Bruges - August 15, 2011

Bruges by bike…

While Bruges is a neat old city, its charm is almost lost during the day when it is overrun by tourists.  Some places (Siena) can handle the crowds and still maintain their authenticity.  Others (Bruges, Salzburg) seem like a fantasy land made just for tourists.  Still worth the day trip if you don’t mind fighting the crowds.  Best way to semi-blend in with the locals here?  Rent a bike!  Riding along the cobblestone streets was great once we learned how to navigate the one way streets and by-pass the crowds of tourists. 

Highlights:

• Procession of Our Lady of the Blind: One of the best parts of visiting a new place is experiencing their local festivals and event.  Held every year on August 15^th since 1304, the women of Bruges promised to hold a procession every year to ensure that their husbands returned safe and sound from the war. During this procession they carry the statue of the Virgin and a candle to the chapel of Our Lady of the Blind. The town folk dress in medieval costumes and solemnly parade through the streets with their catapult and rosary beads in tow…talk about tradition! 

• Markt & Belfort: Bruges’ main square is full of life…and people waiting to take a horse and carriage ride!  The impressive Belfort (tower) with its red stripe/blue dragon flag (city of Bruges) dates back to 1300s and can be see from nearly all over the city.  Pretty cool city landmark!  

• Bruges City Walk: Per usual, Rick’s city walk covers the major sites.  One interesting spot…the Basilica of the Holy Blood where a vial of Jesus’ blood (drops that fell from his body while He was on the cross) is supposedly kept.  Tried to get a glimpse of the relic, but the tabernacle’s doors where never open.

 

• De Halve Maan Brewery: This was the classic brewery tour of a family-run business and the complete opposite of Heineken.  Our guide gave the most animated tour ever in English and Flemish.  Still not sure what he said in the entire 45 minutes, but Joe enjoyed the Brugse Zot at the end!  

 (An entire room full of copper!)

• Biking to Damme: Finally a breath of fresh air in an otherwise crowded city!  It felt great to escape the crowds and pedal freely on a well-maintained bike path along the canal to the the town of Damme.  Very picturesque ride with windmills, people fishing along the canal, and views of the Belgium countryside…definitely worth the extra mileage!

•  Carillon Concert at Markt: Nothing like eating more waffles and fries on the Markt while listening to the Belfort’s carillon being played by hand.  We could almost picture the carillonist pounding his fists on the pedals to create each song.  Joe’s got a good point: must be lousy to put on an hour long show without applause because you’re several hundred feet up in the air where no one can see you.  Bravo, carillonist!

Food:

• Pano: Belgium’s version of Au Bon Pain…we don’t normally eat sandwiches for breakfast but the mozzarella/tomato/pesto and the ham/egg/cheese where too hard to resist!
• Waffles: Laurenzino chocolate sauce may have won me over, although I’m still not convinced that the waffle itself was my favorite.  In a brave attempt, I also tried a plain waffle today which turned out to be a cross between fried dough and a soft, warm sugar cookie.  Think I’ll stick to the chocolate!  Note to self: waffle quality is diminished here before closing time.  I guess some things are better left done only 4 times in 24 hours!  Should have gone for one of the crazy flavors staring me down across the street at Gelateria Da Vinci instead.    

 

• Fries: Fries from a cart = tourist trap  fries from ‘t Brugsch Friethuys only slightly better…the ones yesterday in Brussels were WAY better!  

 

• Dumon: No wonder Rick recommends this place….they’ve got his Christmas cards and books right up front advertising his name in return for their ad in his book!  Fortunately, Rick got this one right.  If you can get past the pushy staff and their  “Dis is the one Rick Steve recommends” sales pitch, the chocolates are actually delicious and more reasonably priced than Neuhaus.  Chocolate caramel = amazing!  

 

Unfinished Business: Not much left undone here….except for a longer bike ride past Damme to the Belgium/Netherlands border, and more Dumon chocolate.

Amsterdam - August 13, 2011

Congrats to us! This is our 101st Blog Post! Wow...since we started this 1.5 years ago, I would say we've been traveling A LOT...:)

Today we tackled Amsterdam from 8am until midnight!  What a GREAT day!

Highlights:

• Jordaan Neighborhood: Rick’s walking tour brought us across several canals and past cute homes where we learned about the different types of gables on the roofs…very scenic!  

