Monday, January 31, 2011

A Weekend in Cologne

In keeping with our theme to travel through the alphabet (A - Amsterdam, B - Brussels, C - Cologne), we headed to Cologne, Germany this past weekend.  Once again, we rode our bikes to the main train station with our travel backpacks on.  From there we took a 1 hour bus ride to Aachen, Germany and then caught the train from Aachen to Cologne.  (There were no direct trains from Maastricht to Cologne...if we took the train we had to go nearly to Amsterdam then change trains to go to Cologne and it would take 4 hours, which is absurd considering that Cologne is about 100km directly east of Maastricht.)  When we exited the train station we were confronted with the Cologne Cathedral (Kolner Dom in German).  We took a minute to admire the cathedral, then headed to our hotel, Cerano.  Again, our hotel room was small, but had everything that we needed...except a mini-bar.  While waiting for our train to Cologne at the Aachen station, we bought some beers for the weekend (Ron was stoked to find Budweiser, even though it was imported from Czech Republic rather than USA, and I bought Becks.)  Since we didn't have a minibar, our plan was just to open the window and stick them on the ledge to keep cool for the weekend.  However, the window had no ledge.  Ron's genius idea (**sarcasm**) was just to keep the window open all weekend and keep the beers near the window to stay cold.  I didn't go for that idea, but came up with a better scheme of my own (**no sarcasm**).  We got a plastic grocery bag from the hotel lobby man and put the beers in the bag, then opened the window and hung the majority of the bag (and it's important contents) outside but draped the bag handles to the inside of the room and closed the window so the bag was stuck.  It worked great and kept our beers cold!  What a success!
After our successful beer jimmy-rig, we went out to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner.  I'm usually against going to mainstream chains like Hard Rock when travelling, but we were quite hungry and got sick of looking for someplace decent to eat.  When we told our waiter we were living in Maastricht, he said (in broken English), "Ahh yes, I go there to smoke weed sometimes"!  Oh my, I thought it was Amsterdam that was famous for that, but I guess we have seen a few "coffee shops" around Maastricht too.  After the Hard Rock Cafe, we found a little pub and had a drink, and Ron bought me a rose (**brownie points**) and then we headed back to our hotel.
Saturday morning we got up at a decent hour (9:30am) and partook in the hotel breakfast.  Since Ron is really missing his Saturday morning breakfasts with Vic, he was quite excited to stay at a hotel in which someone on tripadvisor.com had boasted had the "best breakfast in Europe".  I thought that was quite a bold claim to make, but the hotel did have quite a spread.  Much larger scale and selection than I'd expect from a little hotel.  After starting our day out right with a solid breakfast, we headed to the Cathedral and climbed the 533 steps to the top!  500+ steps doesn't sound like much at first, but we were certainly sweating by the time we got to the top.  (On our way down, we saw a group of 16 year old girls climbing up huffing and puffing, so that made us feel a bit better about breaking a non-intentional sweat.)   It was an incredible view from the top of the Cathedral (100m in the air); truly a breathtaking view of the city.  I couldn't help but think about the people who were building this Cathedral hundreds of years ago: I was blown away by the intricacies and detail in the architecture and design of the Cathedral.  