Hotels

I travel.   A lot.

When you travel a lot, you develop routines, habits, preferences and a lot of opinions. A few of my recent trips got me thinking about this where hotels are concerned.

For full disclosure, I am not a fan of budget hotels or Bed & Breakfasts. I have stayed in my share of them and as for the former I am fortunate enough not to have to patronize them and for the latter, enough have disappointed that any charm they may have isn't worth the risk that they lack it. Which more often than not, is the case.

For me, I like a full service hotel. I do not need extreme luxury, but I do want space, cleanliness and comfort. I prefer a hotel that has a real restaurant, preferably with a well appointed bar. I want check in to be pleasant and efficient. I have traveled a long way and just want to get through the process and get to my room. I do not care about a spa, but appreciate a quality fitness room. Even if I seldom use the gym clothes that I pack. What I do not like are gimmicks. I do not want a pillow menu. Don’t call me 20 seconds after I arrive in my room to ask if everything is OK. If it isn’t I will let you know. I do not need a leopard print bathrobe and slippers. Nobody wants to see that, least of all me.

A great example of what I like is the Yeatman in Porto, Portugal. The check in was a bit more involved than I would like, but the staff are friendly and helpful so it is not an issue. The rooms are classic but not stuffy. Most importantly they are comfortable. The furniture is functional and you feel like lingering. The bar area was really comfortable, had an incredible wine list. Our room had a nice garden area where, had it not been raining, I could easily picture ourselves opening a nice bottle of recently purchased port, ordering the cheese plate from room service and spending the evening looking at the view. Comfortable. Given the opportunity, we will be back.

By contrast is the W Hotel in Leicester Square. We had the opportunity to join a couple of friends in London to see the Book of Mormon,(Excellent) so She Who Must Be Obeyed booked us at the W which was very close to the theater. The W is everything I hate in a boutique hotel. It started poorly with the desk staff on our arrival. It seemed that our presence was a real burden to them. They were having a nice conversation and we had the audacity to step off the elevator. Once we got to our room. it was frankly, absurd. The middle of the room taken up by the sink, mirrors and shelves. The bed shoved to the side and the bathroom door identical to the closet. Cool colored lights were strategically placed throughout the room. Unfortunately these same cool colored lights turn into an IQ test as you try to locate the switches to turn them off in the evening. I am probably too old, too ugly and too unsophisticated to fully appreciate the W, but then again, at about $400 a night, should that matter?

Most recently, SWMBO and I checked into the Marmara Pera in Istanbul. Our first room violated the cleanliness requirement having not been serviced since it’s last guest. Apparently a fan of nut products. We were moved from the unclean room with the great view of the Bosphorus to the “better” room with the view of the urban decay. I give the hotel manager full marks for trying to sell on this. I think he may have developed his skills hawking carpets before moving to the hospitality industry. At least the room was clean. On the upside, the hotel has a great breakfast buffet.

What is interesting is the differences that you see between American hotels and their European cousins. American hotel rooms are generally larger, more plush and have bathrooms that do not cause you to spray water all over them. They also have sheets. Europeans, particularly of the Northern variety, prefer Duvets. This is not universal, but tends to hold true.

What I don’t get, is that in concept having a great hotel should not be that complex. Great bed, clean room, free internet, good food, better bar, efficient service. Is that really so hard?

Brugge Beer Festival

Trolling for things to do this weekend, She Who Must Be Obeyed found the Brugge Beer Festival ( http://www.brugsbierfestival.be ). Brugge (or Bruges in French/ English) is a really scenic but very touristy town close to the Belgian Coast in Flanders. We have been many times as it is usually on people’s must see list for Belgium, but generally we try to avoid it, particularly during the high season. As this was the low season and they were hosting a beer festival, we got a hotel room and took the hour drive out Saturday morning.

Belgian Beer Festivals are an interesting way to spend an afternoon. The Brugge Beer Festival was no exception. The nice thing about this festival was the number of smaller breweries that were available. The Brussels Beer Weekend has a better atmosphere because it is outside in the middle of the Grand Place, but the number of breweries is limited due to the limited space. This festival by contrast was full of unique breweries with some really interesting options.

Which means, it is time for more Drunk Monks!

SWMBO and I gravitate toward different types of beers. She is a fan of the tripels predominantly and I like the darker beers, so this let us try a lot of different beers across a few styles. Another unique thing about this festival is that they did a 15 cl pour (sometimes a bit less) which is less than half of a typical bottle of beer. So you get a nice sample and can try more beers without getting completely impaired. Although to look at some of the attendees, they did not allow a small pour to get in the way of their impairment.

The first two beers were exactly the kind of beers that we went to the Festival to try. Bryggja Brewery and Henricus Brewery are too small to go to many shows and for this one, they paired up. The Bryggja Tripel had the herbal flavors and creamy mouthfeel you look for in a tripel. Easy to drink, probably a bit too easy. Three Drunk Monks.

The Henricus Brewery Paljas had a light sweetness and some hop. Not as good as the Bryggja. Two and a Half Drunk Monks.

