Yearly Archives: 2015

Bicycles in Amsterdam

One of the first things we noticed when we arrived in Amsterdam was the bicycles. They’re everywhere. It makes sense, Amsterdam (and the Netherlands as a whole) is completely flat so there are no pesky hills to worry about, and as the city’s streets are arranged along canals and were built long before automobiles were invented the bicycle is the fastest way to get around. If everyone drove the place would be completely gridlocked, but in fact there are more bikes than residents.

The pavement along our street is crowded with parked bicycles

Having very young children doesn’t stop Amsterdammers from riding their bikes. These bicycles with boxes at the front are called bakfiets, or cargo bikes.

When the kids are a bit older they can be strapped into a seat at the back of the box.

And older still, you might get a tandem for three!

With so much of its population on two wheels, any available place is used for parking, there’s even a dedicated parking garage with 2500 spaces outside Centraal Station. On Saturday afternoon, Amsterdam’s central Dam Square gets pretty crowded…

Many people customise their bikes, maybe to make them easier to spot in that pile of parked bicycles… Clockwise from top left: this one has a knitted frame cover; hand painted frame and basket; plastic flowers around the handlebars

An eco-conscious local hotel advertises its credentials with a wooden framed bicycle at the front of their building

And if you don’t fancy travelling by road you could always rent a ‘canal bike’ and pedal yourself through Amsterdam’s waterways

Jenever tasting in Amsterdam

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Jenever is the national liquor of The Netherlands and Belgium, and while we’re quite partial to a gin and tonic, we’d never heard of Jenever, which happens to be gin’s ancestor.. time to get acquainted..

The Wynand Fockink distillery is on Pijlsteeg, a narrow backstreet just off the main Dam Square in the centre of Amsterdam

We booked ourselves on a 1 hour tasting session at the Wynand Fockink distillery which was established in 1679, but Jenever is known to be much older. We’re glad we reserved a place by email as there was quite a crowd waiting outside before the start of the weekly tastings.

Jenever tasting, Wynand Fockink, Amsterdam

After a short introduction about the history of the drink, the company, and how it’s made it was time to start tasting!

The alcohol in Jenever comes from fermented sprouting grains, which is then triple-distilled before being flavoured with spices and juniper berries – or ‘jeneverbes’ in Dutch – which is where the name comes from. (In Dutch the ‘J’ is pronounced like a ‘Y’ in English, so now you know how to ask for it!)

Julie and I at the Jenever tasting, Wynand Fockink, Amsterdam

Julie and I sampling the limoncello course.. Mmmm!

Andre our guide went on to explain Wynand Fockink produce essentially 2 types of Jenever and a host of different flavoured liqueurs:

Jonge Jenever – Young Jenever. In this case young refers to the age of the recipe not the ageing of the spirit!
Oude Jenever – Old Jenever. The original (and best!) recipe.
.. and Flavoured Liqueurs – For these the alcohol base is bought in and infused with pretty much any flavour you can imagine!

The tasting started with the Jonge Jenever which we thought akin to vodka. We found it quite harsh but not unpleasant – certainly nicer than drinking neat gin. Next up was the Oude Jenever which we thought had more flavour – the spices and juniper came through more and and it was easier to drink. Both of these are aged in metal drums for about 6 months, but Wynand Fockink’s Superior Jenever is matured for about 3 years in old wooden Jack Daniels barrels and the Tennessee sour-mash easily dominates the subtlety of the spices.

The 3 recently renewed stills of the Wynand Fockink distillery where the alcohol for their triple-distilled Jenever is produced

Andre then started talking about the many flavoured alcohols that the small distillery produces, and offered a taste of one of our favourite liqueurs – limoncello! After two different varieties, he said they have a flavour for every occasion or event in a person’s life, some with cheeky names like “Hansje in de Kelder” which translates as “Hansel in the cellar”, and is a Dutch saying similar to the English “a bun in the oven” – although they no longer recommend it for pregnant ladies!

The final round, Jenever tasting, Wynand Fockink, Amsterdam

We also got to sample a few of the many flavoured spirits or liqueurs they make. Left to right they are: “Half and Half” – a blend of orange liqueur and spice infused liqueur (cloves and cinnamon); “Hansje in de Kelder” – “Hansel in the cellar” which tastes of orange, apricot and lemons; “Volmaakt Geluk” – which means “Perfect Bliss” and tastes of violets and roses; and “Drop” – salted liquorice, our favourite along with their limoncello!

Next was his personal favourite flavour: “Drop” – which is liquorice in Dutch, and one of my favourite flavours too! While I was sipping away he said the sweet, salty taste is great for alleviating sore throats. Of the flavoured ones we tried, this and their limoncello were our favourites.

The back wall is full of giant glass jars where they steep the ingredients for flavoured the liqueurs

In the end we sampled 3 Jenevers and 6 different liqueurs in about an hour. After the tasting session finished they opened up the bar next door to the public, but not until we’d had chance to visit their extensive gift shop and get another round in!

