

            Today was a fun day but slightly sad as Jen left to go home in the afternoon, but I will get there eventually. We woke up for the full hotel breakfast today of an assortment of tea, breads, jams, cheeses, and meat—the morning meal we had become accustomed to over the last few weeks (when we get up in time at least). We slowly made our way over to the last of the big sites in the city we had yet to see, the Anne Frank House. Here we had to wait in a forty-five minute line, in the rain, to see the famous shelter where Anne Frank and her Jewish family hid from the Nazis in the 1940s. It was from this very house that she wrote her famous diaries that have been translated into over 70 languages and have sold over 25 million copies. Anne Frank unfortunately perished due to Typhus at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp only a couple of weeks before the liberation, however her diaries were published by her father, Otto, who had survived Auschwitz. The tiny annex on the back of an office building successfully hid the family for over two years before they were betrayed and raided. It was a very emotional museum, but one of the most important and impressive sites to visit in the city of Amsterdam.

Statue of Anne Frank:

            Right next door to the Anne Frank House is the Westerkerk, the West Church, where Rembrandt is allegedly buried. I say allegedly because scholars do not know where in the church he was buried, just that he is underneath it somewhere. We explored the church and the market outside called Westermarkt before we decided to walk through the city some more over to the huge Albert Cuyp Market. The walk was a bit long, but we again got to enjoy the unique architecture of Amsterdam from the best manner possible—just getting intentionally lost in it. When we got to the Albert Cuyp Market we were famished, but luckily there are food stands literally everywhere. The market is a wide avenue that is covered with food, clothing, metal, souvenir, and bath and body tents. For lunch we decided to stop at one of the fish sandwich tents, where we got an authentic Dutch Broodje Haring, or Herring Sandwich. We both ate these, and it is basically a pickled herring on some bread with onions and pickles. Awesome! We also later tried a Broodje Zalmsalade, which is a salmon salad sandwich. We stopped at couple of bars for lunch beers too, and I particularly remember drinking a nice pair of beers made by Westmalle called the Dobel and Tripel; both were enjoyable. Before we began to walk home, we got to eat a Stroopwafel, the food that I had made us walk all the way there to get. A fresh Stroopwafel is basically two mini waffles in pancake size that are squeezed together with the molasses-tasting stroopsyrup between them. I recommend eating them fresh, because they taste amazing when the syrup is warm and gooey.

Amsterdam Canal Houses:

            Unfortunately it was now time to walk back to the hotel to get Jen ready to leave. It had been an amazing three weeks with her, but she had to catch her overnight train from Amsterdam to Berlin to make her direct flight home to New York City. I will miss her, and we said our goodbyes on her train before I walked back towards the hotel. I got to walk around alone for a little while, stopping at a bar here and there along the way, but went back to the hotel to catch up on some things on my computer and the like. I left later on to get a shoarma (like a kebap) for dinner, and did some more walking around the city at night. I did talk to a nice Nigerian man (who moved to Russia… I don’t get it) at one bar, but turned in around 1am because I have to get up at 6am to make my flight to Edinburgh tomorrow. Tomorrow begins my golf trip with my dad, Dana, my brother, Brad, and my good friend Hogan Guider in Scotland. Hopefully the weather will be better than here, but I will take some warm temperatures and the intermittent rain that we had in Amsterdam! Tot Ziens Amsterdam.

Jen in a Classic Amsterdam Setting:

Netherlands: Day III (Amsterdam)

Thursday, June 23^rd:

The Rijksmuseum:

            Today was a super exciting day for me because Jen and I went to the Van Gogh Museum and got to see original works by my favorite artist, Vincent Van Gogh. We began our day by (finally) waking up early enough for the breakfast in the Renaissance Club Lounge, however they ended it earlier and all that was left was coffee and muffins. We ate about three each before we left on a tram for the first time to the museum district. The ride was about ten or fifteen minutes for 2.60 Euros each and we were let out in front of a big park spanning the distance between the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum, and the Concertgebouw (Concert Theatre). We had purchased tickets to the Rijksmuseum from our Concierge at the hotel, so we went there first. Unfortunately (blah) the museum was having major renovations, but the main attractions were still open for public viewing. This museum contains a lot of works from the Dutch Golden Age, including many by Vermeer, Jan Steen, and Rembrandt. The most famous painting in the museum is The Night Watch by Rembrandt. I stood in this room for probably forty minutes looking at the detail of the massive work before leaving. The intricate detail is stunning, and it was only a precursor to the stuff I would see in the afternoon.