After heading back down the 533 steps, we looked around the inside of the cathedral.  We were hoping to catch a guided tour, but we were a bit off with out times so instead we bought a pamphlet guide and informed ourselves around the Cathedral.  In addition to the architecture, I also loved the stained glass windows.  (Both are true for any European Cathedral, but they always amaze me.)  We took some time to sit in the pews and silently reflect and pray.  We're really missing our church community back home but are staying spiritually in tuned by praying every night together and reading our Bible after dinner together.
(Sorry for the lack of segue here...)  We then went (mostly window) shopping in a large shopping district.  I got a new watch and a spring/fall jacket that will hopefully weather the rain better than my current one.  Ron didn't buy anything, but continue to keep his eyes open for a pair of everyday shoes and a new pair of jeans.
After shopping, we had an afternoon nap then headed out for dinner to Brauhaus Fruh am Dom, a traditional German brew house.  Ron had beef medallions with an egg on top and I had pork schnitzel.  We ordered a beer each and found out that the waiter will keep bringing you beer when you glass is empty until you put a coaster on top of your glass.  All the brew houses had a round tray with a handle and about a dozen slots for the glasses which the waiters carry around continuously exchanging empty glasses for full ones.  We learned that Kolsch is Cologne's beer and every bar or brew house that serves it has to have a special license to do so.  After dinner we went back to our room and played cards for a while, then watched a Top Gear episode on Ron's computer and went to bed.
Sunday we started off again with breakfast and then just lounged around a bit and took in a few more of the sites on foot while heading back to the train.  We made it back to Maastricht in the late afternoon and got cracking at homework.
Although unrelated to our weekend in Cologne, I should also mention that we had a great overnight visit with Ron's uncle Romke and aunt Marjot in Oosterbeek (about a 2 1/2 hour train ride away from our place in Maastricht.)  It was my first time meeting them and the hosted a lovely evening of dinner and conversation over coffee and tea.  They told a few stories about Ron's Oma and late Opa, and it was nice for me to learn about his family.  We hope Romke and Marjot will come to Maastricht before we leave so we can visit some more and have a dinner in our neck of the woods.
Until next time,
Robin and Ron
 Ron on the train from Aachen to Cologne
 Robin on the train from Aachen to Cologne
 This is what you see the minute you walk out of the Cologne train station
 Our hotel room at Cerano Hotel ("best breakfast" in all of Europe)
 Ron enjoying the guitars at the Hard Rock Cafe
 Ron getting in Robin's good books by buying her a rose
 (part of the) Cologne Cathedral
 Ron and Robin outside the cathedral
 View through one of the windows on the climb to the top of the cathedral
 About 1/2 way up are the cathedral bells
 Robin climbing the 533 stairs
 The view of city of Cologne from the top of the cathedral
 Our "jimmy-rigged" mini-bar (hanging beer in a bag outside our hotel window)
 Ron with his Kolsch beer and steak with an egg on top (very German) at the Brauhaus
 Robin with a coaster on top of her glass indicating "No more beer"
 Cathedral at night
Back at the train station to go back to Maastricht

