Wednesday 29 August 2012

Double Dutch


DAY ONE:
Due to planning problems, I arrived in Amsterdam a full six hours before Mikayla. Since we were staying with a friend of hers I had some time to kill, so I mapped out our day over some freshly squeezed orange juice and explored the city centre.

My favourite part of Amsterdam was the city layout. Marveling over the number of bikes and the canals, I picked my way through the small side streets and spent some money.

Mikayla arrived at four o’clock so Kitty, her friend, met us there to help us lug our bags to her apartment. Located just outside the centre of the city, Kitty’s apartment was a true find. She had a small balcony on the back and it was the perfect distance for getting to and from the city and quiet for sleeping. The evening was spent enjoying some Dutch beer, a delicious meal while watching the boats pass along the canal. At midnight, we hopped on our bikes and explored the city in all its glory from the Red Light district to the city centre, until we were back in her apartment exhausted.

Now, before I explain the next day, I have to talk about the bicycles in Amsterdam. They are all multi coloured and look as if they are about 100 years old. Each bike seems to have its own personality, but they do not have standard breaks on them! In order to stop, pedal backwards which is a lot harder than you'd think because the bikes weigh a ton! Mikayla and I looked less than graceful on our bikes as we toured the city, but by the end of day two we were starting to get the hang of it.

DAY TWO: 
Breakfast was enjoyed on a patio near Kitty’s followed by a tour through Vondel Park. It was beautiful! Great for picnics, the park was filled with people cycling, running, or just enjoying a leisurely walk.

Next on the list was a trip through the Waterloo market, which is one of the biggest flea markets in Amsterdam. While it wasn’t as big as the ones in Paris, it was very cool to see and people watch. After a walk through we hopped back on our bikes and made our way to another part of the city.

We were searching for a restaurant for lunch when we stumbled upon the floating flower market and a nice little restaurant next to it. After some fantastic food, we continued walking along the flower market, and popped into the Gouda store to sample some of the cheese – I had no idea how much I’d love Dutch cheese!

My Dad had told me one of the things I had to see while in Amsterdam was the Rembrandt painting “Night’s Watch”. This was next on the agenda, and we took off for a walk through the famous Rijksmuseum. I couldn’t believe how well organized the museum was! It wasn't as big as the Louvre which I find overwhelming, this museum seemed to be set up so you wouldn't miss anything as you walked through.

When we left the museum we noticed Mikayla’s bike had a flat tire! Let me tell you, walking a bike back to the apartment through the streets of Amsterdam is not nearly as much fun as riding them. I couldn’t get used to watching for cyclists on the streets, and the sidewalks and bike lanes look the same.

All dressed up for a night on the town, Mikayla and I dashed to the dock to hop on a boat for a cruise through the canals at nighttime. We loved seeing all the lights on the canals and learned a lot about the city’s history. I had no idea how much of the city was built around cycling! After the boat cruise, Mikayla and I took off to a club called Paradiso and danced the night away with the most international group I have ever seen.

DAY THREE: 
Running on only a few hours of sleep, we were up bright and early and in line for Anne Frank’s house as soon as it opened. Easily one of the most interesting tours I have done since being in Europe, I was blown away by the stories, the house and seeing the actual diary. Emotions ran high after that tour so we made our way to a pancake house for some comfort food - Dutch pancakes.

Next up was the Heineken Brewry where we not only learned about how the beer is made, we assisted by stirring the ‘mash’ - the mixture of water and grains - and tasting the beer... well, someone has to do it! Feeling slightly buzzed after the beer tasting, we made our way to the Andy Cuypmarket, which is the biggest market in all of Amsterdam. We sampled some of the food from the different vendors before hopping back on a train home.

On the train we discussed our trip and decided three days was not enough. There was so much we missed, but sometimes it is best to leave parts unfinished. It gives you and excuse to come back!  

Friday 17 August 2012

That awkward moment when...

