Fookin' Bruges

We are finally home but the adventure continues.

Saturday was our day in Bruges, which to be honest, we really knew very little about except for the movie In Bruges. As well as the little bit in our travel guide. We hopped a train that took about an hour; which we stood for half of due to the overcrowding of the train. Once we got to Ghent we finally got a seat.

The city is beautiful. It was a medieval fishing village that is now a tourist destination. The main streets are all high end shopping and food but when you get off the beaten path a little you see why people started coming here in the first place. Our fist stop was lunch. We got a bit of a late start and needed some sustenance. We found a cute little cafe right next to Onze-

Lieve-Vrouwe-Kerk. I decided that I would finally try the famed Moulles of Belgium only to be told it was not Mussel season and the Danish ones the restaurant had tried were not up to snuff so they would not be serving them. I was glad to know I had sat down at the one place that had the food love to do this. So I thought about all of the plates of mussels we had passed since arriving in Belgium and felt my superiority twinge ever so slightly. Now armed with this knowledge I was expecting a pretty good meal. In place of the mussels I opted for the Lasagna with lamb ragu. My initial thoughts were confirmed. It was amazing. A tall stack of Pasta, cheese, roasted veggies and meat sauce. What's not to love. The Mrs. had the quiche Lorraine, which was also flawlessly executed. To drink I had one of the local brews from Brewery of the Half Moon, It was their triple, the Straffe Hendrik. It was the best beer of the trip. Carmel and Lightly hoppy with a tight carbonation. From there we moved next door to the church. It was unbelievable. You always hear about the churches in Europe but until you see one for yourself nothing can describe it. To add to the excitement, housed in the church, is one of the only Michaelangelo sculptures to leave Italy It is The Madonna and child. It was breath-taking to see. There was also, and not mentioned in anything we read, a Caravaggio painting. It was just hanging there and nobody seemed to notice. It was a little faded and the depth was mostly gone, but it was still quite beautiful. Bruges is home to another world class art museum, The Groeninge, but we decided we had had enough Northern renaissance art for one trip. After the church we meandered through the streets, finding our way to the Half Moon brewery. We thought about doing the tour but opted for a nice drink on the patio instead so we could take in more of the city. I had their Zot Dubbel, a brown malty beer with hints of wood and hops, yet a little dry. It was not quite as good as the triple but still a world class beer. After leaving we headed to the Shoemakers guild house. On the way we stopped by a local beer store to pick up some local libation to bring home and considered climbing to the top of the clock tower in the center of town that plays a significant roll in the movie, but thought better of it. The guild house has been set up as a museum to show daily life in Bruges during medieval times and highlight the industry of the time, lace. It was a cute little museum but i'm glad we only paid 2 euros each to get in. And then it was back on the street and now the Mrs. had a craving for hot chocolate and who am I to argue with that. So we found a cute little coffee house. She got her hot chocolate and I had a cappuccino, which was the first good cup of coffee I'd had since we left the house. Moving on we stumbled into a city square that held another fabulous church. The Basiliek van Heilig-Blood. The draw here is that they claim to have two drops of holy blood brought back during the crusades. I don't know about all that but the sanctuary is magnificent. I am not a religious man but I can certainly appreciate the awe inspiring nature of these buildings. I wish more people could, I'm looking at you again Italy, no photos means "No Photos" and you live in a country littered with great churches. And now it was time for some dinner. We notice that when we were by the brewery a few of the restaurants had signs for their "asparagus menus". Knowing it was white asparagus season we headed back that way in search of this local delicacy. We found another restaurant, who's name I cannot recall, that was not serving mussels and slid into a table. I wanted some kind of fish while I was there so I ordered the North Atlantic Cod over white asparagus with potatoes in beurre blanc sauce and The Mrs. went for the White asparagus in egg and butter sauce, the name of which was slightly misleading. It was chopped hardboiled egg and parsley mixed with butter as a binder, not my thing but that's cool. My dish was perfect. The cod was firm but not chewy and the asparagus was slightly melty the only draw back was that the garnish was tiny little sauted shrimp that looked like yard grubs, yuck. For dessert we had the puff pastry with cherry sauce and homemade ice cream, this too was perfect. After our meal we realized we were cutting it a little close for getting to the train station. We did not realize how close until we got to a bus stop and saw that it was time for the last run of buses to make their way around the city. But, we made it with a few minuets to spare and then we were back on our way to Brussels to pack and prepare for life off vacation.