Luxembourg Round Up

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From France we thought we’d add another country to our tally by heading north through Luxembourg. It’s a new country for Julie as I’ve been here before albeit briefly, and as it was for work I didn’t really get to any of the sights.

View of the Grund, Casemates Bock and the pont du château, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

The compact but vertical city of Luxembourg. The red arched bridge ‘pont du château’ just left of the the middle joins the Casemates Bock (right) to the city (left), and the picturesque valley in the foreground is The Grund

The central old town of Luxembourg City is contained within the boundaries of an ancient fortress, even though most of the defences no longer exist. As a result it’s quite a compact place to visit, and it was straightforward to see the main sights – notice I said straightforward and not easy.. the area’s soft limestone means the river Alzette has cut a gorge through the landscape so walking around Luxembourg City means climbing up some steep streets!

Inside the Casemates Bock, the passages get narrower the further you go and some are quite claustrophobic!

The first sight on our short itinerary was the impressive natural defences of the Casemates Bock. In 963 Count Siegfried bought an existing castle atop the cliffs above the Alzette and started enlarging and fortifying the area against attacks, but it was the Spanish (in 1644) and then the Austrians (in 1737) that created the elaborate complex of underground tunnels and cannon slots that survive today.

We were surprised how extensive they are, with space for 50 cannon, a garrison of 1,200 soldiers, workshops, a kitchen and it even has its own 47m deep well!

A famous area of Luxembourg is the peaceful riverside area called The Grund. There are amazing views of it from the cliff-tops

From the city end of the Casemates we took the panoramic Wenzel walking path, and found a convenient free lift that went down the cliff – but the ‘G’ in this lift doesn’t stand for the ground floor, it stands for Grund! The Grund is a small district that lies at the eastern end of the city on the banks of the river. Its tall, picturesque houses are hemmed in by the river in the middle and the cliffs at their back, criss-crossed by narrow streets. Although the area is full of cafes and restaurants, it was a quiet area to stroll through.

Luxembourg City Sights - Gëlle Fra, Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Grand Ducal Palace

Our highlights of wandering the small Luxembourg City centre were the Gëlle Fra (Golden Woman) monument, the Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Grand Ducal Palace where we watched the guard marching outside

After a walking loop and spot of lunch in The Grund we took the lift back up the cliff to wander through the narrow streets of Luxembourg City proper. It’s compact, dense, and home to international brands, boutique shops, and artisan pubs, cafes and restaurants. Three of the sights that stood out for us were the Notre-Dame Cathedral with its lovely curved stained glass apse, the Gëlle Fra or statue of the Golden Woman which commemorates the Luxembourgers who fought against Germany in the 2^nd World War, and the beautiful Grand Ducal Palace, official residence of the Grand Duke and his family, with a guard stationed outside.

What photo takes you right back to Luxembourg?

Us in the Casemates Bock, Luxembourg City

Us in the amazing UNESCO Casemates Bock, as you can see we almost have the place to ourselves!

Summarise Luxembourg in three words.

Hilly – from our hostel next to the river we climbed up to the Casemates, took the lift down to the Grund then back up and finally descended back to the hostel, not to mention all the stairs inside the Casemates!
Multilingual – we read that Luxembourgers are taught Luxembourgish, German, French and English at school, and can elect a further ‘foreign’ language!
Quiet – we visited near the end of March and while the wind was chilly it was otherwise pleasant and almost completely devoid of other tourists.

You really know you’re in Luxembourg when…

.. you’re standing underground, but have views to your left and right down the river valley that surrounds you on 3 sides.. where are you? In the Casemates Bock of course – we’ve not seen another place like it!

What one item should you definitely pack when going to Luxembourg?

Your lunch! If you bring a packed lunch or pick up something healthy from the many shops in the centre, you can stop pretty much anywhere on the many self-guided walks around the city and take in the amazing views while fortifying yourself for the next climb.

24 Month Summary

Countries visited in the last three months (1st January to 31st March)

Italy, Vatican City, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands (total visited to date on this trip = 24)

Have you managed to stay within your budget (£70 per day)? And what has been the expense breakdown?

Yes, although the spend across the three months was uneven with the average for January and February being around £60 as we didn’t move location often in relatively inexpensive Italy, shooting up to £90 per day with shorter stays in the more expensive Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Netherlands. Our average daily spend over the three months has been £69.61. Our daily spend to date since we left home has been £69.83.

