Ramble On! Beertrip Days 3-4

Continuing the tale of our trip to the Netherlands and Belgium:

The third day of our trip to Amsterdam started with a bright sun shining happily into the Hotel Fita's breakfast nook as we partook of wonderful pancakes and other sundries.  As a seasoned librarian, Sj had planned far in advance to book us entry to the Anne Frank House that morning.  It has been a long time since I read the book, but I have certainly learned more about WW2 and all the associated monstrosities of Nazi Germany since reading this in junior high.  We walked on a circuitous route over nearly abandoned (for once) canals and past just-opening store fronts.  We arrived at the Anne Frank Huis to find incredible lines of people twisting around the block, but we were quickly buzzed in an alternative entrance for those who had booked ahead.  Word to the wise with any of the museums in Amsterdam: book ahead or get there crazy early that time of year.

Our visit to the museum was a mixed bag.  The place was very small and included three levels of a restored old spice store.  Various quotes from the book were on the walls, as well as pictures of the family members and helpers.  Glass cases with items from the home/office were on display, but difficult to get close enough to look at.  They had us crammed in like sardines and the place was HOT!  It took over an hour to move through the small home, perhaps took too long for comfort.  Our experience was also marred to some extent by a terribly disrespectful group of school kids (about 10-13 years old) who were laughing and fighting with each other while standing right in front of a TV playing clips from Auschwitz.  Not cool.  Despite all that, seeing the reality of a young girl forced to hide in an attic suite with her whole family while trying to find solace in writing about it was heart wrenching and somewhat chilling to me. 

After decompressing from our museum visit, we met our friends Chris and Hassan for a wonderful lunch at a cafe right next to a park.  Sipping on Belgian ales while watching bikers and pedestrians wander past on paths was quite nice.  Next up was checking out of our hotel and dragging all our luggage aboard a tram to the central train station.  There, we heard an announcement about a train to Bruges being canceled, which put us into high alert since that was our destination!  We found a conductor located in front of the info desk who was incredibly rude to us and wouldn't answer our questions about the train.  We eventually discovered a fellow traveler who had been scheduled for the previous train (which was indeed canceled) who helped us figure everything out.

We had about an hour before our train, and the station didn't really have any place for sitting.  To kill time we took a free ferry across the river and ended up hanging out in front of a strange industrial looking art school coffee shop/bar/rave venue.  They had tons of Mexican beers in bottle, and had several craft beers on the list, but apparently were out of all of them.  Eventually the bartender found a few room temperature bottles of Brouerij 't IJ Dubbel for us and we were happy once again!  The beer struck me as dry and pleasant with a light nutty aftertaste.  The young lady behind me ordered coffee and apparently he didn't really know how to make that and I saw her come out after us with two bottles of dubbel as well.  We discovered later that the place wasn't even supposed to be open and our bartender/barrista  was really just watching the place.  Still a fun little way to spend an hour before heading out for Bruges!

We took the fast train to Brussels with comfortable seating and room for our luggage, taking about 1.5 hours or so, coming in late due to some sort of delay.  At the Brussels station we found that all the trains were running late and struck up a conversation with a fellow traveler on his way back to his home town of Ghent.  He gave us some great ideas for local Ghent beer bars that we later used for evil.

The train ride to Ghent was a terrible experience!  Every seat was already taken when the train pulled up at the stop and only a couple of people got off in Brussels.  Sj and I ended up standing in the tiny enclosure between cars (right by the bathroom) with 11 other people, luggage, and some one's baby stroller.  There was nothing to hold onto in that area and every time the train would slow or brake all of us would end up in a sweaty human pig-pile trying not to end up on the floor.  On lady was crammed up against the outer door and it cracked open at one point like it was going to jettison her onto the swiftly passing tracks--freaking all of us out in the process!  During this hellish trip several people with large bags from other cars kept barging their way through, trying unsuccessfully to find better seating.  About half way through the hellish trip a little girl needed to use the restroom and literally had to climb over and under people to get to it.  Luckily she was very small!  We made one stop and finally several people left the train.  Chris and Hassan, who had been able to make it into the car in front of us tried to get a group of four seats for us but a teen with a skateboard snaked one and wouldn't give it up for another across the aisle.  When the conductor came by later, said teen tried to act like he was with us and was eventually found to be traveling with an expired or invalid student pass.  When  the conductor walked back toward the front of the car, the teen tried to make a run for it toward the front of the moving train, but the conductor was no dummy and spotted this.  When we arrived at Bruges there were some very official looking train authorities waiting to question our surly friend.  At least the free entertainment made the time go by quicker. 