Birthday (not-so) Blues

After our ferret issues I thought my birthday would be a bit of a downer but we got some good news as we set out for the day so I was feeling a little lighter on my feet and I was determined to have a nice day if at all possible. We set out in the morning for the Museum of musical instruments. Being a musician this was a very intriguing place for me. It is housed in a former Old English department store done in an almost over the top art nouveau style. What is housed inside was slightly overshadowed by the splendor of the building. It is not laid out as I would have liked. Meaning, really, in any particular order. I would have liked to see it done more in chronological order with some explanation of the anthropology of the instruments. Also, they had a half baked method of hearing the audio samples provided for most of the instruments. With all that said, it is a beautiful museum with an extensive collection of instruments from around the world that date up to the early 20th century. The true highlight for me was a video being shown in the piano room about the replication of the very first Steinway. then there was the replica. It was so fascinating especially as a woodworker. From there we moved on and decided to make it a full Art nouveau day by heading out to the Victor Horta house museum. It was a bit of a hike but it was a nice day and the museum was in a part of town we had not been to yet. The house was simply amazing every time you turned around there was something, some small detail, to marvel at. I also want to use this moment to say that I never want to hear another european complain about American tourists so long as they continue to let Italians out of Italy. They are by far the rudest group of people we ran into on our trip. While we were in the museum an Italian man was having a very heated work related phone conversation right there in the greenhouse. And that was just one of quite a few run ins we had with Italians. I just wanted to get that off my chest. On our way out to the Horta we stopped at a little cafe/restaurant and grabbed a quick bite. We started with a round of drinks, I had a Hoegaarden just so I could compare how it was here with what we get in the states. It was much crisper and didn't have the slight chalkiness I always get from it at home. The Mrs. was very excited to see Campari and soda. For food I had the chicken cordon blue. It was nicely fried with a good ratio of chicken to ham with a flow of melty cheese in the center. It was probably not the best I had ever had but very good. The Mrs. had the kaascroquette and had the epiphany when they showed up that they were cheese sticks. Good cheese sticks, but cheese sticks nonetheless. And then after the Horta we stopped off at the famed Mort Subite for a couple rounds of their lambic. I started with the White; it is a light gueze with a slight peachyness, very refreshing. The Mrs. was branching out and had the Faro which is straight gueze sweetened with sugar. It was very nice and surprisingly dry. To follow, I felt I had to try the Kriek. It was very balanced and did not have the syrupiness I usually associate with lambics. After finishing up there we went back to Vaudeville for dinner. I wanted a good meal for my birthday dinner and I was pretty sure they would not disappoint. Also, it was not teaming with tourists, a big plus. This time The Mrs. had the carbonnade and I had the skirt steak cooked rare with a Kriek lambic mushroom reduction. It totally hit the spot. to drink i had the house beer. I have no idea who the actual brewer was but it was a big malty Belgian; just what the doctor ordered. And for a night cap, and since we were celebrating, we headed back to Delirium for one last bite of the apple. Yes, it's a tourist trap, but who cares when there is that much beer to be had. The real problem is, for me, Belgian beer is so heavy I can only drink a couple at sitting and they do not believe in flights here. First round was the house Delirium Nocturnum, it was a light, sweet brown ale, lighter than I would have expected. The Mrs. continued here tour of Kriek with a Kasteel. It was very sweet and, to be honest, a little hard to drink. Honestly, I don't remember and have no notes for my second round. By this time I was tired and ready for bed. And having avoided the subject all day wanted to get back for a Dex update. Things were looking up so I slept well. Tomorrow Bruges.

This one is hard

We were told last night that my little bubba is very ill and may not make it 'till we get home. It has been a very hard day today and we tried to do our best to do some stuff but mostly we hung around the hotel room and reflected and recharged. We knew when we left that this was a possibility as he has been sick for quite a while, but I thought he would be fine for at least ten more days. I believe the stress of a new place and disruption in his routine has maybe taken its toll. I very much hope to see him one last time.