A Rembrandt Painting Inside the Rijksmuseum:

            We walked around for a bit between visiting the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, passing the big block “I Amsterdam” letters, and we grabbed a hotdog to hold us off until an early dinner. We had purchased our Van Gogh tickets online, so we got to skip the line and walk right in to get our audioguides. A note, the audioguides for 5 Euro are worth it, but I wish there were more paintings that had commentary, and that the ones that had it weren’t so long. Anyways, the museum is arranged in 4 floors displaying over 200 Van Gogh works in chronological order across his life. The visitor learns a lot about Van Gogh’s life, and one can really see the inner feelings of Vincent change and influence his paintings as you progress through his life towards his suicide in 1890. Among my favorites were Wheatfield With Crows, The Harvest, The Yellow House, and Almond Blossoms. I could have spent days in there, admiring the seemingly three-dimensional quality that his oil paintings have, but we stayed for a couple of hours and moved on with our day.

The Van Gogh Museum and the Concertgebouw (Concert Theatre):

            We were starving at this point, so we decided to try an early dinner at an Indonesian restaurant near our hotel called Dragon Corner. There are many of these restaurants in the city, and the main dish that the Dutch seem to love is the rijsttafel, or “rice table.” This dish is basically a collection of fifteen to twenty dishes of different levels of spice served in tiny bowls, meant to be enjoyed with some rice. We had one with beef, peanut chicken, honey pork, tofu, peanuts, different salads, and more. It was a delicious and very filling meal! Again we were stuffed and in need of a nap, so we made our way home and slept for a while. When we woke up it was already almost midnight, but we wanted to check out the nightlife some more anyways, so we rallied.

Houseboats in the Amsterdam Canals:

            Tonight we walked into the heart of the Old City, right in the middle of the Red Light District. It seemed particularly lively that night, as most of the bars were full and smoke was billowing out of the crowds in the coffeeshops. We hopped around between bars while walking along the canals, taking in the night life. A couple of the bars we enjoyed that I would recommend are the Emmelot Bar and Café Pleinzicht. We stayed out until the bars closed, grabbed some (amazing) French fries, and walked back to the hotel. Tomorrow is our last day in Amsterdam and Jen’s last day in Europe with me. Our travels have been fun and exciting for the last three weeks, and I will be sad to see her go home! She has not been home since February though, so I am sure she will be excited to see her family again. Good night!

Myself at the "I Amsterdam" Block Letters:

Netherlands: Day II (Amsterdam)

Wednesday, June 22^nd:

The Beautiful Canals of Amsterdam:

            Hallo Amsterdam! Today was our first full day in Amsterdam, and I love this city. Each building has so much character to it, and so many of them just make you smile when you walk around. They all look like gingerbread houses that someone squished together on their side walls to make four-story skinny buildings that line city canals! And there are so many house-boats that it just makes you laugh when you walk up on a canal that is filled with these massive boats that probably can no longer even drive under the bridges in the city. We started our day rather late, around noon, with a nice breakfast at a little place called Orvieto. I had a Dutch Breakfast, which consisted of two fried eggs with ham and cheese on top of toast. Jen had a veggie breakfast which had mushrooms, beans, tomatoes, and eggs on toast. We also both shared a Dutch pancake with stroopsyrup—so delicious! After stuffing ourselves, we walked over to Centraal Station again to pick up some money for Jen at Western Union before starting our sightseeing.

