Some of you may have discovered this blog because of listening to this podcast episode. To you I say, welcome and thank you for checking out my blog! For those longer-term fans who don’t know what I’m talking about: Hey, I’m on a podcast! I want to share the story of how that happened, to encourage some of you to also get the courage to apply and share your stories as well. And…I hope you’ll listen to my episode too 🙂
Warmshowers
As many of you know, I’m a fan of Warmshowers; I use this cycle-touring hosting platform on all my cycling trips, have had incredible experiences, and even made friends in the process! Warmshowers has a podcast called Bike Life, which I’ve been listening to almost since its origin. And, just like on the road, I’m frustrated by the lack of diversity in the stories (not just on Bike Life, but on all the podcast series I’ve heard that share cycling stories). To be fair, Bike Life does a good job of featuring a diverse array of voices; from hosts to guests, multiple genders, ethnicities, races, etc., but the fact remains that white, cis men are still the majority of cyclists on the road and on the pod.
Long story short, after a few years, I decided that I could be the voice I was waiting to hear. For a long time I thought “But is my story good enough to be on a podcast?!” But of course it is! Bike Life accepts applications from any WS hosts or guests who have stories to share, so I put in my application, had a pre-interview Zoom call with other applicants, and then recorded an episode with host Tahverlee!
Bike Life
Without further ado, here is my story on Bike Life. I wanted to share some backstory first in the hopes that it inspires some of you – especially those who have elements of your identities that are not widely represented in cycling – to apply to Bike Life or a similar podcast (or vlog, or blogging site, or something else) to share your stories. Representation matters, and we all have worthy stories to share (and yes, your story is good enough; don’t let that little voice in your head tell you otherwise!). Special thanks to Bike Life host Tahverlee Anglen for asking great leading questions in the interview, and to Warmshowers host Ken Francis for the encouragement to apply (even if it took me another year to do it). Enjoy the show, and enjoy the ride! 🙂
I’ve been home from my trip for three full weeks. In some ways the trip feels like it was eons ago, in other ways I’ve barely left…
This entry will cover my ten day stopover in Ireland, April 30-May 9. If you fly AerLingus to Europe (from the US), I recommend booking your flight over the phone so you can add a stopover in Ireland if you have time. I booked my trip online and had to pay extra to add the stopover when I did call, but it was worth it.
I’ll format this entry as a summary of the whole trip, with memorable moments and tips for cyclists.
Daily Destinations
April 30-May 2: Cork(the city): Hosted by Arthur, Niamh (pronounced Nay-ev), Felix, & Róisín (pronounced Ro-sheen) (from Warmshowers)
—April 30: No cycling, just adventures with my host family 🙂
—May 1: Cycled around Cork (didn’t track distance)
—May 2: 71 km/44 miles (to Kinsale)
May 2-3: Kinsale: Hosted by Naomi, Adrian, & Tristan (Arthur’s sister and family)
—May 3: 64 km/40 miles (to Leap)
May 3-4: Leap: Payed 60€ for a room and breakfast at the Leap Inn
—May 4: 50 km/31 miles on May 4 (to Durrus)
May 4-6: Durrus: Hosted by Gitte and Peter (Warmshowers)
—May 5: 87 km/54 miles (to Crookhaven, Mizen Head, Three Castle Head, back to Durrus)
—May 6: 72 km/45 miles on May 6 (to Dzogchen Beara)
May 6-7: Allihies: Stayed at Dzogchen Beara, a Buddhist monastery with a 30€ hostel
—May 7: 93 km/58 miles on May 7 (to Killarney)
May 7-8: Killarney: Hosted by Fiona (Warmshowers)
—May 8: 11 km/7 miles on May 8 (to the Killarney train station and a bit around Cork)
May 8-9: Cork: Hosted by Arthur & Niamh again
Total Distance Cycled: 445 km/277 miles
“Must-See” Spots
If you cycle through County Cork – or use another mode of transportation – here are spots I recommend, mostly in geographical order (starting in Cork, following the coast, eventually heading up to Killarney):
Marina Market in the city of Cork
Great for lunch and coffee, cool art, free book library
The bluebells of Courtmacsherry
I was fortunate enough to arrive on the day that Arthur and Niamh were taking the kids for the annual visit to a bluebell forest. The bluebells only bloom for around three weeks each year, so if you are in the area in May, go visit!
Timoleague
I joined Niamh, Arthur, and the kids for fish and chips along the water outside an old abbey. I stopped here again to munch on a snack when I passed on bike. Beautiful spot for a picnic 🙂
Kinsale
Many Irish towns are surprisingly colorful; the houses are vibrantly painted and there is fun street art (especially in Cork). Kinsale however, has the brightest buildings. It’s touristy, but it’s a fun place to spend an afternoon enjoying the colorful vibe.
Arundel Grain Store
This isn’t exactly a “must-see,” but if you cycle through the town of Ring, this is a cool place to explore. It’s a 16th century grain store (and later potatoes and coal) built for the nearby Arundel flour mills.
Drombeg Stone Circle
I did not know there were so many stone circles in Ireland, so when Peter mentioned this wasn’t far off my route, I had to detour. In 1957, according to a sign on site, “excavation revealed a compact gravel surface within the circle and a central pit which contained an inverted pottery vessel covering the cremated remains of a youth. More recently, radiocarbon dating has placed the burial in the period c.1100-800 B.C., i.e. the later Bronze Age.”
The Drombeg Stone Circle area includes the remains of what are thought to have been two stone huts from the Bronze Age. One has a fulacht fiadh inside, probably used for boiling food or bathing, which could hold 70 gallons (318 liters). The other hut has a stone-lined featured interpreted to be a roasting oven. Really cool to sit in the ruins of the hut imagining people in the Bronze Age using these structures.
The Leap Inn
I was going to stay at a B&B in Glandore which Naomi recommended, but they only accepted cash. I didn’t have enough $$ and my debit card didn’t work at the ATM (which I had to cycle to another town for!), so I decided to continue cycling until I saw something. Less than an hour later, the Leap Inn (pronounced “Lep”) was the winner! This is a rare gem in Ireland; an inn run by the same family since 1826 – almost 200 years! Please visit this place if you pass the town of Leap; even if you don’t stay overnight, you can get a meal or beer, support this family business, and check out the photos on the wall showing the inn through the years. If Ann is still working there when you go, send her my regards!
Ballydehob
I love this town. I only stopped to escape the rain and find warm food, but it quickly revealed its charm. It’s a bit of a musical haven, with many festivals and artsy-folksy events I wish I could have stayed for (I just missed a jazz festival and a fiddle festival – drat!). I had a great conversation with some locals at our shared cafe table about how Appalachian music in the US took so much from the Irish, but didn’t take the jig, and instead made something in 4/4. I also read a folktale about Fionn Mac Cumhaill (pronounced Fee-own Mac-Cool) and the Feathers from China at the cafe (Irish people love their folklore) and a local woman told me I should move to West Cork and get involved in the music scene. You never know!
Crookhaven
On bike you have to go a little out of the way to get to Crookhaven, but it’s worth it to visit O’Sullivan’s and drink “the most southerly pint in Ireland.” Pair that with fish chowder and a waterside table and you’re golden!
Crookhaven – and the Crookhaven Marconi Station – played an important role for ship communication. Guglielmo Marconi created a wireless communication system (the Marconi radio) which was on board the Titanic and allowed the ship to send a distress call as it was sinking. Those who survived the wreck did so because of that call.
Mizen Head
Not far from Crookhaven is Mizen Head, a beautiful place where some of The Last Jedi was filmed. You have to pay to visit the signal tower, but in my opinion it’s worth the price; you’ll see some interesting museum exhibits and explore beautiful landscape that you can’t reach otherwise. However, if you’re short on time, skip this and instead visit this next place:
Three Castle Head
This was the my favorite stop of the entire trip. I would not have known to go, but luckily Arthur, Niamh, Gitte, and Peter all said I couldn’t miss this. It’s not on tourist maps, nor the EuroVelo 1/Wild Atlantic Way cycling route, but it’s worth it to take your bike down the rocky road to a seemingly deserted parking lot on the edge of the water, walk 25 min. through grassy paths and rugged, rocky terrain near the cliff, until the ruins of the medieval Dunlough Castle and nearby lake appear out of nowhere. In my 70 days in Europe I saw many old castles, but this one had a sense of magic and intrigue like none other.
Important to note: This is the only ancient castle I saw with a sign specifically asking guests to treat the castle and surrounding area respectfully. There is a rare species of bird, called Choughs, that nest in the castle, and the castle is eroding more rapidly because of increased visitors and disrupting the stones. Be respectful if you visit; this gem is worth preserving.
Another sign taught me more about the castle. It was built in 1207, soon after the Norman invasion, on the site of an ancient Celtic promontory fort. The castle has three towers, hence the name “Three Castle Head,” and the rampart wall is ~20 feet high, making it one of the highest intact medieval walls in Ireland. The sign also mentioned some folklore:
“Many legends abound concerning the ‘Three Castles,’ not only because of its haunting atmosphere and desolate stillness of the lake, but also due to its violent history. The last family to have allegedly resided there were the O ‘Donohue’s, all of whom apparently died tragically in suicide or murder. A drop of blood supposedly drops daily in the tower by the lake because of this, as well as the appearance of the enchanted white ‘Lady of the Lake’. If one sees her then one will die imminently, according to the stories. Others maintain that gold lies hidden in the lake, the bottom of which has never been found, with buried treasures below the castles that if discovered bring only misfortune.”
How’s THAT for lore!
Glengariff
This is such a lovely town. I visited the Bamboo Garden and an area where a bunch of food trucks set up for the weekend. Ate one of my favorite cycling meals: Vegetarian burrito and ice cream!
Dzogchen Beara
If you have time, I recommend staying at this Buddhist monastery more than one night. I was only there one night, but it would be great to stay longer and attend meditation or drum circle events. You can stay in the hostel for 30€ or rent a cottage (I think 70€, a good deal splitting it with travel buddies).
If you happen to see an orange and white cat waiting to greet you, definitely follow. The human who checked me in didn’t provide much information, but this cat was an amazing guide, leading me to the shrine, making sure I sat on a bench to reflect on life and enjoy the peaceful surroundings, leading me to a cottage, the pagoda, and the animal sanctuary for injured wildlife, where I saw cool slugs and a beautiful horse that seemed to be standing on the edge of the world. If you’re lucky the cat will see you off the next morning and lead you almost as far as your bike, then sit and watch as you wave goodbye and thank your guide for the tour. 10/10 recommend.
And in County Kerry (where I spent way less time):
The Doorus Loop and Cashelkeelty Stone Circle
I found this by accident. I was cycling along, enjoying the ride despite some rain (seems impossible not to appreciate the rain when you know it’s responsible for the glorious green everywhere), when suddenly I saw a sign for a stone circle. Scrreeeeek! I braked, did a 180, parked, and proceeded to trek through what I can only describe as a fairy land. I’ve never seen so much moss in one place, plus shamrocks growing on top of the moss! The ground, trees, logs that were once trees…everything was sparkling with moss and shamrocks. “If I don’t make it back, it will surely be because I was kidnapped by fairies…” I thought to myself.
In retrospect, I’m not sure the path I took was actually the trail. I never saw signs, so I followed what was the most evident route, in what seemed to be the direction the map in the parking lot suggested. Eventually I connected with what I think was the Doorus Loop, which led me to an open, rocky field where some sheep were grazing. Later when I watched a YouTube video to confirm, I discovered that I was very close to the stone circle, but in the moment I didn’t realize. The trail seemed to have disappeared, there were no signs, and all I could see were sheep and some rocks that might have once been a stone circle-ish thing. Since I was already racing to get ahead of the rain, I decided to turn back. It would have been nice to see another stone circle, but I was already happy to have trekked through fairy land.
Killarney National Park
I loved cycling through this park! When I was there the road was nicely paved, and I had the pleasure of getting the climbs over with at the beginning, and coasting down through the second half of the park. There will be tour buses on the road with you, but that also means you can get someone to take your photo at the beautiful vista points, like Ladies View (see photo below).
Memorable Moments
I loved my entire trip in Ireland. Here are a few highlights that shaped the experience:
Niamh, Arthur, Felix, & Róisín
I am eternally grateful to Niamh and Arthur for their hospitality and kindness. I sent requests to multiple Warmshowers hosts in Cork asking if I could stay while figuring out where to rent a bike. Arthur responded saying that not only could I stay, but also I could borrow a bike! It turned out to be the nicest bike I’ve ever ridden, and it fit perfectly!
When I arrived, I was greeted by 5 1/2-year-old Felix with a hand-picked bouquet of flowers from the garden. He went back and forth picking flowers for me about a dozen times. He gave a detailed tour of the garden, and at some point I was able to go back out the door and pretend to arrive again so 3 1/2-year-old Róisín could give me her bouquet of flowers. What a wonderful welcome; this was absolute confirmation that I was in a good place and would enjoy my stay with this lovely family.
I could go on and on about this family; they made my trip wonderful. I joined for an outing to a bluebell forest and a beach, sang songs and played ukulele with Felix and Róisín (Felix gave me many songwriting assignments), learned the story of Fionn Mac Cumhail and the Salmon of Knowledge while eating a salmon dinner, drew pictures of moths with Felix, compared favorite Pokémon, etc. Arthur and Niamh were so supportive of my trip and gave not only route advice, but also daily inspiration as they followed my adventures, recommending places to stop and cheering me on from afar when I reached giant hills. It was so nice to share my daily progress with them, and I’m grateful that they connected me to Arthur’s sister Naomi in Kinsale, who was also awesome. I really hope to meet up with all of them again.
I have to give another shoutout to Felix, who was a great assistant grading student work (especially when I had no motivation to do so) and writing some of this blog. Thanks for all your help, Felix!
