Tassa and I embarked on our first trip to continental Europe and headed to Amsterdam and Bruges. We are learning that traveling comes with its own set of skills, such as planning, making reservations, coordinating and booking transportation, navigating language barriers, and learning to just go with the flow. You live and learn out there in the wide world, but it sure is a lot of fun!
The flight to Amsterdam was smooth but getting through customs was a different story. Apparently, they do not have enough custom officers at Schiphol Airport and oh my god, the line was so long. We waited over an hour just to get through the first gate only to then be in the real line. It took a long time to get through customs and we didn’t get to our hotel till way past midnight.
Amsterdam
We were very excited to go to Amsterdam. We had been planning this trip for weeks. I made the hotel reservations, so I am going to have to own that. Some of the biggest costs for us when traveling are the flights and hotels, and as with a lot of other things you can find cheaper alternatives. Places like Amsterdam have lots of hostels, and I was not opposed to staying at some, if need be but we learned really quick in this hotel that sleeping accommodations are not to be taken on the cheap. We stayed at the Hotel Schroeder and the room was a total dump. The absolute worst place we have ever stayed in our lives. It was a tiny room with a dirty bed and dirty blanket. It was an old building that I’m sure was full of bugs and god knows what else. It was loud outside because of a bar and constant traffic. The bathrooms were communal and to be fair they were basic but not as bad as some campground bathrooms and showers we have used over the years, but it is different somehow when it is supposed to be a hotel. This felt more like a hostel, and it wasn’t that cheap either.
We made it through the night but did not sleep very well. When we woke up it was raining outside. We were definitely not staying in the room, so we ventured out. We made the most of the rainy morning and bought umbrellas and walked around. We had a stroopwafle with chocolate and blueberries on it. We found a nice little café and had some coffee and a light breakfast. As the day went on the rain subsided and we tried to experience as much of Amsterdam as possible.
There were a few things that I had researched beforehand that were essential Amsterdam activities. We tried the local Amsterdam favorite food, raw herring. We ate it with bread, onion, and pickle. It was good but a bite was enough. We each had to choke down the whole thing, which wasn’t that big to begin with. We also walked across town to the Brouwerij ‘t IJ, which was a brewery and a huge windmill. This was a cool place but honestly the beers were just ok. When we got there the brewery didn’t open for a while but there was a street market nearby. We walked around and found a cheese stand. They had the huge wheels of cheese. We decided to get some cheese and then get some bread and take it with us to the brewery for lunch.
We struck up a nice conversation with an older Dutch gentleman while waiting in line. He was a musician and had traveled all around. We talked about living in London and general chit chat. As we got closer to ordering, I asked him what he recommended. He recommended an herb infused cheese that sounded good to us. Good cheese in America is expensive. The prices on the sign stated roughly 10 euros for each type of cheese. Thinking of 8 – 10 dollar blocks of cheese back home, I told the girl working the stand that I’d take 10 euros worth of the herb cheese. She said something to me in Dutch and the guy we had been talking to sort of interpreted and talked to her for us. He asked us if we wanted a kilo and I said, “Sure, whatever the 10 euros is.” He said something to the girl, and she took the huge wheel of cheese down and started to cut it with this wire. They exchanged glances with each other and then to us. He looked at me and said, “You’re not even Dutch and you’re going to eat a kilo of cheese?” And then laughed. I got the joke once the girl handed me the 2 plus pounds of cheese. It was SO much cheese. I kind of think the guy should have figured we didn’t want that much. I had no idea what a kilo was, I’m American for crying out loud. We took our cheese and bread to the brewery and ate a lot but didn’t even put a dent in it. Then they came and told us we couldn’t eat outside food, which was fine, we were done anyway. Tassa ended up giving the remaining two pounds of cheese to a couple of homeless guys, who seemed happy to get it.
Afterwards, we made our way down to the Red-Light District. I think Amsterdam is a lot like Vegas in a way and what happens in Amsterdam stays in Amsterdam. We walked around and ended up hanging out at a cool bar in an alleyway-esque street across from an OG cannabis café. It was great people watching, and I must say that Heineken, Amstel, and Grolsch beers are way better in Holland than in America. They weren’t as over the top amazing as Guinness in Ireland, but they were really good! We definitely kicked it in Amsterdam. I’ll just leave it at that, but Tassa and I hadn’t really let loose since moving to London in June and in Amsterdam we got a little crazy.
The next day we felt like shit, which is the hard reality of drinking and partying too much. This was a travel day to Bruges. I had Flixbus tickets. Taking the bus or the train from Amsterdam to Bruges was the same amount of time, about 3 hours, but the bus was only a fraction of the cost. I paid 32 pounds total for bus tickets that would have been over 200 for train tickets. We walked to the train station to catch the bus and all in all it was a pleasant experience. One interesting thing we witnessed while waiting for the bus to leave was two girls who had tickets for the bus and had bicycles and the driver was not going to take their bikes. He explained to them that he didn’t have a bike rack on this particular bus, and they told him that they bought a ticket with a bike pass. He said there was nothing he could do. They were pleading with him to put their bikes in the bus luggage space, but he wasn’t budging. The bus took off without them.