We were able to catch a minivan cab from the train station to our hotel.  Nestled in a few blocks from the heart of the city this hotel is wonderful!  They were featured in the bizarre crime film In Bruges and are right on the canal as well.  With the long travel day we were too tired to go explore much, so had dinner at Erasmus, the restaurant attached to our hotel.  The food was excellent.  I had a Flemish beef stew made with Westmalle Dubbel and frites that really hit the spot!  We shared some beers including Westmalle Dubbel, 3 Fonteinen Kriek, and others.  Last time we stayed here they actually organized a beer pairing dinner for us that was amazing.  Their beer menu is extensive with 4 on tap and at least 30-40 in bottles.  The look of the place is more French fine dining than beer restaurant, but I highly recommend it.

After dinner it was now dark, but we were invigorated by food and drink and able to head out for one more destination.  We ended up at Cambrinus, managing to get there just as the late dinner crowd was thinning, and seating was available.  This place is one of the best beer bars in the city and the beer menu is a huge two inch thick beast with wooden covers!  It took us quite some time to narrow down our options while faced with a seemingly endless amount to choose from.  I ended up ordering a tart and wonderful Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus, also sharing a Girardin Framboise and Rodenbach Vintage 2011 with our group.  We did not eat there this time, but last trip we found the local Flemish fare to be wonderful and often included beer in the preparation.  We finished by splitting a Pannepot strong ale from nearby brewers De Struise.  Despite our tire bodies and minds we actually closed down the bar and headed back to our hotel for some much needed rest.

Epic tomes of beer at Cambrinus

Upon waking the following morning, no worse for wear, Sj and I sat in the well lit breakfast dining room of our hotel, overlooking the canal.  Having seen most of the museums and climbed the Bell Fort last visit, this time we planned to just wander and take in the sights of the city.  Bruges was one of the few cities that didn't really get invaded in the World Wars and hence still has an amazing amount of unmarred medieval architecture to observe.  Around the outskirts of the old city, it is ringed by bike paths, windmills and an occasional fortified entry gate left over from when the city was walled.  We took this sunny and pleasant morning to view these sights and get some much needed walking in. 

When we tired of the windmills we found ourselves at De Halve Maan Brewery, (The Half Moon), a place we had visited last time we were in Bruges.  This is an old historic brewery that has been updated in the 2000's and re branded to some extent.  They have a great patio area nestled in a small courtyard between the brewery buildings and serve a limited food menu and their own beers out there.  Taking advantage of the weather we sat outside and struck up a conversation with some neighboring tourists from Canada.  I really enjoyed their Brugse Zot Belgian blonde ale that was bright and fresh and somewhat hoppy.  Sj had the tasty Dubbel and I liked that as well.  They have a full service restaurant inside the main building and also offer brewery tours in several languages through out the day.  We went on the tour last visit and it is well worth the time--you get to walk across the old copper coolship to see a remarkable view of the city from the rooftop!  This brewery is under rated as Belgian breweries go, but I think they have a good set of beers and a great vibe.

Next we met up with Chris and Hassan for more wandering and a medieval pub crawl!  They had scoped out a place on their own wanderings named Herberg Vlissinghe, a pub opened in 1515!  Now that is impressive!  The inside was quite small with old and well used woods and a prominently displayed wood stove and iron warmer in the center.  Out back there was another cozy courtyard filled with smoking Europeans.  Their beer list was limited but included some of the Trappist ales.  I tried a newer brewery Fort Lapin's (rabbit) Tripel which was light, fruity and perfect for the environment.  At one point there was a large crash from a neighboring table as a chair catastrophically failed on a poor patron.  No one seemed too injured thank goodness!  This was a fine place to have a drink and catch up on our day, but I wish it had a better beer list to recommend it.