As you can probably imagine, in the past two and a half months I have had quite a few awkward moments in Paris. I have listed the top 10 here for you to enjoy having a laugh at my expense...
  1. You are standing at a printing shop, waiting for your document to print when the French man who works the counter starts chatting with you. About 90% is clear, but he has an accent you haven’t heard before so it is a bit difficult to catch everything. Then he makes a rude joke at your expense. Everyone around you is laughing so you join in until he says, “So it’s true yes?”
  2. You are describing a building in detail to your tour group while pointing at it. Explaining its relevance and history in Paris, when you realize you are pointing at the wrong building.
  3. Your landlady gives you the keys to your new apartment and lists everything that is there to be sure it is still there when you give the keys back. She points at the hanging plant saying she expects to see alive in October. It dies less than one month into your contract.
  4. You are out on tour with a group and a little boy informs you he needs a bathroom. You kindly explain that if he waits a few minutes we’ll pass a coffee shop he can run into. When he says he can’t wait, he ducks into some bushes on the side of the road and does his business.
  5.  A gypsy tries to steal your bike in the middle of a tour while you are speaking to your group. You run over to the bike and say something very rude in French to which she rebuts and storms off. Slightly shaken, you turn to your group and ask, “Uhm… does anyone speak French?” Everyone looks at each other shaking their heads but one of the men at the back. He laughs and says, “couldn’t have said it better myself!”
  6. You have a family on your tour with two sons both in high school. You’ve been having a great tour, joking around with the family and hearing about the oldest boy’s university plans. At the end of the tour their mom asks if you will take a photo with their family. You say of course and she says, “Oh no, just with my sons. You can be the girl they met in Paris!” After they leave you walk over to where your boss is standing who says, “So that was your mother-in-law to be? She seems nice!
  7. On your way over to the Eiffel tower for the fire works on Bastille Day you and some friends pick up a few bottles of champagne. You’ve walked a long way and decide to have some while sitting by the Seine. It’s quite crowded due to the celebration so no one wants to open the champagne. Since you’ve opened bottles before as a server without a problem, you offer to open the champagne. The bottle must have shook a lot on the walk because as soon as you take the aluminum off, the cork bursts off and champagne goes everywhere!
  8.  You take a tour group to the oldest house in Paris exclaiming it’s from the 1400s and a young boy asks you if people still live there. You say no, now it’s actually a swinger’s club. Everyone laughs but he looks confused and says, “what’s a swinger?"
  9. You are in Brussels searching for the Manneken Pis fountain. You walk into a Godiva chocolate shop and ask directions from a sales girl to the “Manequin qui pis” fountain. Everyone in the store laughs and informs you it’s called “Manneken Pis” and you just asked for directions to “the fountain with the model who’s pissing”.
  10.  At the beginning of a tour you go around the circle and get everyone’s names. One of the women on your tour informs you her name is Taffy. This was the name of your family dog while you were growing up so naturally the first thing that comes to mind. Mid way through, “REALLY!? Crazy, I had a…” you realize what you are about to say and switch to “… a cousin named Taffy.” You then spend the rest of the tour trying to dodge questions about this cousin of yours. 

Monday 13 August 2012

Twelve hours in Brussels


The day started like any other. Up at the crack of dawn to meet my travel buddy, Mikayla, at the train station at 5:50am. Only one hour and twenty minutes later, we were in a different country all together.

As we got off the train we could only think of one thing… Belgian waffles for breakfast. Ravenous, we went on a hunt for a place that looked like it would have some. It seemed the only places open had people still partying from the night before, so unless we wanted a beer at 8:30am, we were out of luck. Finally, closer to the centre of the city we found a little café serving breakfast and some of the best waffles I’ve ever tasted. After the best waffle I have ever had, we made a game plan for the day.

As any typical political science geek, at the top of my must-see list was the EU Parliament, so we decided to make this our first stop. The grounds around parliament were surprisingly deserted. I would have thought with everything going on financially with the EU, it would be bustling with energy. But it wasn't. Is this their problem? Have the politicians thrown in the towel on the EU? Or are they hiding inside the buildings refusing to come out of the building pulling their hair out? It is August, maybe they're all on holiday!

