Paris trip Nov 10-13

Another long weekend and another game of where can we go the cheapest.  In this instance, it was reasonable train tickets to Paris. Even though we had just been there back in August, we felt we still had quite a bit to see.  We arrived late Thursday night and were ready to roll first thing Friday morning. First stop: The Louvre.  We had tickets for 10 am entry, and gratefully the crowds were minimal  (time of the year may also have an impact).  Our strategy was to go quickly to the Mona Lisa before the crowds built up and then go back to the start for a more thorough tour.  This strategy worked out well.  As per usual, we had our friend Rick Steves to guide us through with his audio guide. We were very glad to have this guide for two reasons.  First, The Louvre is absolutely enormous.  Steves' guide only takes you through a portion of the museum, and we were glad to have a narrowed scope.  Otherwise, we wouldn't have known where to begin or end.  Second, the audio guide really helped us to know what we were looking at.  There is so much art it is a bit overwhelming.  With the guide explaining, we were able to appreciate a few famous pieces and feel like we had experienced the paintings and statues in front of us.  After about 3 hours our museum fuel was spent, and we were ready for some lunch.  Frenchie-To-Go was a little cafe with street food type fair. However, since its big brother is a ritzy joint, this street food was a bit above its class.  Especially memorable were the homemade pickles and ketchup (eaten separately).  After lunch we moseyed down Rue Montorgueil enjoying an eclair and popping in various boutiques.

Winged Victory

Mona Lisa (she's little)

Our ultimate destination was the Notre Dame cathedral to start another Rick Steves led tour.  The church was beautiful on a sunny afternoon.  It was also very exciting that the church was actually in use when we arrived!  As it was Armistice Day, the cathedral was holding a service.  They still allowed tourists in, and we enjoyed the opening music and prayers from the back pew before moving on.  We skipped the tower climb (very long line) and continued Rick's walk.  The walk included Saint-Chapelle on the agenda, but by the time we got there they had stopped letting in visitors for the day.  Before heading to dinner, we went back by Rue Montorgueil for a beer at a cozy bar.  Dinner was nothing too memorable, and we went straight back to the hotel after a long day of walking.

We got another early start on Saturday, this time for the Eiffel Tower.  Luckily, the crowds were not too bad as we made a crucial mistake.  Apparently, there is an elevator only line and a climb-the-stairs only line.  We had wanted the stairs, but waited for the elevator and had to embarrassingly return upstream and find the right line to wait in.  Finally, we were climbing the steel monument and it was a blast. Visibility wasn't the best it could have been, but we still got some great views of the city. As the crowds started to build, we decided to move on.  We caught the metro toward the Latin quarter.  The original goal was savoury crepes, but the place we had picked was a popular choice based on the line out front, and we didn't have the patience to wait. We defaulted to Boca Mexa (we know that no one reading is surprised), and it ended up being a very good backup plan. Authentic Mexican served by authentic Mexicans is hard to come by in Europe, but Boca Mexa has it figured out. After lunch, we wandered past The Pantheon and strolled through the Luxembourg gardens. Both were lovely to see, but the weather had turned to rain so it wasn't so nice to be outside. To get out of the rain and warm up, we thought it was time to try the famous French macaroons.  Ladurée Paris supposedly makes the best in town, and we lucked into a table right when we arrived.  Four mini macaroons were enough for us, and we vacated our table to the ever growing line at the door. At this point we decided to try again at Saint-Chapelle, but yet again we were turned away.  We will have to figure that place out another time. Next up, our nighttime river cruise.  A touristic event to be sure, but we had really enjoyed the perspective of the city from the river in Budapest, so we thought we should give it a try in the city of lights.  It did not disappoint, and the rain even stopped long enough to let us get some great nighttime pictures of the city.  Dinner was again a bit disappointing (not sure how we missed on dinner twice in Paris), and we were again ready to crash after a full day of trekking about.