With all of that said we will soldier on and I will continue to report from the road. My birthday tomorrow may just be a little more somber than originally planned for.

So, yesterday we woke up and had our hotel breakfast that was about the same as the last hotel with the addition of pate. No Thanks. Then we headed to the Musee des Beaux Arts, home to a stunning amount of paintings from the 1300's on to current artists, with a whole museum dedicated to Magritte. It was a daunting task. We started with the Magritte museum because it was the smaller of the sections which meant we could get lunch between the two. What I knew of Magritte was his graphic arts work more in an art deco style. I did not realize he was one of the fathers of surrealism. It was a very fascinating look at the entirety of his life and work. His most famous works are "this is not a pipe" and a series comprised of men in bowler hats in different scenes. My favorite piece though was one called "The taste of tears" it was oddly moving and incredibly sad. When we finished we went to the cafe for a snack. The cafe here is overseen by a 3star Michelin chef but we each had a sandwich. They were tasty but they were just sandwiches. I had the curry chicken and The Mrs. opted for the ham and cheese. We did split, what was basically, shoefly pie. It was fantastic. Just the right amount of sweetness a a perfect texture. On the down side it is wrong for 65 year old woman to wear leather pants; I don't care if you are Italian. It's wrong. So on to more art. The highlight of the collection and the reason we were there were for The Mrs. a small collection of Hieronymous Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Younger. The Bosch paintings were amazing and weird as hell. For me it was the "Death of Marat" by Jacques Loise David showing the death of Jean Paul Marat. They also had a stunning collection of Peter Paul Rubens painting that were each 15 - 20 feet tall, it was very impressive to see them all together in one room. The modern art was less exciting but interesting none the less. 3 1/2 hours later we stumbled out into the sun and winced as we planned our next move. We decided on going back to the hotel to rest up for dinner. We did and then ventured out to a place we saw near the hotel called Beer Circus it was more like a beer carnival but they had a nice selection and I went for the Ichtegem "Old Brown" It is a barrel aged brown that has a light effervescent carbonation and a fantastic floral and citrus note. So far my favorite beer of the trip. For dinner I had traditional Belgian meatballs prepared with raisins and cinnamon then cooked with beer. It was good but not spectacular. The Mrs. had the carbonnade, which compared to the one I had the night before just didn't hold up but on it's own was fine. My second round I found myself unable to tear myself away from the Old Brown. This would also be a good point to say i will not be going to St. Sixtus as it is farther from the city than I had originally planned for and looks like it has become a bit of a tourist trap. I mention this because I was seated at dinner directly across from one of their shiny new six pack holders that both mocked me for my failure and comforted me in my decision. There is enough beer here to explore I will have to assert my beer dominance in another way. We then moved along, back to the Grand Palace area where we again "stummbled" upon a restaurant that The Mrs. had read about. This one was called Mokafe where we had a Belgian waffle that the Belgians could be proud of. Crisp and light and sweet and perfect. Topped of with some bananas and chocolate and we were in heaven. We went back to the hotel got the bad news and when we woke up the next morning we weighed our options. We decided we would not go to Bruges and instead aimlessly walk around the Grand Place area and see what we could see. We quickly found ourselves looking for a cookie shop for Speculoos which is a Belgian ginger snap. We found Dandoy a shop renowned for their Speculoos. They did not disappoint. From there we decided to check out the brewing museum. The Grand Place is an open courtyard the size of a football field that is ringed by a former palace, former church and the former houses for all of the trade guilds. I got my picture taken in front of the cabinetmakers and coopers guild. All are now restaurants and the like except the brewers who have been there since 1689. In the basement is a tiny little museum. For 6 euro you walk into the front room which is set up as a 17th -18th century brewery (cool) then you walk into the back room which is set up like a modern brewery and watch a propaganda film for the Belgian beer industry (less cool, but still interesting especially when they discuss lambics and gueuze.) Then you get your choice of a seasonal or a pils. They don't tell you who they are from since they represent all brewers. We each got a seasonal which was a brown. It was good but a little bitter on the finish. We ate lunch at one of the outdoor cafes that line the Grand Place. I had a nice mixed meat salad that was ham, chicken and beef all over a pile of greens with a really awesome mayo-vinaigrette The Mrs. had a croque monsieur and we shared some fries. My beer was a Tongerlo Blonde. It was kind of warm today so a light beer did me good. It had a nice bitterness but was definitely more of a mass-market beer. Then we started back to the hotel and decided to try some chocolate from Mary Chocolatier. We picked up a bark of milk chocolate and mixed nuts. The Mrs. prefers American chocolate and I prefer dark so we were both mildly disappointed. It was tasty but not really anything to write home about. Now we are resting, hoping for a better day tomorrow. I'm sure it sounds like fun but it's hard with a heavy heart.