The Bull
One day I was walking the bike up a steep hill in a light drizzle when I saw what I thought was a black cow in the road ahead. I stopped, not wanting to frighten it, then realized…this cow has a muscular body…and long horns…that’s not a cow! I stood in the rain with my red bike debating what to do; was it best to continue walking toward the bull? If it charged, would I jump on the bike and speed back down the hill, in the direction? As the bull munched on grass, I slowly inched forward. He raised his head to stare at me many times, so I approached very cautiously. When a car passed from the other direction, I waved it down and asked the driver to confirm what that animal was ahead. “I think it’s a bull,’ said the driver. “If you’re nervous, just approach slowly. Bulls in Ireland are very calm…you should be okay.” Easy for someone to say who is shielded by a car! It took me probably thirty minutes to pass the bull; I moved a few steps every time it moved to a new patch of grass, and eventually it wandered to the side of the road and up a hill in another direction. Phew!
The Sheep
When I was walking my bike up the hill to Dzogchen Beara (I didn’t walk up every hill on this trip, but I am not ashamed to admit that I definitely walked a few), I came across a herd of sheep. I stopped to observe them and take photos. I heard someone calling them, and the sheep all began to run toward what must have been their shepherd. I started filming and providing commentary, which one sheep overheard. The sheep stopped in place, turned to look at me, baa-ed, and then the entire herd turned and trotted toward me! “Wait sheep, go the other way, I wasn’t calling you!” I exclaimed, but it was too late. I laughed as they all ran up, stopped, and stared at me, reminding me of the little green aliens in Toy Story waiting for directions. I walked further up the hill and the sheep all baa-ed and followed, going as far as they could up to the gate. I laughed a long time after that!
The Cows
Another animal that made me laugh was a herd of cows. I stopped to film the largest amount of cows I’d seen on the trip, and zoomed in on one who seemed to be the leader. “You’re the star,” I said. Then, just I said these words, a cow jumped on top of another one in the background of the video, and then another followed suit! Silly cows.
The Gorse
In an Irish children’s book, gorse (the yellow flower that grows on a bushy plant sometimes considered a weed) is known as the “golden wonder flower.” I felt so cheery seeing all the yellow blossoms dotting the hills. It certainly is a wonderful flower in my book!
Three Castle Head
I already mentioned this castle, but it’s worth repeating. This place was amazing. Don’t miss it.
Fleur, Manu, & Philias
When I stayed with Gitte and Peter, I met a French couple and their 17-month-year-old child. They were traveling long-term, having started in France a few months prior and continuing up from Ireland to Scotland, with no plans of stopping any time soon. They were taking a rest day at Gitte and Peter’s place in Durrus when I arrived soaking wet from the rainy weather. We shared meals together and Manu – who used to work at a crêperie – made some delicious crêpes. Imagine my surprise when two days later, once again dripping wet from another day riding in the rain, I arrived at Fiona’s house in Killarney to find them taking a rest day! We joked that this is our tradition now; we will encounter each other always when they are taking a rest day and I am dripping wet from riding in the rain. 🤣
Side Quests
Part of the charm of cycling is being able to pull over to explore at any moment. Take advantage of this in Ireland; you’ll find fun adventures like I did with the Arundel Grain Store, the Kashelkeelty Stone Circle hike, and the company and conversation at the shared cafe table in Ballydehob. There were plenty of times when I pulled over to watch birds, have a snack with a beautiful view, or examine some of the many intriguing ruins of Ireland. I saw abandoned schools from the 1800s, a house completely covered in moss, another castle, cool bugs, plants, and plenty of sheep and cows.
General Friendliness
I met such wonderful people on this trip. Local people in Ireland just have such wonderful hearts and spirits; I enjoyed the company of everyone I met.
Familial Feeling
I’m part Irish, with distant relatives from the Cork region, so I was happy to discover that I felt so comfortable in this country. I saw many people with the same tiny tints of “strawberry” in their hair that I have, some of the older people I spoke to reminded me of my grandma and great uncle, and at the Leap Inn I saw an old photo on the wall that reminded me so much of my grandma and her siblings. I don’t know if I was just projecting an imagined familial feeling because I wanted to feel it or if there was actually something there, but regardless I felt at home in this country.
I highly recommend riding a bike through Ireland if you can. It’s not as bike-friendly as the Netherlands (is any place?) but the scenery is gorgeous and it’s lovely to ride through the Irish countryside, coastal areas, mountains, etc. Even in the rain it’s nice; it’s so apparent that this rain falling on you is the cause of all the lush green scenery everywhere, so how can you complain?
Although I wish I’d booked my stopover from the start and avoided paying so much for it, I am so glad I did this 10-day trip. Out of all the countries I visited on this 70-day adventure, Ireland was absolutely my favorite. I plan to return to all through countries I explored on this EuroTrip, but Ireland has now joined Canada and New Zealand on the very short list of countries that touch my heart in a special way. Thank you to every one I met on this adventure for helping to make my trip so special; I appreciate you greatly and I’ll definitely be back!
Wow…I started writing this in Austria, now I’m in Ireland. Wild how long it’s taken me to finish this entry and how amazing modern transportation is!
Greetings from my friend Marlene’s kitchen table in Innsbruck, Austria. It feels so surreal to get to see her in person, and finally give her a long overdue hug. But that’s a story for another day. Today, back to Belgium again…
Kid-splosion, Bike Life, Games
April 5, 2023
If you’ve been reading my blog regularly you might be thinking “Wait a minute, there are a few days missing; the Brugge entry ended on April 3rd, now we’re jumping to April 5th!” You’re correct, loyal reader! (if you didn’t catch it, no worries; I don’t think I would have noticed myself) To relieve you from your suspense: From Brugge I went to Brussels briefly, but I returned again after Leuven, so I’ll write about both visits together in the next post. Stay tuned! 🙃
Anyway…
I walked through Brussels North Station with my usual “I’m from New York, watch me strut confidently to my train and weave around these confused tourists” swagger. I arrived at the platform with that “Don’t mess with me, I can navigate any public transit system, watch me ace this one” demeanor. I stood confidently on the platform, double-checked the sign (yep, right place), the train pulled up, I boarded, and as it pulled away it became apparent that this was a train that had not been listed on the sign. Oof…
My ego was not too bruised and I was able to recover and backtrack one stop to wait for the correct train. No public transit crisis for this New Yorker.
Thirty minutes later, I arrived at the Leuven station and met my host Carl and his three kids. We walked to his house and the kids immediately showed me many things. 11 year-old Myrte (sp?) can solve any Rubik’s cube you give her! 9-year-old Warre is a Paw Patrol expert! 13-year-old Jannes later he showed off his prowess as a board game strategist. And wait Carolyn, we need to go to the trampoline so we can jump together! You need to see my stuffed animals! We need to watch the preview for this Paw Patrol movie! I need to tell you this fun thing! and this and this…
Maybe this sounds exhausting to some of you, but to me this is awesome. I love working kids and haven’t gotten to interact with any in too long, so I enjoyed switching to silly Carolyn mode (is that even a switch, or a mode that’s always on in the background, ready to jump into gear at any moment?) to get soaked by pretend water balls, do the best jump on the trampoline, have a conversation with the stuffed animals, read a book with silly voices, etc. 😄 Extra perk: Except for Jannes, the kids don’t speak English fluently, so all of this had to be done in a combination of French, Dutch, and English. Excellent practice opportunity!
Bike Life
After the kid-splosion, I excused myself to take an important call. Awhile ago I applied to be featured on a cycle-touring podcast, Bike Life(from Warmshowers, a hosting platform for cyclists). The majority of guests on the show are cis men, and rather than continue to wait for more female representation (they try, but less women do long-distance cycling trips), I’d decided that maybe *I* could be the representation I was waiting for. My cycling trips might be inspiring, so why not go for it? I guess Bike Life agreed, because they’d invited me to a “Getting to know you” call with a few other candidates. Wow! It was cool to meet the host and candidates on the call; we didn’t spendmuch time talking about our journeys, but all of them have interesting tales to tell. Now to wait in suspense for future episodes…including mine! 😄
Games
After the call I joined Carl and kids for dinner, where I answered all the questions they could throw at me. Jannes was extremely interested in my board game knowledge; we talked about our favorite strategy games, mechanics like worker placement, engine-building, deck-building, set collection, etc. I was impressed that he knew these terms, most of which I didn’t learn until college! Of course, you can’t talk about games without playing some, so the rest of the evening was spent playing poker and chess. I would have preferred a board game but hey, this game-loving nerd is happy to play almost anything.
Leuven
April 6, 2023
Not much to say about this day. It started with two rounds of chess (Myrte and Jannes both kicked my butt), then I set off into the rain to explore Leuven. I marveled at architecture, sheltered in a cafe, visited a church, and spent most of my time in a thrift store finding a new pair of pants, since I’d ripped/sewed/re-ripped mine (since then, I’ve been able to patch them, so now I have the ones from the thrift store and the patched up ones)
That night a Workawayer named Rachel arrived. Until this point I’d met only one American on the trip (Susana in Brugge), and now, for a tiny balfolk festival in Leuven, I was meeting one from Brooklyn! The kids insisted we play games together, so the rest of the evening was a game night. It’s awesome that Jannes and Myrte are competitive, strategic, analog game enthusiasts. They could totally come to the game-based learning conference I run 🙂
ComSiBal!
April 7-9, 2023
Friday = festival! For Rachel and I, most of this day consisted of tidying Carl’s house to prepare for five musicians who would be staying there during the festival. Carl was at the fest already, so we got to know each other a bit while cleaning. So weird to be able to mention specific street names and other places from Brooklyn in a little suburb of Leuven!
When we finished the mission we took the train to the festival, which was happening at a Steiner school. I love the concept of a Steiner school. Named after Austrian esotericist Rudolf Steiner, this is a play-based education system where students learn through creative/natural/hands-on methods; there is no focus on rote memorization, but on understanding the whole self through songs, poems, play, etc. This was immediately apparent from all the student artwork on the walls, the old-fashioned wood shop, and other artsy things you don’t find as defining factors of typical schools.
We claimed space in one of the classrooms for our sleeping bags (thanks Carl for letting us borrow them!), then got to work.
Rachel and I – plus a Lithuanian Workawayer named Diamanthe – spent a few hours prepping the school with other volunteers, all of whom are BalFolk dancers (including Diamanthe; it was nice to have her as a fellow Workawayer since she knew what she was doing on the dance floor). My favorite task was sweeping the gym while one of the bands did a soundcheck. I had no idea what BalFolk music sounded like before that day, but I was grooving! Nothing like a private performance while sweeping the floor!
Soon, the crowds arrived. This is the third year of ComSiBal and it’s still a small, intimate fest of ~200 BalFolk dancers who are mainly part of Carl’s dance circle. I was grateful Rachel was there as the dancers excitedly reunited with one another. Rachel is also not a BalFolk dancer and knew nothing about it, so we decided to be a detective team to talk to people and learn more.
So what is BalFolk? Over dinner, we learned this isn’t one particular style of dance, but many folk dances from across Europe (mainly France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and a few other countries). And why bal? People had different answers for this. One woman said it’s because the earliest BalFolk dances were from French potato farmers; while trampling the earth to plant potatoes, they’d dance together and press the ball of each foot into the dirt. Another said it’s because dance events are called balls. Maybe both are true; everyone seemed to agree that this originated in France.
Lucky for us, the festival began with an “initiation” workshop to introduce beginners to BalFolk. The instructor walked us through warmups to get us comfortable moving our bodies, then we did some exercises to normalize consent in BalFolk. I’d never attended a dance workshop that explored ways to opt out of dancing with a partner you don’t enjoy, so this was kind of nice. Finally, we learned to lead and follow in a few BalFolk dances such as the Scottische and the Belgian Mazurka to prep for the first big dance of the evening!
Dancing
So…doing a workshop is one thing, but when a live band is calling out dance names in French whch you don’t know the steps for…that’s another. I did my best to participate in the dances that night and all weekend, but I admit I was not as jazzed about it as I was hoping. Each BalFolk dance has its own unique steps, and while there are plenty of knowledgeable people ready to help newbies, it’s hard to know when I’ll want to dance a particular dance. For instance, I discovered that a specific circle dance where everyone holds pinkies is very painful for my hands (because of the screw in my pinky maybe?), and I learned that a couple other dances are more intimate than I typically care for (unless I’m there with a trusty partner). These factors made me a bit hesitant to jump into each new dance. I danced some, but mostly I just watched…and napped.
Napping
Napped?! Carolyn, why are you napping at a dance fest?! Well, dear reader, I’ll tell you. ComSiBal has a nightly jam session, and Carl leant me a cajon for the weekend. Excellent! The only problem: The jams didn’t begin until around 2 AM! Oy. So…since I wasn’t dancing a lot anyway, I spent quite a bit of time in the classrooms recharging, so I’d have energy for the jams.
Jamming
And how were the jams? I was the only percussionist, for the first time at any jam session I’ve ever attended. That was both awesome – I could play all I wanted – and unfortunate, since I had no one experienced with BalFolk to model and learn from. I played whatever sounded right and hoped it fit. Friday night this seemed to work well, and I was loving the jam. Saturday a stuck-up cellist kept telling me I was rushing and that the music wasn’t clicking. I don’t know how it could be my fault for the music to rush even on tunes I literally wasn’t playing on, so I didn’t take this to heart too much, but it wasn’t as fun as Friday. Sunday, I semi-accidentally slept through the jam, since it didn’t begin until even later.
Cooking
My other volunteer job at ComSiBal was helping to cook in the kitchen. Imagine cooking and serving a giant vat of vegan chili with rice for 200 hungry dancers. This was an intense and fun job, and I have a ton of respect to the chef for making this work.
After-Party
Monday, all volunteers were invited to an after-party at the chef’s amazing house. I had my fifteen minutes of fame when I taught everyone to play the spoons, as tends to happen sometimes when I’m at parties 🙃
Leaving
April 10, 2023
Post-fest, Rachel and I helped Carl return all the sound equipment to the rental place and then he very kindly drove us both all the way to Brussels. Thank you very much Carl!
And just like that, the dance fest was over. I would not call this one of the top highlights of my trip, but I had an okay time and enjoyed learning new dances and meeting interesting people. I still prefer dance styles like contra, swing, salsa, and Québécois set dancing where either there is a basic step you learn and improvise off of, or where there is a caller telling you what to do during the dance. The fact that all these BalFolk dances have their own specific steps made it feel less accessible for this newbie, and the intimacy of some dances made me wish for either more space, or a different partner. But hey, I still had fun and have no regrets about volunteering here. It was a cool experience nonetheless, and I’d even consider going back another year. Maybe I’ll try a BalFolk dance again sometime!
