Monthly Archives: October 2012

Cologne

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Did you know that Pope Johannes Paul II was buried in Cologne? Because I didn’t. That’s why you go to church! (And go to the basement)

I dedicated my only day in Cologne to the past. First stop was the cathedral. Besides being bigger (actually a lot bigger) than the other churches I have visited on this trip, it was nothing more than a church. It’s a big like taking the ferry north along the Norwegian coast – rocky coastal line and mountains have a certain “wow”-effect for a limited time. It is what it is. Rocks.

Sorry.. back on track. Next stop – Walraf-Richartz Museum to see the exhibition “1912” about the modernists of that time. I can describe this exhibition with one word: Manifique! (Pardon my French) ;) No, but seriously. The exhibition is actually a remake/tribute to the exhibition in 1912 and the stories, anecdotes and explanations, they have written on the walls in every room (the exhibition consists of 8 rooms) are really informative and help you get the full picture of the era. They have paintings by Munch, Cézanne, Gauguin, Picasso and last but certainly not least – van Gogh. Bonus fact: In the museum’s collection of old pictures, they have a more than 750 year old painting (actually it’s an icon) – pretty impressive, huh?

Back at the hostel I met up with the other guys. Sam was taking it easy, but the three Chinese were scribbling one postcard after the other. I am not lying when I say that they probably had at least 50, if not 60.

The next morning, I was up early and had more than enough time to get to the pick-up point of my ride to Munich. Not having felt great the last days, I did not want to stand at the roadside in potentially crappy weather looking for a ride, so I had fixed that through Mitfahrgelegenheit (a German carpooling site). But of course the trains had a problem and I was stranded at two different stations for some time, which led to me being 5-10 minutes late. Stupid as I was (and still am!), I did not have the driver’s number, so I could only hope that they would wait for me… They did. Soon the two German girls and I were on our way to Munich. About one hour into the trip, the girl on the passenger seat opens the glove compartment and takes out a CD. This is not just any CD – it’s David friggin’ Hasselhoff!! My immediate reaction was laughter and the following sentence “You DON’T hassle the Hoff.” Unfortunately, I had to sit through track after track of half American half German schlager constantly thinking about where the hell I put my earplugs. I even tried to locate my multitool as I actually wanted to cut my ears out. Damn that guy is bad! Fortunately, I survived the drive to Munich and I was dropped off a bit out of town quite close to a big forest/park. As I had arrived one day before the others, I did not have a place to stay, I decided to go ancestral and camp in the forest.

It did not take long before I had found a suitable place in the forest and had started building my shelter. I had bought some plastic bags as a backup (something I greatly appreciated later that evening!). At about 19:30-20:00 I was in my sleeping bag under my shelter listening to the rain. Of course it had started raining. Why wouldn’t it?

At about 23:00, my back was cold and sore as I did not have a mat to lie on and my make-shift bedding of moss did not provide enough insulation. Not sure if my slanting health was due to bad eating and sleeping habits of the days prior or because of all the David Hasselhoff “music”, I decided to pack up start walking towards town. I did not know how far from the city centre I was, but after about 1,5 hours walk (with my backpack) I was in a Burger King getting some coffee and power on my phone. At 01:30 they closed and I had to continue. The partying people dressed in traditional Oktoberfest clothes I had seen, when entering the Burger King, had left and the area was now totally deserted. At about 02:30, I reached the city centre and entered another Burger King situated in the train station. People were having the time of their life and I was having coffee. Time passed and the sun eventually rose as I left the train station and headed for a new place to sit. Starbucks had opened and it was now only a matter of hours before I was meeting up with Giannis from the summer school in Helsinki.

Brussels

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Woke up in Brussels and had whole day of exploring a completely new city (and country) ahead of me.

I barely knew anything about Brussels, so I just jumped into head first. After a quick visit to the Saint Michael’s Cathedral, I found myself in the very centre (and most touristy part) of Brussels. It’s just north of the Grand Place/Grote Markt and consists of several small streets and alleys. It is full of restaurants and cafés with waiters trying to persuade you to come inside. Very very touristy. However, I did find one small dead-end alley that led to Delirium Café but I’ll come back to that. I just walked around the city taking in all the impressions. This is actually what I mainly do on this trip. Walk around and look. It’s interesting and free. :)

I was amazed by the ornamentation of the facades. It’s just such a big difference to what I am used to back in Denmark. Feeling like taking a break, I found a coffee place that look like they knew what they were talking about. And they sure did. I had a BIG cup of single estate unwashed coffee. Yuuuum – so fruity! Without really noticing, I had spent more than 3 hours at that place and it was time to move on. The day was spent on seeing the tourist sights; Manneken Pis, the Beurs, different buildings, the Grand Place etc. Sightseeing really takes its toll on you, so I was in need of a magic elixir. Went back to Delirium Café and ordered a glass of the magic potion: Delirium Nocturnum. Wow – what a beer!