Sunday, January 23, 2011

A Weekend in Brussels

Hi All,
This past weekend we went to Brussels, Belgium; the capital of the European Union.
On Friday around noon, we rode our bikes to the train station (about 3.5 km away from our apartment) with our travel backpacks on and locked them up safe.  We rode the train to Brussels (1 1/2 hrs) and checked into our basic room at Thon Hotel (sidenote: not sure why you would name a hotel that, when translated from French to English, means "tuna"...but whatever!)  It was nice to stay in a hotel room that was private rather than a hostel dorm room with bunk beds.  Hostelling is really only economical if you're travelling alone; if you're travelling in a pair like Ron and I, you can get a decent and clean hotel room for about $10-15 Canadian more per night which is totally worth it to us.
Ron had a nap on Friday afternoon while I went out exploring (I know...my how the tables have turned!) and got a few necessities for our minibar so we didn't have to pay 4 Euros (~$6 Canadian) for a can of pop.  When I came back to the hotel, it was time for happy hour, so Ron and I had a beer in the hotel lobby and then went out for dinner at "Brussels Grill" next door to the hotel.  We went back to the hotel and had a drink while playing cards in our pyjamas before calling it an early night.
Saturday (late) morning, we made our way to Grand Place which is the main square in Brussels.  Along the way we saw 5 or 6 vendors selling waffles for take out, but I was determined to have true Belgian waffles at a cafe.  We found a cute little bistro in the Grand Place and got our waffles and caffeine fix.  It was the most decadent waffle I've ever had complete with fresh strawberries, real whipped cream, and melted chocolate.  After that, we went to a chocolate museum where we learned about the life of a cocoa bean and saw a demonstration by a chocolatier.
We then headed to the Musical Instrument Museum, which was completely different than we expected but equally interesting.  We both expected it to be more like a Rock 'N Roll hall of fame sort of things with guitars Jeff Beck or Jimmi Hendrix had played, but instead it was a tour of musical instruments through the centuries.  Every exhibit (about 100 in total) had a display of instruments from a geographic region and time period and when we stood on a marked spot, you'd hear these instruments being played through headphones we were outfitted with.  Like I said, it was completely different than we were expecting, but quite fascinating to hear music through the ages and associate it with the visual of what those instruments look like.
Next we headed back to the hotel where I had a nap and Ron skyped a few friends and family back home.  We hit up happy hour again and played cards and then went out for a romantic dinner at a French restaurant.  Ron had a "mixed grill of meat" feast and I had "moulles au vin blanc et frites" (mussels in white wine and fries).  I have never had such a large portion of mussels!  The waiter came to the table with the whole pot of mussels!  We picked the location of the restaurant based on where our next planned stop was: Delirium Cafe.  This pub boasts having 2000+ beers available at any given time.  It proved to be a hot spot for both locals and tourists.  Ron was able to check something off his bucket list by consuming a "boot" (2L) of beer while I chose a sampler trio of different flavoured beers.  We checked out all three floors of the pub and tasted beers ranging from dark and blonde to strawberry and apple flavours!  My favourite of the evening was the cactus flavoured beer!
We headed back to the hotel after Delirium and Ron stopped to get us a late night snack at McDonald's.  Ron had a little run-in with a someone trying to pickpocket him, but the young guy ended up with Ron's cell phone rather than his wallet.  Perhaps the young man was new to pickpocketing because Ron felt him do it and swiftly confronted the guy to get his phone back.  (Dad, we continue to be savvy travellers and I wear my purse on my front so as to not be "bait" for pickpocketers.)
We slept in this morning and since we were able to see all the touristy sites we had on our list (Grand Place, Manneken Pis, museums, historic architecture, more cobblestone streets and shopping areas) and consumed all the Belgian foods we were interested in (mostly, waffles and chocolate), we hopped on the train back to Maastricht today around noon and were back in our apartment by 2:15pm.  I even made it up the hill on my bike with my travelling backpack on!
All in all, it was a great weekend and totally memorable to celebrate our 6 month wedding anniversary in Brussels!  We LOVE getting comments on our blog as it makes us feel more at home, so please please please keep them coming!
Love,
Robin and Ron
 Riding my bike to the train station (Yes...I'm bringing back the headband as a fashion statement)
 Our bed (aka trampoline!) in the small Thon Hotel room
 Shopping street
 Mmmmmm, Belgian chocolates
 Standing in Grand Place
 Finding a waffle cafe
 Robin - happy to have waffles!
Ron - still waking up...
 Waffle with chocolate and coffee
 Waffle with strawberries, chocolate and whipped cream and tea
 At the chocolate museum with the professional chocolatier
 Belgium is quite proud of their wide array of national brews
 Ron with "Manneken Pis" (Little Boy Peeing) statue
 Ron listening to tribal music at the Musical Instrument Museum
 Robin listening to accordions at the Musical Instrument Museum
 French Restaurant to celebrate 6 months of wedded bliss
 Outside the restaurant
 At Delirium Cafe: Ron with his boot of beer and Robin with a sampler
Another floor of Delirium Cafe

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Things we miss or take for granted from home