Greetings from aboard a FlixBus heading to Innsbruck, Austria. I just spent a really nice weekend reuniting with my friend Jana in Heidelberg, Germany. But more on that later. For now let’s rewind two weeks, back to Belgium…
Bikes, Rocks, Bees, Pizza
April 1, 2023
My last blog entry was about Tilburg Part 2 (will there be a Part 3? Keep following my blog to find out! 😉). You might recall that after Tilburg Part 2 I returned to Brouwerij Feys for one more week, so I guess I’ll call this whole portion of the trip “Returning To Places” since I returned to Tilburg, Alveringem, and now…Brugge! From the brewery, Hendrik and Cindy drove me all the way to Brugge, since it was on their route. I was happy to hang out with Nele again and experience the start of De Ronde van Vlaanderen – the Tour of Flanders!
When we reunited that afternoon, Nele and I spent time catching up on what had happened in our lives; surprisingly there was a lot for both of us in two weeks! Then we hopped on Nele’s two bikes, linked up with Nele’s friend, and cycled to Sport Vlaanderen Brugge for indoor rock climbing. Nele and her friend started climbing in January, and I’d only done it twice in life, so they were competent but not too far above my level. I mostly stuck to the easiest climbing paths (level 4), but as I gained confidence I switched to harder ones, including a level 5! We only took photos when I was doing the easiest route, but by the end I was making bold moves to the top of a level 5 wall (I’m proud to say I got to the top of every path I climbed!). When I went rock climbing in NY I didn’t love it, since I went with people who were much more advanced than me. This time I really enjoyed it. If I lived in Brugge I’d definitely join Nele and her friend for their weekly meetup; they were great climbing buddies and helped me gain confidence.
An hour later, though we wanted to keep climbing, Nele and I had another place to be: An appointment with a Belgian beekeeper! We said goodbye to her friend, biked back to Nele’s place, traded bikes for car, and were off again!
Long story short, Nele is interested in learning about beekeeping and connected with a 70-something-year-old Flemish beekeeper who wants to show younger people his trade. He spoke little English, ik spreek maar een beetje Nederlands, and Nele translated between us when necessary. As we visited each hive location I had fun trying to pick out words and guess the context before Nele’s translation, and I learned a lot about beekeeping in Belgium as we went. This beekeeper makes most of his supplies himself, and I was impressed by his workshop space. It felt special to spend a few hours touring rural areas outside Brugge as the beekeeper proudly showed off his hives and brought us to beautiful locations inaccessible to the public. Definitely a worthwhile adventure!
Back at Nele’s we ordered pizza for dinner (not bad) and had a pleasant night in. It’s really cool to have met someone on this trip who feels like such a solid friend; I truly hope Nele and I are able to keep in touch after I leave.
De Ronde van Vlaanderen, Tiny House, Pierre
April 2, 2023
The next morning I woke full of anticipation; it was time for the Tour of Flanders! You’ve probably heard of Le Tour de France; De Ronde van Vlaanderen is similar, with many of the same cycling superstars. Sometimes I mention to local people that I follow professional cycling and that Wout van Aert is my favorite, and everyone is always shocked. An American who knows of Wout van Aert – so rare! It’s not common to follow this sport in the US, but my dad and I enjoy watching the Tour de France and I follow some of the competitors – especially team Jumbo-Visma – on YouTube and Instagram. Now, here was an opportunity to see the Belgian superstar and many other top tier cyclists live; amazing!
Nele and I walked to the city center, which was transformed for the event. There must have been thousands of people lined up, waving the flag of Flanders (interesting fact: Similar to the American flag, the Flanders flag has become a symbol of conservatives, but is still waved proudly at sporting events regardless of political viewpoint). What a turnout! Nele spotted a nice perch that no one had taken and kindly said I should be the one to stand on it. Thank you so much Nele; I appreciate you greatly!
The presentation of the teams was cool to watch. The riders were introduced individually with their teams, came on stage, sometimes said a few words, then cycled down the road we were standing along. Even without being close to the stage it was easy to hear when a popular rider was coming; a wave of sound built as he passed. Of course, here in his homeland, Wout van Aert got the biggest cheer.
Next, the riders all cycled down the street again, this time to line up at the start. Wout van Aert came right by where we were standing! We all counted down together – Tien, negen, acht, zeven, zes, vijf, vier, drie, twee, een… and they were off! I think the start line was the most exciting place to be; we saw each rider individually, plus team cars with spare bikes and a procession of old bicycles and people dressed to match. There was a livestream of the race on a big screen in the square, but unfortunately it was taken down after 15 minutes or so. I wish they’d kept it up all day; it would have been a cool way to unite the city, like I experienced in London during the 2012 Paralympic Games (all across the city, livestreams of the events were set up in public spaces, and people gathered and cheered. It was so cool).
I’m glad I got to see this event. There are no events like the Tour of Flanders in the US, since mainly Europeans ride these tours, so it felt special to see this one live. I was smiling all day after getting to be there!
Next, Nele’s parents came over and were happily surprised – as all Belgians have been – that I am a Wout van Aert fan. We talked about cycling, music, travel and other topics as we enjoyed a homemade lunch in Nele’s kitchen. Then we got in their car and drove to meet another 70-something in the rural areas outside Brugge. This time, we visited a tiny house Nele is thinking of buying and chatted with a farmer named Pierre, while also getting updates on how the Tour of Flanders was progressing. Wout was doing okay but now here comes Tadej Pogacar…
Pierre is half Luxembourgish, half English, raised in Brugge. He speaks impeccable French and perfect English with a British accent, so it was funny that his Flemish is that of someone raised in the rural areas outside Brugge; I loved hearing his thick Brugge accent and catching differences in how he pronounces words compared to what I’ve heard in other parts of Belgium and the Netherlands. The differences in dialects and accents over such short distances are amazing! We spent a few lovely hours in Pierre’s home as he shared stories. He reminds me of my great-uncle Jimmy, who had the same twinkle in his eye, the same “renaissance man” spirit, and the same enthusiasm and pride when telling stories or showing off things he made. Pierre showed us his many clogs (we each got a pair to wear), leather satchels he created, and told stories of his life that could have been in a movie. At one point, with that twinkle in his eye, he pulled out a wooden barrel full of Belgian chocolates, to make sure we each had our fill. It felt special to spend time with such a unique and wonderful person in the Flanders countryside. Dank u wel Pierre!
We wrapped up the day with a short hike and dinner at a restaurant, where I tried a Belgian specialty of tiny shrimp from the north sea. Tasty! It was so nice to hang out with Nele and her parents and I greatly enjoyed our time together. They invited me to Antwerp (and her dad invited me to some folk music sessions, since he is also a musician) but sadly I won’t make it back that way on this trip. Next time! 🙂
Full Circle
April 3, 2023
This second trip to Brugge ended way too soon. I spent the next morning grading student work in Nele’s house, then we had lunch together, shared a big hug, and said “Tot ziens!” I love this phrase; it doesn’t mean goodbye, more like “See you soon.” I truly hope we do!
I spent the next hour wandering through parts of Brugge I hadn’t seen yet, including a church with a swing, a pretty but over-touristed nun’s/single women’s community called Begijnhof, and the part of the nature path I didn’t see last time, to conclude my Brugge journey in the same place it began. I enjoy Brugge and I’m very glad to have met Nele. We’ll meet again, I’m sure. ☺️
Bon matin from Brussels! I’m currently enjoying a slow morning at my friends’ place in the Schaerbeek neighborhood, where singer Jacques Brel was born. On good advice, I started the day with a Jacques Brel soundtrack to get the mood right. Later I’ll go exploring, then join my friends Maud and Etienne to see a play in French at the Théâtre NationalWallonie-Bruxelles. But more on that another time, today we’re going back in time to Tilburg!
Connection
Sometimes when traveling, you meet people and think “They’re cool, it was nice hanging out. We won’t keep in touch but I hope they have a good life.” Other times “They were a good host, now I’m moving on” or “Meh, we didn’t connect but I appreciate that they hosted me.” Sometimes you think “We could be friends if we lived closer, but oh well,” or you keep in touch online, plan to visit again, and/or consider them a good friend even if your relationship is mostly virtual. And sometimes it’s the combination of place and person collectively that you connect with, that draws you back.
There’s an understanding that connections among travelers are fluid; there isn’t an expectation to keep in touch every day or visit each other, but if you vibe in the right ways you can pick up where you left off any time with no hard feelings if it has been months or years; you’re welcome at their place, they at yours. Here I am right now as I write this, staying with cyclists I spoke to for maybe 20 min. at a campground one year ago. When the vibe is right, you know you can reconnect.
Sometimes you click in other ways. It’s not “I’ll visit this person again sometime in the future” but more like “Oh, we vibe, I need to do something about this.” Sometimes you extend your stay, cancel your flight home, or alter your trip to hang out more. You keep in touch long after you’ve left, and maybe even make a music video when two of those special people get married to each other during COVID. These deeper connections are rare, but they’re genuine, wonderful, and part of the reason I love being a traveler rather than a tourist. Often the connections are platonic, sometimes romantic, always the stuff of story books. What new connections will I make today?
Return to Tilburg
Suffice to say, I had one of those “Oh, we vibe, I need to do something about this” interactions when I went to Tilburg, paired with the charm of the location itself. You might recall that I was there less than 24 hours on my visit, and I had a super time touring the city with Niels on Wheels. When I was leaving, it seemed natural to say “I’ll be passing here on my way back to Amsterdam in April,” while he said “Do you want to leave anything here, so you don’t have to carry it on your trip?” Yeah, I was definitely coming back (I didn’t leave any stuff, btw, to stay fully in control of my travels).
We kept in touch after I left. I can’t say I’d ever burnt my fingers keeping in touch with someone before (read that story in my Brugge entry), but there’s a first time for everything. You can’t burn your fingers swapping travel stories with someone and NOT see them again! So two weeks later, when I wasn’t having an amazing time at the Workaway and he had Friday off, it seemed only right to wrap up my work early on Thursday and hop on a bus to begin a five-hour trek to Tilburg for a weekend of adventures!
Sidenote: There was a volunteer at the Workaway named Bas, who is from Tilburg’s “rival” city, Breda. Niels has a cat whose name translates as dog, Bas has a dog named cat, both of them independently said “It’s Brabant humor” when I remarked about the name choices. When I told Bas I was going to visit someone in Tilburg he remarked: “How is it possible you know someone in Tilburg? Nobody goes to Tilburg!” I had a lot of fun dropping Tilburg facts at the Workaway, serving as self-appointed Tilburg ambassador while Bas shook his head in disbelief. 🤣 (PS: Tilburg is legitimately a cool place; as ambassador I recommend that you visit).
Aldous Harding
March 23, 2023
“Is there any chance you could be arriving at tilburg central station around 6pm ???”
Hmmmmm what was this? If I could get to Tilburg by 6, there was surprise waiting. What could it be? If you do some detective work reading this blog you’ll solve the mystery, like I did. At 1 PM I left the brewery with a smile on my face; I was going to an Aldous Harding concert in Utrecht!!!
Or was I…? Hours later, the engine stalled on the train I was riding, and I was stuck meters from where I had to transfer. The first time I went to Tilburg my train was canceled because of a snowstorm, now my train was stuck with a stalled engine. Dutch trains don’t make it easy to get to Tilburg! Eventually the train restarted, reached the Breda station, and – after a few minutes of the conductors trying to get the doors open – I sprinted as fast as I could to the transfer. Phew – made it!
I happily reunited with Niels at the Tilburg station. We grabbed food, ran into two of his friends who happened to be going to the concert, and then we were off!
Aldous Harding is an indie folk singer-songwriter from Lyttelton, New Zealand.
Lyttelton…when Niels revealed this surprise I got goosebumps. I’m doing this EuroTrip partially in memory of Andrew, a friend I met while couchsurfing in Lyttelton, NZ, and I’m going to Austria later this month to visit my friend/his widow Marlene to give her a long-overdue hug in real life. Needless to say, it felt extremely special when Niels invited me to a concert by a folk artist from the town where I met the person I’m doing this trip in memory of. Dank je wel times a million, Niels, and rest in peace Andrew.
The concert was amazing. I loved being there live, and everything about the entire experience. “Old Peel” is my new favorite Aldous Harding song.
The train ride back featured an amazing conversation about Tilburg history and Dutch language dialects. For those interested, check out this amazing website Niels’ friend shared with regional dialects and recorded conversations. What a treasure trove!
Cycling, Trappists, Movie Night
March 24, 2023
Gooooood morning! In advance of my arrival, Niels recommended some bike adventures we could do (sidenote: I am always SO HAPPY to find people with adventurous, outdoor-loving spirits similar to mine; it’s sort of rare and awesome when I don’t have to wonder if my itch to explore is too much). The area around Tilburg is rich with natural beauty, and on two wheels you can reach beautiful places. Sadly we ran out of time/good weather to see everything on the list, but I hope to return and explore more.
We began the adventure by walking around the city and finding more symbols of Tilburg’s kruikezeiker (“jar pisser”) pride. A statue of the iconic jar pisser image in someone’s front window, a big “kruikezeiker” statue near the station, a plaque, and stores displaying Tilburg’s orange and green colors from recent Carnaval celebrations (when Noord-Brabant cities embrace their historical nicknames full-force). We rented a bike for me, stopped at a grocery store for picnic supplies, visited a lovely community garden, and rode a nice cycle path to a lake. After cycling through the woods we enjoyed a tasty lunch and hiked around the lake. We found wild mushrooms, a cool beetle, a tiny frog, birds, bees, and lovely trees. Happiness 😊
After the lake we continued on bikes to La Trappe Brewery/Brouwerij De Koningshoeven, one of only two Trappist monasteries in the Netherlands – and 11 worldwide – where monks brew beer on site. Also the only Trappist monastery that allows you to tour the grounds? I found conflicting sources about those numbers, so take them with a grain of salt. La Trappe was founded in the late 19th century by an order of monks who left Northern France to escape anti-religious sentiments and settled on a space consisting of three farms and a sheep pen in Tilburg in 1881. They constructed a brewery in 1884 to earn income to build an abbey on site, which they completed in 1894. The monks don’t keep any extra money they make from their beer; they use what is needed to sustain the monastery and donate the rest to charity.