Bruges
We arrived in Bruges, Belgium in the early afternoon. This was the European experience I have been looking for! All I can say is wow! As we walked from the train station to our hotel, we were immediately immersed in old medieval architecture. There were horses and parade floats along the street. It was apparent that there was something going on in town that day.
Our hotel was amazing! We were so happy for a nice place to sleep after the Hotel Schroeder in Amsterdam. We stayed at the Hotel Het Gheestelic Hof, and I highly recommend it if you are considering visiting Bruges. The hotel was a five-minute walk from all the sites and restaurants in town. The woman who checked us in was very nice and accommodating. We stayed on the top floor and the big window in the bathroom had those big wooden shutters, and when we opened them, we looked out upon a beautiful picturesque medieval view.
After checking in, we went out to see the parade. In retrospect, we should have stayed in our room and looked out the window because the parade was going right by our hotel, instead we found a place but there were a lot of people, and it was difficult to see everything. The parade was crazy! It was basically a play that went on as the parade passed by. The parade is known as Gouden Boomstoet, or The Golden Tree Procession and tells the story of a royal marriage from the 1400’s. This parade is only performed every five years, so we were really lucky to have been there to experience it.
After the parade we had a late lunch at a nice café restaurant. Then we walked around the town. There was so much to see. Some must see sites are the Belfry, De Burg Castle, market square, and the Rosary Quay; we also walked to the Kruispoort Gate.
Then it was time for what I came to Belgium for – the beer! We went to two places that absolutely lived up to the hype of what Belgian beers are all about, Staminee de Garre and Brewery Bourgogne des Flanders.
First, we found the Bourgogne des Flanders brewery. It was on a cobblestone side street and the back seating area was right on the canal. The beer that I was interested in is the namesake of the establishment, Bourgogne des Flanders. This Flemish beer is a blend of older aged and younger lambic ale that creates a perfect balance of sweet and tart and was unlike any beer I have ever had in my life. I cannot stress enough just how amazing this beer was! We went back the next day to have one more and tried the Kriek, which was also totally amazing.
The second place we had to visit was the Staminee de Garre. This place was not that easy to find. My GPS was telling me were there but there was no bar. Then we went down this unassuming, almost hidden alley and there it was. This hidden passage and entrance made the place even more awesome. We went up a couple floors and found a table even though the place was very busy. I had a de Garre, which is a 9% Belgian triple. This is one of my favorite styles of beers and a beer I enjoy brewing myself as a home brewer. The sweetness and yeasty characteristics of triples in contrast to the high alcohol levels makes this style of beer both engaging and dangerous. This was hands down the best triple I have ever had. I can also say with absolute confidence that this was the best beer I’ve ever tasted in my life! Another thing about de Garre that was really cool was that they give you a bowl of free cheese to eat while you drink your high alcohol beers. This really blew us away! Free cheese! What? I also had their red triple, the Gulden Draak. Then I had another de Garre triple. I was pleasantly buzzed and completely satisfied with the overall experience of everything. I have dreamed of going to Belgium and having beers like these and they did not disappoint!
Later that evening we went to another famous place in Bruges for dinner, Poules Moules. Belgium is famous for mussels and French fries. Poules Moules was supposed to be the best. It didn’t disappoint. The food was amazing, and I ate too much. I was overly impressed with just how wonderful everything in Bruges was, from the beer to the food, the chocolate, the laid-back town, the ornate buildings, everything. There was a level of quality and craftsmanship in Bruges that I have not noticed at this level anywhere else we have gone so far.
After a much-needed good night’s sleep, the next day was another travel day back to Amsterdam. We had a nice breakfast and spent the rest of the morning walking around Bruges again and taking it all in one more time. Our bus back to Amsterdam didn’t leave until 2:30 so we had time to go back to Bourgogne des Flanders and have another beer or two. While we were there, Tassa had the idea to buy a suitcase and bring some of these amazing beers back with us, mainly so we could take them to Germany in a few weeks and share them with our friend Grant, who was meeting us for that trip. We walked all over the town looking for a cheap hard shelled small suitcase. At the point where we almost gave up and time was running out, we finally found one and then quickly went back to Bourgogne des Flanders and bought some bottles of that amazing beer. Then we hit up a beer store that sold all kinds of local and regional Belgian beers. I told the guy working at the store that we bought a suitcase to take these beers home with us and he told me we weren’t the first people to do that. We loaded that suitcase up and made way for the train station to catch the bus. Mission accomplished.
We stayed at an Ibis hotel near the airport in Amsterdam. We love European hotels! We usually stay at Premier Inns, but this Ibis was great. It was cheap, nice, and had a nice buffet for dinner. Our flight was early the next morning and our trip back to London was quick and easy. It is amazing getting on a plane from somewhere like Amsterdam and being back home in an hour. We did mess up and take the express train from Heathrow to Paddington station, which cost us 25 pounds each, but we learned our lesson. What an amazing trip! Amsterdam was fun and crazy, but Bruges was one of the best experiences we have had yet. I highly recommend traveling there. They have an annual beer festival in early September, and we may just have to go back and check that out next year.
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