Tag Archives: beer

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!

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) ;)