Hi friends,
Not much has been going on around here.  School continues to go well for me, and Ron is getting back into the swing of being a student.  We're both spending lots of time reading.
As some of you who have lived with me may know (e.g. Mom, Dad, Megan, Mark E, Katelynn, Heather), I'm quite fussy about the smell of laundry detergent.  I love my Sunlight liquid detergent (as Nelly knows too since she bought me some for a bridal shower present!) and, in my years of doing laundry, have found nothing better.  Last week, I spent a solid 15 minutes in the detergent isle at the grocery store smelling every detergent.  I settled on one that I thought was ok, but, with hindsight, I realize I may have been high on detergent fumes after sniffing for 15 minutes.  Anyways, one thing I take for granted is my Sunlight detergent.  I love that stuff and whatever I bought doesn't compare.  It seems to smell quite strong to me, so next time I'm only going to put 1/2 a capful in.  I think a contributing factor to the smell is the fact that we don't have a dryer, so there's no contraption to "fluff" out some of the strong detergent smell in our laundry.    No one in Holland, that I know of, has a dryer.  Which makes for very "crunchy" towels...I'm not a fan.  So I guess I also take our dryer for granted...quite a lot, in fact.
The other thing I take for granted is microwaves.  Some students here have them, but most houses I've seen don't, including ours.  It makes it a lot more work to heat up a cooled cup of tea or left overs...but we're getting used to it.  Oh, and freezers....no one seems to have one, so we can't buy anything frozen at the grocery store.
We also miss Monday night dinners and home cooking from our parents.  Oh, and Ron has mentioned several times that he misses Saturday morning breakfasts (Dad).
We continue to do a lot of biking and walking (yesterday I went for a run and ended up in Belgium, but made my way back!) and I'm getting better at that pesky hill on the bike!  We went to the market in the square today and bought some fresh produce and tulips and had a snack.  Now back home for some school work.
We'll keep you posted about our weekend adventures!
Love,
Robin and Ron
P.S. Oma and Opa, I'm so excited you got a computer and you are now able to follow our blog online rather than "print outs" via Aunt Karen!  Post a comment on the blog if you can figure out how to do so!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