The Koninklijk Paleis (Royal Palace) at Dam Square:

            We walked along the main road out from Centraal Station, passing the humungous St. Nicolaaskerk (St. Nicholas Church…why are there so many of these…) and walked until we met a tourist-filled square called Dam Square. This square stands in front of the Koninklijk Paleis (The Royal Palace) and is filled with pigeons and masked entertainers looking for street money. We turned into the Red-Light District area, although the girls aren’t out that early in the day, and made our way to the Oude Kerk, the Old Church of Amsterdam. It is super weird that a 13^th century gothic church is right in the heart of the world’s most famous legal prostitution Red Light District “De Wallen,” but I guess it works. The church is pretty barren on the inside, but has some interesting information about Rembrandt’s marriage as he had to apply for it there. From there we walked towards the Rembrandthuis, a museum set up in a 17^th century home where Rembrandt briefly lived. As the story goes, he purchased the house and furnished it with little regard to expenses until he went bankrupt. Most of the furniture and works inside were preserved, however, and today the tall and skinny house serves as a museum to the great artist.

The Oude Kerk (Old Church):

            We then walked the short way to the famous Portuguese Synagogue of Amsterdam, but were saddened to learn that it was undergoing construction on the interior. We were still allowed inside, at a discounted price, but honestly it was not worth it. The beautiful wooden interior was covered with scaffolding, and the floor that is normally covered with fine sand was just wooden floorboards. I was disappointed at this, but we kept our day moving anyways, walking back through the Zuiderkerk market to Dam Square again. Unfortunately, again, the Royal Palace was closed due to renovations and construction, and while one of the main stained glass windows of the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) was covered with scaffolding, tourists were allowed inside. Much like its Old Church counterpart, the New Church is built in gothic style and contains little inside. It was built in the 15^th-17^th centuries, and all the royal monarchs have been crowned inside since 1815. We went back to the hotel next for a nap before we wanted to walk around the historic Jordaan district in the afternoon.

 Houseboats in the Jordaan District:

            The Jordaan district is the place where most of the real canal houses are in the distinct Amsterdam-style, as well as a majority of the house-boats. The area’s buildings are historically protected, and this is the area where it is so much fun to just walk around, try to get lost, and just admiring the architecture. The gingerbread-looking houses surprise you at each turn, and a lot of them also seem to lean out towards the canal, as if the inhabitants wanted all that much more to be close to the water. We walked around this area for over two hours, stopping occasionally for drinks at local bars along the way. One that was particularly lively and I liked a lot was a bar called Café Belgique that sold a tasty Belgian microbrew called La Chouffe. When it got later we found a cozy French restaurant on the canal that was open late called Bistro Bonjour. Here we had a three course feast of mozzarella with tomatoes, basil, and pesto for a salad, I ate roast duck in orange sauce, and Jen had steamed catfish. We washed it all down with a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, and both of us had profiteroles for dessert.

The Leaning Gingerbread-Like Canal Houses and Homes of Amsterdam:

After dinner we walked back towards the hotel, doing a little bar hopping along the way and perused the Red Light District. Both of us remarked at the strangeness of the situation, and it is almost one of those experiences that you might not really enjoy or want to check out, but your attention is drawn anyways and tourists line the streets. Some of the red-light apartments are thrown in amongst other businesses, and some smaller alleys are dedicated solely to the profession of sex workers. I wondered to myself how many tourists or people in general actually come there to “indulge” in the services offered, as the whole time I did not see a single person actually go inside of one of the stalls. We had a few more beers and walked around before heading back to bed around 2am. The bars closing at 1am put a bit of a damper on things in this crazy city, but at least they are open until 3am on weekends.

More Canal Homes in Jordaan:

Belgium: Day II (Bruges) - Netherlands: Day I (Amsterdam)

Tuesday, June 21^st:

The Markt Square of Bruges:

            Bruges, or Brugge in Dutch, is a charming and picturesque city. It reminds me a lot of Prague, just smaller and less touristy. It seems as though it was plucked out of the medieval times and remained well preserved until the present day. It also definitely deserves its nickname as Venice-North, as it is very romantic and filled with pretty little canals. Belgium is also a funny country, because there is no one national language. Nearly every citizen you meet can speak French, Dutch, German, and English, and they all use each of them every day. It is quite disheartening when you only know one, maybe two languages when you meet these people. It was also our first taste of the Dutch language, which to me seems so close to English, yet so far, as sometimes it can seem even stranger than some of the Scandinavian languages we encountered.

