Christmas in Latvia

It was supposed to be Thailand. When the Sun Devil said she would not be able to join us for Christmas in Europe, we had originally though that it would be a good time for us warm up a little in a resort in Thailand with a quick side trip to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Given the political unrest in Thailand and our relatively late planning, we decided to postpone that trip for a couple of shorter trips, a bit closer to home. Which is how we found ourselves on a propeller-driven Dash 8 on Baltic Air heading for Riga. 

Riga sits on the Coast of Latvia and is split by the Daugava River. We arrived around mid-day, however being so far North, it was already beginning to look like dusk. We stayed at the Gallery Park Hotel, which was a good choice. The location was perfect, right between the Old Town and the Art Nouveau district. The hotel itself is a step back in time but looking fairly recently restored. The young staff were quite attentive and made our stay very pleasant. 

After about 3 hours on a propeller airplane, we were quite hungry so set out to find some food after checking in. We wandered around for a little while until we found a small garage themed bar where we could get pork sandwiches and watch some hockey. As with almost all the meals that we had in Latvia, the food was simple but good. Overall, I would have to say that we were surprised with how good the food was. The service ranged from excellent to absent but as a whole you can eat quite well on a limited budget in Riga.

SWMBO and I have spent quite a bit of our travel time recently in countries that were formally behind the iron curtain. It is always interesting to see how the country has adapted since that time. Latvia will switch to the Euro on January 1 but for the moment, the Lat is still the currency. What is interesting is how inexpensive things like locally produced food can be while imported products are substantially more expensive. This seems to result in a very economically polarized environment. Bentlys and expensive restaurants on one end with the Riga Central Market on the other. Not much in the middle however.

The Riga Central Market is vast. It is centered around 5 Pavillions that are repurposed German Zeppelin hangars. Here you can buy anything, food, clothing, housewares, you name it and all at very low prices. The food quality looked excellent and if you are into Eastern Bloc Chic, the clothing pavilion may be right up your alley.

On Christmas Eve, we spent the morning wandering around the Art Nouveau District. It was very near our hotel and is really quite nice. I am often surprised at how much original architecture has been preserved in places like this. Particularly when one considers the successive Russian-Nazi-Russian Occupation history of Latvia. Many of the buildings seemed to be undergoing some level of restoration which is really good to see as some of these buildings are truly spectacular. 

One thing that did strike me during our wandering of Riga was the number of security cameras. They are on most every corner. It definitely had a bit of Big Brother feel to the whole thing, which is surprising. Riga generally feels like a pretty safe place. There is very limited pan handling, particularly as compared to Brussels, and even later at night we never felt uncomfortable.

Six days was probably a little more time than we needed to see Riga. I think it would make a nice three or four day weekend, maybe tied to a trip to Tallinn or Vilnius. Next up will be Lisbon for the New Year!

Catching Up

The last month has been a bit of a blur and the rest of the year will continue more of the same. The weekend following our trip to Edinburgh, we jetted off to Phoenix. Serendipitously, the largest meeting for my field was in Phoenix which gave me the opportunity to mix work with a bit of pleasure. With the Sun Devil living minutes from the convention center, we were able to stay at her place while I could spend my days learning the latest.

Every time we visit the Sun Devil, I am always envious of her. She is living in a great location with an array of fun places to eat and lots to do. And after almost 4 years in Belgium, the weather alone would be a reason to live there. We may have to move to Phoenix at the end of this journey just to dry out.

I think my favorite part of the trip was the last weekend. We went together to a Mexican market and bought some protein to toss on the grill and just had a nice evening. The following day we had to leave in the evening so we grilled some more food and watched football all afternoon. It was really nice to have family time. We don’t get to do that nearly enough and it make me value it all the more when we do.