While enjoying these first beers, SWMBO purchased a couple of raffle tickets and won a Duvel Gift Pack which she wielded, cudgel-like throughout the day cutting a swath through the inebriated crowds.

Next up, we had a couple of offerings from Sint Canarus. SWMBO went for the Sint Canarus Tripel which was very light with a citrusy/grassy flavor. It was interesting, but probably not our favorite. Two and a Half Drunk Monks. 

I went for the Pere Canard Barrel Aged. This was a 10% alcohol deep, rich beer. The beer had lots of toffee and coffee flavors with a caramel sweetness. After 15 cl I felt like I just had a rich dessert. Three and a Half Drunk Monks.

After recovering, we went to the Fort Lapin booth. They have a great logo but these were probably our least favorite beers of the day. SWMBO got the Tripel (are you seeing a trend yet?) and I got the Quadrupel. The Tripel had a really interesting combination of citrus and pear with some herbal overtones. I didn’t care for the combination. It wasn't bad, just not my taste. Two and a Half Drunk Monks. 

The Quadrupel is a dark heavily alcoholic beer. It was both sweet and bitter and both of us felt like it’s aftertaste was reminiscent of beef stew. It would probably make a great beer based stew but I was happy that I only had to drink half a bottle. Two and a Half Drunk Monks.

At this point we bumped into a couple of other Americans who were living in Germany and had come across by train for the weekend. The husband did not think that the beers tasted like beer. Obviously he has been drinking a lot of lagers. His disappointment in the Belgian Beer was obvious. They have not been in Europe for a year yet and it really sounded like they did not do a very good job negotiating the assignment. He only gets three weeks of vacation a year. I wonder how he will feel in August when everyone around him is taking the month off.

After talking to the American couple we wandered off to John Martin to get a Bourgogne Des Flandres. After two 10% beers it was nice to get back to a lower alcohol (5%) dark lambic. This beer had lambic sourness with a deep, rich almost date-like flavor. Three Drunk Monks.

While I was enjoying the lambic, SWMBO picked up a Gentse Strop from Roman Brewery (and shockingly, not a Tripel).  The beer had malty flavor with some citrus but was overall a bit blah. Two Drunk Monks.

We took a little break at this point and enjoyed the people-watching. There are many interesting sartorial choices made at events like this. I will let the photos speak for themselves.

After our break, SWMBO and I decided to divide up and pick some different breweries. SWMBO went for a Jessenhofke Tripel which I have rated here before. True to form, it is still excellent. I went for a Prearis Quadrupel from Vliegende Paard Brouwers. The Prearis was easily my favorite beer of the day. Caramel and toffee notes, rich but very drinkable. Four Drunk Monks

Last up, SWMBO veered away from Tripels again and chose the Rebel Local IPA from Brouwers Verzet. This was SWMBO’s favorite of the day and it was excellent. Lightly hopped as compared to a US IPA. It had a complex combination of flavors with a citrusy finish. Four Drunk Monks.

My last of the afternoon was a La Trappe Quadrupel. Another high alcohol dark beer and like the Prearis, extremely tasty. Three and a Half Drunk Monks.

While we could have stayed and continued to taste away, as the afternoon moved on the crowds got worse and a bit more inebriated. We figured we would leave while we were still enjoying ourselves rather than wait for it to degenerate. 

We left the festival, found some dinner and enjoyed wandering around Brugge at night. All in all a great day. 

Snowmageddon, Belgian Style

We have been getting some weather this week. A few days ago we got about 3 inches of sticky, wet snow. Today another 2 or three inches with more expected this evening. As someone who learned to drive in New Hampshire, these are pretty un-intimidating numbers, but like most things here, the Belgians have a way of making life more difficult interesting. 

Like customer service, snow clean-up does not exist in Belgium. They do plow major highways, but only in a limited way. All other roads are treated like you might an annoying rattle on your car. If you ignore it long enough, maybe it will go away. Add to this cobblestones, narrow roads and on-street parking, and you have a recipe for mayhem. 

So, I am anticipating the commute from hell in the morning. With the last snow, my normal 20 minute commute was an hour and twenty minutes. Tomorrow, could easily double it. 

New Year, New Blog Post

It’s been a long time since my last post. Since Istanbul, we have been to Prague (Also Vienna for SWMBO), London, Arizona, and Budapest. 

The Mayans have been proved fallible, so against all odds, we live another year. The last few weeks have been full of New Year Resolutions articles, so I will not bother with that here. The fact is, I am not much of a resolution guy. The whole self-improvement angle doesn’t really get me going. We are who we are, and no amount of newly found self control is going to change our behaviors much. The only thing that changes behavior is boredom or consequence.

No time to be bored for us. Work has started back up after a few weeks of hiatus and that is crazy as always. SWMBO is busy planning our next set of trips. Next up looks like a weekend in Ghent for a concert, followed by Hamburg with the in-laws. Although we should probably find time to fit in something else before then.

2012 was a great year for us, the Sun Devil graduated and started Grad School. We traveled around Europe and had a lot of fun. Hopefully 2013 will be a bit more of the same. I hope for all who read this, that 2013 treats you well also.

