Alsatian Vacation

Belgium being Belgium, we had a nice 4 day weekend in August due to a National Holiday. (Feast of the Assumption of Mary) 4 Day weekends mean finding someplace new to visit, so this time it was Alsace. From Brussels it is a four hour drive to Strasbourg so we decided to break it up by planning for lunch in Metz, which is in the Lorraine region just south of Luxembourg. Metz is a really lovely little town sitting literally in the middle of the Moselle River with beautiful Cathedral and a very scenic square, where we had lunch. It was a really good choice by SWMBO given the fact that we she had not researched it at all before choosing our destination. We spent a couple of hours sightseeing, eating and sightseeing some more before heading off for Strasbourg.

If I have to be honest, we were a little disappointed in our first impression of Strasbourg. The main square around the Cathedral is pretty touristy. In fairness, it is the high season, so the shear volumes of tourists contributed to that feel. Like most cities with a big tourist draw, it is possible to go a little off the beaten path and get away from the trinkets and trash. While we were there we found a couple of really nice places to eat and spent our Thursday evening and Friday wandering around taking in the sights. Unlike a lot of cities we have been to, there were not that many Americans. There were some, but Strasbourg must be far enough down most people’s lists that numbers are limited. There were plenty of Germans and Italians though.

One of the things that we enjoy most about trips like this is having our car. A car gives you the freedom to go and see places that you otherwise would not be able to or if you did as part of a tour, would need to adhere to someone else’s schedule. Most of all, it opens you up to random possibilities. Saturday was like that. SWMBO had suggested that we go visit Colmar which is a historic little city with a medieval old town. As we headed down the highway en route to Colmar, the GPS noted construction and offered us a bypass. The bypass put us on the Route des vins de Alsace (Asatian wine route). OK twist our arms. The rural route was a much better alternative to the freeway. The countryside in Alsace is spectacular and the wineries are really fun to visit as well. Probably our favorite experience, if not favorite wine, was at a little winery stand on the side of the road. When we stopped the Vintner was entertaining some Portuguese tourists. The stand was similar to a fruit stand you might see in the countryside except he was pouring wine tastings. Liberally pouring tastings. It was like a wine lemonade stand.

Driving through the countryside in France is really a nice experience. The small towns are  very scenic and we have almost without exception, found the people to be warm and friendly. Mon francais c’est la merde. And yet, it is enough to break the ice. Usually that means that they use their impeccable english, but sometimes I have to man up and attempt to communicate. Results are mixed but we always seem to have a good time.

Today we drove home. All freeway this time. We had to get back because we leave for the US tomorrow and need to pack. It was a good day for driving home. A little rain and cooler temps made it not so hard to leave. It is interesting that driving habits seem to segregate by national origin. The Germans are all channeling Sebastian Vettel. The Dutch speed until they see a speed limit sign in which case they drive precisely the speed limit. The Brits drive like they own the place. The French do what they want. The Belgians are just bad drivers. 

Has It Really Been That Long?

In  a few short days, we will have been living in Belgium for three years. It really is hard to believe. The time has flown by and it has brought into perspective the comments we have heard from other Ex-Pats. In general they follow the lines of; If you are here at 3 years, then you will be around for 5. If you make it to 7 years, you may never leave. I don’t know how true the last one is, but the former seems entirely plausible.

We just returned from three weeks in the US, which further reinforces the concept. On our arrival we happened to sit behind a mother and her two daughters who had just finished 9 months in the UK and were visiting family in Northern Michigan. She commented that she felt a little disconnected after being out of the US for that amount of time. We assured her that we knew what she meant and in fact the longer we are away, the more the disconnection sets in. The funny thing is, the disconnects are generally the small things, like the cultural touch-points that people take for granted. We do our best to stay on top of the US news and Belgian television makes sure that we don’t lose track of what is happening with the Kardashians, people engaged in wars du storage or American Picking. What you do lose however, is much of the local news, events and definitely anything that happens in US Prime Time.  For any of those things, we are frankly, clueless. We also find ourselves making references to our reality, which our friends in the US have no visibility to, BBC television, Australian cooking shows, european news etc. You can’t win.

Invariably, our friends and family ask us “Are you homesick yet?” “When are you coming back?” “Are you sick of it yet?”. And the funny thing is, the answers to them are Yes and No, We have no idea, Sometimes but not all the time.

There is certainly the draw of coming back home and being closer to family and friends and this is why I don’t see us making Europe a permanent home. Homesickness comes in waves and generally is worse when the weather is crap and there is nothing to do, which for this spring was essentially the entire season. But then again, there are days like today when you go to a french market, find amazing bread, cheese, produce, etc. Have a glass of wine and something delicious to nibble on (today was moroccan crepes). Then move on to a little cafe and while away two hours with another glass of wine and apple tarts. So for those aspects, it does make it hard to be sick of it entirely. As for when we will come back, we honestly have no idea. I just got notice that I am eligible to achieve unlimited stay status which on the upside will make the annual residency work less annual, but on the downside means we are closer to turning this into an unlimited stay.

The other night we had some friends over. Two were colleagues from the US, one on a three month stay and the other on a 6 month stay to support some work we are doing here. Both are living in furnished corporate apartments in Brussels. We also invited another couple who are Brits and serial Ex-Pats (Germany, France, US, Belgium). It was fun to help out the Americans with getting settled here. (Identifying laundry detergent from fabric softener was the big win for both of them.) For us it was interesting in how different their experience is from ours. For one, they may be living here, but it is more akin to staying in a hotel than actually moving. They know when they are going back. There is no commitment and therefore no need to really immerse or develop connections. It is more Ex-Pat light.

We have much more in common with the serial Ex-Pats. We are here, with our stuff, and we need to make an effort for some level of assimilation. Where our US colleagues can maintain a certain distance from it, we cannot. We need to be more culturally sensitive, more accommodating and make more of an effort to figure out how everything works. It isn’t always easy. Can sometimes be incredibly frustrating. But it is also a wonderful learning experience.

So I don’t know if the Ex-Pat assumption will hold true and our three years in Belgium will turn into five. We still get to see the Sun Devil with reasonable frequency. Some of the other members of the family not so much, but they seem to like Skype. The lifestyle here is pretty comfortable and SWMBO’s Flemish is coming along well. My French is still crap, but good enough to get what we order most of the time. I think we will stick around for a bit longer. Besides, SWMBO’s list of places to visit continues to grow.

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.