Inside the Basilica of the Holy Blood:

            We woke up pretty early to enjoy our breakfast, but were confused with the situation. Our hotel’s restaurant is closed on Tuesdays, and while they gave us vouchers for breakfast nearby, it took us about ten minutes to find the place, all the while thinking we had been screwed. We finally found the Prestige Bakery and ate a huge continental breakfast. It was similar to the one we had in Aachen, as we ate rolls and assorted jams with some ham and cheese. We also had some tea, and the bakery seems remarkably French to me. Anyways, we left breakfast feeling very full and walked over to our first site, the Basilica of the Holy Blood on the Burg Square. This church is fairly small, but makes up for it with beautiful windows and a giant painting. It is also famous in the city as beneath a silver tabernacle inside the sanctuary is a piece of cloth allegedly stained with the blood of Christ. It is hidden from tourist view, but rumor has it the city takes it out one day each year.

View of Bruges from the Top of the Belfry:

            We met Sam and Annie after to climb the 366 steps up to the top of the Brugge Belfort (Belfry), the tall clock tower that stands above Markt Square. The climb was fairly steep and rigorous, but the views at the top are more than worth it. We were also up there at noon, so we got to experience first-hand the (really loud) chiming of the forty-seven bells in the belfry, capped off with twelve deep rings of the main bell. We hung out up top for a while, enjoying the view, then climbed back down to find a boat tour on the canals. We wandered around looking for a while before finding a half-hour tour for about seven Euro, and got on one of the boats (again, with a tour guide that spoke four or more languages). The half-hour tour offered us the best views of the city and its cozy, small houses, and was a cool way to experience the city and its canals. We also got to see a good number of swans that famously swim around the Bruges canals dodging the boat tours.

The Belfry from Our Canal Tour Boat:

            Leaving the boat tour, everyone was hungry and we split up to enjoy lunches separately due to some differing tastes. Jen and I found a cool place called Mozarthuy’s Brasserie. I had really wanted to eat some Belgian Waffles, even telling Jen in the days leading up to our day in Bruges that we were not allowed to eat waffles and had to wait until we were in Belgium. I ate some tomato soup with meatballs in it along with my Belgian Waffle covered in fresh fruit. Jen ate a vegetarian omelet with cheese, and we both drank a local beer called Brugse Zot. We also got to eat some of the famous Belgian fries with mayo and ketchup here before we left to go meet Sam and Annie again.

The Welcome Church of Our Lady from a Canal Bridge:

            Right next to our hotel was a wonderful beer store called “Die Bier Tempel” filled with local and craft brews. I got some beer called Kwak, and a wonderful beer called Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel. We each purchased some of these to take with us on our walk to the southern portion of the city, and (politely) finished them before going into a big church undergoing construction called Sint-Salvatorskathedraal, or the Holy Savior’s Cathedral. The inside of the church is much bigger than the outside and it houses beautiful religious artwork, tapestries, and 15^th century altars and choir stalls. There is also a treasury of some holy artifacts, but we did not go inside. Instead we walked the short distance over to the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk, the Welcome Church of Our Lady. This brick tower was built in the 13^th century and took over 200 years to complete, and it is the tallest building in the city. Inside it is another massive sanctuary however it holds a special piece of artwork inside: one of the few works of Michelangelo that ever left Italy. The sculpture is the main attraction in the church, and it is called “Madonna and Child,” and it is made out of white marble. There are also some cool ancient sarcophagi inside as well as the tomb of Charles the Bold of Burgundy.