Niels and I strolled the grounds learning the Trappist history. It’s a lovely place to stroll (seriously, this is a place to enjoy your surroundings and take your time). Then we visited the tasting room. We ordered bread and cheese the monks make on site using their own beer, plus traditional Dutch bitterballen, essentially fried cheese balls (typically these include meat, but meatless for me). If there is one thing I’ve learned about Dutch cuisine, it’s that it’s not very healthy; tons of bread, cheese, fried things, beer, and sugar 😝 I got the “Puur” organic beer to go with the meal, and Niels helped me translate a poem on the menu about living in the moment and appreciating silence. Wise advice. It was an enjoyable afternoon in good company 🙂
Before wrapping up the adventure we cycled to a graffiti tunnel. Niels sometimes gives graffiti workshops and knows many local street artists, so he shared stories about some of the tags on the wall, then we tried to climb an artsy stairway that seemed to appear out of nowhere. I think we could have gotten up, but the drop down would have been a bit much for me. Drat! Then Niels taught me how to jump on and off my bike Dutch-style, which was awesome. I have to practice, but I’ll get it!
This was a fun day. I’m always happy riding a bike and hiking outside, and it was cool to learn more Tilburg history too. Niels is a big movie collector (over 2000 DVDs!), so to wrap up the day – after getting over his shock at how few movies I’d seen from his collection -, he made a delicious dinner and we watched The Shawshank Redemption on his projector with his cute cat Kutya (“Dog” in Hungarian). I understand why this film is a classic; if you haven’t seen it, check it out!
After the movie Niels gave me a sneak peek of what I’d see at a place called De Efteling, because…
De Efteling
March 25, 2023
Once upon a time when I was first planning this trip, I stumbled across De Efteling online and thought “Oh, I’d like to check that out.” Visiting a theme park alone isn’t my idea of fun, so I posted on a Facebook group called “Solo Female Travelers” to see if anyone wanted to join. A few people said “De Efteling is awesome, definitely go!” but no one could make it, so I gave up the plan. But then…
When I knew I wanted to go back to Tilburg, I’d looked on the map to see what cool things were nearby, and to my surprise De Efteling was practically next door! I texted Niels about it and he basically exploded with excitement, as did every other Dutchie and Belgian I mentioned it to; everyone seems to have fond memories of this iconic theme park. It was only right that we plan a day to visit De Efteling, and Saturday was the winner! As we were walking out the door I mentioned that it reminded me a little of Epcot. Try explaining Epcot to a non-American who only knows DisneyWorld as an overall concept; it’s hilarious. “You know, the place with the giant golf ball…No, there isn’t anything about Mickey Mouse, but you can learn about technology in the golf ball and visit different countries…” 🤣
If you go to De Efteling, I highly recommend bringing a Dutch or Belgian person; watching Niels get excited and nostalgic about different parts of the park was so entertaining! We had fun riding roller coasters, attempting poses for cameras on the coasters, and even going on classic kiddie rides. There is an iconic theme song which will be forever stuck in your head after riding Carnaval Festival; it’s essentially the Dutch equivalent of the “It’s A Small World” ride at Disney and it’s a very sticky earworm. In addition to the rides, De Efteling has a fairy tale forest. It was interesting to see classic fairy tales portrayed and getting another reminder of how casual Europeans are about nudity; Ariel doesn’t have a shell bra in this version of the Little Mermaid! There were stories I was unfamiliar with too, like the tale of the dancing red shoes.
De Efteling is smaller than the average American theme park (what isn’t?), and with the size difference comes smaller, less epic roller coasters, but also shorter lines! I laughed when Niels said we might have to wait on some long lines; turns out a long line at De Efteling is a short line at most American theme parks. 30 min. was the longest we waited, and he said on busy days the wait can be up to one hour – still short compared to a long wait at a US park. The one exception was waiting to ride the wooden roller coaster. We waited in line until we were up to the coaster itself but never got a chance to ride; the wind kept shutting it down.
The small size of De Efteling has another perk: If you lose the pouch containing your passport, credit card, and cash, no need to panic, just go to the food court where you think you left it and the staff will have it for you. Holy moly, I am very grateful it was there, with nothing missing! (I keep another ID, spare cash, and card in a separate place in case of this exact situation…never put all your important stuff in one bag!)
We wrapped up the day at De Efteling by sharing a plate of ‘t poffertjes – small Dutch pancakes with powered sugar. Niels was insistent that these were not true poffertjes; not all poffertjes are created equal. I guess I’ll have to try them again, but first I need to eat more fruits and veggies. It’s difficult to eat healthy here!
De Efteling is a fun place. I see why it’s popular, but I think its theme and art style would fail in the US; the average American wants more flashiness and cartoon-iness. In fact, when I posted photos of the park on my Instagram, it was only Americans who commented on the “old” style of the statues.
My main criticism of De Efteling is the portrayal of Arabs in one of the older rides, in which you ride a boat while an evil sorcerer laughs and points a wand at you. As you ride, you pass scenes depicting some generic Arab country, with all the men looking evil, and a few women acting as eye candy to dance for them. At one point you go by a scene of a man forcefully pulling out another man’s tooth while he moans and pleads from his position locked in a chair. Then a man points a rifle at you and starts shooting while laughing. It was interesting discussing this cultural portrayal with Niels, since he has been to the park many times since childhood and never thought twice about it; he’d seen it so often that it never crossed his mind to question it. For me it was a bit shocking to see this, especially on a kiddie ride. There is a newer “Arabian Nights”-inspired ride that is not evil-looking, but this one caught me off guard. Maybe it’s time for an update, De Efteling?
Regardless, I had fun at De Efteling and it was worth the visit. I wish we’d gotten to ride the wooden roller coaster and that we could have ridden other coasters more than once before the wind shut them down; we still have to master our sleeping-on-the-ride pose! It was a fun day and I’m glad I got to experience this Dutch classic.
We had one last ride from the station to Niels’ place: Dutch style cycling on one bike! Niels taught me a trick so I could jump on and off the bike rack at stoplights. Again, something to master with practice. Now I just need to learn to sit sideways on the rack like the Dutch girls!
2eHands
March 26, 2023
On a sleepy Sunday, we made our way into town for Tweedehands het Festival 2023, a second-hand thrifting festival. First stop: LocHal, the Tilburg library!
I have to pause here to emphasize this: I love libraries. My parents chose the town where I grew up because of the local library (voted the best on Long Island), and I have “library friends” who I met at the library. I frequent libraries and their amazing resources and programs everywhere I live, and they will always have a fond place in my heart. Libraries are wonderful.
Niels did not know this detail of my life, yet he thought it was important that we visit the library. Absolutely 100% yes, let’s go! With great pride he explained that LocHal was voted the best and most beautiful library in the entire country, and as he showed me around I understood why; it’s easily in my top five libraries, maybe even higher on the list. I wish I’d saved time Monday morning before leaving to hang out in the library; I’m confident I could spend many happy hours there.
We didn’t spend hours, but we did take time exploring, as Niels pointed out old railway steel beams, pulleys used to lift old train cars, train beds that the tables are built on, etc. The library stands at the spot in the Spoorzone that was once a glass and steel locomotive shed, and rather than tear it down, a studio called Civic Architects built the library using what was already there in 2019. It’s truly impressive, and every corner has something to see. We explored an exhibit in the Tilburg heritage section in which local residents recorded videos sharing memories about working at the old train depot. We also found an old magazine featuring information about the assassination attempt on “The Jew Hunter,” who I wrote about in my previous Tilburg entry, and there were interactive portions where we could suggest ways to improve Tilburg’s community programming and historical presentations. I wrote a response in Dutch with Niels’ assistance wishing for more linguistic accessibility for anglophone visitors (or they can hire Niels to translate for everyone, hehe). What a special place that library is! Click here to see photos and learn more.
Next stop: Hall of Fame, where the skate park I wrote about last time lives. Today the building was transformed for the festival, so we stopped in to have a look before heading to the palace, which was open to the public for the first time in I don’t know how long (a long time, because Niels thought it was a big deal). It was cool to walk inside and see the second-hand wedding dresses being sold (the palace is a popular place for weddings, so it makes sense that it would be the wedding thrifting spot for the festival). Upstairs we saw a film about how church spaces are being reimagined throughout the Netherlands, as less people attend mass. The film showed different churches from the same camera angle and weaved together a narrative that connected and highlighted each one: A trampoline center, a gym, a yoga class, storage for Buddhist statues, etc. It’s cool that the Netherlands is reimagining these spaces instead of tearing them down, and the film was an effective way to showcase what’s happening. On the way out we peeked at the rooms where Vincent van Gogh had his first drawing lessons. Super cool!
We wrapped up the thrifting tour with one last stop, where I bought a new Nijntje book for 0.50€, since I’ve mastered my first one (I had one last reading test over the weekend, which I passed 😄). Back at Niels’ place we had a Lionel Hampton listening party (another rare thing – not only does Niels know what a vibraphone is, but he is a Lionel Hampton fan!!), then ventured out past a “New York Pizza” place (lol) to visit a classic Tilburg bar [I’ll fill in this name when Niels confirms it…] that has been there 100 years! This was a very local bar with a few patrons who had clearly been there awhile. I made sure to say “Haleekes!” in Tilburgs when we left. 😄
To put a cherry on top of the day we ordered delicious Indian food (hooray to be able to order spicy food to share…no need for mild!) and watched a ’90s film about a Dutch family moving to New York City called Flodders in Amerika. I recommend only watching this with a Dutchie who can explain jokes that might go over your head. 😂
Haleekes…
March 27, 2023
Sadly, I had to leave early Monday morning to catch my bus back to the Workaway. I said “Haleekes” to Niels and Kutya, but I hope it’s not goodbye. For me, travel is not so much about visiting touristy spots, but making connections, experiencing cultural immersion, being outdoors, and saying yes to adventures with cool people when we click. I really enjoyed exploring in and around Tilburg with Niels and I hope there are more adventures ahead. Dank je wel Niels, en Kutya ook!
Some final photos from my journey back to Roesbrugge. I passed through beautiful Antwerp Centraal again and spent a few hours working at the local library (the same one I posed at with Lente’s parents a few weeks ago). This time I photographed the dove/hand statue I mentioned in the Antwerp entry 😊
Greetings from a small cafe in Belgium. The server didn’t speak much English (or is choosing not to, I think?) and speaks FAST French! Somehow I read the menu in Dutch to choose my tea and ordered in French. That was a language whirlwind!
Anyway, back to my Workaway in Alveringem. Rather than a day-by-day account, I’ll write this entry as a cumulative experience.
March 18-23 & 27-April 1
Workaway Backstory
When I plan trips, I aim to give back to communities I’m traveling through. Sometimes all I manage to do is wash dishes for hosts, but other times I find full-on volunteer projects. For this trip, I decided to use a volunteering platform my friends Karin and Sid frequent, called Workaway. Workaway describes itself as “The leading community for cultural exchange, working holidays and volunteering in 170 countries.” Karin and Sid have been traveling almost nonstop for a few years now, spending most of their time at Workaway positions. We met during a different volunteer experience, All Hands and Hearts. You can read about our experience with a hurricane response project in the Bahamas in my post series starting here.
I decided that for this trip, I’d give Workaway a shot. You can make an account without paying for a subscription, so I did that and began searching for projects (you can search for free, just can’t contact hosts until you pay). I didn’t find much of interest in the Netherlands, but there are quite a few cool projects in Belgium, including a food forest initiative, transforming an old building into a community center, and two that sounded most appealing: Designing an educational escape room about beer-making for an old brewery while living in a small castle, and volunteering at a folk music/dance festival. I reached out to both project hosts and was accepted, so that part of my trip was set. Boom!
Feys Brewery is an old brewery built in the 1800s. There is a big sign on the side of the brewery with the date 1898, but I think it was built earlier. So how did this old, non-functioning brewery become a Workaway project, you ask? I’ll tell you!
Over a decade ago, the current owner, Hendrik, took a sabbatical to travel and re-find himself after his father’s death. For three years he traveled the world, visiting over forty countries, before returning to his home country of Belgium and stumbling across this old, run-down brewery in 2013. Suddenly he knew where he wanted to be and what he wanted to do; one of his three dreams in life was to run a brewery, and now here was his chance to save a piece of history and achieve the goal!
For the first eight years, he worked on the project mostly by himself, envisioning big plans for the property including community gatherings, festivals, parties, educational opportunities, kayak rentals, tours, and more. Two years ago he met his partner Cindy, who arrived with her camper van to rent space on the property, fell in love, and never left! In November 2021 Hendrik started accepting Workaway volunteers, and now he hosts as many as a dozen at once. When I arrived, there were ten Workawayers living in the castle, from many different countries. There was even one Italian guy who is almost a clone of my cousin Tyler!
Fun fact: The room I was given has some history; the French WWI general Ferdinand Foch stayed there for a time during the war! I only took a video of the space, so unfortunately I can’t share that here on the blog…
The brewery is enormous; Nele and I received a tour when we arrived, and the building went on and on! There is SO MUCH to be done at the brewery, and Hendrik has his sights set on using the entire space, and renovating it all simultaneously. As you can see in the photos, there is a ton of potential for this project, but it requires a lot more work. I truly hope it is successful.
The Routine
Each weekday at the brewery starts the same: Free-for-all breakfast at 8:30 AM, work at 9 AM. Hendrik puts a list of tasks on the fridge and everyone chooses something that appeals to them; weeding in the garden, cutting firewood, doing restoration tasks inside the brewery, preparing lunch (it’s a big task when there are a dozen mouths to feed!), etc. When more instructions are needed, Hendrik walks around showing volunteers what to do. Saturdays and Sundays are free days, which most volunteers spend traveling to nearby regions.
Everyone works until 2 PM, with a break around 12 PM. Hendrik is lenient about hours; I spent a long weekend away (hence the gap in dates at the top of this post), so I squished hours into other days. Typically everyone spends the second half of each day doing their own thing; some hang out inside, some borrow bikes to explore, those with cars drive somewhere, some walk the 1 km to the French border, etc. We gather in the evening for dinner, wash dishes, and are free to do whatever we want the rest of the night. Mostly everyone hangs out by the fire, but sometimes ping pong and pool games are organized in the brewery, and a sauna is available. There is one shower and one laundry machine, so everyone works around each other to wash their clothes and themselves.