Although hostels can be very nice places to stay and to meet new people, I really enjoy staying with locals. Until now, I had only stayed with people I knew, but this evening I had been invited to stay at my friend’s big sister’s place. You really experience life of that city or country, when you stay with locals and I can strongly recommend it. I have tried to contact people on Couchsurfing.org but as I decide where and when to go on more or less a day to day basis, it is quite difficult to get a place to stay through this service. The next day I felt it was time to move on. A couple of sights, a Belgian waffle and some fries later, I set course for the highway out of Brussels towards Cologne (Köln). This showed to be harder than I had thought. It is not easy to find a suitable spot to hitch a ride from Brussels, but luckily a friendly woman gave me a ride to the on-ramp. Soon I had a ride from Brussels to a place just outside Liège. From here I got a ride with a guy that didn’t speak English, but a bit of sign language, German and French later I was in Eupen. It was getting really chilly and windy now. It seemed as if I was in the middle of nowhere (which I actually was!) and nobody stopped. I was standing by the on-ramp towards Aachen (30 km from where I was) with a sign that said “Aachen”, yet nobody stopped. Just as I was convincing myself to take down my sign and put on my jacket a young guy stopped. Saved! A short ride later, I was a Aachen train station boarding the train to Cologne.

In Cologne, I found a hostel in the city centre and as I entered, I heard yelling and loud speaking. I thought somebody was drunk and/or having a party/fight, but the guy in the reception informed me that they were recording a scene for a film. Interesting. I checked in, bought some groceries and made new friends in the kitchen. Amir (from Pakistan), who has a great passion and vision: A cultural change among the youth in Pakistan. He wants to liberate them. It was amazing to listen to this guy speak about his history, experiences and vision for the future. Then I met Sam (from England), who flew to Pakistan with his bike and cycled to Europe via China, Uzbekistan, other -stans, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey etc. Yet another fascinating story! Last, but not least, I met Stephanie, Stephanie and Aaron (from China) who all quit their jobs to travel around Europe. Although this can be quite common in Europe and the US, it is quite rare in China.

Next up: A day in Cologne, carpooling to Münich with two German girls and a David Hasselhoff cd, and camping in the woods!

Antwerpen

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The IT guy was kind enough to drop me off in central Antwerpen although he was going to Gent. It is amazing how simple and easy life can be, when you hitchhike. However, the opposite can certainly also be the case. Luckily, I’ve been spared the worst.

After walking only a bit around the city centre, I headed to a bar to get out of the blazing winds. This place turned out to be a tiny room with a little bar in the corner. I think it was run by the woman in the bar, who, by the way, gave me samples of the different beers on tap, when she saw the confused look on my face when faced with the choice of beers. I went with a De Koninck (a dark local beer) and I did not regret it. Especially when I think of the price; 1,8 € for a draught beer (the Belgian wine glass-shaped beer glass). Mere minutes had passed after I sat down, when it started raining. Buckets. Pouring. Cats and dogs…. and then the thunder came. Although the beer was good and cheap, and the local patrons seemed friendly, though all over 60 (at least), I decided to defy the weather and search for a new place to explore. After passing a university building, I found another bar, which was actually a student bar. It was probably due to the weather that I felt like moving on to Brussels, so I ordered a La Chouffe and sat down. The feeling kept a firm grip on me even after emptying my beer, so I set course for the railway station, but first I had to eat something. The choice fell on a moroccan restaurant and boy was I in for a treat. A Duvel and a big plate of lamb chop, sausage, steak and kebab later, I was happy and ready to go to Brussels.

I entered the beautiful Antwerpen train station (really – it is magnificent!). The time had passed 22.00 (10 pm for you Americanos ;) ) and the ticket sales had closed. I headed for the ticket machines. They neither took cash or card! COME OOOOON?? European train station? After walking around the station and becoming more and more desperate, I found someone who looked a bit official. She told me that I should just board the train and find an official there. I found my platform and boarded, but no controller ever came. Win! But seriously? Why the f**k don’t they just allow the machines to take cash and/or card?

Minutes to midnight, I arrived in Brussels and I had NO clue about where to go, so I just went. Chose a direction and walked. Even in the dark of the night I could see that Brussels were much bigger and more beautiful than Antwerpen. I was looking forward to waking up the next day. I asked a couple of people on the way, if they knew where I could find a hostel, but they kept talking about hotels. Yeah right, I’m not going back to Le Méridien, I thought as I smiled at them and said thanks. A few minutes later, I heard coughing and sniffling behind me. A guy was walking behind me. He looked quite “casual” (to say the least), so I asked him if he knew a hostel in the area. He did. Actually he was going there. Within minutes I was checked in. Before going to bed I sat in the common room/café/bar and checked my mail/Facebook, while youngsters around me were partying (I feel so old sometimes…). Like in Antwerpen, I had only sat down (this time in my bed) when I heard thunder and saw massive lightning. I guess that the storm had turned and followed me to Brussels! I fell asleep within minutes.