Michaelangelo's Madonna and Child Inside the Welcome Church of Our Lady:

            By now our time had flown by and it was time to get moving to catch our train to Amsterdam! We had such a blast in Bruges with Sam and Annie, but we had to keep moving. We said our goodbyes and caught a cab to the station. We lucked out, also, because we found some earlier trains through Antwerp to Amsterdam that would get us to our hotel at around 9pm. The train ride was quick and easy, and in no time we were in Amsterdam. My first thought was that literally everyone in this city bikes, and it is easily seen why. The whole city is a maze of one-way and no-car streets, so biking makes a lot of sense. I thought there were a lot of bikers in Copenhagen, but it doesn’t even compare. We quickly fell into a small tourist trap, as there were no maps of the city in the central train station so we got a cab, soon realizing that we had to pay about fifteen Euros (including the tip the cabbie took from me without asking) to go about two hundred yards. Anyways, we checked into the Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel before we headed out to walk around the city a bit.

Amsterdam Centraal Station:

            The Old Town of Amsterdam is the place you want to be, but it is also one of the stranger places to experience, especially at night. This is the same area filled with red lights at night, and the same area that emits the characteristic smell of cannabis that Amsterdam has become synonymous with. Coffeeshops, as they call them, are all over the place, offering legal “soft drugs” of marijuana and hashish to anyone who inquires. Less frequently seen are Smartshops, which sell legal psychedelic mushrooms and supplements. What a weird city! It is strange, though, because due to the reputation Amsterdam has there are packs of stoned teenagers all over the place on their “green pilgrimage” of sorts, but one learns to ignore it. The Red Light District is also equally weird. There are parts of the city just filled with one-roomed apartments, and although it doesn’t get dark until about 11pm here, girls will begin to line the windows at around 530pm. These women basically stand there in the windows, going about their business on their phones or whatever, just waiting for a guy to come along who wants their services. It is very strange, but it is such a large and lively area that a tourist should not miss it nor be worried about it. There are tons of great bars in the area, and most people just walk up and down the canals catching passing glimpses of the girls as if they are another tourist attraction in the city.

The "Coffeeshop"-Filled Alleyways of Amsterdam:

            We walked around for a while before realizing that we had missed kitchen operating hours at nearly every restaurant again, so we ended up buying some food at a market in the central train station. We ate our salads and got to bed around 1am. I was very interested to see the city on a more lively night and to see it during the day as it seemed so charming for the few hours I got to experience it so far...

Germany: Day VI (Aachen) - Belgium: Day I (Bruges)

Monday, June 20^th:

Aachen Cathedral:

            The weather was slightly crappy today, but it certainly did not deter us from having a good time! Annike and Marcel woke us early this morning with an awesome German breakfast. We ate different kinds of rolls with assorted jams, spreads, butter, nutella, along with some yogurt, scrambled eggs, prosciutto ham, and different cheeses. It was a nice meal, and with some coffee we were off and running. We first visited the Aachen Cathedral treasury which holds many artifacts from the life of Charlemagne as he was coronated in the cathedral. The treasury is apparently one of the most valuable in all of Europe and holds Charlemagne’s bust (with part of his skull inside), a copy of his crown, his forearm, his thigh bone, and tons of artifacts related to Jesus’ life. One reliquary holds pieces of Jesus’ clothes from the crucifixion and a flagellation rope. Charlemagne’s 3^rd century-made original sarcophagus is also in the treasury.

The Bust of Charlemagne:

            We then moved next door to the Aachen Cathedral. When I had visited here in my youth I distinctly remembered there being tons of mosaics inside, and I was not let down. The entire main floor is covered with gold and blue tile mosaics depicting different scenes, angels, and animals. There is also a golden shrine to the Virgin Mary inside, and multiple awesome stained-glass windows. The outside is distinctly gothic and also has been added to over the years since it was built in the 8^th century. We walked around some more through the old town area before heading to the train station to catch a train to Bruges, Belgium. Right before we left, though, Annike gave us a nice gift to take with us, some German gingerbread-like cookies called Printen. They are very tasty! Auf Wiedersehen Germany!