Accommodation is as usual highest at 38.0% – even though we were fortunate to enjoy the hospitality of friends (thanks all!) for 13 nights, Europe is getting more expensive the further north we go.
Intercity transportation was relatively low at 11.8% – no flights this quarter helped. Three-quarters of this amount is our train tickets during March travelling all the way from Rome to Amsterdam.
Entertainment and entry fees were high at 8.4% of the total – entry fees for big name sights like Pompeii, the Colosseum, Vatican Museums and the Leaning Tower of Pisa have bumped up the total and almost one fifth is accounted for by Museum Cards for the Netherlands allowing free entry to many museums across the country for a full year – we will get most of the benefit from this during April.
Guides and Tours was 2.8% – two-thirds of this is the Fiat 500 driving tour that we did in Florence

What has surprised you most in the last three months of travel?

Julie – How much overlap there is between English and the Romance languages. I know a little Spanish and was surprised by how much Italian, especially written Italian, I could understand, and when we were with our friends in France it became a bit of a joke that any word (especially longer words) that they didn’t know how to translate they could just say with an English accent and 90% of the time it would be the same word!

Andrew – We’re always trying to seek out the local specialties and what has surprised me most is how rich Europe is in diversity. In Italy the shops have aisles dedicated to different pasta, in France the bakeries are similarly stocked with amazing varieties of fresh bread, and in Switzerland (and France) we sampled many lovely cheeses. We had no idea there are two languages spoken in Toulouse, or that ‘pain au chocolates’ are known as ‘chocolatines’ in the south west of France (which is derived from said language), and with help we tried our best to educate our palates with fine wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy.

Apart from family and friends, what are you missing most about life in the UK?

Not much to be honest, we’re kind of in the travelling groove now and Europe has all the creature comforts we need. One thing that I hadn’t realised that I missed are lighter evenings in the summer. For most of our time in Asia we were much closer to the equator and it would get dark around 5-6pm but as we move further north and get closer to spring it is light until at least 7pm and soon much later. I like it.

What’s the most memorable sight that you’ve seen in the last three months?

Julie – I’m going to say the day that we spent touring the food hotspots of Testaccio in Rome. The food all over Italy was even better than I had expected, made (and consumed) with such passion that it would be impossible not to catch the excitement. The added bonuses of the keyhole with an amazing view and the Protestant Cemetery were just the icing on the cake.

Andrew – Oh man, that’s especially tough to answer this time around because we’ve seen so many of the famous, iconic sights known the world over: The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Pompeii, St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City, Michelangelo’s David, The Colosseum and Forum of Rome, The Atlas control room for the LHC at CERN, The Veiled Christ in Naples.. I remember them all, but as you’re forcing me to choose just one, I’d pick the Sistine Chapel as much for the story behind it as well as its awesome artistic accomplishment.

Tell us a funny story from the last three months of travel.

On a windy day in Naples, near Castel Nuovo, we were approached by a woman who asked “Do you speak Russian?” (in Russian) and as if by reflex Andrew replied “Izvinichi, ya nee gavaryu pa Ruskii” – “I’m sorry, I don’t speak Russian” – in Russian, which halted her in her tracks and put an intense expression of confusion on her face. Fortunately she then spoke enough English that we were able to help her with some directions!

Who is the person you’ve met that you remember the most from the last three months?

Fernando, our Fiat 500! What do you mean he’s not a person? He certainly has a lot of character, and if you don’t speak to him nicely he definitely won’t make it up the hills.

Finally, what have you found to be the greatest challenge?

Striking a balance between enjoying the travelling while it lasts and thinking about what to do after we get home… To be honest, we’ve probably spent more time in the former mindset but it does weigh on us occasionally that we’ll be hitting a different kind of lifestyle in a few months/weeks time.

France Round Up

What photo takes you right back to France?

Us with wine, cheese and meat at the Salon Vin in Toulouse, France

Us with wine, cheese and meat at the Salon Vins et Terroirs (wine fair) in Toulouse. Heaven! (Photo credit: Thomas :o)

Summarise France in three words.

Friendly – We’ll fondly remember our time in France for the amazing hospitality of our friends, but also for the general kindness of everyone we met.
Food – Maxime’s father Serge summarised this nicely.. he said the French think food is very important and will often start a few days before to prepare a special meal for family or friends which would last 4, 6 or even 8 hours. We enjoyed some lovely home cooked food with great wine and delicious conversation about travels, politics, and families. Merci!
Wine – It seems, to us at least, that every French household has a cave of wine stashed away somewhere! They will often buy young wines and keep them for up to 10 or 15 years, until they’re deemed to be at their best.

You really know you’re in France when…

.. there’s at least one person in the street carrying a baguette. Yes, it’s a cliché, but deservedly so – the country runs on beautiful, crispy, fresh bread!

What one item should you definitely pack when going to France?

Your childhood French. We were only in France for a couple of weeks but were surprised how much of the French we learnt at school started coming back to us. I’m not saying we were fluent by any stretch and we couldn’t compete with the English skills and vocabulary of our friends, but by the end we could hold a basic conversation without embarrassing ourselves.

two year trip

Andrew and Julie's Travelling Adventures