Utrecht and Amsterdam

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Daniel and I decided to visit his brother, Benjamin, in Utrecht. After arriving in the afternoon, Daniel left me to go to Rotterdam and I was now all alone with this Dutch stranger. Daniel would not be back until the next day… However, a beer and a chat later Benjamin and I were already getting along quite well. (I guess brothers aren’t that different by the end of the day) ;)

The next day Daniel came back and we toured the city. It did not take long before the local dudes led me to a cool bar down by one of the grachts (the river canals) for a beer. I really like the grachts. They add something very special to the Dutch cities. Back home, the river that flows through the town is the most central and popular place to be, but it has none of atmosphere and charm of the Dutch grachts. A true Dutch speciality!

Now it was time for the three dudes to check out Amsterdam. After getting used to all the tourists, my eyes were focused on the characteristic Amsterdam architecture; tall narrow houses with pointy roofs. I was wandering why this became the predominant architectural style for Amsterdam and luckily my two “local” guides were able to enlighten me: Back in the days they put a tax on how many windows your house had. Building houses this way optimized the amount of living area, while keeping costs down.

We had dinner at a cool (kind of hipster) place (Canvas) on top of an old newspaper building. The terrace had a panorama view of Amsterdam. Very nice place and not too expensive. After dinner, we still had about three hours to spend before we could to the club just opposite Canvas. This club (Trouw) was situated in another old newspaper building (the major rival of the one where Canvas is situated). We went back to the city centre and had a look at the town by night. Quite reluctantly, the guys agreed to go through the Red Light District. I had to see this place. I’m not endorsing the practices taking place in the area, but you cannot go to Amsterdam without seeing it! After a game of pool and a couple of beers, we decided to go back to Trouw. When we arrived, we realized that entering that night without a pre-booked ticket would be impossible, so we headed back to Utrecht. Quite a lot of traveling that day! We arrived in Utrecht and checked out a local club. Nice place where they play electronic music (I’m not that well-educated in the difference of these genres). I was not the typical music being played in Danish clubs, but it was cool.

The next morning Daniel left us again, but that did not stop Benjamin and I from having fun. After an awesome breakfast in the sun on the roof terrace, we went for a walk around Utrecht, which included visiting the market. I had to try the Dutch delikatesse Hollandse Nieuwe, which is a raw or lightly marinated herring with raw diced onions. It was quite an experience (nice, but filling and with a distinctive taste that lasted for a while!). We decided to rinse with a beer. Benjamin took me to a church that had been turned into bar. Absolutely amazing place! And great beer.

The next day, I decided that it was time for me to move on and I took the bus to the outskirts of town, where I hitched a ride to Antwerpen with a guy. Another IT guy. (Second ride with an IT guy on this trip! Cudos and respect to IT guys) ;)

Groningen

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I was really feeling like drinking a beer with a friend, so seeing Daniel at the train station was a much welcomed sight. After the long trip with a lot of uncertainty, I felt home and safe (especially with that cold beer in my hand). What a feeling.

Groningen is an old city. There are still many old buildings including their university in the city centre. What a beauty! Just opposite of it is the main university library. Supposedly, that’s a place for picking up girls/guys. I don’t really see how that is possible, but it sure is a place for checking out people. (Bonus fact: People actually dress up to go to the library because of this!!)

That night we decided to check out the nightlife although it was a Tuesday. Though the majority of the places were closed, the cheapest and sleaziest places were packed. It was certainly a fun sight, but I prefer the cozy jazz bars (unfortunately I missed the live performances).

When they say that Groningen is a student city, they are not exaggerating. Every fifth person is a student, the city is packed with bikes (it felt like China in the 90s!), the university campus just outside the city center in big and quite new. Further, it seems like the architects have had no restrictions. They certainly do not look anything like the new minimalistic glass and steel university buildings in my home town, Aarhus. But this is actually very nice. The facilities are good and spacious – despite the many students. A cool thing I encountered while walking around campus was a solar-powered dumpster/trash bin that compresses the trash. Preeeetty cool, huh?

Local tip: When you have been having fun in the bars and clubs in Holland and you feel hungry, go to one of the many kebab places and order a “Kapsalon“. Don’t ask what is in it – it’s basically a mix’n'match of components of your average kebab/grill bar dishes.