Castles and Cheese

I leave tomorrow for Idaho. So sad, but I miss everyone and I'm out of money. I guess I'm ready to end the adventure (and start a new one [read 2nd year of law school]). I've spent today strolling through the sprawling Noordermarkt (Saturday market next to where I'm staying).

Thursday I decided to save money on the train by biking to Muiden to see Muiderslot castle...because I LOVE castles. The bike ride took an hour at a leisurely pace and it was so easy, there are bike paths along every main street with well marked signs showing how to get anywhere you please. Not only that, there are great shortcuts for bikes, such as this bike/moped/little tiny car only bridge:

I had no idea that my destination was party central for the Dutch, it was like arriving in a little Miami...with a castle. So I spent about three hours in said castle, and it.was.awesome. I took a tour, in Dutch. The guide would point out various things and say 'bloobidy glib glob gloobidy' and I would insert meaning and gaze at the subject of interest. My entrance was free because of a hand-me-down museum card a departing student left me, so I only paid for food and useful castle souvenirs. The town itself is on the beach which is why it was party central. Shirtless Dutch men on yachts, pirate ships, etc. Pirate ships? Yeah. Several.

The castle had been restored and had a few interactive displays for the kids, which I of course took part in ~ please note the picture of myself in medieval attire. The sun was a-blazin and the Dutch were a-sailin.

Well sunburned and exhausted, I slowly meandered back to A’damn, as the signs say. I capped off the evening with a delicious sandwich and pie from Small World Catering, which you MUST GO TO if you ever come this way it’s in The Jordaan neighborhood. Where else could you get pumpkin and local goat cheese sandwiches while electronic music pounded away in the background?

Friday mornings during the summer, Alkmaar hosts their world famous cheese auction from 10:00 - 12:30. The tourists come a-runnin, I heard all kinds of Italian. The place was packed, I had to throw a few shoves to see some cheese being sold wholesale, which is what the auction is. Wholesalers come from around the world and bid on cheese. The cheese is then pranced about by two cheese-carriers in festive hats - a centuries old tradition. They prance the cheese into the weigh building, a church that was converted to weighing facilities centuries ago, probably when the Catholics were forced to worship in private. (Did I mention the secret Catholic church in the attic I toured in the Red Light District? The one with the HUGE organ that probably did not sound very secret. Then I toured Anne Frank’s house. This city has a history of secrets, perhaps that is why everything is available for the eye to see here, they grew tired of secrets.) Back to cheese -> I sampled delicious cheese and watched cheese be pondered, then carried about. The town has several museums, I chose the two most important to tour; the cheese museum and the beer museum. That may be why Rick Steves calls Alkmaar the Wisconsin of Holland; cheese and beer. The cheese museum was festive and free (hand me down museum card), but mainly I had a great view of the cheese festivities down below. Of note, particularly for Josh, were the unique outfits adorned by the cheese making women, which were on display in the museum (the outfits, not the women). Next was the beer museum (again, free), where I learned that the bar floors used to be covered in sand so real men could urinate wherever they damn well pleased. I’m sure it smelled divine ~ kind of like a frat party (who am I to judge?). I had a beer in the museum pub and watched the off-duty cheese carriers imbibe in a well-earned beer. They have a strictly enforced code that says they cannot ever be late to work nor can they drink before work, hence the ‘after work’ drink. I should have bought one of those hats. I found a Frites stand for lunch and ordered ‘Americain’ sauce, which is apparently ketchup, mayo, and jalapenos. I found it flattering that jalapenos were included, until I recalled that most other countries of the world refer to us as United Statesean, and to anyone from North, Central, or South America as American. I like to be thought of as ‘spicy’. After a brief stop for a pastry (I may have gained a little weight do to my Frites and pastry indulgence while here) I booked it home.

Movie:

The last three days have totally worn me out, but I feel like I got my bang for my buck and I’m ready to be back. This whole experience has been absolutely wonderful, and surprisingly easy (not the school part of course, that was exhilarating (at times)). I’m having a Dutch beer (Brouwerij ‘t IJ - Columbus) at a favorite café - Café Thijssen - while they are blasting Van Morrison. The Noordermarkt next door is being taken down and the streets are being hosed off by tall blond people. Funny thing: there are lots of dogs here yet no one has to pick up feces, the streets are just hosed off in the morning - good reason not to jump into a canal. I’m meeting my friend Roy, a Tulane student who fasts on Fridays, makes his own beer, builds his own bikes complete with handle bar radio, listens to punk, and wears a suit at all times. Those silly New Orleanians. We’ll find some other stragglers and say a proper farewell to Amsterdam (and no, I do NOT mean stay out until 4AM, those Amsterdam days are long gone, why would bars close so late, how am I to know its that late if they don’t close?) I have several well marked up travel books for anyone who dares venture this way, please ask and I’ll send them your way. This city and country have so much to offer, beyond our superficial knowledge of the place. I will bore you all with stories for a good 10 years, so grin and bear it.

Antwerp and Westmalle

A narrated picture account of my trip to Antwerp and Westmalle, Belgium (this may get a little ridiculous):

First of all, if you're ever in the area GO TO ANTWERP. I know the name sounds sexy and sophisticated, but seriously, I could live in this town. It's the second largest port in Europe and they're totally into Canada because Canada helped fight off the invasion in 1944. More on that later. It's a big city, but totally walkable.

I got up to catch an early train. This is the commute I'll miss; riding bike to train station, parking bike in huge parking garage (which consists of rasslin other bikes out of your way), then hopping the train. I'm all for trains, especially for short term travel.