Travel day

We woke up this morning and took our usual breakfast. Then we headed down to the Jordaan neighborhood. It is a cute little area with streets and canals that are quite a bit narrower than the rest of the city. It was a beautiful morning which made for a nice walk. We were hoping to do lunch at the Eagles Nest, the place recommended buy the guys at WF, but they were not open yet. So we found a nice little place around the corner and had a couple of drinks and I had a Gouda sandwich and The Mrs. had the Thai chicken soup. My beer was a Wieckse Witte, it had a nice crisp bit with a very light carbonation. Following that we finished packing and headed for the train. The Mrs. was concerned that our tickets consisted of nothing more than two 3-d barcodes I had stored on my phone but when the time came it worked like a champ. So we arrived in Brussels without incident. Unfortunately my first experience with the locals was trying to use the rest room which was guarded by a motley assortment of drunk homeless or semi-homeless men and women who needed 50c to let me in. They were less than friendly about it. SO we moved on and got to our hotel. The streets here are a jumble of cobblestone footpaths all crossing in an out of each other. There is no grid or wagon wheel or design plan of any sort. Luckily, The Mrs. seems to have spidey sense here so we found everything fairly well. Once checked in we turned our attention to dinner. I left the Mrs. in charge and she led us to Du Vaudeville. It was an upscale cafe inside the queens gallery. It was a magnificent place for a meal. I started with a Tripel Karmeliet which had a heavy silky mouth feel and big caramel-ly round taste. My meal was a beef Carbonnade cooked in DuPont Brown "Grand Cru". Think of the best beef stew you've ever had and then times that by a thousand. The Mrs. went for the Sausage and Stoemp. Stoemp is potatoes mashed with the fresh vegetable of the season. We were not sure what it was, maybe green beans. We moved on to take in this stunning city stumbling upon one tourist site after another. The Grand Palace, Mannekin Pis and the place is just so picturesque. Later The Mrs. unbeknown to me led us, through very tight streets full of tourists and restaurant hawkers to Delirium so I could have a drink. One drink, we will be back, so I had a Forestine Mysteria. It was appley and not the best thing we've had thus far. Also, it was incredibly heavy. The Mrs. tried to play along and let me order her a Floris Witte. She got half way in and I finished the rest. Then back to the hotel for some rest.

I think I get it now.