Quite a spread!

So, a beer in a pub from 1515...where to go from there?  We ended up just rambling about the tight cobble stoned streets enjoying the weather and scenery, eventually getting ourselves turned completely around.  About the time we felt the urge for another beer, we stumbled upon one of the other best beer bars in the city: 'T Brugs Beertje.  Named "Bruges' Little Bear" the pub was opened in 1983 and has been a mecca for good beers ever since.  This is another small building with tight, or intimate, seating.  They offer 300 beers in bottle, with about 4 on tap.  Tap beer is just not a big thing in Belgium.  We ended up sitting next to a contingent of friendly folks from Sam Adams (Boston Beer Company) who were nearby for an industry conference in Ghent.  These are some of the folks responsible for R&D and creators of the boundary pushing Barrel Room beers.  We enjoyed discussing American and Belgian beers with those three quite a bit!  Since we had such an outrageous beer list to choose from Sj and I split a Cantillon Kriek and a Boon Mariage Parfait Kriek.  Both were wonderful, but anything next to Cantillon pales...

Beer (Bear) Heaven?

Not to give up on our quest to discover new beer adventures in Bruges, we went searching for Staminee De Garre.  This was in one of Chris' guidebooks as an old pub on the smallest street in Bruges.  They are known for having a special De Garre tripel that is made for them and only available at the pub, which prompted our quest.  We wandered in circles around and around a large block looking for the place with the aid of a paper map and two different mapping apps on our cell phones.  When we were about to give up, Hassan managed to get the directions from a cranky chocolatier (that likely gets this request often) and we were off around the block again!  The opening to the "street" is really a tiny alley that looks like a store front entrance, truly a hidden little place.  Walking into this street, I felt like I had just been transported to Diagon Alley or perhaps Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter.  Very strange.  The pub within instantly transported us to a lost time.  The special De Garre beer was served in an enormous bowl glass that looked more suitable to goldfish than a drink!  We initially requested to share one, but that is not allowed, so we were all served a smaller and easier to handle version of the glass.  The beer was 11% ABV, but dry and drinkable with a slightly sharp finish, and was served with a small bowl of cheese cubes.  This place is fun and well worth the effort to find it!

We eventually found a Moroccan restaurant for a late dinner.  The menu outside was intriguing and they made mention of slow food, and sourcing local ingredients.  There, we had the slowest service we had in all of Europe, even worse than De Kaas.  It was 30 minutes (yes I checked) before we even had our drink order taken.  The only server in the place moved like he was walking and talking though thick syrup.  The beer list was very small, but all the beers were Bio (European version of organic).  I ended up ordering a Kriek that the server promised me was not sweet, but ended up tasting like cough syrup.  Blech!  The food eventually came and the Tajines were quite tasty, making up somewhat for the interminable wait.  This place truly lived up to "Slow Food"!  I felt somewhat bad for the couple who just sat down as we were leaving (two and a half hours after arriving), hopefully they were able to eat before midnight. 

Up Next: Bruges to Ghent!

Tiptoe Through The Tulips!

Day two of our European trip began with a wonderful pancake and cappuccino at the Hotel Fita.  Then off to an early visit to the Keukenhof: the largest flower garden in the world, featuring over 7 million flowers!  We were present during peak tulip season and this place draws Disneyworld type crowds from across the world.  I know...tulips right?!  Our friend Chris bought the tickets very far in advance and we had to get rolling early to miss the huge crowds that drift in later in the day.  I'll admit I was less than excited about flowers, and the fact that it was raining when we picked up our shuttle at the Schiphol airport.  After about a 35-40 minute standing bus ride we arrived at the gardens and indeed they had a human cattle entry that again reminded me of Disney.  Luckily the rain came on an off, allowing for periods of decent light for practicing with my brand new camera.  Rain would start again periodically, causing me to wrap my camera within the safe folds of my rain jacket (yes I remembered to bring one on this trip!) until it had stopped again.