Escape Room
I chose this position specifically to contribute to the educational escape room about beer-making that Hendrik included in the list of possible tasks on the Workaway website. I have experience designing escape rooms, so I contacted Hendrik and asked if I could come specifically to work on this. He was delighted that someone with experience was interested, so it was a match!
When I arrived, I discovered that the brewery was not physically ready to house an escape room. The idea is to have the escape room in the half-basement/cellar, but currently that space easily floods, and there are lots of items in the area that make it unsafe for a game. I spoke to Hendrik and we agreed that my job would be to design a plan for the room, so the blueprints would be in place for implementing the game in the future. Works for me.
I spent my ten work days at the brewery mostly on my computer, researching beer-making and planning how to teach it to a multi-lingual crowd through games. A few times I turned my attention to other tasks, like preparing lunch and helping with outdoor labor, but mostly I worked on the game. I learned quite a bit about beer-making in my short time on the project.
Hops Museum
As part of the research for the escape room, myself and Clémence, a volunteer from France, borrowed bikes and rode 10 km to the town of Poperinge to visit Hopmuseum, a museum dedicated to “the green gold” of Poperinge and nearby towns in this Westhoek (“west corner”) region of Belgium. I was surprised to learn that 75% of Belgium’s hop production is from the Westhoek region. We took a lot of notes during our visit. A few things we learned:
There are six “beer saints” in Catholicism who are associated with miracles related to beer and/or have written about beer.
Historically, people came to Poperinge from all over Europe to harvest hops. It was common for 10,000 people to come to Poperinge from nearby areas to spend a month harvesting the plants. In addition to harvesters from Belgium, roaming caravan families nicknamed “Easterners” came.
The hop harvesting season ended with a “hops feast,” which included singing songs, burning a large straw man, eating raisin bread, drinking cocoa, and awarding a crown to the farmer’s wife and one other woman who had contributed the most to the success of the hops harvest.
There was a monastery near Poperinge which was important for brewing beer in that region. From what I understood, it moved to France, but not clear on this..
There are two main varieties of hops, categorized as “bitter” and “rich aroma.” Rich aroma hops are common in Eastern Europe, while Belgium is known for bitter hops.
Lots more facts on how high hop plants grow, how they were harvested, their importance in Poperinge, etc. Maybe not interesting enough to include here though…
Overall the museum was worth visiting, especially since it cost just 2.50€ for students ;-D
Cycling
I spent as much free time as I could on a bicycle. The weather was not on my side, so I only rode two days. The bikes were not in great condition, but good enough for small adventures. The best was a 30-km adventure riding with Clémence to a windmill in Vleteren, with a gorgeous route back to the brewery despite strong wind. I enjoyed speaking French with Clémence, and we were able to help each other practice our respective languages. We also took a trip with another Workawayer, Daniel, drank local beer in Poperinge, and visited a Frituur for Belgian fries. I’ll let the photos do the talking for the cycling. I wish I could return in warmer weather and discover where these bike paths could take me…
I Wish…
While I was glad to get to visit this brewery, I wish the weather had been warmer. Most days were cold and rainy, so I didn’t get to explore much of the beautiful landscape surrounding the brewery, and the weather was not agreeable for borrowing a kayak to sail down the river. There was also one volunteer who I. Could. Not. Stand. Whenever he cooked meals he made comments about how he is making a meat meal and will make something small on the side for us vegetarians, or comments when I cooked about how my meal choice should include X or I should prepare something differently, and he will make some meat on the side, etc. He had strong feelings about how awful a sport professional cycling is, how lazy and unappreciative refugees are, and more opinions that made me walk far away. He loved to insert himself into conversations and talk over everyone, so I started giving him a New York cold shoulder, cutting him off, and walking away or ignoring what he said. I think this is one reason I didn’t spend as much time at the brewery as I’d initially intended; not only was it cold and rainy, but I could barely stand this guy. The other volunteers were cool, but this one soured the experience a bit.
The Last Night
My last night at the brewery was my favorite. Hendrik cooked a traditional Belgian mussel dish, then four of us went over to the brewery to play ping pong and pool. It was my first and only night truly interacting with other volunteers, since people usually did their own thing each evening. Afterward we all ate packaged Belgian waffles, which were better than I expected. I put ice cream and sprinkles on mine, and the two 18-year-old German girls got so excited about the idea and immediately made their own. I’m glad I ended the stay on a good note.
Future
Perhaps I will return to Feys Brewery someday. It would be cool to come back with a friend and see how the projects have advanced, and to borrow the bikes and kayaks for outdoor adventures in warmer weather. Feys Brewery semi-regularly hosts community events, so it would be cool to be there for an event too (there was a cycling BBQ the weekend I was away, but I was having amazing adventures elsewhere, no regrets). Perhaps this is not the end; I still have an escape room to build!
Hendrik and Cindy kindly drove me all the way to Brugge, back to Nele’s house on their way to the Netherlands. Dank je wel Hendrik and Cindy for everything, and I hope we meet again!
Wow…I went away for a super fun weekend and now I’m quite behind on the blog. But never fear, here is a new entry!
Wandering
March 16, 2023
After leaving Gent I continued to Brugge (Bruges in English). As soon as I got off the train I had a fun encounter; Hello Fresh was doing a promotion for Belgians, and a guy at the station asked where I live. When I told him I was visiting and he asked why, I said “Ik spreek een beetje Nederlands, maar het is moeilijk en…I want to practice.” After getting over his shock he asked why I know some Dutch, so I explained about my unintended immersion experience in New Zealand. “You live a very interesting life!” he exclaimed. I left the station with a big smile on my face, feeling like the main character in a cool story.
Still smiling, I decided to wander without consulting a map or my phone, just choose a direction and see where it took me. I had four hours before I could meet my host, so why not? I felt so deprived of green space in Gent, so I made a beeline for a park and immediately felt peaceful and happy. Nature is so therapeutic.
I spent the next two hours casually wandering the outskirts of Brugge, following a path along the water and meandering off if I saw something interesting, no clear destination. Brugge is a city built to be protected; the entire place is surrounded by canals, with bridges allowing commuters in and out. Along the waterway I discovered four windmills, cool art, old castle structures, and I could see the tops of old buildings peeking out from the city center.
Eventually I settled at a picnic table near a quiet garden to eat some snacks, then strolled to a bar to warm up with a cup of tea. The bar turned out to be a very local establishment. The server didn’t speak English, so I ordered my tea in Dutch and felt proud of successfully doing so. As I drank my tea I listened to a conversation nearby in a thick Flemish dialect unlike any I’d heard on the trip. It’s incredible how quickly this language changes over just a few kilometers!
I’ve mentioned this before but it’s worth repeating: The Netherlands and Belgium are Dutch-speaking countries in which dialects morph over as little as 5 km. Here again was an example: People from Brugge pronounce the “g” as an “h” and emphasize words differently, sometimes using completely different words from neighbors as near as Gent. There is a specific phrase that is sort of a joke; in English it translates to “mosquito memory,” and it has a ton of “g” sounds in it. Someone with a thick Brugge accent would say it sort of like “Muhuhuh huhuhuh.” The Flanders region of Belgium is historically/stereotypically considered an area of “stupid” farmers in Belgium, so it’s rare to hear West Vlaams dialects spoken elsewhere; people from Brugge switch to a more standard Dutch when speaking elsewhere. When you quietly sip tea in a very local bar however, you get a linguistic treat. 😁
After the bar I continued to the home of Nele, a cyclist I connected with through the Facebook group “Host A Sister.” She lives on a beautiful, quiet, cobblestoned street away from the bustle of the touristic center of Brugge. Her home used to belong to a group of nuns, and there is a secret garden attached to it. As soon as she opened the door I felt I’d met a good friend; we clicked instantly and forgot to eat dinner at a decent time as we chatted over the next hour. She is planning to cycle through Norway this summer on a similar trip to the one I did last year, so we had lots to talk about.
Belfort, Tour, Waffles, Mistakes, Burn
March 17, 2023
Belfort
My first impression of Brugge was that I loved it; that quiet, meandering walk was so peaceful and interesting. This day however, I discovered a different Brugge. It started with a trip with Nele to the belfort (belfry), which dates back to the 13th century. Usually you have to pay to climb to the top, but because Nele works at a museum (a bakery museum, to be exact!) she gets free passes. Awesome!
As we climbed, Nele shared fun facts about the belfort:
The belfort was built in the year 1240
It is a UNESCO world heritage site
The belfort contains a chest that held the city’s charters during the Middle Ages. The chest is hidden behind two wrought iron doors and sealed with many padlocks, the keys for which are each safeguarded by a different city council member; no single person can open the chest alone.
The charters were moved there after a fire destroyed the previous city docuents in 1280 (I think in the old city hall?)
There are 47 bells in the carillon (the musical instrument that makes the bells ring). The city also has a carilloneur, a musician who plays the instrument on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. There is a list of the city’s carilloneur’s dating back to the 1500s!
The carilloneur can play whatever he wants, and he certainly does! When a musician dies the carilloneur plays their music, sometimes he plays tunes to match specific holidays, the weather, or whatever he feels like on that day. Apparently a couple weeks ago he played “Bohemian Rhapsody;” imagine that being played on giant bells!
On days when the carilloneur does not play, there is a system of gears that turns a giant rolling machine that looks a bit like a monster-sized player piano roll. Every two years the pegs are switched out on the machine so it will play a different song.
There is a belfry keeper who lives in the tower and receives a stipend. The current keeper is leaving, so there is an opening for a new one now. 😄 At night the belfort is closed to the public, so sometimes the keeper has private parties on the property! Who wants a new job in Brugge?
After the tower, Nele said goodbye and left for a retreat weekend she’d signed up for. I’d see her again though; she was kindly letting me stay at her place for the weekend, and we’d reunite to drive to Alveringem together on Monday. This was not the end!
Tour
Next I met Susana, a traveler I connected with through the Facebook group “Solo Female Travelers.” We’d decided to do a free walking tour, then see where the day took us. The tour was informative…too informative…I zoned out many times. Some of the information was interesting, but there were also many touristy details about where to buy the best chocolate, waffles, etc. I was also surprised to see SO MANY walking tours happening simultaneously. When you reach the center of Brugge, it is indeed very touristy!
Here are some things I remember from the tour. Take these facts with a grain of salt, since I zoned out a lot. The guide was English, not Belgian, but she certainly likes Belgian history:
You know those red, white, and blue-striped barber poles? I thought that was an American thing, but no! In Brugge (and other places?) there was once a shortage of people who could do blood-lettings, so barbers were recruited to act as surgeons, since they knew how to use sharp objects like razors. The striped barber pole colors represent their work; blue represents veins and red is blood.
There are lots of inward-facing houses in Brugge. They’re built that way to avoid taxes; a homeowner once only had to pay taxes for outward-facing windows!
Michaelangelo spent seven years working on a statue of Mary and baby Jesus for the church (of Belgium? Brugge specifically? Unclear) but it was rejected because his Jesus was a chubby and naked. Some guys from Brugge approached him and asked if they could have the statue, and he gave it to them for free. It’s still in Brugge, proudly displayed.
Brugge has over 80 bridges!
Brugge is yet another city where urine was historically bought and used, this time for the tannery.
Many roofs in Brugge display golden statues. These represent trade guilds; people put a statue at the top of their building to represent what was produced/sold inside. There is even one with two golden snails, signifying that at one time, that was the only place to buy escargot in Brugge.
Brugse Zot is a special beer made only in Brugge. According to a sign at De Halve Maan, a 16th century brewery that makes the beer:
When Emperor Maximillian of Austria visited Bruges, its proud citizens put on a colourful parade of merrymakers and jesters. After it was over, the citizens asked him to build them a new madhouse. To this he replied: “Today, I have seen nothing but fools. Bruges is already one big madhouse!” Since that day, the people of Bruges have gone by the nickname of ‘Brugse Zotten’ or ‘Fools of Bruges’.
To clear up some details about that quote, thanks to an internet search: Maximillian’s visit was not quite so simple. His wife Mary of Burgundy, who had been the ruler of Flanders, died in Brugge in 1482. When Maximillian took over, he had a lot of resentment towards the city and implemented heavy taxes. Understandably, the people of Brugge – and Flanders as a whole – did not like this, so when Maximillian visited Brugge in 1488, they rebelled and threw him in jail for four months. They tortured and beheaded his sheriff, Pieter Lanchals, directly outside his cell window, and Maximillian finally reconsidered the tax. The people of Brugge then decided to throw a big celebration to honor him, and they requested a new mental hospital for the city. That’s when the line about the city of fools comes in, hence the name of the beer.
There were tons more facts; the tour was over two hours long! I didn’t mean to zone out so much, but the information wasn’t presented in an overly interesting way. I still think Brugge is a good place for a tour, since we visited areas I may not have seen otherwise. However, if I did it over I would have done a ghost tour at night, or borrowed Nele’s bike (which she gave me permission to use) for my own spectacular tour on two wheels 🙃
Waffles
After the tour, Susana wanted to check out the waffle house recommended by our guide, and I decided to join. I didn’t find it to be overly special; the Belgian waffle I ate in Norway this summer was better. I think because Brugge is so touristy, it’s better to eat traditional Belgian foods elsewhere in the country. Everything in the center of Brugge is overpriced and geared toward tourists; it felt like a different city than the Brugge I wandered through the previous day. Nonetheless I like Brugge, and it was cool to meet another solo traveler and hear about her journey. We travel differently, so it was interesting to get her perspective on traveling through the Netherlands and Belgium, and compare where we are in our life journeys. A lot of 30-somethings I’ve met on this trip seem to be in similar places in life…I guess we are all restless souls in the end…
Mistakes
Ugh. Now for the worst part of the day. I hadn’t realized Nele would let me stay at her place over the weekend, so before I arrived in Brugge I’d contacted another host. When I found out I could stay at Nele’s place I notified the other host (we’ll call her S), and she practically begged me to come, stating that her daughters were really looking forward to meeting me and would be so disappointed if I chose not to visit. She also invited me to a pub singing event that sounded similar to the folk-singing events I love in NY, so I decided to stay at her place for one night, though I was craving the solitude of Nele’s wonderful home.