Today I want to start by saying, my first impression here was not a good one, but today we found out the reason the city is such a filthy sty is because there has been a garbage strike for the last three weeks. I couldn't understand why people liked it so much here. So, now as the trash slowle disappears it certainly has made a difference. We found this out while we were on our boat excursion for the trip, taking the hop on hop off museum boat. First stop for the day was the Rembrandt house. This is a recreation of the home as he lived in it using sketches and auction records from when he was evicted. I was most impressed that they still had auction records from the 1630's. It was worth the price of admission just to see some of the cabinetry. As you would imagine it is also full of lesser paintings and studies. After that we meandered around and then stopped a cafe with seating on a bridge and I got a Grolsch, which was fine but apparently Dutch beer isn't any better from the source. Our guide on the boat was not particularly kind to the home town Heineken as we passed by either. We then continued to stroll through the area until it was time to catch the next leg of our boat ride, around to the Anne Frank Museum. We had mixed feelings about going here and introducing such a soul crushing downer into our vacation but realized we owed it to ourselves to do it. It is every bit as devastating as I had imagined. I will not dwell on it here. After leaving we were both in need of a drink. We decided we would make our way back toward The Dam and if nothing caught our eye we would end up back at WF. On the way we ducked into an alley and stumbled upon In da Wildeman. A bar I had on my to do list for its selection of beer. The place was mostly empty, which was great because it gave us time to chat with the lovely bar maid about what we should have. The Mrs. decided to be brave and ordered a Mort Subite Cherry and I went for a Belgian called Floreffe Rousse. It was sweet and malty and very tasty. The cherry was sweet and sweet. Deciding to hang out a bit among the ancient bottles and alcoholics I asked our hostess about food options and we decided on a trappist cheese with crackers and a cheese and chutney pie. The cheese was amazing and the pie was good, but it was more like a baked Brie with chutney on the side. For a second round I had 't Volen which was bready with a hint of fruit. From there we moved on to WF for some Jenever action. I had a taste of the Rogge, which is a rye jenever. It was very harsh. So, I went back for some more Superior. While there we had a great conversation with the bartender and a coule of the regulars as we watched him pour a mixed drink in a jenever glass that was 1 1/2 out of the collection of flavored liquors and bitters. We informed them of the amazing world of bitters that lay out side their borders and watched their eyes light up. The bartender pointed us in the direction of a good bar for beer and with a couple of souvenirs we were on our way. Now pointed toward the Luxembourg cafe we dodged the people in The Dam and made our way up to the Leidesplein. Finding the cafe we swung in for a sit some people watching mostly so I could finally get an Amstel Gold. It was fine, basically, mass produced 8% abv beer. It did not suffer from the bitterness evident in the Heineken and Grolsch. Moving on for some dinner we found a nice little place called De Saloon. It was definitely more of a local place. For dinner I had a fillet with fried onions on top and The Mrs. opted for the burger with bacon egg and cheese. I think it about killed her. The steak was a typical brasserie steak, cooked adequately but not tough. My beer with dinner was a LaChouffe. A classic Belgian that we can get in the states but really suited my fancy last night and the freshness was definitely evident. This bodes well for Brussels. Speaking of which I am actually finishing this post as I sit there. Hopefully I can get caught up tomorrow but i'm having battery issues again so, see you soon.

To The Hague

This morning we had our plans to leave Amsterdam behind for a day and take in The Hague. We got our breakfast at the hotel and headed off to Central station where we would pick up the train out of town. Yes, us and every other tourist in Amsterdam were heading to the train station. Except, most of them had nasty hangovers from being in Dam square all night and we were farther up on the line, so we got a spot on the train. Central station was pretty easy to navigate once we found the ticket counter. You can use the machine if you have coin Euros or a chip and pin card. we had neither. But we got to listen to a group of old Canadian women, with family here, regale a young Canadian couple, with family here, of stories from visiting years ago. Actually everything went off without a hitch. About an hour later we were in The Hague. It was a little sleepier and more historic feeling than Amsterdam. Kind of like being in Boston and taking a trip up the coast to the Salem. We first planned on visiting the Mauritshui museum. Mostly because it is the home of Girl with a pearl earring and I have a man crush on Vermeer. Though, he might be a little old for me. When we arrived I found out that they were doing a special showing of early Vermeer's. In his historical phase of painting. It was odd to see the scale of the paintings being so much larger than his later work. The one down side was learning that there was a retrospective of Hans VanMeegeren, the famed Vermeer forger, in Rotterdam. This is, for some odd reason, a fascination of mine. Alas, I will not be going to Rotterdam. Next time, perhaps. Then it was on to Girl with a pearl earring. I'm still processing how I felt when i saw it. But, awe, about sums it up. There are 36 known Vermeers and 33 have known whereabouts. I hope to see them all, and I am well on my way. The Maruritshui is a very nice museum but a little heavy on the portraiture for my taste. Our second stop was the MC Escher museum. We found out about it by chance as it is not in any of our guidebooks. It resides in the old palace for the royal family and mixes the history of the family and the house into the museum. They also have a great collection of weird chandeliers. One was a huge scull and cross-bones. The museum follows the life and work of MC Escher from birth to death and is very interesting. It is also nearly empty. A drastic change from everywhere else we have been. The Highlight for me was two carved wooden balls of his tessellations. Tessellations are the two repeating figures drawn within each other and repeated. It was also interesting and mildly dumbfounding to find out that most of his work was done in woodblock stamps. I have a hard time wrapping my head around that. Then it was off for some lunch before heading back to the big city. We stopped in a place called Cloos. It was a little trendy looking but nice. I was a little scared about the service when the French family next to us as we sat down was becoming impatient with the waitress. If the French think your taking too long to do something you are in serious trouble. But, this turned out to be their problem, not ours. She was typically slow, by American standards, but fine. For beer I got the "seizoenbier", the seasonal I later learned. At any rate, it was an Affligem, I know this because it was on the glass. even though they do not take their beer seriously here they do their barware. It was outstanding. Much better than it is in the states, so fresh. For lunch I had the croquettes, I couldn't resist, and they did not disappoint. They were a little on the pasty side but very tasty. The Mrs. had a Parma ham sandwich with white asparagus and spicy greens on brown bread. Getting back to Amsterdam was a snap and after doing a little RnR back at the hotel we turned our attention to dinner. It was kind of a crap shoot so we picked Cafe De Duvel. It totally paid off. After a tram ride and semi-aimlessly wandering around we finally found it and were greeted warmly as we entered. The service was quite a bit more attentive than we have received thus far and a welcome change. The house beer was good but I don't recall the name right now. To start we had the Carpaccio served traditionally with Parmesan and arugula, also none of that quick hit on the grill b.s. we get in NC, straight up raw and so supple. It was perfect. My entrée was the roasted Iberico pork sided with green beans wrapped in prosciutto and a perfectly cooked au gratin. The Mrs. had a goat cheese ravioli that was also outstanding. Desert was syrup ice cream and funny little waffles sided with poundcake pancake wedges that had been dipped in a mint syrup, all to the good I must say. Again, back for some sleep. Until next time.