Early morning Amsterdam, parking garage, and train ride:

The two hour ride was beautiful. We went through The Hague, Rotterdam, countryside, etc. When I arrived in Antwerp I was bombarded with maps at the info station, which was nice because I had nothing but a wikitravel article to go on. I was flattered that the woman handed me a "young and hip guide to Antwerp" which consisted of a listing of bars and weird sites. I decided to check out a church, the fortress, and a book printing museum before hopping the city bus to Westmalle.

I started off in the wrong direction and ended up in 'Asia Town' - yes, many different countries were represented. Another turn took me to a predominantly Muslim area. Some of the clothing stores were displaying some seriously funky women's styles complete with funky hijabs. So once on the right track, you basically follow a promenade that takes you from central station to the port. Here are some pictures from that walk:

This last picture is the monument to the First Canadian Army for its defense of the port during WWII.

Because of the exchange rate, I'm on a serious budget. I have also taken to eating delicious Frites (fries) which are everywhere here. So, for lunch I purchased some delicious Frites at a stand next to the fortress (where people from Antwerp used to be imprisoned, tortured, and executed - isn't that a festive place to eat Frites?) for €.50 extra I got the most delicious sun dried tomato sauce on my €2 Frites, it was killer:

So Westmalle. Some of you will know exactly what I'm talking about, but for those who don't - it is a town that houses Westmalle Abbey, which houses Trappist Monks, who make lekker (Dutch for delicious!) Trappist Monk beer ~ actually they don't make it, they have on site staff for that. It's a 50 min bus ride from Antwerpen Central Station. Unfortunately I couldn't get any answers as to when I was supposed to get off the bus, so I kept my eyes peeled for an Abbey. I like to blend in, especially in situations like this where I appear to be the only tourist. I did pretty well until some kid left his water bottle on the bus, as he was departing I started yelling 'hey!' ~ not sure how to get a Dutch person's attention. Everyone stared at me until a kind citizen chimed in with 'hallo!' (hey doesn't work but hallo does?) After that little incident I retreated to my seat and attempted to blend in again...that is, until I saw a building that looked suspiciously like an abbey. I hadn't rung the stop bell, but the bus pulled over to pick people up. These people got in from the front while I stood at the back exit repeatedly dinging the stop bell because the door wouldn't open. Finally I had to yell and bang on the door, which worked. I'm sure it looked perfect ~ we're in the middle of nowhere, there are exactly two buildings: the bar and the abbey. I'm pretty sure it was evident that I was here for the beer. It may have been my quintessential Bridget Jones moment. After my 'metaphorical water balloon to the face', a term coined by one of my favorite Tulaners, I was able to maintain a shred of respectability by quietly milling around the Westmalle Abbey prior to any beer consumption. So...the abbey is not open to the public, you can get a group tour of the brewery or you can come live in the abbey like a monk, but you can't just head inside to snap photos by yourself. So I stalkerazzi'd from outside the walls. It's surrounded by miles of bike paths, countryside, and forest. It's really beautiful and quiet. The monks also make cheese and farm.

In the last picture, if you look real close, you'll see crates and crates of Westmalle beer. After all that walking it was time for my beer. The monks don't want the beer served near the abbey, so across the street is the Trappist Cafe, which used to be a little hole in the wall bar, but has been remodeled into a hoity toity cafe. It was me, well dressed old people, and road cyclists in spandex. I ordered the Half and Half - half dubbel from a keg, half tripel from a bottle. It was amazing. Total cost, which included salty peanuts, was €3.30 - which is a great price (although they did have to go through the trouble of transporting it across the street.) I stole two coasters for Dan.

I hopped the bus to Antwerp, and hopped the train to Amsterdam (there's something about riding the train and listening to Moby's Hotel: Ambient to put you in a deep sleep.)

It was a superb day. Today I think I'll ride my bike to Muiden to see some castles (should take an hour each way), then tomorrow I'd like to hop a train to see the Friday cheese auction in Alkmaar.

End of the Program

Saturday we took our last finals. The 2nd largest Gay Pride Festival in the world was in full swing all around our school, so needless to say the techno beats and cheers pulsating through our walls made it difficult to make a detailed analysis of the refugee process for admittance to a country. Unfortunately for me, whenever I hear a lot of people having a good time, I feel excitement well up inside and a compelling urge to join in. That may not have served me well on the test, luckily its pass/no pass for me. So, as soon as the test finished we ran into the crowds to watch the best canal boat parade ever. Pretty much just random boats with people in costumes dancing to varying techno beats. When you're at a parade with a large number of very tall men, it makes it ever so difficult to actually see, but it was still an awesome experience. There was an portable DJ station playing techno tunes in competition with the floats playing techno so that if one were a little bored from the parade one could get their dance on. Here is a little taste, several images are actually movies, you have to click on the slideshow to watch them.

Here is that little car I had previously mentioned (smaller than the smart car). Apparently there are issues with people tossing these cars into canals, I imagine it's kind of like the thrill of cow tipping. Can't say I haven't been tempted.

Here are some photos of our 'End of the Program' party:

So I moved out of the dorms, said good bye to all but one friend, and now I have moved into my new room for the last five nights of this adventure. I found the place on craigs list, just a room in an apartment owned by a younger Spanish woman and her daughter. I hiked up the five sets of spiral staircases (that's how they roll here) to an attic room that looks out at the peaked roofs of the city. It. is. awesome. It pretty much just looks like a beautiful little yoga studio. It's located in the Jordaan neighborhood next to some top notch street markets like the Monday flea market that American antique dealers will travel to for purchases. There is also the Saturday market of which you've seen pictures in an earlier post. The problem with this place is that I do not want to leave. I want to sit in my little sunny peaked roof attic with orange/red floor boards and huge windows all day long. Alas. I should probably go see some damn museum or something, as Joshy would say; I've got to at least appear respectable.