We entered the grounds to crazy, loud and somewhat discordant music from a huge and slightly disturbing calliope near the entrance.

The stuff of nightmares?

Once we moved past the crush of photo-taking tourists (yes I know I was one too...) we were faced with seemingly endless groupings of tulips in nearly any color one could imagine.  Different shapes and textures abounded and I found myself intrigued and interested in spite of myself!  Coming from a snow-laden Minnesota that had yet to show us green, this incredible burst of color touched my icy soul in a way that was totally unexpected to me.  And talk about a great place to practice some amateur photography!  Better light and less rain would have improved my shooting, but hey, I'll take that over more pictures of snow banks and my indoor cats.  Please excuse all the following pictures of tulips...

Maroon and Gold baby!

We had lunch at a crowded lunch-line style eatery and I had my only Heinekin while in the Netherlands.  Hey I was desperate!  And strangely their version didn't seem as skunky and gross as our American version.

Stop looking at my Heinie!

Following lunch we visited a huge enclosed orchid building, with plenty more photo opportunities and way too many people.  Near the end we discovered a hedge maze and even a windmill!

Upon finishing up our veritable orgy of flower watching we finally returned to the city, watching bright sun peak out of the clouds literally minutes after we left the garden grounds.  We wandered Amsterdam for a time, taking in the architecture and dodging bikes, scooters and trams.

On our travels we felt a thirst come upon us and entered a likely looking pub called Onder de Ooievaar (meaning under the shops, I believe).  The bartender was fantastic, offering the confused travelers several large tastes of beers from the many taps to help us decide on our choices.  This is not something that really occurred during the rest of our trip, so it stands out to me.  We ended up ordering a couple of lentebiers (spring beers) including t' IJ, Jopin, and Texels--all local versions of maibocks.  The 't IJ version had a distinct Belgian yeast character and I'd like to try brewing something like this in the future.  During our brief visit a cat from a neighboring bar infiltrated the place and started getting under the bartender's feet.  The cat was eventually extricated and evicted under duress from the premises.

Much abused Bar Cat looks longingly back at its favorite Amsterdam pub...

From the pub we wandered a bit more through bike-laden streets and over canals.  We eventually took a tram to our dinner at De Kaas.  This highly regarded restaurant was started in 2001 by Michelin Star winning chef Gert Jan Hageman in a 1920's glass enclosed nursery building located inside one of the local park spaces.  They still grow many of their own herbs and other vegetables in the green house.  The food was incredible and truly fresh and local.  Being haute cuisine, they were very wine-centric and did not have many options for beer.  They did have several bottles of local de Proef beers and we spent a lot of time trying to get the waitress to figure out what they were.  Seriously, if you are waitstaff at a very expensive restaurant you need to know your stuff!  The beers we got were not bad, but I feel better about not making it to the brewery since they were not fantastic.  Overall our meal was amazing, but our service was terrible.  The fixed three course dinner took over 3 hours and our multiple servers seemed not to have any idea what they were doing.  At least they were pleasant and cool Dutch accents when they did eventually help us out.  Waiting for 30 minutes for an ordered drink when there are only 25 people and 6 serving staff in a restaurant is ridiculous.  Rant over.  Basically our experience was less than stellar and I would not waste my time there again despite the great food.  Due to our interminable length of stay at dinner, instead of more time to wander and look for pubs, it was now time for bed.

Up Next: Amsterdam to Bruges

And as an added bonus: Here is a link to a video of the timeless classic by one time Minnesota resident Tiny Tim!

Amsterdamned! Beertrip Day 1

Nearly two years ago Sj and I went on a Belgian Beer Tour through Beertrips.com.  We loved it so much that we decided to return for another shot at Beer Nirvana!  Once again we joined up with Mike Saxton as our guide through the medieval cities, rolling countrysides and farmhouse breweries.  This tour went to Brussels, Ghent and several other cities in Belgium and the Netherlands.  Since the itinerary did not include our favorite city of Bruges we added a short visit there and also to Amsterdam on the front end of the trip.  The tour was a small one with four of our friends making the trek overseas with us, and one other brave traveler from Ithaca, New York.  The smaller size of these tours is part of what drew us to Beetrips.com, since it is far easier to get around and fit into smaller pubs and restaurants than in larger tours.

