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Trekking Across Europe to Australia
From Edinburgh we flew to Amsterdam to spend 2 days at the Sphinx "hotel"- another doozy but only because it poorly run. (I can write a book just on our experiences at all the hostels/hotels during this trip) But, we still had a private room and bath so we were fine. We arrived at 10am and couldn't check in until 2pm so we decided to explore the city and walk around the beautiful streets between the canals. If you've never been to Amsterdam before then you probably don't picture it being a lovely city with a lot of character Two things probably only come to mind...and you know what I'm talking about. Those both still exist... but there is much more to Amsterdam than that. However, we were curious about those two things so we did walking tours to gain local insight on the subjects. The fact about the coffee shops is that there are many rules around the selling and smoking of it. You are not supposed to do it on the street, there are limits to how much the shops can sell, and how much people can buy. As for the ladies in red- most are from anywhere else in the world besides the Netherlands and they are entrepreneurs. A room costs anywhere from 70-100 euro a day, depending on the location, and the starting price for a visit costs 50. They make their own hours and pick their own clients- there is no pimp involved. You may picture them to be unattractive but for the most part its actually the opposite. Ironically we saw swans floating down the canals of the red light district- which you'll see a picture of.
As for Belgium, we decided to go to the small city of Bruges (a.k.a Brugge) sometimes referred to as the "Venice of the North". This time we stayed at a 1star Ibis budget hotel which cost around the same price we've been spending on private rooms in hostels. It was connected to the train station which was convenient since thats how we got there and was a 10 minute walk from town. So we had a good experience. You may not know this but Belgium is actually famous for its beer so we were excited to visit some bars and try some. We even did a brewery tour at De Halve Maan which is the oldest still running. Even though we were both pretty knowledgeable on the subect before, we ended up learning more. Afterwards they give you a glass of their popular Blond beer "Bruges Zot". We stayed to try their "Tripel beer" which is stronger& more flavourful. Now....when you are drinking Belgian beer you have to keep in mind that most are very rich and have high alcohol percentages-so you have to be careful. Most beers are between 4 and 5 %, but Belgian beers are usually higher- the Blonde was 6% and the Triple was 8%. After we left the brewery, we stumbled upon a small hidden pub that we found while walking the streets so we decided to pop in and try some more of this delicious beer. First, we did a tasting of 3 different samples and shared a cheese&salami plate to go with. (We learned on the brewery tour that you are actually supposed to accompany beer with something salty since this is the only taste you do not get from drinking it- whereas bitter, sour & sweet you do!) So that's the real reason why bars put out nuts or bar snacks when you order a drink! Interesting and makes sense. It's like pairing wines with certain foods- the tastes just go together. Anyway- after that, we ordered a full glass (0.5L) of our favorite sample-which happened to be the 9% one....Once we were finished with that we ordered another round since we enjoyed it so much. Now...remember what I said about being careful when you are drinking beers with this high of an alcohol percentage....well you'll see from the video the effect this had on me... And for being such a small town- we got lost twice...once we were completely sober and the other was after all the beers I just mentioned :)
Our time spent in these two different yet similar cities was short and sweet but definitely well spent. Now we are off to Germany- which we'v een looking forward to very much since it's a first for both.
- comments
Dad Brugge is truly beautiful place, virtually unchanged in 500 years. Serene canals beautiful and colorful buildings, warm inviting place. Hope you enjoyed it fully.
Nancy Great photos as usual. Bruges seems like a little fairy tale city. I hope you will get some blue skies in Germany.