The Great European Vaction: England - The Countryside!

The last leg of the 10 day super trip through Europe was England. I am lucky enough to have a friend, Katie, for Essex. Her Dad let us stay at their house in the English Countryside, drove us around to see the Tour de France route and Cambridge, cooked us food, and was an awesome Dad! We were so lucky to have them give us the real tour of England.

We took about a 30 minute plane ride from Amsterdam to Stanstead, which is about a 45 minute train ride from London, but only a 15 minute cab ride to Katie's Dad's house. When we got in, we were given a wonderful tour of the countryside, including the Tour de France route. 

I must admit two things: 1) There was some jet lag involved - and I might have repeatedly fallen asleep in the car, causing minor whiplash as my head kept falling straight back. I don't think this was helped by the fact that my Mom used to drive me around in the car to get me to go to sleep as a child- haha! 

Admission 2 coming up after a brief pause for some pictures...beautiful countryside 

 Lunch and beers at a village pub - so tasty!

 I believe this was the oldest court house in the Essex...I don't know (shakes fist at jet lag)

 Smallest house in Essex and notice the thatched roof.

Another view...

Admission # 2) The Tour de France was going through England in the exact spot I was staying, and I didn't know!!!!! This means, of course, I left the DAY it was happening! I've been watching the tour for years, and I've always wanted to see it in person. I guess that dream is still alive, and it was super cool to drive the route the day or so before them.

Scenes from the Tour de France (which actually include our country drive, Cambridge, and London)

England Parts II and III coming up...London and Cambridge!

The European Adventure: Amsterdam

After three lovely days in Brussels, we took a twoish hour train ride to meet M in Amsterdam for our conference. Amsterdam was a lovely city, so beautiful. I am not sure my pictures do it justice.

The pictures to try....

More cheese - here its Gouda and its goooda - couldn't help myself (so cheesy). Ha! Couldn't help myself again :) We weren't allowed to take any back to the US though. So sad.

Amsterdam has more bikes than people, and they have lanes and signals for cars, bikes, and pedestrians. M was almost taken out and almost took out someone on a bike. 

A great deal of Amsterdam is built on reclaimed marsh, and it is below sea level. Because of this, there is a lot of shifting and the buildings are all leaning at odd angles.

 One of the lovely canals at night.

 This is the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, if you look closely, there are Unicorns with gold horns...

Can you see them?

The flower market...

When in Amsterdam, you have to do the Heineken tour! We learned a great deal about them and their marketing. Our consensus is that Heineken tastes much better in Holland.

 Scenes from our canal tour...

 Beautiful houseboats everywhere...

Bicycles and canals...

This is the Cafe de Sluyswacht, which is leaning over because it is all by itself with no other buildings helping it stand up straight. It was built in 1695!!

We did visit Anne Frank's museum, where she hid with her family and another for almost two years during WWII. I never read the book, so I did before I visited - finished it Singapore. This was a super moving visit for me - I fought back tears the whole time (even though I never cry- haha). We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but here is a statue from outside.

The Great European Vacation in 10 days: First stop Belguim

I left Singapore to meet some friends in Europe for a 10 day extravaganza, including a professional presentation in Amsterdam. What better excuse to visit Europe than a conference? Our first stop was Belgium because we all love beer, chocolate, cheese, and waffles! Let me tell you, I gained 10 pounds in my three short days in Brussels. Also, I had the horrifying realization that I didn't bring enough Belgium chocolate home for myself!!! Oh well, I guess I have to go back :)

Now for some pictures....

These are some pics of the La Grand-Place, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It includes city hall and the King's house as well as private buildings. It was the center of all the action. On our last day, they were getting ready for a visit from the King and some medieval games like jousting.

Manneken Pis

This is the famous Manneken-Pis. It is listed as one of the top tourists destinations in Brussels.  It is hilarious, in case you can't tell it's a statue of a little boy peeing. They have all sorts of souvenirs you can buy with him - including chocolate figurines. Also, over the years, he has worn over 500 different outfits including a suit made of gold given to him by a King.

They even name french fry stores after it. BTW, we ate here, it was amazing. Apparently Belgium is where french fries were invented.

 

 It rained a lot...but the city was beautiful.

For our first big adventure, we got lost far away from "tourist land" trying to find the Lambic brewery, Cantillon. We used public transportation and google maps really let us down once we got off the train and the brewery was no where to be found. Luckily we found some other Americans that just left the brewery to point us in the right direction.

Anyhow, Cantillon is a family-owned brewery since 1900. It was an interesting tour, but we didn't really enjoy the beers. They can only brew them in the winter, and they don't add yeast. They allow yeast from the air to naturally ferment the beer. The beer seems more like a wine. Also, it's not as sweet as the Lambics we get in the States. 

 

 

 Katie, Sage, and me...Katie was a trooper, she had just flown in from Colorado!

Belgium beers are strong....really, really strong....

                                                   

Look, a Buffalo beer made in Belgium!!

                                                   

Chocolate!!!!! I was too busy eating it to take a lot of pictures. But Elisabeth had particularly pretty shop windows. 

Also, they had football sized meringue...and yes, of course we bought some :)

                                                

Cheese!! We bought cheese at a market for the train ride to Amsterdam. It was delicious.

 

And let's not forget the Belgium Waffles. Soooo good. 

This one is covered in no less than three types of chocolate. And yes, this was for breakfast.

 

This was yummy, I had a stuffed eggplant, mozzerala, basil waffle and a desert waffle with speculoos spread on top. Divine. The spread is hard to explain,  it is somewhat like a biscoff cookie but in spread form (apparently Trader Joe's sells a cookie butter that is a close approximation).

There were lots of strange bars in Brussels. One was a adult puppet theater, and one, La Mort Subite was filled with coffins and a supposedly real skeleton - see Sage below.

                                           

Off to Amsterdam next!