Leaving the quiet EU Parliament behind, we took off for ‘mini Europe’ which we had read was the most visited tourist attraction in Brussels. When arriving we saw it was more of a theme park for kids than anything else. Standing at the entrance at least a head or two above everyone else there - yes, even I was - we decided we would be better to go somewhere else. Lunch seemed like a good idea, so off we went to Le Greenwich for some Belgian beer and a few traditional dishes. Everyone who goes to Brussels must eat there. 

There is a fountain in Brussels called Manneken Pis. It was made in 1619 by a Belgian sculptor and depicts a naked boy urinating into a fountain. Now, you, like Mikayla and I, may wonder the significance of this sculpture so I looked it up and here it is…

The most famous legend is the one about Duke Godfrey III of Leuven. In 1142, there was a battle between the troops of Berthouts and Duke Godfrey’s own in Ransbeke. The duke was two years old at the time and his troops placed him in a basket and hung him from a tree to encourage the soldiers. Duke Godfrey, being a young child, ended up urinating on the troops of the Berthouts, who eventually lost the battle. How about that, a two year old won a battle for his troops by peeing on the opposition!

Mikayla and I just HAD to see this fountain, so off we went expecting to see a massive fountain with a little boy peeing. It was actually quite small since the sculpture itself stands only 61cm tall. Either way, it was pretty cool to see. There is a replica in many other cities around Belgium, but the one is Brussles is the most famous.

Shopping was next on our list, so we spent the rest of the afternoon looking at lace stores, souvenirs and popping into chocolate shops sampling flavours. Friday was also the start of a big music festival in Brussels, so we stopped to listen to bands along the way.

The streets finally busy with people, Mikayla and I decided it was time to find some dinner, so off we went to Aux Arms de Bruxelles for the best muscles I’ve ever tasted! Also you must eat here! 

Lugging all our shopping in hand, we stumbled back onto the train to Paris, exhausted from our day in Brussels. 

Saturday 11 August 2012

Familiar faces in foreign places


“Allie, I’ll see you in Paris!” This was the message I received from my cousins before arriving in Paris last week. Passing through on their way for an adventure holiday, they stopped in Paris to take in the sights, much to my excitement and we made those three days count – let me tell you!  

I met them on their second day for dinner and drinks and we caught up over a lot of wine. It’s amazing how spending time with family over a few, perhaps too many bottles of wine, can make time fly by. It seemed it had only been a few minutes before I was being dropped off in a cab outside my apartment and saw the time… 1:30am. Oops!

I had promised them a bike tour around Paris, so the next morning I added them to my tour and off we went. Afterwards, I showed them where the good shopping was and we headed off to make a dent in our bank accounts.

Spending money can get tiring so we made sure to stop at a nice little café for some wine - yes, my family can drink - before meeting their Dad for dinner at a nice French restaurant near the Eiffel Tower. Making sure to nab a good spot to see the Eiffel Tower light up, we headed over right after dinner. My cousin Jordan and I the haggled with a Parisian for some champagne. I needed to make sure they got the whole experience.

It was the perfect three day visit and came at the best time since it landed exactly halfway through my trip. That is, unless I manage to find a way to stay in Paris…

Monday 6 August 2012

Non-Cycling fan turned fan…?


I always liked spinning classes. Instructors push you, yell at you and when the class is done, you leave the room exhausted and exhilarated all at once. But I was never that interested in cycling in the city or going for a bike ride. In fact, before I my job, I had only been riding mountain bikes down green level runs in Squamish and not very often! It’s a wonder my bosses let me take out groups of 14 with that limited practice!

I have a brother and sister-in-law who are both triathletes and accomplished cyclists. They can talk your ear off about cross bars, tire widths and proper handle bars depending on the type of cycling you do. I’m not going to lie, I enjoy listening to their stories, watching them race and even participating in a few training days while I visiting them. But, it wasn’t until I was surrounded by the cycling culture that I started to understand what made the sport so interesting.