Trying to catch up

Trying to catch up from not having a computer yesterday. So, Here goes. We woke up early and took in the breakfast at the hotel. A nice continental while on the continent. Then we made our way to the Van Gogh museum. I have never been a huge Van Gogh fan but was nonetheless impressed with the diversity and range which was on display. We all know the paintings from our text books, but did you know Van Gogh painted in the style of Japanese block prints. Put your hand down Connie, I know you knew. I also discovered how identify nationality from museum viewing habits. The Italians are going the wrong way and bumping into everyone, the French are standing in the middle of the room not really paying attention, and the Germans and Americans are walking in lock step to each painting with the difference being that the Germans keep a safe distance and the Americans get nose to it. Oh, and the Spaniards are walking with the Americans and Germans but not paying any attention and talking with wild gesticulation about the meal they had. Three hours later we stumble out for a hot dog with curry sauce on the park and then head toward the Vondlepark. Vondelpark is basically Central Park only Dutch. It made for a beautiful walk on a beautiful day. We took it down back to the museum district and noticed the line at The Rijks was pretty short and we had plenty of time, so we slid in. The Rijks is under construction, along with the rest of Amsterdam, for that reason, all they have is the highlights of the museum on display. This still took a good two hours. It is a phenomenal look at the Dutch people and their history, through the lens of art. The highlight was, of coarse, The Vermeer's and the Rembrandt's, culminating in Rembrandt's "Night Watch", which is enormous. You also get a feel for how deep in talent the Dutch catalog is. After our visit to The Rijks we took some time at the hotel to recover and consider dining options. We found a couple and headed toward The Dam and Wynand Fockink. WF is a distillery and public house off of The Dam square. The Dam square is a squalid hell hole akin to Bourbon street. So we slipped into the tiny, very tiny, WF waited in line grabbed a bit of floor and watched as the mass of people ebbed and flowed in and out. It was great people watching and outstanding Genever, Including a Rye Genever called the Superior. It lived up to the name. Much better than Bols. With warmness in our bellies we wadded through the marauding hordes of tourists and yahoos looking for one of two restaurants we had picked. We kinda took the long way. Oops. And found that both were full to capacity. In desperation we wondered in to the Heineken bar. Mistake. We had a drink and then kept searching for food. Although, Heineken Galaxy is not bad on draft. Further down the road we found The Corner Pancake House. It was run buy a nice middle eastern man and the food was really good. I had Kip Bombay which was curried chicken with apples and raisins in a pancake. The Mrs. had a pancake covered and baked with a clove spiced cheese. The only real drawback to this place was no alcohol, but my liver might disagree with me. Then some sleep.