I met S at a bar in Brugge. She briefly said hello, then proceeded to speak Dutch to the man she was with for 20 minutes while I stood awkwardly on the side. Not a great start…
Next we got in her car and she told me about how she got her license ten years ago and still feels new to driving, so we’d be driving only a short distance to meet her friend to drive the rest of the way to the singing event. Okay…would have been good to know this in advance…
At this point, I started brainstorming a plan. First: Make sure not to leave stuff in the car. Even though it’s annoying to carry a backpack to a pub, I’d bring it with me. I was so surprised at this introduction; I’ve never had such an unwelcoming encounter with a Couchsurfing host.
When we met her friend, she said “Oh it’s so great to meet you! I have so many questions!” We got in her car and…the two women spoke Dutch for the entire 30-min. drive, never even acknowledging me in the back.
This is when I started really making an escape plan. First step: Let someone local-ish know where I was. Nele didn’t have service at the retreat and Bruno (my host in Gent) doesn’t check his phone while working night shifts, though I knew I could go to his place if needed (he’d said I was welcome any time, and I knew the key code). Okay…Netherlands isn’t far from Belgium so why not someone I’d been keeping in touch with…Niels on Wheels! I let him know what was happening and he offered to reach out to friends nearby if I got stuck. Awesome. He also advised keeping an eye on the driver; there is a bit of a stereotype that Belgians drink and drive, and I certainly did not want to get in a car with an intoxicated driver (of course this not true of all Belgians, but I kept a close eye just to be safe). I also checked train times and felt confident I could get from Gent back to Brugge easily. I didn’t feel in danger and I had an escape route planned…good.
After we parked the car, S switched to English and shared what a messy family I was walking into; one of of her daughters was depressed and the other was having panic attacks and seeing a therapist to cope with someone dying at school. It has been years since S hosted anyone, because space is limited with her two daughters. Umm…and these are the daughters who would be so disappointed if I didn’t visit? Hmm…
We entered the pub and it became clear this was NOT the sort of pub sing I love attending in NY, but rather a big, drunken St. Patrick’s Day party with obnoxious big green hats and too many wasted college kids smushed into a space almost too crowded to move. The ground was sticky with spilled beer, and within five minutes of being there I watched a drunk girl break a glass. Turns out other details were also left out; S was not meeting one friend, but a whole pack of friends, who cheerily said hi to me, ordered drinks, and grouped together speaking Dutch while a live band played and I stood awkwardly on the side. Even the driver had a drink, and I got the sense it wasn’t going to be a one and done situation. Great…
By this point I’d decided I was definitely leaving, just had to wait for the right moment. When an opportunity presented itself, I told S this was not my scene and I’d be taking the train back. “But you’ll come tomorrow right?” she said. Yeah…right…
Burn
The ride back to Brugge was long, but I felt confident I’d made the right choice. Some of you reading this might be thinking “Wow, I’m never using a hosting platform, that sounds dangerous!” but notice what happened here: I made a decision against my better judgement to drive with S, and it was people I’d met through hosting who were ready to help me. I had Nele’s key in my pocket, Bruno’s open door, and Niels on standby to contact friends, messaging me the whole time with fun conversation to make sure I made it back to Brugge safely. Ultimately I helped myself, but I had a network of support thanks to hosting platforms.
The eventful evening was not quite over…turns out when you’re having a great time texting about bike adventures, you might distractedly check to see if the stove is heating up for tea with your bare fingers and burn them. I recommend never hearing the sound of your own sizzling flesh…it’s terrible. Luckily the burns weren’t bad; I treated my fingers right away and they have been healing well. Turns out a long train ride and some lightly-burned fingers aren’t so bad when you have someone cool to text the whole time 😉
Chill
March 18-19, 2023
I did practically nothing all weekend and it was awesome. I worked out, did yoga, read Nijntje Vliegt, slept late, cooked, ate some delicious chocolate Nele left for me, admired her amazing welcome sign made from a bike chain, listened to the church bells ringing nearby…just a relaxing, chill time. My biggest adventure was a trip to a store where I bought groceries without the cashier switching to English (hooray for glorious celery and language learning!). En route I saw street art by a famous artist named ROA, from Gent. His art is seen worldwide; he usually paints wild animals native to whatever area he is visiting. Awesome!
Bakkerijmuseum
March 20, 2023
After my wonderful relaxing weekend, I took the bus to Veurne on Monday to meet Nele. We went out for lunch to swap stories about our weekends, then took a trip to the bakery museum where she works. The museum is currently closed for renovation, but she gave me a private tour! It was cool to see the old bakery equipment and hear Nele speak with pride about everything happening at the museum, and its history. The bakery guild in Belgium was founded in the 1300s, and it is still active today. The museum sometimes receives interesting items from the guild, such as old religious relics related to St. Aubertus (patron saint of bakers), and old baking equipment like cookie molds hundreds of years old!
I was so busy being wowed by all the interesting items at the museum that I didn’t write down many fun facts; you’ll have to visit Veurne after the bakery re-opens in October to experience it for yourself! 😉
After the bakery we continued to Alveringem, where I would begin my Workaway experience at Feys Brewery. I’ll save that for the next entry. Stay tuned…
Also! This was still not the end of seeing Nele. When we said goodbye we agreed that it felt like we hadn’t just met; I can imagine that we might meet again for some bike tour in the future, and this coming weekend I’ll be traveling back to Brugge to visit her again to watch the Tour of Flanders cycling event. Go Wout van Aert! Dank je wel Nele for being awesome…see you soon! 😁
Today I greet you from a comfy, quiet home in Brugge. My host Nele offered to let me stay over the weekend while she is away at a retreat. I wasn’t expecting that offer so I’d planned another host, but this is definitely preferable. On Monday we’ll drive together to Alveringem for my Workaway. She already knew about the project and has been wanting to check it out! 🙂
Anyway, back to the blog…
Celebrity Meeting
March 11, 2023
Last we left off, I was leaving Tilburg way too soon, especially considering that the sun was shining for once. My next hosts were my friend Lente’s parents and I didn’t want to keep them waiting, nor arrive in the dark. I said “Houdoe” to Niels – Noord-Brabant style – and headed to the train. The ride was uneventful except for the fact that I hadn’t known to buy a ticket in advance; the app I was using only worked in the Netherlands, and now I was crossing into Belgium. The ticket lady said she’d come back to collect payment but never returned…works for me!
Soon I was standing at the tram stop in Mortsel meeting Lente’s mom, Greet. She was friendly and welcoming and we discussed my trip and how I know Lente on the walk to her place (if you’ve been following my blog awhile you may remember Lente and her husband Marnik; they were stranded at Hiromi and Kirby’s place in El Segundo waiting for their bikes so they could ride the Pacific Coast Highway, and they were still there when I returned at the end of my trip. You can read about it here and here. Spoiler alert: There is a happy ending 😊 ).
As we dropped off Greet’s bike in the garage it was immediately apparent that Mortsel is a tight-knit community. There were over a dozen bikes in the garage (a typical garage you’d put a car in, not something industrial). Greet explained that her and her husband Walter open it to neighbors to store bikes. She pointed out buildings Walter has worked on for his business, and I learned of Walter’s political work for the green party in town, advocating for improved cycling infrastructure. Later, I learned from Walter that Mortsel is the most densely populated area in all of Belgium, despite its small size.
When we walked in the door I met Walter in person. He was watching a cycling race on TV, just as I imagined a Belgian dad would. I commented on the race and said that Jumbo-Visma is my favorite team, especially Wout van Aert. “Ah, Wout van Aert!” both parents exclaimed. Always love watching Belgian eyes light up in delighted surprise when I mention their cycling superstar.
Speaking of cycling superstars…you may have noticed that the heading of this section mentions meeting celebrities. Keep that in mind; we’ll come back to it 😉
The rest of the evening was uneventful; Greet and Walter had dinner plans but were kind enough to let me stay in their home alone. “Treat the house as your own and be comfortable here.” Greet instructed. I really felt it; they are very welcoming people!
Antwerp Tour, Folklore, Family Dinner
March 12, 2023
The next morning I found a lovely breakfast and place-setting laid out for me, and I joined Greet and Walter for the meal. Greet and I made plans to meet after working half the day. Greet has two bikes, so I would borrow one and we’d ride to Antwerp for a tour of the city. Later, after lunch, we hopped on the bikes and were off!
Antwerp Tour & Folklore
As we rode, Greet pointed out landmarks in Mortsel, including the school Lente used to work at. We rode on a fietsstraat – a street designed to give priority to bicycles; cars must drive slowly behind and cannot pass. Walter advocated for this particular fietsstraat for years and, after data had been collected on how many cyclists use the road on a daily basis, the town opened the street fully for bikes. It was there that I experienced my first angry Belgian driver, who rode on our tails the whole way and shouted in Dutch when he finally got to pass. “Ok, dank je wel!” Greet responded cheerily. Always meeting anger with kindness. 😊 This was interesting to observe; it gives me hope for US cycling infrastructure, knowing that even a bike-friendly place like Belgium has drivers shouting at cyclists like in America.
Greet was a great tour guide, and I learned interesting things about Antwerp. Flemish folklore has worked its way into Antwerp’s history. For instance, do you know how the city got its name? Here is the story (summed up in my own words):
Once upon a time there was a giant named Antigoon, who lived in a fortress along the Scheldt River. Any time a boat passed by or a traveler tried to cross the bridge on foot, Antigoon demanded a toll. If they didn’t pay, he cut off one of their hands and threw it in the river! One day, a soldier named Silvius Brabo sailed down the river. He refused to pay the toll and instead fought Antigoon, cutting off one of the giant’s hands and throwing it in the river!
In Dutch, the word for “hand” is hand (barely audible h), and “to throw” is twerpen. Put them together and you get handtwerpen…Antwerp!
The city embraces this tale fully. In Grote Markt (the center square), outside city hall stands a large statue of Brabo, positioned to throw Antigoon’s hand. I learned from Marnik that there are some inconsistencies with the statue; the city had to turn the statue so Brabo wasn’t positioned to throw Antigoon’s hand into city hall, and if you look at Brabo’s stance, he’s not throwing with the correct leg/arm combo (as a softball player, I’m sorry I didn’t catch this myself). Now if you go to Antwerp, you’ll understand why they proudly display a statue of a man holding a dismembered hand!
The lore extends beyond Grote Markt; there is a statue of a hand turning into a bird inside the gorgeous Antwerp Central Station (the most beautiful train station I’ve ever seen), a stone hand on the main shopping street (Meir), and the new MAS building is covered with hands on the bricks. There are local biscuits called Antwerpse Handjes (Antwerps’s little hands) which are only allowed to be made by bakers licensed by the city, and chocolates with similar rules. Has anyone found other hands in Antwerp? Feel free to share in the comments!
Halfway through the journey, Walter met us and Greet went home to prepare dinner for a family gathering. Between my two tour guides (and Marnik adding details when he saw my stories on Instagram), here are some highlights and fun facts:
I already mentioned this, but it’s worth repeating that Antwerp Centraale (Antwerp Central Station) is incredibly beautiful. Seriously…do not miss seeing this if you visit Antwerp. I would have, since I’d done the confident New Yorker thing and hurried straight from train to tram when I’d arrived from Tilburg without going upstairs. If not for Greet’s tour I would have missed this gorgeous station, and that would have been a real shame. At this point in the trip I’ve seen a lot of beautiful buildings, and that interior is hands down (pun intended) my favorite.
In the 14th century, Antwerp was incredibly important for trading because of its port. From what I understand, nearly half of the world’s trade passed through Antwerp in the 16th century. Now all the old storage centers along the river have been turned into community spaces like indoor skate parks, basketball courts, etc.
Antwerp also had/has a major role in the diamond industry, which has helped keep the city profitable.
Likewise, Antwerp was an important city for immigration to America and Canada in the late 1800s/early 1900s, particularly for emigrants heading to Ellis Island. There is a ship called the Red Star Line that carried travelers to North America from all over Europe…more on that in a bit.
The first printed newspaper in the world was published in Antwerp in 1605 (the selfie below with Greet and Walter is us with a statue of the guy who printed it).
In my photos below you’ll find a picture of me standing outside Het Steen – a medieval castle that was once the city center – with a statue of Lange Wapper (translates to “long flag”). The Lange Wapper is a giant who was born from vegetables and loved to play tricks on Antwerpians. He was a bully, and his stories remind me a bit of Loki’s tricks in Norse mythology.
Near the end of the day Walter took me to “Elfde Gebod,” a restaurant-bar that translates to “Eleventh Commandment.” The building that houses Elfde Gebod has been standing since 1425! Elfde Gebod claims to be the oldest restaurant in Antwerp, and it’s filled from top to bottom with Christian art, especially statues. It’s quite the atmosphere!
I was surprised by how much I liked Antwerp. In many ways it reminded me of Brooklyn; the shopping strip is similar to downtown Brooklyn, the dock has a sort of Coney Island feel (there is even a ferris wheel), and in between are tons of neighborhoods populated by different ethnic groups. I wasn’t planning to stop in Antwerp originally, but I’m glad I did.
Family Dinner
Later that night, Walter and I returned for a big family dinner; Lente’s grandfather, her brother Ruben, and Ruben’s girlfriend Emma all joined. Lente’s grandfather has traveled to New York many times and was excited to meet me, and I enjoyed the company and conversation during the meal, which even featured a traditional Belgian side dish made from chickory. For dessert we had traditional Belgian sweets: Smoutebollen (fried balls of dough that taste similar to American funnel cake) and Galette (similar to Dutch stroopwafels, but I liked these better because they weren’t as sweet. Totally different than French galette). While eating dessert we video-called Lente and Marnik, who couldn’t join in person because they moved to Tromsø, Norway recently (I joke that they are copying me; I did the Pacific Coast Highway, then they did, I went to Tromsø, then they did…Greet remarked happily that by that logic, their next stop should be Mortsel!). Lente and I continued to chat and reminisce about our cycling trips long after everyone went home; it was so nice to catch up with her.