In the past two weeks, I have witnessed world class cycling. I stood at the finish line of the Tour de France, cheering on the athletes with a few thousand fans and then went to the Olympics in London and, standing near Buckingham Palace, cheered athletes racing in both the men’s 75km and women’s 140km through the finish line. Let me tell you, they are FAST! Watching it on TV really doesn’t give you that perspective. I had absolutely NO idea just how quickly they could go. On my bike, as soon as I start to get some speed I get excited and immediately grip the breaks because I’m going so fast. My speed has nothing on these cyclists who are probably going double that speed UP hill. Sigh…

Europeans are much more interested in cycling it seems. I’ve definitely been swept up in the excitement! You won’t catch me talking about proper style and strategy any time soon but I can enjoy it.

While waiting for the athletes to come down the Champs Elysees, I was educated by a five year old boy on the racers! Allison and I were taught how the Tour de France works, and what type of bikes the cyclists are using depending on where they are in France. He them boasted proudly his bike was a [insert fancy bike name here] and said, “I am going to be just like Bradley Wiggins one day!” I swear I was looking at my nephew in a few years!

Standing in Hyde Park when team GB won silver in the women’s 140km race, was as though Canada just won the Olympic hockey gold medal all over again. It didn’t seem to matter we were all soaked to the skin from waiting in the rain; people celebrating throughout the city.

It looks like I’m going to have to invest in a road bike when I get home. This is just too fun!

Friday 3 August 2012

Lazy day at the beach


No, it wasn’t spent at the man made Paris Plages along the Seine! Sporting bad biking tans, Mikayla and I decided we needed some sun. We hopped on a two hour train to Deauville-Trouville in historic Normandy.

Before I talk about the day, I should probably explain what Paris Plages is to those of you who don’t know. Every summer for four weeks from July 20th to August 19th, the mayor of Paris closes one of the main roads down along the Seine river, ships in sand and builds a long beach for Parisians to sun bathe on. Kids make sand castles and while you don’t swim in the Seine, you can run through massive ‘sprinklers’ to cool you off. It is the city sliker’s version of a beach since you don’t have to head very far. As a girl from Vancouver and another from New Zealand, both used to beautiful beaches and walking along the water, we are not quite as impressed by this 2.5 million euro idea, so we decided to check out the next closest beach.

Normandy is famous for the invasion and establishment of allied forces during World War two. Especially for Canadians, we are proud of the role we played here. The region is massive and while I only made it to two little towns in it, I can tell you it is absolutely beautiful and very worthwhile to see from either historical interest or relaxing time on the beach.

Leaving the bustling city of Paris behind, Mikayla and I loved walking through the small town of Deauville toward the beach. There are piles of little cafes and boulangeries and while they have them in Paris too, of course, it was a lot quieter in this town thus we were able to better enjoy conversation.  Paul, our boss and Mikayla’s cousin, was in Deauville with his family, so we crashed their vacation and met them for a late breakfast and some fun on the sun.

Deauville has a massive beach, which is covered in multi coloured umbrellas. It is famous for these strong coloured umbrellas and the beach itself is huge. We caught some rays for a while and then when starting to get a bit thirsty we hit the Bar du Soleil for a cocktail! We were on vacation after all, it’s always five o’clock ;).

We then took a boat across the harbor to Trouville to eat lunch at a fish market! Paul and his family had been there yesterday and showed us how to do it. We ordered a massive platter of fish from the fishermen themselves and ate some of the freshest fish I’ve ever tasted! After that, Mikayla and I continued to explore Trouville, checking out its beach and then walking through the town.

This area is where a lot of Parisians have their summer weekend homes and I can see why. It is a beautiful spot to spend the day with endless activities for families. The town is small and moves slowly, crawling with vacationers, but you can tell it’s not a sleepy town during the summer! After stopping for a bit more wine and a chat about the day, Mikayla and I hopped back on the train to return to busy, bustling Paris.

We spent the train ride saying how much we both want to return, but knowing I’m halfway through my trip and still want to see so much, it’s hard to be sure whether we will get the chance. Nevertheless, it was the perfect beach day!