Quite the adventure

Well, we got to the airport way early and got checked in, Then as the plane was about to board we were told they had a new plane and, wait for it, it was too small. " would anyone volunteer to move their flight or go tomorrow?" . Not having a tight schedule we volunteered and found ourselves running and I mean running to catch a plane to Paris. Sorry Frankfurt, maybe next time. Best of all, the new flight arrived at the same time as the original one and we got flight vouchers. On the negative our luggage was misplaced. Which actually worked out since it meant we didn't have to lug it on public transport. And they delivered it for free. So when we made it to Paris we meandered around De Gaulle until we finally found the AirFrance desk where we were stymied until a very nice frenchman (they exist) took pity on us and moved us to the front of the line. Not having any clue what time it was we made our way to the plane, which was a KLM fight so I have no idea why we were at AirFrance but whatever, making it just in time for final boarding. We took off and were 25 min. early on a 50 min. flight. So far so good. We get off and go through the lost baggage shuffle and blame shift. Then I reach the magic KLM desk and when I give them my name, without typing anything, they tell me our bags are in Paris. Apparently, they were expecting me. I love the Dutch. So we hop a train, to the tram and get off where we think we are close to our hotel and look for food. The first thing we see is a sign for "Eten en drinken" sounds good. I got a lovely sliced beef on a roll with gravy and a Heineken (which evidently is just terrible beer. It's not good here either.) and The Mrs. had a croquette.

We checked our location and realized it was a bit of a hike to the hotel but decided it was worth it, especially since we had not figured out how to pay for the tram and hopped on and off with out paying, sorry. We made it to the street our hotel is on, past the museums and House of Bols, we'll get to that later, and walked to where we thought our hotel should be but was not, The Rijks was there. So as we walked back we realized that they do not number in block system here the numbers just start when they start. So, our hotel was two building in from where we had started, oh well. The hotel is clean, thats about all I've got, oh, and the shower kicks ass. Upon our arrival we find our way to our room and take a nap. I really needed a nap. At about four we decided to venture out, and knowing the House of Bols was a block away, was just too tempting. For those who do not know, Bols is a distillery, known mostly in The States for their insipid flavored liqueurs in the weird blue bottles. The rest of the world knows them as one of the foremost Genever distillers. So, basically, it is a liquor museum, with gift shop! Luckily it was ladies night, so the Mrs. got in half price. We made our way through the history, which dates back to the mid-1500's and smelled and tasted our way to the computer that helps you pick a cocktail based on your tastes and spits out a recipe for you to give the bartender and then take home. The bartenders whip up a drink and you can chill in the eurotrash decorated bar. Its cool enough and we guess the bartenders are from the bartending school, that Bols runs upstairs, doing some kind of penance or final exam. If you don't kill any tourists you pass. It made for great people watching. For dinner we made our way to De Wildschut for more "eten and drinken". We started with some Bitterballen, baby croquettes, and some homemade crisps. To drink the Mrs. had the house red and I got a 1/2 liter of Jupiler, an Inbev beer, that was fine. Then I got a Palm, which I can only say gives Belgian beer a bad name. It made Stella seem like liquid gold, won't make that mistake again. But my meal of chicken sate with chips was very good and the Pumpkin Lentil soup the Mrs. had looked tasty as well. I liked the laid back atmosphere and the fact that the waiter made change at the table and had a sweet "whiteboy afro". So we made our way back to the hotel for a night of fitful sleep not realizing it was 10pm. It was still light out for crying out loud. Tomorrow we look at art, lots of art.

and away we go

To day is the big day, we strap into the metal bird and sling shot across the ocean. First stop will be Frankfurt, for a layover. I hope to have enough time to grab a beer while we aimlessly wander, looking for our gate. I also hope that my pop culture sponge ability has gleaned enough German to make my way around. Here's to travel and adventure, and not being screwed by the volcano. Stay tuned....