Inside Aachen Cathedral:

            We caught our short train to Bruges through the Brussels main station, and arrived by taxi to our hotel at around 3pm. We stayed at the Verdi Bed and Breakfast right on the historical Markt Square, and our room was very cozy and spacious for once. My former college suitemate and good friend, Sam Day, and his girlfriend Annie were also visiting Bruges at the same time as us, so we left the hotel to go find them for some dinner and drinks. We waited for them in the beautiful Markt Square while tasting some Steen Brugge Blond beer. They had been travelling for three weeks through Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia before coming up to Bruges as their last stop. We got some dinner at a restaurant called Café Central, where we all got to eat some of the famous Belgian Mussels, au gratin with garlic, and I also ate some Flemmish Beef Stew. Jen had some Salmon with the same sauce as the mussels, and we both drank down a massive glass of Hoegaarden. This restaurant was also the first on my trip to implement some tourist-trap tactics, as they offered us garlic bread and steak sauces for our meal that turned out to be five and three Euros each, respectively. Pretty lame when they advertise a full meal for fourteen Euros.

The Bruges Belfry and Burg Square:

            Anyways, we left that restaurant pretty ticked off, but wanted to drink some more awesome Belgian beers, so we found another bar that had a happy-hour special from 10pm to 11pm—only an hour or so away. Here we tried some more beers, specifically the Leffe Bruin (YEAH BRUINS!) and the Leffe Blonde. The Bruin is dark and one of my favorites of the trip so far. The happy-hour special was nice, as we got to drink some Jupiler Pilsner beer for only one Euro each. We had a few of these before moving on to another bar before bed. We only had one day in Bruges, so we wanted to get some sleep to wake up early and make the most of it.

Germany: Day V (Köln, Aachen)

Sunday, June 19^th:

Köln Cathedral:

            Today we had a wonderful dinner and got to hang out with my German family friends Annike and Marcel Henrix! I also would like to wish a happy Father’s Day to my dad, Dana Tufts. You are the best! Jen and I slept in pretty late and took a train from Berlin to Köln, Germany after grabbing a quick cinnamon scone at the train station. We had a forty-or-so minute train swap in Köln, so both us had time to run out of the station to see the famous Köln Cathedral. This gothic cathedral, when it was completed, was once the tallest of its kind in the world. When I visited Germany over a decade ago my family went to Köln for a day and we got the chance to walk up the stairs to the top of the cathedral. It is an awesome view, but we did not have enough time for that before catching our train to Aachen, Germany, Annike and Marcel’s hometown.

            Our wonderful hosts picked us up at the train station and helped us with our bags into their car. I had been to Aachen before, when I visited Germany in 1999, but I did not remember much outside of its main site, the Aachen Cathedral. Annike and Marcel drove us through the cozy city of Aachen and through a beautiful park up to a lookout that looks down upon all of Aachen. It is a very pretty spot, and the rain subsided when we got there for some time to stop and take in the view! We then drove back down the road to their home.

Beautiful View of Aachen:

            Annike’s brother, Martin, and his girlfriend, Jennifer, also came over for dinner. We talked for a while and enjoyed some Sherry and appetizers before Annike and Marcel prepared us a wonderful, traditional German meal. We ate Roulade, a beef dish with gravy-style sauce, bacon, and sauer inside, as well as Spaetzleauflauf, a noodle and cheese dish. We also ate Knoedel, similar to a ball of mashed potatoes, and had red cabbage and green beans on the side. It was a lavish feast, and it was topped off with a wonderful German dessert called Quarkspeise which is like sweet, creamy yogurt with nuts and apples in it. Thanks again for the wonderful dinner guys!

            After dinner we enjoyed some traditional German beers (I still like the Bavarian beer best, Marcel), before walking down the hill to an Aachen bar. There we tried a beer from Köln and one from Düsseldorf before heading back up the hill to go to bed. Tomorrow we will wake up early for a nice German breakfast before visiting downtown Aachen and the Aachen Cathedral.