Visits With The Neighbours

It's now October, which means summer is officially over. It also means one more week before classes start again. Those two items, combined with the fact that I'm stuck at home with a cold and Chris is currently visiting family in Ottawa, makes me believe this is a good time to fill you in on what we've been up to the past few months - outside of participating in Dutch World Cup fever of course!

Since May, we have had various opportunities to visit with our neighbours. Our continental neighbours that is - Belgium, Germany and England. The ease and cost effectiveness of travelling in Europe makes quick weekend trips possible, so that's what we ended up doing this summer since Chris' work schedule was not conducive to long periods of time off. The following post includes some photos, impressions and a short account of each visit.

BELGIUM

My two best friends, Nathalie and Danielle, and I have always claimed that no matter where we lived in our 30th year, we would be sure to meet up somewhere and plan a vacation together to celebrate. Given the fact that all three of us currently live on different continents, the most convenient meeting point for this epic get together was in Europe. Therefore, back in May, with over a week at our disposal, we chose to split our time between Holland and Belgium. Our main hub and accommodation was located in Bruges, but we also managed to fit in day trips to Antwerp and Gent during our time in Belgium.

Bruges brings with it everything you would expect in a UNESCO World Heritage city. Perfectly restored Flemish-style buildings, quaint cobblestone streets, narrow waterways, a myriad of tour buses, and masses of tourists. Regardless, it is a definite must see on any trip to Belgium. While we were all quite excited to speak French with the locals during our visit, we learned very quickly that Belgians living in this region aren't very keen on speaking French, even though they can speak it fluently. We were reminded more than once that they speak Flemish here, not French. Got it.

Having already visited Bruges once before, my favourite spot this visit to Belgium was Gent. Not as perfectly preserved, Gent gives you a better sense of the real Belgian lifestyle and culture. I've said this before, and I'll say it again, I always prefer visiting cities that have a little "edge" to them. Maybe they're a little dirty or run down, but they feel truly lived in and don't give you the impression you're walking through one of the worlds at Disneyland. This was the case in Gent (although the pictures below don't necessarily indicate that).


Food was never a problem during our stay in Belgium. We combined staying in and making our own meals, with venturing out and trying some of the local cuisine. A trip to Belgium is never complete without sampling from one (or more) of the many chocolate shops. I think we might have hit up at least 75% of them in Bruges alone. Another specialty of the region is moules (muscles) and frites (fries). One evening we ate out and ordered a pail of muscles each - one cooked in Provencal sauce, another cooked in white wine, and the third one cooked in local Bruges beer. Delish!



GERMANY

A few weeks after returning from Belgium, Chris and I had booked a long weekend trip to Heidelberg, Germany. The main purpose of our trip was to watch a sporting event in the neighbouring city of Mannheim (can you guess which sport?). However, we were delighted to also stay in such an enchanted German town for the weekend. Set near the Black Forest, Heidelberg is surrounded by lush green hills and features a medieval castle perched high above the city. We enjoyed a tour of the castle, standing beside the largest barrel of wine in Europe, a few small hikes into the hills, and taking in the atmosphere of the weekend market.

It is always a treat to visit Germany for its cuisine. Given my Austrian and Chris' Polish descent, German food is familiar and comforting. It is also quite different from what you find in Holland, with a much wider selection of meat, sausage, and beer. We definitely sampled an assortment of "typically German" fare, but also tried a few regional favourites, including white asparagus soup.

On Saturday, night we made the quick trip to neighbouring city, Mannheim, where we had anticipated watching Canada play in the 2010 Hockey World Cup (did you guess correctly?). We were ready to cheer on our team with our Canadian sweaters and flag in hand, but an earlier unexpected loss for the team meant that they were now playing on a different night. Instead of watching Canada play, it was Switzerland against the Czech Republic. We were disappointed not being able to cheer on our home team, but found the Swiss/Czech game to be just as exciting given all the local fans who were in attendance. European fans (and in particular Swiss fans) can't help but sing their hearts out at sporting events. It most likely comes from their football culture, but it was a pretty unique experience to also witness in a hockey arena!

ENGLAND

Our final neighbourly visit took place in jolly old England. Friends of ours, who live in central London, offered us the use of their amazing flat while they were out of town. We just couldn't turn down the offer and flew to London for a quick three-night stay in late August. You'd never know from the pictures below that we were visiting in the height of summer, but given the unpredictability of English weather, we were just delighted to visit without encountering any rain!

Our weekend included the typical London tourist activities, including a double-decker bus ride, visiting Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the London Eye, the Tower of London, the Crown Jewels, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, St. Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace. One of the best parts of visiting London is that the majority of museums are free. We didn't have too much time, but we managed to fit in a quick visit to the Tate Britain and Tate Modern museums.

A trip to London is never complete without dining in a few pubs (the only good and reasonably-priced food in England), shopping (some of the best in the world) and going to a musical in the West End. Before we arrived in London, I joked with Chris that this trip was going to make up for all the other weekend trips we'd organized around sporting events. London was going to be my kind of trip...and it certainly was!

Overall, we're very happy with what we were able to see in Europe this summer given our schedules and limited time off. Of course, this opens the door to all the other places we want to visit in the year to come. Planning a few more weekend trips, just like these, will definitely be the way to go!