Some reflection, and stuff

As my duties for this years Historic Charlotte Inc.'s festivities come to a close, I wanted to reflect on how much fun it has been. Sure, it has been a little hectic and nerve wracking, but thats what life is about. We set a near impossible goal and we jumped in. We started with an empty space that was at least six different colors, a small budget, and two months to make it all happen. So we filled thousands of nail holes and painted. We organized over a dozen local artists. We even became a catering company. Come opening night everything was done and I and my fellow volunteers got a chance to admire what we had accomplished. The whole experience made me reminisce about being a teenager and putting together punk rock shows at our local Lions Club. Passion can go a long way. I think people forget that. So thanks to Diane and Herbie, Leah, Terri and Jeff, Amy, John, Beth-Anne, Carrie, Mike and Charleen, all the artists, and of coarse, The Mrs. Until Next year..... I have a vacation to pack for. Europe here we come.

Chaos, what else is new.

I will start last Wed. when we had plans with Mr. and Mrs. Whiskey for dinner and a show. After contemplating our choices, and realizing there is nothing near Actors Theater, we decided to try Bistro Le Bon. This is a new restaurant in Plaza-Midwood occupying the corner of a large strip mall that also holds a Dollar General. We were meeting after work and we were trying to minimize our parking so I decided to walk. It was glorious out and well worth the effort. It also gave me the chance to stop by Lunchbox records and do some used CD shopping. I picked up the latest Slackers and an old Engine Down record. Upon my arrival to the restaurant I was greeted with the fact that they did not yet have their ABC licence but I was more than welcome to run over to the Common Market and bring in my alcohol of choice. As this sunk in the Mrs. arrived and since the Whiskeys were stuck on the other side of a train we bolted over and picked up a nice Spanish red blend. When we got back our companions were seated and perusing the menu. It is a very eclectic menu, with everything from Swedish meatballs to Shrimp Stuffed Squid. Our server was very chipper and personable, not the most professional I've encountered, but personality goes a long way; and if you can interject into a conversation about Christian Hosoi that also makes up for some lacking. We started with the fried Haloumi over brioche with figs and port reduction; it was very tasty. The Whiskeys had the appetizer of the day, which was a salmon carpaccio. It looked tasty enough but not my thing. I am trying to eat fish but that was above my comfort level at this time. The Mrs. and Mr. Whiskey had the Swedish meatballs for their entree. It was very good with supple meatballs in a light cream sauce with no hint of, shall we say, gloppiness. Counter to my usual dining habits I decided on the Veggie sandwich as did Mrs. Whiskey. I am so glad I did. It was an open face sandwich of perfectly cooked veggies piled on top of homemade cranberry-walnut bread. At that point we realized we were running a little late for our next engagement and made a b-line for ATC.

At ATC we saw a new play called End Days. Its a play about religion and family in a post 9/11 world. Its funny and touching, and a little cliche at times. But, all in all, a nice evening was had.

The next couple of days involve the golf tournament, and an organizational meeting for Historic Charlotte's Artevation. After which we joined our neighbors for a meal at Foskoskies where I had heaven on a plate. It was chicken fried chicken over stone ground grits smothered in their sausage gravy(see earlier post). I almost cried. As we were leaving I convinced Walter to give me a shirt to wear at our next show, which happened to be Saturday in Plaza-Midwood for Maynia.

Maynia is a big event that P-M puts on every year in Midwood park, where everyone comes out and sets up, picnic style, to get loaded and watch local bands. We played next to last and were the beneficiaries of beautiful weather and free flowing alcohol. The crowd seemed to enjoy themselves and I think we made some new fans, but most important, The Whiskeys brought our number one fan, Cricket. After Maynia a large contingent of people headed to our neighbors for the now famous, Meatfest. This is where they clean out their freezer and throw it all on the grill. This is, of coarse, all washed down with a healthy (or unhealthy) amount of beer and wine. As Meatfest wound down we realized we had one more stop on the crazy train. Did I mention Saturday started with a trip to the market and teaching a class on growing tomatoes in five gallon buckets. So we headed over to Green rice gallery to celebrate the wedding of some neighborhood friends and catch up on the gossip. I still had my Mohawk up from playing so everyone wanted to play with it.

And on the seventh day I rested.