Forts, Protest Run, Celebrities Again
March 13, 2023
Forts
For the next adventure, I explored a shelf of children’s books in Dutch and read one called Toen Findus klein was (“When Findus was little”) about a cat named Findus who got lost when he was a kitten. It was a cute story! Meanwhile, still reading Nijntje Vliegt each night, so my trip is rich with Dutch tales. 😊
After lunch, Greet and I walked to her chicken coop, then took a wooded path to a series of forts that run throughout Mortsel, Antwerp, and surrounding areas. You can tour the forts by bike on the “Brialmontroute,” which is ~28 miles.
Since we were on foot, we only visited Fort 4. All of these forts were built in the Belle epoque before WWI, from 1860-64, as a line of defense. Fort 4 is one of seven remaining from that era, and it has many layers. The outer building was built to be largely invisible, making it difficult for enemies to see it as they approached. They’d have to get through two outer layers of the fort to breach the barracks at the center. As shown on the map below, Fort 4 is part of a complex fort system; even if this fort was breached, there were others waiting behind it to protect Antwerp. Definitely worth visiting if you are nearby.
Protest Run
For almost ten years, Walter has been meeting friends at the chuch tower every Monday night at 18:00 for a 4 km run. They take off as soon as the sixth chime ends. It started as a protest; there was a big fair in Mortsel each year, as well as a running event that brought hundreds of people to town. Then the city moved the fair and eliminated the run, and the people of Mortsel were upset. Walter started writing letters to the city council to bring back the fair, and when that didn’t work he started running every day in protest. On the first day, a few people joined. On the second, a few more. By the end of the week, almost 200 people had joined for the protest run! At that point the city decided Mortsel could keep its fair and running event, so the protest was a success!
Walter continues to lead a casual run every Monday night, so I decided to join. We were a small group of five, and as we ran I learned that sometimes people stand outside to cheer and wave for the weekly runners. What a fun tradition!
Celebrities
Okay so…you’ve probably been wondering why I keep making these mysterious headings about celebrities. Now you’ll find out!
When I met Lente in California, she told me that she was practically born on a bike. When they were just 25 and 30, her parents took a round-the-world bike trip to bring attention to Belgian cycling. The idea was that if they could cycle the world, local Belgians could cycle a few km to the grocery store. At that time Belgium was already a cycle-friendly country but nowhere near like it is now, and they wanted to make a trip to spread a positive message about cycling.
So, over 30 years ago, they set out. They had no money for good equipment, but they obtained sponsors by writing letters to organizations and promising to feature their brands at the bottom of letters they’d write to the local Mortsel newspaper each month. For the entire year and a half trip, the Mortsel newspaper published monthly updates about their journey, first small stories, then full page articles. When they returned (7 months pregnant with Lente!), Greet and Walter made a slideshow, and 400 people showed up to watch it in the local Mortsel theater. They were the stars of the city!
On the last night of my stay, I felt so honored to watch their slideshow and hear stories from the trip. It is truly incredible to think about all that they did on their bicycles three decades ago, without internet, cell phone, GPS, or other luxuries that make cycling trips so accessible today. I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it; Greet and Walter are truly an inspiration. And they didn’t make an easy trip visiting English-speaking countries; they cycled across parts of Africa, Asia, Oceania, and South America where nobody spoke English, sometimes stopping in tiny, impoverished villages, always being welcomed openly. The stories of their journey are incredible, as are the photos. I will think of their journey whenever I am feeling low on a cycling trip. If they could do everything they did thirty years ago, I can certainly travel by bike today. Dank je wel Greet and Walter for sharing the slideshow, answering my questions, and sharing stories from your trip; I feel really special to have gotten to meet you.
The Red Star Line
March 14, 2023
The next morning, I had breakfast and said goodbye to Greet and Walter. I am genuinely glad I stopped in Mortsel; thank you Lente for recommending that I stay with your parents, and Greet and Walter, I hope we meet again!
Next, I caught the tram to Antwerp for one last stop: The Red Star Line Museum.
I haven’t visited museums on this trip; I typically prefer hanging with local people when I travel and doing outdoor activities instead of looking at art, etc. However, as a New Yorker with European heritage I felt it was important to visit this museum and learn a side of the European immigration story that I don’t experience in New York.
The museum was laid out very well, and I learned a ton about the immigration process. Antwerp was the port where immigrants – mostly from Germany and Eastern Europe – came to begin their voyages to North America. In the early 20th century, many traveled on The Red Star Line, mainly to Philadelphia and New York (specifically Ellis Island).
I won’t go into all the details about the museum, but most shocking were the differences between first, second, and third class tickets. Passengers with first class tickets essentially had a journey of luxury, with live music, comfortable living quarters, wine, good food, etc. Second class was considerably less comfortable, and third class was of course the worst, with cramped quarters, bad food, lice easily spreading, etc. Even those third class tickets required some wealth; in 1902 one third class ticket cost 162.50 Belgian francs, or $31 USD. By today’s rates, that’s roughly 1000 euros! Back then, the average European had to work around 75 days to afford that one single third-class ticket. Rates fluctuated quite a bit; in 1895 that same ticket cost 85 francs (550€ today), and by 1924 it was 2400 francs (2500€ today). Children under 10 or 12 could board for half price.
Everyone emigrating was afraid of getting sick on board and not being allowed into America, but it was most desperate for third class travelers, who were the only group who had to take yet another medical examination once they reached America. As always, those with the least money have to jump the most hurdles to progress…
It’s wild to think about what immigrants had to do to get to North America. First, saving up to afford the journey. Next, traveling sometimes far, long, expensive distances to Antwerp. Then, a medical examination in Antwerp; they could not board without passing. The exam covered physical ailments but also included a series of puzzles designed to test intelligence. I tried one puzzle in the museum and it was difficult! Next, another medical examination halfway through the voyage. This is what all passengers feared; if they got sick on the ship and were deemed “unfit” or a danger to society (if they were discovered to have done too much union organizing, for instance, as was the case with one man), they’d be sent back to Europe when the ship reached land (in his case, American union workers rallied for him to be let into the country). Finally, third class passengers had to forego one more exam once they reached North America. According to the museum, two percent of passengers were sent back to Europe. Imagine paying all that money and making that 14-day journey across the ocean only to be separated from your loved ones and forced to go right back…
I’m glad I visited the museum, though I wish it were a bit more interactive. Nonetheless, it’s worth checking out if you visit Antwerp.
Next up: Traveling to G(h)ent! <– Find out why I’m writing it like this in the next entry! 😉
Greetings from Brugge (Bruges in English). I’m currently sitting in a tiny bar where the server doesn’t speak any English, but never fear! I successfully asked if she had tea, she showed me the choices, and I asked where the bathroom was, all in Dutch. She asked if I also speak French, so I paid in French, even though I’m confident I would have recognized the numbers in Dutch too. It’s soooo interesting to sit here listening to local Belgians speaking with their regional accent. It’s very different than what I’ve heard elsewhere in Belgium, but I already knew this would be the case in West Vlaams, since I’ve heard this regional accent from Dries (of past adventures on this blog). It’s so cool to now hear it in Belgium. But…back to the Netherlands for this blog…
Tilburg Tour: Nighttime Edition
March 10, 2023
When we left off, I was shivering in not-enough-clothes-for-unexpected-freezing-weather, disappointed to leave my new bike behind and trying to warm up on the train headed toward Tilburg, in the North Brabant region of southern Netherlands. I got stuck for awhile in Utrecht after a train was canceled, but finally made it to Tilburg. I love leaving a train station in a new place, glancing briefly at Google Maps, and walking confidently in the right direction without looking at my phone much. I was able to do that in Tilburg, and before I knew it I’d arrived at the home of Niels on Wheels!
Niels connected with me through a platform I was trying for the first time, BeWelcome. Niels, who had been on Couchsurfing before BW, saw my post about my trip and messaged me with a strong case for visiting southern Netherlands. It almost didn’t happen; if I hadn’t bought a bike in Utrecht I would have chosen to stay at the cat-sitting position a few days more – especially considering the snowstorm – and then gone directly to Belgium. The bike motivated me to leave Amsterdam early, since I’d travel slower on two wheels. So in a way, even though I had to leave it behind, I wouldn’t have gotten to see Tilburg and meet Niels if not for that bike.
Niels is a Tilburg local, born and raised. He has a fluffy cat named Kutya (pronounced koo-chya), which means “dog” in Hungarian. She greeted me in her own time, and she is friendly and cute! Niels served hot tea made fresh from his garden, and we got to chat a bit. Niels is a major film buff and skilled artist with an extensive wall of DVDs, homemade plant pots created from old VHS tapes, artwork he made out of VHS tapes, etc. My favorite was a motorcycle painted on a VHS tape, with the wheels matching where the holes in a VHS are.
After getting to know each other a bit, it was time for a Tilburg tour! After all those hours shivering in the cold, I don’t know how I would have survived more hours outside with just the layers I brought, so I was happy to temporarily represent Niels’ inline skating program with an official “Niels on Wheels” sweatshirt to borrow. Awesome!
Niels describes Tilburg as a hidden gem, and I have to agree. It was so cool (literally and figuratively) to get Part 1 of this Tilburg tour at night; it gave the experience a really hip vibe, and I’m happy to say I was warm enough to handle the weather thanks to the extra layer. Niels is very knowledgeable about his hometown and presents information in a way that makes it interesting and memorable (in a good way). Here are some fun facts I learned:
Vincent van Gogh history:
Van Gogh took his first drawing lessons in Tilburg. He lived there from age 11-13 to attend school, and there is a plaque outside the house he stayed at.
Also outside the house he stayed at is a statue of…his brother. It was supposed to be a silhouette of him, but it was modeled after a photo of his brother by accident.
Also also outside that house is a “social sofa.” This is a public place designed for people to sit and talk to one another. Niels told me that he used to sit on it often, and random people would also sit and strike up a conversation. Now this concept and particular style of bench art is common worldwide, but it started in Tilburg.
Bike history!
Tilburg is home to the Netherlands’ first “Demonstration Cycle Route,” a car-free bicycle path through the middle of the city (where five streets intersect in Tilburg today). It was opened in 1977, followed shortly by another in The Hague.
WWII history:
Tilburg was home to “The Jew Hunter.” Piet Gerrits, their chief of police was notorious for riding his bike on the same streets every day, hoping to catch more Jews. Tilburg had a decently-sized resistance movement, and some of the leaders of the movement decided to organize an assassination. Niels took me to the very spot where the men waited for Gerrits to pass, but unfortunately he must have been tipped off about their plan because he rode his bike from the other direction and caught them. It’s illegal to be out after curfew, so the tale has a sad ending…
Tilburg has its own Anne Frank, though she doesn’t have the same fame. Her name was Helga Deen and we know her story through letters she wrote to her boyfriend while in hiding.
City quirks:
If you know where to look, you can find a crosswalk light in Tilburg with interesting figures on it. When the light is green, there is an image of a person holding a jar. When the light is red, an image of someone pissing in a jar!
During the four days of Carnival each year, Tilburg residents proudly bear the badge of “Jar Pissers.” I say proudly because it’s an homage to the city’s history. Tilburg was known for its wool production, but wool factories needed a way to clean and prepare the wool. They realized that urine worked well due to the ammonia in it, so they started a system. Woolmakers asked residents to piss in alcohol jugs after they were done drinking from them, and they’d buy the jars. It was a win for everyone!
Visit the public water fountain in Tilburg and you’ll notice something odd: It might be green or another color from food dye, or it might be completely sudsy from laundry detergent. This is an ongoing prank in Tilburg; that fountain will probably never run clear again!
Tilburg has its own Banksy! If you know where to look, you can find public artwork high up on a wall, or half hidden in a corner. Not everyone knows who leaves these mysterious paintings, but I do 😉
Language:
People in the Noord-Brabant region speak differently than those in Holland (northern Netherlands). Their style of speech is almost more Flemish, with softer g’s and r’s, and less intense speech overall. I quite like those softer sounds of the Flemish dialect, so this was a nice change after hearing Dutch in northern Netherlands.
Even more specifically, Tilburg has its own local dialect. If you speak it, Dutch people from even just 5 km down the road might not understand! Unfortunately this dialect is dying out as more people adapt a more standard Dutch. Even Niels – who speaks the Tilburg dialect – said there are words his grandmother used to say that he never learned.
Nuns:
Tilburg is home to a unique building; a monastery (not a convent) for nuns. Nuns in general have a pretty badass history in the Netherlands, and the same is true in Tilburg.
The King:
The school that Vincent van Gogh attended is named after King Willem II, who ruled from 1840-1849. King Willem II did a lot of things that were considered good for the Netherlands, but there was one problem…he was gay. Northern Dutch people tended to be very unaccepting of this, while southern Dutch people (especially in Tilburg) felt like “He’s doing good things for the country, who cares about what he does personally.” For this reason he spent a lot of time in Tilburg, and wrote that he felt more free and comfortable there. The white palace in the photos below was built on his order as a hunting palace, but he died before it was finished. He donated it to the people of Tilburg with the request that it become a school bearing his name.
I’m sure there were more fun facts, but those are the ones most fresh in my head. There is also tons of interesting architecture in Tilburg, many of which is pre-art deco of the late 1800s, which I’ll share in photos. Niels was great about pointing out different styles and time periods in the architecture. The most interesting to me is when buildings have clever designs holding the bricks together, instead of the more standard metal bars you see on some buildings.
During the tour I also learned more about Niels’ life as an inline skater and instructor, and when he asked if I wanted to see the indoor skatepark/community center where he volunteers, of course the answer was yes! Super cool to visit it and hang out for some Belgian beers and conversation before we began the walk back. We even crashed a concert for a few minutes! I felt like I got a really good introduction to Tilburg in just those first few hours.
The Story Continues
March 11, 2023
I wound up talking to Niels late into the night after we got back, so Saturday was a day to sleep in. When I finally awoke, the sun was shining bright – the first time on my entire trip! With the warm sun guiding the way, we went to the Saturday market to eat “kibbeling,” a Dutch specialty of fried cod with special seasoning and sauce. While I’m not a big fan of fried foods, it was cool to try something local; it was by far the most popular item at the fish stand.