I took copious notes on our travels and lots of pictures to share with you, my readers!  I'll be doling out these nuggets of beer-infused travelogue over the coming weeks, partially as review, partially as a personal journal for my own benefit.  Hopefully you will enjoy the process and perhaps even by swayed to try a trip with Mike in the future!

One disclaimer on this entire grouping of posts:  this is a beer trip so it of course involves a lot of beer!  In most cases our group shared tastes of most of the beers we ordered so when I mention having 5 or 6 beers in a row, I'm counting those tastes.  There is simply no way my liver could have handled this much beer on my own over the two weeks we were gallivanting around Europe!  I also was smart enough (this time) to try sticking with the lower alcohol beers when possible.

So without further ado, let us get on with the show and take a virtual seven and a half hour flight to Amsterdam from Minnesota.  Luckily you readers need not deal with the crying children, ubiquitous bronchitic coughing, heinous airplane food, and possible deep vein thromboses that we risked to make the trip.  We left the country at 7 PM and arrived in Amsterdam at 10 AM local after having slept a total of 30 minutes on the flight.  Here we go jet lag!  In the airport we changed our boring green paper money into an uncomfortably smaller amount of multicolored euros, and bought a 48 hour bus pass for the following 2 days in Amsterdam.  Onto a bus from Schiphol and off to the Hotel Fita, right near the Rijksmuseum.

The Hotel Fita was a small family run place right in the center of things.  They were just finishing some renovations, so there was a bit of wet paint and carpeting work being done, but this did not interfere with our enjoyment of our stay.  Roel and the rest of the staff were young, incredibly friendly and probably the most helpful I have ever met.  I would stay at this hotel just for the personal aspect and that is why our co-travelers Chris and Hassan took us there in the first place!  The breakfasts were wonderful as well and included a made to order pancake that was light, fluffy, buttery and dusted with confectioner's sugar.

Nearly impossible to take a picture in Amsterdam without several bikes in the shot!

After checking in to the hotel and getting recharged with some cappuccino that Maxime fixed for us, we headed out for some exploration of the city.  The weather was chilly and a light sporadic rain spat at us intermittently that first day.  Amsterdam is known for its canals and they were certainly something to see!  Encircling the city in concentric rings, these waterways were both aesthetically pleasing and functional.  Getting around the city was fairly easy with good tram and bus routes, but this is not a pedestrian friendly place. I have never seen so many bikes and scooters in my life.  Walking, you need to be very aware of yourself, as a scooter or biker could come roaring at you without any intention of slowing down.  Between the tightly clustered cars, bikes, scooters, and trams there were several near misses in our time here.  One tourist on a rented bike nearly ran down Chris and only Hassan's quick wits and even quicker arms were able to pull her from a certain collision.

Many of the buildings actually overhang the street and most have hooks or beams at the top for hoisting furniture and larger items into the upper floors.

We ended up having a wonderful lunch of Thai food with possibly the best waiter we had on our entire trip.  A good way to start the journey.

Windmills?  Must be Holland!

After lunch we headed for our first beer destination on our solo tour of Amsterdam--the Brouwerij 't IJ.  Located next to the Gooyer windmill, this is one of the most picturesque breweries I have visited!  They have been open since 1985, in a building that used to be a municipal bath house, and have been crafting beer there ever since.  The bar is a newer addition and they had 6 beers on tap when we visited.  They are one of the only breweries we saw that actually offer a sampler, so we were able to try all the beers amongst our group.  The walls of the tasting room are old and cracked white tiles from its bath house days and are lined with dusty and faded beer bottles.  My Minnesota radar was on and I spotted a Fitgers sticker on one of the doors.  Most of the beers were Belgian style, like a tripel, dubbel, and wit, but had a house flavor that didn't quite fit those categories.