We were home in Belgium for all of three days before heading out to Dubrovnik, Croatia. In contrast to Phoenix, the weather was fairly cold and sporadically wet. We chose Dubrovnik at the recommendation of SWMBO’s father. He had never been but thought it sounded interesting. A little internet research and we agreed. Although had we done more research we may have found out that we were going at the rainiest time of the year. On a positive note, going in the off season gave us an opportunity to see the city without the crowds that are typical of the summer months.

Dubrovnik is a lovely city. The old section is enclosed by a Medieval wall. The city was shelled during the war but UNESCO money has enabled much of the scars to be repaired. One or two cruise ships are in port every day dropping 5-6000 people into the center of the old town which makes it a bit crowded, but mercifully, they all leave before dinner leaving it to the locals and the few tourists in the local hotels. The food was really quite good. The menus are very fish centric for the most part but they have enough variety that SWMBO found good things too. One night we ate at a Bosnian restaurant with 4 tables. Obviously a husband and wife show. The food was very similar to Turkish food, which we like a lot. The complimentary house-made walnut liqueur didn’t hurt either.

I don’t normally speak about the hotels that we stay at but the Hilton in Dubrovnik really impressed me. They were very nice on our arrival and as a Hilton honors  member, they upgraded our room. But what really blew me away was that during the check in process, someone must have noticed that it was SWMBO’s birthday from her passport. When we returned to our room, we had a bottle of Champagne courtesy of the hotel as well as a selection of deserts. Kudos to them. The staff really made our stay memorable.

While we were driving to the hotel, our cab driver mentioned that we may want to take a day trip to Montenegro or to Bosnia. Saturday was forecasted to be very rainy so we thought some time in the car wouldn't be bad. We settled on going to Mostar, Bosnia. It is about 2 hours from Dubrovnik and was the site of some very heavy fighting during the war. The city is separated by the Neretva River. Historically this was also the religious divide, with Catholics on one side, Muslim on the other. Until 1993 the 400 year old Stari Most bridge connected the two halves of the city. In 1993 the bridge was destroyed but has since been rebuilt. There are some very riveting videos of the fighting here on Youtube.

Nothing quite prepares you for leaving a city like Dubrovnik which while old, is still intact and then heading to a place where 20 years after the war, little repair has happened. Throughout the route, ruins of homes and entire neighborhoods stand empty.  Once in Mostar you are struck by how many buildings have bullet holes through them. The Stari Most bridge may have been repaired but many of the buildings on either side of it have not. It is really sobering.

Edinburgh

November is shaping up to be a busy travel month. We just finished All Saint’s day, which is a federal holiday in Belgium. Because we can’t get enough of rainy locations, we decided to take the long weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland. This time of the year, Edinburgh can be a real weather gamble, but against all odds, we had excellent weather two of the three days.

The castle in Edinburgh really sits on top of the city. It seems that everywhere you go there is a different view of the castle. Because it is compact, the city is very walkable, which is not the same thing as easy to walk. The elevation changes had our legs and feet hurting by the end of the weekend. At least the exercise helped to burn off the less than healthy Scottish food.

We really enjoyed the Scottish people. Everyone was really friendly and we met a couple of genuine characters. One of whom has written a book about Scottish history and promoting secession from the UK. He has nothing against the English, mind you…

Saturday was…wet. The rain was persistent and it was cold and windy. So naturally, it lent itself well to pub hopping. It seems that much of the city had the same idea, which wasn't apparent until later that evening when we were heading out to dinner. The number of people who were absolutely pissed (to use the local vernacular) at 7PM was impressive. 

On Saturday we (meaning me) did a couple of Scotch tastings. One lesson learned from this is that if you tell the scotch purveyor that you don’t really have a budget in mind and that you are interested in something rare, they will pull out some scary expensive bottles of scotch for you to taste. As in all trade-offs in life, you get to taste some amazing Scotches but the flip side is that you will be purchasing one of these beauties as well. At least it didn’t break on the trip back to Brussels.

Our next trip should be drier and warmer. Next weekend we head to Phoenix. One of the biggest conferences for my work will be there next week and it gives us a great opportunity to visit the Sun Devil. 