• Anne Frank Haus: Pre-ordering online tickets = worth the extra euro so we could bypass the HUGE line….clearly these people do NOT have Rick’s book!  Took the self-guided walk through the museum which had English translations on all exhibits to learn about the family’s history.  The building we were in was the office of Otto Frank, Anne’s father, who owned a jam making company before World War II.  When the family went into hiding in July 1942, Otto sold his business to non-Jewish friends who agreed to hide the family in the upper back floors of the building and bring them food and supplies when possible.  The Frank family (Anne, her parents and her sister, Margot) lived here for two years along with four others.   On our tour, we went through the hidden door behind an office bookcase to reach the family’s small living quarters (two bedrooms, a bathroom & a common room).  Although there is no furniture left (at Otto’s request), the pictures and videos helped you clearly envision what it must have been like.  It is unbelievable and horrible to think that the Frank’s lived here (often in silence during business hours) for two years.  The museum also covers the discovery of the family by Nazis and their separation to various concentration camps, where only Otto survived at Auschwitz.   Anne’s original three diaries were not on display due to preservation, but we were able to see copies before exiting the museum.  Overall, a very moving take that really brought to life the story of just one of the many Jewish families who suffered under Nazi rule.  I’m not much of a reader, but I will definitely be reading Anne’s book!

• Sara’s Pancake House = yum!  I usually don’t do this over here, but today I couldn’t resist the “American breakfast” with scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, juice and coffee.  Joe skipped straight to dessert and ordered an apple pancake with whipped cream and rum…and of course all the items that came with mine that I got for him!  Pancakes here are thinner than the ones at home…almost like a crepe.  They are made in a large cast iron pan with a shallow dome in the center.  My pancakes were covered in confectionary sugar, and served with a brown molasses-like syrup.  Joe’s was more like a thin “Big Apple” pancake from Bickford’s.   The final verdict: Everything was pretty tasty, but I still like our pancakes at home better…and our maple syrup is ten times better!

• Amstelkring Museum: When Catholics were forbidden to worship publicly in Holland from 1578-1795, they built “hidden” Churches like this one, Our Lord in the Attic.  Hidden here means that while authorites knew the churches existed, they did not destroy or prevent people from attending as long as the Churches were tucked away and didn’t look like Churches from the outside.  This Church was just as it sounds…located up very steep steps in the top floors of an Amsterdam building.  Unfortunately, the site is undergoing major restoration right now (read: most of the furniture and art has been temporarily removed), so it was hard to picture what it was like to attend Mass here.  The audiotour was informative, though…and if nothing else, we got a good look at the inside the maze that is the narrow Dutch building.

• Amsterdam City Walk sites…De Papegaai Catholic Church: another “hidden” Catholic Church.  This one looked and felt like a Catholic Church with its statues of saints and fancy altar.  A quiet respite inside an unassuming building right on the busy pedestrian shopping street, Kalverstraat.  Begijnhof…a peaceful courtyard and homes behind the busy Kalverstraat where Beguines (devout women who were not nuns, but were still dedicated to serving God) lived.

• Van Gogh Museum: Interesting museum where we learned a lot about Van Gogh’s life.  We were impressed that the artist painted most of his work in the last five years of his life.  Some favorite paintings included The Yellow House, Sunflowers, and The Harvest.

• Heineken Experience: Watch out Guinness…Heineken puts on quite the show (I mean, tour.)  The multi-leveled brewery is one huge advertisement for everything green, and while expensive, it provided some good entertainment on a rainy afternoon.  One staff member gave a great synopsis of brewing and its history.  Sampled barley, hops, and lots of Heineken, Joe got to be the Heineken DJ, and we made our own music video.  We even went on a 4D motion simulator ride where we were turned into a beer!  Still not Joe’s favorite.

 

•  Jordaan Walk…Part 2:  This area makes for a great walk no matter what time of day it is.  Lots of nice spots for pictures along with another view of Anne’s house.

• Sara’s Pancake House…Round 2!: We normally don’t do this, but we couldn’t resist more pancakes.  Italian pancake (w/ tomato, mozzarella and pesto) was excellent!  Chicken, onion and cheese was okay.  Pancake with chocolate sauce and ice cream…pretty good!  I think it’s safe to say that once we left here, were had our fair share of pancakes!

Unfinished business…per usual, we ran out of time to see/do everything Amsterdam has to offer.  Guess that means we’ll have to come back someday for…a canal cruise, a bike ride, Rijksmuseum (Rembrandt’s work), the English Reformed Church in the Begijnhof where the Pilgrims supposedly went before leaving on the Mayflower…and of course more pancakes and frites!