A Weekend in Amsterdam

We've just arrived back at "home" at our apartment in Maastricht after a great weekend in Amsterdam!
Friday afternoon, we attempted to meet up with Jeff, Gwen, Kirsten, and Marley (the other 4 Canadians) at the train station to take the train together to Amsterdam.  We had a bit of miscommunication though, and ended up on the train with only Jeff.  (Apparently the other girls were waiting for us in the cafeteria in the train station rather than meeting on the train.)  So Jeff, Ron and I took the 2 1/2 hr train ride from Maastricht to Amsterdam and then waited for the girls to arrive.  While waiting, we tried to check out the tourist information centre, but it was closed, so we went to plan B which was to have a beer at a pub across the street from the train station while waiting for the girls to arrive.  (The train leaves every 1/2 hr from Maastricht to Amsterdam, so we didn't have to wait that long.)  Gwen, Kirsten, and Marley found us quickly and we booked a hostel over the phone and headed that way on the tram.  We checked in at our hostel (we were able to book a "dorm room" with 6 beds in it so we had no strangers staying with us) and freshened up before heading out for dinner.  We found a Mexican restaurant and then went out to an Irish pub later on called "Slainte" (sa-LAUN-chey) which made me feel at home since we have a same-named pub in Hamilton!
In between dinner and the pub, we took a walk through the infamous Red Light District.  Even though I'm clearly not into the whole prostitution scene, it was interesting to see scantily clad women displaying themselves in windows attempting to entice customers.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but found the Red Light District impressive in that it debunked a few of my former notions of prostitution: #1 - you have to be attractive and slim to be a prostitute, #2 - working conditions for prostitutes are poor.  Au contraire; we saw many women wearing lingerie dancing in windows who were vastly overweight.  Additionally, you should know that all prostitutes in Amsterdam are Dutch citizens and are part of a union!  This is truly a "career" they have chosen for themselves, rather than being "forced into it" or seeing no other viable option for employment.  Perhaps it's the nurse in me, but I couldn't help wondering just how unsanitary the beds behind the women in the windows must be...do they change the sheets or have a shower in between "clients'?  Ugggg....
Anyways, the liberality of Amsterdam's "sex industry" complete with many "toy" stores, open prostitution, and superfluous condom shops was a very eye-opening experience for both myself and Ron.  One thing to add to Amsterdam's liberal approach is their acceptance of marijuana.  There are copious "coffee shops" (where you can't get actual coffee, but hundreds of varieties of weed are available) and the smell of a joint is normal while walking through the streets and over the canals.
On Saturday, Ron and I went to the Van Gough museum and walked around the four story art display (Emily Enns, you probably would have loved it!) compete with over 200 paintings and 500 drawings by Van Gough.  I'm no art historian or connoisseur, but I always love visiting an art museum on trips.  We got to see a few of Van Gough's famous paintings up close and personal including his self portrait and "sunflowers".  There were also some works by Paul Gauguin and - my favourite - Claude Monet.
From the museum, Ron and I headed to the Albert Cuyp market which housed 4 city blocks of vendors selling everything from clothing and boots, to baby strollers and luggage, to cheese and fish, to bicycles and umbrellas, to fabric and handicrafts, to fresh flowers including lots of tulips, to pantyhose and underwear, to old and new books.  Anyways, you get the point that the market is quite diverse!  We wanted to head to the old Heineken brewery for a tour, but were too tired so went back to the hostel for a nap.  We were woken up by the P.A. system announcing the hostel's happy hour which we indulged in accompanied by Jeff and a deck of cards.  Saturday evening we went out for dinner at a Moroccan restaurant to celebrate Gwen's birthday and then headed to a club to dance the evening away.  I guess getting married has made us old: Ron and I were the first ones to leave the club....at 2:30am, mind you, while the rest of the gang stayed into the wee hours (they may have even seen the sun rise...)
Today we went to the Anne Frank "Museum" located in the actual house where Anne and her family hid in secrecy from Nazi Germany.  I have never read Anne Frank's Diary, but it was quite a somber and reflective experience to walk through the rooms where Anne and seven others stayed in hiding until being betrayed and taken to a concentration camp where all but Anne's father eventually died.
After the Anne Frank House, Jeff, Gwen, Ron and I (Marly and Kirsten stayed in Amsterdam a few hours longer) made our way back to the train station but made a stop for traditional Dutch pancakes for lunch.  We boarded the train and chatted and laughed most of the way back to Maastricht.  It was dinner time by the time we made it back to our apartment, and with the combination of being away for the weekend, our tiny fridge, and everything being closed on Sunday, we ordered a pizza for dinner and are now ready to call it a night.
Ron starts his school work tomorrow online and I'm back in class.  We're not sure where to head to next weekend, but are open to suggestions!
We love that so many people are reading our blog and encourage comments as we still often feel homesick despite our exciting adventures!
Love,
Robin (and Ron)
P.S. Aunt Karen, perhaps this is a blog to "edit" before reading to Oma and Opa!
 At the Maastricht train station ready to go to Amsterdam
 At the Mexican restaurant on Friday night
(from left to right, Jeff, Gwen, Kirsten, Robin, Ron)
 Amsterdam canals at night
 Robin in love with all the fresh flowers
 Klompen!
 Having a snack of "pofferjes" (small, sweet pancakes) at the market
 Robin in front of a cheese stand (75% of the cheese in Holland is Gouda)
 Robin and Gwen at the club for Gwen's 25th birthday
 Robin and Ron at the club
Ron in front of the Amsterdam train station ready to go home

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

A few pictures from our first week

 Ron in one of the cobblestone shopping streets
 Ron (holding our printer) in the market square
 Robin in the market square
 Our new transportation
 Abundant bicycles everywhere!
 At a cafe for a bite of lunch
Ron in the market square with his new "saddle bags" (holding 40L) on his bike