Trappist in Name Only

Tonight was Den Engel night. We will be on a plane to Edinburgh tomorrow, so we had to make sure we fit it in. For the last week or so, Den Engel has had Gregorius Bruin, the newest Trappist beer from Austria on special http://www.stift-engelszell.at/cmsimple/. (albeit at 7.50 euro a glass) So, after my usual Trappist Achel (he just brings it without ordering) I ordered the Gregorius. 

Marc, the Publican, came over and warned me that the difference between the Achel and the  Gregorius was like the difference between a well aged whiskey and, well one that is not. 

The Gregorius was, a little harsh. At 9.7% you could really taste the alcohol. It has flavors of coffee and burnt caramel and is generally bitter. On the drunk monk scale, a generous 2. 

I am left thinking that Austrian monks have a very different outlook on life than Belgian monks. Austrian monks want you to atone for your sins. Belgian monks want to encourage more sinning. 

I prefer the Belgian view.

Autumn

Autumn in Belgium tends to be a mixed bag weather-wise. Absolutely spectacular crisp sunny days off set by miserable cold rainy days. So when the weather is nice, it is best to take advantage of it. Recently, that has meant visiting some breweries and trappist monasteries (along with their breweries).

Earlier in the month we visited Oud Beersel in the town of Beersel. Oud Beersel specializes in lambic beers. A lambic is a beer that is fermented using atmospheric yeasts and bacteria. The result of this are beers that tend to be tart, with a pretty unique flavor profile. They also tend to be lower in alcohol because the natural yeast do not convert the sugars to alcohol as efficiently.

SWMBO and I thought we would pop in for their once monthly English tour and then get some lunch afterward. We figured that the tour would be about 30-45 minutes with a brief tasting. It actually turned into three and a half hours of education with our enthusiastic guide giving us tastings of every beer they make. 

 Oud Beersel makes a few different versions of lambics, they make a basic lambic which is packaged in a 5L a in a box. It is very crisp with apple and pear notes and would be excellent on a hot summer day. They also make gueze. Gueze are lambics that are aged in wooden barrels for a couple of years before being blended into the final product.  According to our tour guide, each barrel has its own micro-environment of yeasts and bacteria going back 50+ years. Consequently, each barrel develops its own personality and flavor profile. A byproduct of this is that lambic breweries do not clean anything. They want to preserve the environment that they have worked years to develop, so the brewery itself is covered in cobwebs and dust going back generations.

I had tried to introduce SWMBO to gueze once before, I believe it was a Cantillon, and she was not a fan. Because of the methods used, some of the gueze can rely on a lot of lactic fermentation from the many species of lactobacilli in the environment. This can give a very sour vinegar flavor. Oud Beersel works to keep this type of fermentation down to make a much more balanced beer. SWMBO actually liked these.

The other, and arguably more popular, lambics are krieks (cherry) and framboise (raspberry). These beers are made from a base lambic with a huge quantity of fruit placed in the barrel to macerate and add to the fermentation. Krieks and framboise are very popular year round in Belgium but especially so in the spring and summer where the fruity tartness and low alcohol make them the go to choice for a light lunch or aperitif. Oud Beersel’s kriek is really excellent, but their framboise is spectacular. It smells like a bowl of fresh raspberries. The fruit is well balanced by the lambic beer. it is not sweet, but rather tart and refreshing. On a drunk monk scale, certainly 4.5. Interestingly, our guide commented that they added a small percentage of kriek to the framboise for color because “consumers are stupid and they expect a framboise to be pink.” He also commented that the big producers used food coloring. All I know is that we brought samples of all of them home for further taste testing.