Istanbul, Not Constantinople

We took an long weekend last week to visit Istanbul. For however long we live here, our intention is to take advantage of how compact Europe really is. We have an ever rotating short list of places to see and Istanbul was certainly on that list. Istanbul is only a two and a half hour flight, but it is another world. The trip itself was a bit impromptu. A few weeks ago, I called up She Who Must Be Obeyed from my office after realizing that I still have quite a bit of vacation left to take this year. (It is Europe after all). We looked at a few different places and Istanbul hit the checkboxes for reasonably priced tickets, hotel and weather. 

I am really glad that we went to Istanbul, but it is probably not high on my list of places that I would like to return. It may have something to do with the time of year. This was the off-season and consequently, the tourist numbers were down. This means that the hawker to tourist ratio was pretty high. Throughout the trip, you literally could not walk 30 feet in any direction and not encounter someone trying to sell you something, shine your shoes, or separate you from your Lira in some other fashion. Understanding that everyone needs to make a living in the ways that they can, it did not take long before the constant assault put me in a bit of a mood.

Undeterred, SWMBO planned out an epic march through the city. I really wish we had tracked all the walking we did on the first day, because it had to have been seven or eight miles. That first day, we hit all the major sites and did not use a cab or public transportation once. 

Our first stop was the Grand Bazaar, principally because it was close to our hotel. It is impressive in scale, but I am surprised that it can support so many shops selling the same items. Grand is probably overselling it in typical Istanbul fashion. Most of the shops are filled with the usual trinkets and trash you would expect. All of them with someone shouting to you “My Friend, My Friend, where are you from?” “Something to please the beautiful Lady.” 

I never knew I had so many friends in Turkey.

The Spice Market was a similar, if smaller scale experience. We did not purchase any spices while there. The open containers seemed too much of an opportunity to have your spices flavored with essence du vermin.

Probably the highlight of Istanbul would have to be the Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque. I lump them together because they share a common area between them and we returned several times while we were there. The Hagia Sofia is truly amazing, largely as a result of its age. It has been there in its current form since 500AD. The Blue Mosque is a beautiful building but is 1000 years younger than the Hagia Sofia. 

Close by the Hagia Sofia is the Basilica Cistern. It is quite large and has a couple of pillars that are footed with heads of Medusa. The cistern itself is filled with large Carp swimming between the pillars. 

We visited several Mosques while we were in Istanbul. SWMBO had to wear hijab during the visits. With her Middle Eastern heritage, she can totally pull it off. The Mosques are very open and in some respect plain, except for the intricate tile-work. Unlike Christian cathedrals with statues and paintings, the Mosques are absent any of that imagery which makes the open space of these large buildings more impressive. The mosques are open to visit except during the daily prayer times. During which, the call to prayers can be deafening if you are close by. 

The food in Istanbul is pretty decent. A lot of Kebabs, Kofte, and other lamb products.I had some very nice grilled lamb hearts on raw onion near the Spice Market. We also had a stew cooked in a sealed clay pot, complete with touristy flaming presentation. My beverage of choice for these meals was an Efes, the local pilsner beer. It would not generally be a go to beer for me, but complemented the spice of the grilled food. We also did the traditional Turkish tea and Turkish Coffee. I like the former, not so crazy about the latter.

The age of cities like Istanbul always has an impact on me. The fact that you can walk down the street and see buildings that are more than 1000 years old, and see roman ruins repurposed as building materials for later structures, is really impressive. It puts your own time in the world into perspective.

Elections

Election Time

The best thing about a blog is that you are unencumbered by references or facts of any kind. Your unsubstantiated opinions and prejudices can be fully expressed. A little like the recent debate.

I have been observing the Belgian driving habits for a couple of years now. Originally, I thought the epically bad driving was the result of a lack of practice and driving instruction in general. I am beginning to question that now. I think it may be that everyone starts their vehicular experience with scooters. They dart everywhere, ignoring the rules of the road and add a level of chaos that is not to be taken lightly. I will consider myself lucky if I am able to leave this country without running one of them down.  

Worse than the scooter riders are the motorcyclists. In  Belgium, motorcyclists drive much like the scooters, only faster and more recklessly. Today I was driving home from work, at my usual 130kph (81mph). Traffic was heavy so the motorcyclist did what they always do, which is to lane split. you see this in the US when traffic is slow, but here it is common to see it at full speed. And understand, the roads are really narrow here. I am truly surprised that the roads don’t run red with blood. It’s amazing.

In other news, it is election time here, just like home. We cannot vote here yet. We need to have lived here five years and it has been just over 2. Feels longer. Still, we can observe the process. Every night people come by and fill our mail slot with pamphlets and flyers with particularly homely people on it. I am sure the slogans are riveting, but I miss the impact because they are in Flemish. Occasionally French, but they wont get elected here.

I am proud to say that we have filled in our absentee ballots ready to be sent back to the US and then ignored or rejected because of some loophole. We can't vote here, but we are still legal there.

And In Other Beer News...

Rocky Mountain Oyster Beer?

Whoa, And I thought I didn't like fruit in my beer.