I witnessed a little show when two women sat at a table near us with raw herring. “Watch this, they’re going to eat it the traditional way,” Niels predicted, and I gaped as one woman proceeded to tilt back her head and put the entire fish in her mouth. Apparently this is the true Dutch way to eat herring. It’s served raw on a bed of chilled onions, and you stick your head back and hope a seagull doesn’t swoop in as you lower the fish into your mouth. I’ll stick to kippeling, alsjeblieft 😝 The market also has a cheese vendor with a 1€ cheese table, so though I’m not a huge fan of cheese, I bought some to sample and share.
Next, a walk to the harbor, the park, and even a local thrift store. I bought a 2€ warm sweater to combat all this freezing weather, and I had a great time deciding on a children’s book in Dutch to buy, for practice. I chose Nijntje Vliegt by the famous Dutch writer Dick Bruna. Niels found a Nijntje book written in the Brabantic dialect, which he was thrilled about. He read me some of the Nijntje books in the shop and I knew I had to bring one home. Later when we got back to his place we had a full-on reading fest; I read my book aloud slowly and asked what words meant, then he read the whole thing at regular speed and explained the story as he went. Same with the Brabantic book, except with extra moments of laughter and amusement at some of the word choices. He suspects it was written by someone from Amsterdam trying to write Brabantic style, not a true North Brabant native.
My visit to Tilburg was only one night, since Lente’s parents were awaiting my arrival in Morstel. I had such a good time from start to finish and am definitely glad I made the trip to Tilburg. When other Dutch or Belgian people hear that I went to Tiburg they are always surprised, since it’s not exactly on the radar of tourists. I’m really glad I did; it was a side of the Netherlands I would have missed completely if not for this stop.
Dank je wel Niels (en Kutya) voor alles. You rock. Houdoe!
Greetings from a lovely spring day in Mortsel, Belgium. I’m sitting outside enjoying the (finally warm spring, not freezing winter!) weather. I went on a nice walk with Greet to see the old fort system here. But that’s for another day…today’s post is about the Netherlands!
Cat-Sitting Begins
March 5, 2023
When we left off in the last entry, I’d just lead a workshop on flamenco percussion in De Hallen – a food hall in Amsterdam. After the last flamenco act ended, I thanked the organizers and walked towards the place where I was cat-sitting, a hip apartment near the center of the city. The cat owner was the niece of a friend of my dad, an unexpected opportunity and connection. On my way I stopped at a supermarket to pick up groceries for the next few days. I tried my best to understand what the cashier said but had to ask her to switch to English. Dang!
On my way back to the apartment I was continuously awestruck by all the bikes, so of course I took photos. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it!
The rest of this day was very normal; I video-called my parents, then took advantage of the apartment’s HBO access to catch up on The Last of Us. Cordyceps won’t get me! Meanwhile Astorianna the cat…well, at least she semi-tolerated my presence. She is much different than Renée’s friendly floofs 😹
Bike Tour, Discovery
March 6, 2023
This started as a pretty mundane day; I fed Astorianna and worked all morning. In the afternoon, on the advice of my friend Lente, I registered for a tour with Baja Bikes. I bundled up for the cold, rainy weather and set out!
Bike Tour
If you go to Amsterdam and are physically comfortable/able, do a tour by bike. I enjoy free walking tours, but in Amsterdam it feels right to tour by bike (and I was already having FOMO not being able to join all the cyclists!). For 35€ I got bike access, complimentary hot drinks, and a 2.5-hour tour with four other participants. If you don’t have rain gear, they provide it too.
With such a small group, the tour guide was able to cater to our interests, so he added cycling history for me. Awesome! Here are facts I learned en route:
Amsterdam is built almost at sea level, and there is a lot of water and peat soil under the buildings. Because of this, some of the buildings are beginning to tilt sideways!
Many homes in Amsterdam are built in very narrow buildings with steep stairs. This is because buildings were taxed by size, so they were built to be very narrow to save some money.
The narrow shape of the buildings makes it almost impossible to bring furniture up into some of these buildings, so many have very wide front windows. Then, on the front of the building, a sort of hook system allows residents to bring up furniture through the window instead of attempting the narrow stairs.
Houseboats have become quite trendy in Amsterdam. It’s not uncommon to find a houseboat that costs €900,000!
Some buildings in Amsterdam are historic, so they can only be renovated in very specific ways.
Cycling history: There is a spot outside the Rijksmuseum that was once the shortest highway in the Netherlands. Cyclists were very opposed to this; it was not safe and many cyclists and children were injured in accidents with cars. To protest against this, over 9000 cyclists came with their bikes to that square outside the Rijksmuseum for a “die-in;” they laid down with their bikes and refused to get up until the city did something. It worked; that protest was an important moment in the cycling advocacy movement!
De Pijp neighborhood – a working class neighborhood – is an important site for many reasons:
In the 1960s-70s, the area was important in the squatter’s rights movement
The two-wheeled cargo bike was invented there
It’s one of the first auto-free/”car light” neighborhoods in Amsterdam
To help make it “car light,” a parking garage was built under the canal to hold 600 cars, freeing up tons of street parking for cyclists.
The Rijksmuseum is the only museum in the world you can cycle through. We rode direcyly through the middle! I haven’t figured out how to add videos on WordPress, but you can watch a video I took while cycling through it on Instagram @carolynventures
There is a statue in Vondelpark donated by Picasso. It’s supposed to be a bird, but I agree with the local interpretation; it’s more like a fish. 😄
There is a problem with bike theft in Amsterdam; homeless people find not-well-locked bikes and sell them for 10€, and drunk university students sometimes steal bikes to get home, then throw them in the canal. Twice a year, the city dredges the canal to remove bikes at the bottom, which are a problem for boats.
My friend Renée told me a story about a homeless man approaching her and saying “Which bike would you like? Ten euros and I’ll cut the lock for you.” She wasn’t even trying to get a bike; he approached her out of the blue!
Henry Hudson set sail for “the new world” from Amsterdam. Of course he didn’t have a great experience being trapped by ice in Hudson Bay and set adrift by mutineers, but we still have a river named after him.
Amsterdam is where Anne Frank lived in hiding for two years. I got to hear the bell tower she mentions in her diary; it was just nearby where she was hiding, and she heard it ring every fifteen minutes for two years!
If you’re interested in a tour with Baja Bikes in Amsterdam, here is a link (I don’t have an affiliation, just think it’s a cool tour). It started POURING partway through the tour and even with the rain, it was still worthwhile. Definitely bring rain gear if you visit Amsterdam in March; I’ve been so grateful for my rain jacket and waterproof hiking pants on this trip.
Discovery
On my way back from the tour, I stopped in another grocery store to pick up more food, since I’d be staying in Amsterdam around a week. To my surprise, neither of the cards I was carrying – one debit, one credit – was accepted by the store!
If you’re an American, beware! Some places don’t take credit cards, and some only accept certain debit cards. I had Visa and Mastercard and neither worked in that particular grocery store (Albert Heijn, for those wondering). I’ve run into this problem a few times; I brought two debit cards and two credit cards to be well-prepared (never carry all at once, it’s in case I lose one), but there have been multiple instances where I’ve had to rely on cash. The Netherlands is aiming to be a cashless society in the next few decades, but from my experience you still need to carry euros if you only have American cards.
That’s all the news from that day; I rounded out my evening by catching up on more of The Last of Us and grading students. 🙂
Utrecht
March 7, 2023
Although I barely planned this Euro trip, it became apparent as my flight date drew nearer that I had many options and opportunities. For instance, my dad’s friend Lia, who I’ve met many times, grew up in Utrecht and spends half the year living just outside the city. Utrecht is a short train ride from Amsterdam, so I met her on a cold, snowy/rainy afternoon (as every day had been on my trip up to this point) for a tour (and just to catch up in general). Lia was a great guide; she told stories from her life growing up in Utrecht, as well as general information about the area and its history. Some highlights:
The first official cycle path in the Netherlands was built in Utrecht, in 1885!
According to the city’s website, Utrecht has the largest bicycle parking in the world, with space for 12,500 bicycles (I wonder if this is still accurate, with the huge bike parking areas recently built in Amsterdam).
There is a big mall in Utrecht, and the canal runs directly under it. They created some cool architecture so that you can see the water from inside the mall.
There are tons of gorgeous houses and other beautiful architecture with dates they were built still written on the buildings. I saw 1651 and thought that was the oldest, then I saw one from 1482!
Wilhelm Röntgen, the inventor of the x-ray machine, lived in Utrecht for a period. In fact, Lia’s late husband lived in the same building Röntgen lived in during the 1800s.
The only Dutch pope lived in Utrecht. If you remember from Krommenie, Utrecht is also home to the Catholic museum that is always interested in displaying Krommenie’s Old Catholic items.
Utrecht is certainly worth visiting, and I wish I had a bit more time to explore. It’s quieter than Amsterdam, a bit less touristy, and there are lots of gorgeous, quiet side streets to wander down. If you’re like me, you might also wander into a second-hand bike store and come out the owner of a new bicycle. Yes, that’s right, I bought a bicycle in Utrecht! I was hoping I might find one to ride to Belgium, but was only half-looking. This store had a nice one recently refurbished; the bike mechanic explained that an old e-bike had been given to him with a broken motor, so he re-built it to be a manual bike. It was a good price, so I took it home!
Lia and I spent the entire day in Utrecht. After I picked up my bike, we stopped for hot drinks at a bar with a great view of the canal. We also tried to visit the oldest store in Utrecht, and discovered that it has been turned into a museum! It was cool to explore the old general store items, and Lia shared memories of her parents selling similar items in their store. We ended the day with a lovely dinner at Taj Mahal, which she says is the best Indian food in town. The restaurant has been there for decades! It was delicious, so she might be right. Then we said goodbye and I caught the train back to Amsterdam. From the station, it was such a thrill to ride *my* bike back to the cat-sitting place!
Note: You need to pay extra to bring a full-sized bike on a train in the Netherlands, and you’re only allowed during non-peak hours. Plan ahead, or bring a folding bike to ride free 🙂
Amsterdamse Bos
March 8, 2023
As usual, I started the day with work, but I was itching to ride my bike! Renée recommended that I might enjoy Amsterdamse Bos (Amsterdam Forest), so in the afternoon I bundled up (it was a cold day once again) and set out for a 20-min ride to the forest. It was exhilarating to ride with the local cyclists and feel confident; like in New York City, I was soon ringing my bell and passing slower commuters on the left, moving to the right for those faster than me, and feeling great! Cycling in Amsterdam feels like cycling in Manhattan, except the exhilaration comes from a place of safety rather than the adrenaline of riding alongside buses and cars, not knowing when a pigeon or pedestrian might come into the bike lane, or when a parked car might open your door. The Dutch bike lanes are separated from cars and from the sidewalk, so there is never any chance of getting doored, and the only vehicles passing close are other cyclists.
I stopped along the way to admire some interesting architecture and scenery, then entered the forest and enjoyed a nice but cold hour of cycling. I stopped at an area called “The Lord of the Rings” for a rest and a snack, then pedaled home as quick as I could when it started snowing of nowhere. Not again! I packed clothes for this trip thinking I’d encounter weather typical for late winter/early spring, not the frigid cold of the middle of winter! Still, the trip was worth it, and I would definitely return to Amsterdam Forest another time to explore more.
March 9, 2023
This day was a bit of a disappointment. It snowed and rained almost nonstop, so I stayed indoors and worked. I was planning to go to a board game event for expats, but sadly it was canceled. Wouldn’t have been fun to travel in that weather, but it would have been cool to meet some expats for board games.
And Now For Some Misery…
March 10, 2023
Once I had a bike, I’d decided to leave the cat-sitting position early (the owner said it was okay; she had a neighbor who usually cares for the cat) and continue to Tilburg and my next host. The plan was to meet Lia once more before I traveled south, so I packed and cleaned up the place, then set out into the cold rain to start the journey. But….a snafu…
Because of all the rain and snow, I hadn’t checked whether my backpack would fit on the rack on this bicycle. So, standing in the rain, I tried every possible way I could think of to bungee the backpack. The weight wasn’t bad – I’d biked with that much and more on a bike before – but the size and angle of the bag did not fit well on the bike. I decided to ride the bike to the train station with the backpack on my back in a last attempt, but it was not great; it would not be healthy to ride a long way with that bag on my back. So…considering the weather, the bag, and how much time was already wasting away in the day, I made the disappointing decision to leave the bike behind. I’m coming back at the end of the trip, so I’ll get to use it, and with the price of renting a bike even for one day, it will still pay for itself.
So I’m leaving the bike behind…but where to leave it? Amsterdam Central Station has its amazing parking area inside for bikes, but you have to pay if you stay more than 24 hours. There is free parking outside the building, but there was a sign saying no bikes could be parked there mid-March through late-April. Dang. As the rain continued to pour down, I search and searched all around the station. Finally I found a promising spot, but then a sign said bikes can only stay there for 14 days maximum. I texted Lia “Will they really enforce this?” Her response: “Yep. This is the Netherlands 😎”
Okay…so not there. Then I found a spot with no sign – still raining, getting farther from the station – but when I texted Lia, she confirmed it might be meant for residents only. Not worth taking the chance for over a month. By now I’d been out in the rain for over an hour, running out of ideas. Then I realized the best answer might be to not park in Amsterdam at all, but to take the train 40 min. out of the way to Krommenie, to park at Renée’s station. I was getting very cold, so I rode back to the station and took the train, shivering my way there.
I walked out of the station at Krommenie directly into a full-blown snowstorm! I found a spot to park my bike and tried to get on the train again as quick as I could. Twenty very cold minutes later, I was finally on a train, appreciating the warmth. I began the trip to the Noord-Brabant province of southern Netherlands, where I was meeting my next host in Tilburg. But, as Renée warned me, Dutch trains break down in the snow, and sure enough, a train in front of mine did just that. At least the train had a fun toilet on board. I eventually made it to Tilburg, but from the time I left Amsterdam to the time I arrived at Tilburg, almost six hours had passed!
Once I got to Tilburg I had an awesome time with my host Niels, but I’ll save that for the next entry.
Carolyn's Collections 