Following our trip to Oud Beersel, SWMBO signed up with a Flemish women’s group to tour the Abbey at Chimay, home to Chimay beer which is one of the best known Belgian beers outside of Belgium. SWMBO’s flemish is coming along nicely and is at a point where she can begin to have legitimate conversations with people and can follow along just fine with the flemish tour. With the tour, SWMBO was able to try Chimay Doree which is only available at the Abby and is the beer that the monks have with meals. I am very jealous that I have not yet had the opportunity to add this rarity to the beer list.

The weekend after our trip to Oud Beersel, we drove out to Westvleteren to pick up a couple of cases of the Westvleteren 12 that SWMBO reserved to get us through the winter. I have talked about this beer a couple of other times on the blog. It is excellent and has won the Best Beer in the World award on multiple occasions. The 2 hour drive from Brussels takes you through much of what constituted the front line during WWI. We did what we typically do when we make a run to the Abby. We had lunch in cafe. (The Abbey Pate is excellent.) Then we picked up our cases from the monks. Beer secured, we decided to drive through Ieper (Ypres) and visit a couple of WWI battlefields and cemeteries. The weather was beautiful, but it was a bit somber visiting the Menin Gate and then the cemetery at Polygon Wood. I always feel like I should know more about WWI whenever we drive through this area. The cemeteries and memorials dot the landscape and it is always surprising just how many people lost their lives in this area to accomplish very little. We also stopped by the American Cemetery at Flanders Fields to see if it was closed due to the Government Shutdown. Sure enough, it was.

Market Day

Europe has amazing markets. Whenever we move back, I am sure that this will be the thing that I miss most. (maybe next to Den Engel). It is hard to describe the markets to someone who has never been to one. There is a tremendous variety and each one has its own particular character. The market in Antwerp is excellent. It is on Saturday mornings and it is big. My favorite part of many of these markets are the stands selling food to eat immediately. You have the oyster guys with champagne and white wine. There are the asian food vendors with lumpia (egg rolls) and Phad Thai. The moroccan vendors with durum pancakes filled with feta and honey. and it goes on.

We always time our market visits to the brunch hour. Glass of wine, something to munch on, then we shop for dinner. Today was tea and moroccan pancakes. Being Autumn, it is mushroom season and everywhere you look there are vendors selling amazing varieties of mushrooms. Cepes, black trumpet mushrooms, elk horns, you name it. A good excuse for mushroom pasta in my book.

Soon it will be the Chasse (Hunting season), and the markets will fill up with wild game. Rabbit, venison and wild boar. Not to mention Fois gras. I really think this is the best time of the year to be here.

In the US there are farmers markets and they are nice for what they are, but they are nothing like this. I love the fresh produce and the home baked items, but there is something special about being able to get a half dozen oysters, a glass of champagne while you are shopping for the week.

I think it is going to be hard to move home.

 

Beer Me

This is the Annual Brussels Beer Weekend (http://www.belgianbrewers.be/en/events/belgian-beer-weekend-171/article/belgian-beer-weekend). It is our fourth. We moved here one week before the first one we attended back in 2010 and it has become how we mark time spent in Belgium. Three years, four Beer weekends.

As one would expect, Beer Weekend has proven to be a draw for visitors. Even from the first Beer Weekend, we have had people join us for each one. This year it was a collection of colleagues from around the globe. SWMBO (ever the hostess) picked up our Jeton and crowns to get our glasses and beer. Unfortunately we miscalculated. We thought that we would be getting the 33cl normal beer pours that we had in every previous year but this year they moved to small half pours. Probably an effort to reduce public drunkenness but it forced us to thwart their efforts by relocating to http://www.moederlambic.com for post festival beers.

In addition to Brussels Beer Weekend, it is also Reuzenfeest (http://www.reuzen.be) in our town. It is really hard to fully capture what Reuzenfeest is but essentially it is a festival with big paper mâché giants as the central characters. In addition to a parade of giants, we also have a big market featuring lots of junk food and yes, beer. Currently we are awaiting the fireworks which mark the halfway point of the festival.

Tomorrow, back to the Beer Festival with a couple of other co-workers. A light day, I think. It is a school night after all.