The tripel and wit were a bit rough on the finish...perhaps too much coriander or other spices?  Their Struiss barleywine was fantastic though, dripping with dark fruit, sugar, yeastiness and complexity.  The busy family style bench and table set up in the room encouraged talking to neighbors and we ended up discussing beer with Canadian ex-pats and several locals.  A very fun place to visit and worth the trip out there.

Tastes as good as it looks!

Next we wandered the streets (warily now) looking for the de Proef brewery, but they were closed by then.  Their store was open and we bought a few bottles for later consumption, then forgot them in our hotel fridge when we left town.  Hopefully the staff at Hotel Fita like craft beers!  Balked in our attempt for another brewery, we set out looking for a beer bar that Hassan had discovered on his previous trip to Amsterdam.  We passed the "historic" Red Light District passing some working ladies showing of their wares beneath  a lurid red glare, situated just feet from the Gothic spires of an ancient church.  A strange place for sure.  We passed many Coffee Shops that do not actually sell coffee and often had strange smoky aromas wafting from within their dark recesses.

Possibly the coolest pub sign ever...

Eventually we finally stumbled upon our quarry: In De Wildeman.  This is a fantastic beer bar, boasting 18 taps and over 250 bottles of imported and craft beer.  Located in an old Amsterdam distillery, the inside is small, wood paneled and has all the charm of an authentic English style pub.  Beers ranged from Brewdog, to a plethora of Belgians, to a 17 Euro bottle of Alaskan Smoked Porter!  We discovered a cute little back bar hidden around the corner from the main area and settled in.  Several beer books and board games looking to be as old as the bar lined the shelves in this room.  I ended up trying the wonderfully malty and smoky Schlenkerla Doppelbock on tap, while Sj ordered the Netherlands' own trappist beer La Trappe Quadrupel.  It didn't take much before all four of us weary travelers were nodding off with the comfort of clinking glasses, murmur of background chat and tasty brews.  This gem of a pub is well worth the visit and I'd love to go back when I have more time and energy!

Sj falling asleep while I sneakily drink half of her La Trappe...

Off to a quick dinner of felafel and a much needed early bed time!

Coming up: Day 2 in Amsterdam and ton of flower pictures!

Belgium, day 1

The flight was the toughest part, as I'm sure anyone can guess. We left Minnesota at about 3PM and the flight itself was about 7 hours long. This is a long time to sit in one place, and soon the Crazy Leg and the Back Crick become good old friends. It did not help that a very large man, redolent of old cheese, was hanging over my armrest on one side.

We arrived at Amsterdam with our friends Chris and Hassan, and they managed to discover a couple of other old friends on the same flight. Those wonderful guys managed to get us into the Sky Lounge where we spent the 3 hour layover in style with free breakfast, cappuccino, and make-your- own bloody marys. Next up, a short puddle jumper flight to our final destination, Brussels.

On arrival we muddled our way through a train ride to the city, and walking from the station to our hotel. Avoiding the very strong urge to sleep, we went out walking about the city. As with most European cities the ancient is overlapped with the new, resulting in a beautiful enigma. We found dinner, and a small bar from the 1400's called Au Bon Vieux Temps, hidden down a dark narrow alley. This bar had that white whale of beer called Westvleteren 12 on tap. Arrrhhhh matey, thar she blows! Our not so pleasant bartender headed down a small passage into the cellar behind the bar and returned with four unlabeled bottles and poured them viciously into four chalice cups, resulting in a deep mocha color with a huge off-white head. She did give me the caps to take back as a souvenir without asking, so this obviously wasn't her first interaction with American treasure hunters. Was it the Best Beer In The World? Probably not, but it was freaking fantastic! Malty sweet, but dry and almost a bit tart with high carbonation. It did not suck.

Returning to our hotel, I was not quite ready to sleep (6:30 PM here) so Sj and I headed down the street to Mort Subite, at very old bar that served meat snacks along with sweet cherry and peach lambics of their own making. Again, less than stellar waitressing that I think is due to the lack of tipping in this culture. Good peach lambic though...