The Grand Place or Grote Markt in Dutch/Flemish is the central square of Brussels. It is surrounded by truly opulent buildings, one of which houses the Museum of the City of Brussels. The square itself is UNESCO World Heritage Listed.
Similar to Dam Square in Amsterdam it is a nexus point for all sorts of sight seeing tours of the city. Would you like to know more?
There are certain things which people see as quintessentially Amsterdam. Of course, when you’re being tour guide, you tend to take people to the things that call to them the loudest. In the case of N, his Mecca was and is, the Heineken Brewery.
From what I understand the brewery is no longer in this space, but the building is preserved now in the form of the “Heineken Experience”. Himself and I left them to this one while we went off to sit in a café and have cake!
So much to do, so little time! It was up early in order to fit everything in today! It was one of the few days where we did have a timing deadline, as I had organised to meet up with friends in the evening.
In this vein we did something that I hadn’t actually planned for and wasn’t on the itinerary. We headed to Loop, the yarn shop.
I was so good! I was so strong! I made it out of there with no purchases! Hooray me! (I think Himself went into shock!) Would you like to know more?
The food post. I’m going to try and do this only once, but I make no promises!
Czech food is like a lot of European food I’ve discovered so far. Quite heavy, filling, warming, and with lots of potato or bread carbs on the side. The Czechs have perfected the dumpling which is in fact a good combination of both spuds AND bread! Yay them!
The secret in finding a good place to eat is to find an alley which looks like it belongs in the Goblin City of the Labyrinth…
… and gets narrower, and narrower …
… and before you know it, you find yourself surrounded by locals in a room filled with ambiance!
Be aware that smoking is not only accepted to varying degrees all over Europe, but you can still smoke inside in designated restaurants in Prague. *cough* Haven’t experienced THAT in a few years!
Though happily, not where we chose to eat the first night! *grins*
To give you an idea of local traditional dishes, here’s this handy menu! The exchange rate is about CZK100 to AUD5 or EUR4. So, remarkably inexpensive!
Of course, it wouldn’t be a meal in Prague without beer. Our dinner companions, Rupert the Red Panda and Reginald the Meerkat, are pleased to meet you!
We opted to eat traditionally while in Prague, as all of us feel that part of the purpose of travel is to try new things! So the first night, one of us had the Pork Knuckle …
… there was hot wings with cheese sauce, pork tenderloin braid pierced with garlic and cheese sauce, and I went for the roast duck breast with blueberry sauce!
I will save myself the embarrassment of showing you all the picture my wonderful friend took of what the blueberry sauce did to my teeth and tongue. Something about blowing a Smurf … *pulls a face* It was delicious and I wouldn’t have changed my menu choice for anything!
For sides, because you can’t NOT have a side dish of carbs, we have potato with blue cheese sauce and garlic!
To DIE FOR!
Most of our dining experiences were variations on this theme, often with Himself ending with a traditional apple strudel. I should really bake more apples for him in Winter. Oh well, next Winter at this point! Now I’ll try not to put more posts up about food. But you know you wanted to know!
Suddenly we woke up one morning and it was Summer. We’ve had days of high twenties (Celcius), warm breezes, and the light doesn’t really go anywhere until 10pm.
In short, the perfect weather to sit in a cafe, by the side of a canal, have a beer, and watch the canal traffic try and navigate their way around each other.
Welcome to Summer in Amsterdam!
ghoti industries 