Luxembourg Gardens and the Pantheon

On Sunday, we had the morning and early afternoon to explore a bit more before catching our train back to Antwerp. We set out for the Montmarte district.  At the base of this hilly area, we got a look at the exterior of the Moulin Rouge.  We had debated attempting to see a show while we were in town, but the tickets seemed a bit steep.  We think if we are ever back, we will bite the bullet because it seems like it might be a very unique and entertaining experience.  From there, we climbed the hill to the Sacré Coeur. This beautiful and distinct looking church was very busy with visitors and closed at that moment for a service.  The weather again did us no favours by obscuring what could be a magnificent view of Paris from this vantage point. Getting away from the crowds, we strolled through this artsy neighbourhood appreciating its unique feel.  We had picked a few options for lunch in this area, but as we checked them out in person, they just didn't seem to call to us. We decided to wander back down the hill to see what we could find. This turned out to be a great choice as we stumbled into the Rose Bakery. After a bit of a wait this cozy brunch spot offered a much needed culinary highlight of the trip with delicious eggs benedict and avocado toast.
 

The weekend had flown by, and we were very happy to have returned to Paris for a more lengthy stay. We will keep a watch out for more cheap train tickets back as there is still more we would love to experience in the French capital.

Frenchie-To-Go - http://www.frenchietogo.com/
Boca Mexa - http://www.bocamexa.com/
Ladurée Paris - https://www.laduree.com/
Rose Bakery - http://www.rosebakery.fr/

Venice October 29- Nov 1

We had a long weekend for All Saints day, so you guessed it, we took the opportunity to visit a new location.  As has become our routine, we compared our destination list with flight prices, and Venice turned up as the most economical option for a weekend getaway.  So off we went! We flew early Saturday morning out of Eindhoven into Treviso and caught the bus into Venice proper.  

Our hotel was in the center of San Marco district, so we naturally took Rick Steves' advice to ride the number 1 vaperetto (water taxi) up the Grand Canal. The sites were amazing with hundreds-year-old palazzos lining the water. Rick's audio tour explained many of the interesting facades.  The boat traffic was also entertaining, with vessels for all purposes flying past (we were passed by an ambulance in the first few minutes on the boat). Our last stop was San Marco square. We navigated the massive crowds for a bit to take in the amazing exteriors of San Marco basilica and the Doge's palace.  Getting tired of carrying our bags, we went in search of our hotel. This was our first introduction into the famously narrow and winding streets of Venice. With some lucky guess work, we ended up finding our hotel without getting too lost down what appeared to be an alley.

First glimpse of Venice

After quickly checking in and dropping our bags we headed out on a walk of the San Marco sestieri (neighborhood). This walk included beautiful churches, the Academy bridge (one of only two over the grand canal), a stop for gelato, some getting lost, and of course some stunning sites.  After a quick bite of lunch, we headed for a similar walk through the Rialto bridge area. This walk would have been better earlier in the day as most of the markets had already closed up. The bridge itself was the highlight, well lit and picturesque in the afternoon sun. Tavern Al Remer was an interesting and delicious happy hour experience. Twisting through several empty alleys, we arrived just before 5:30 to an already waiting crowd. As soon as the doors opened, the experienced patrons rushed in and started loading up plates at the buffet.  It turns out that the buffet is free as long as you buy a happy hour drink.  Once we sorted it all out (and got elbowed a couple times in the process) we ended up with some tasty Aperol spritzes to drink and a wide smattering of local offerings to eat (mushroom risotto being the best).  Although probably only meant as a first course, we filled up enough to call it dinner, and we headed out into the night.  We retraced a lot of our steps from earlier in the day, getting a chance to see the beautiful landmarks in a different light.  We crashed early after a long travel day.

Empty Rialto markets

View from Academy bridge

Rialto Bridge

Our agenda for Sunday was much the same. We picked two walks to follow and started off.  The Castillo neighbourhood was one of our favorites. The crowds were less since it was early, and we were excited to see the sun shining.  By the end of the walk, we had worked up an appetite and trekked over to the start of our next walk to have lunch at Gam Gam. Venice contains the oldest Jewish ghetto in the world, and Gam Gam is one of the oldest restaurants in this area. With our bellies full of matzah and artichokes, we started the next walk though Cannaregio, the ghetto district. This part of the city has a different feel to it with higher storied, less exotic appearing buildings. The canals run straight and long here offering great views down the water "streets." The day was still young, and due to poor planning, the next walk we had planned was for the western Castillo neighbourhood.  This meant we had to wind our way across a couple districts to find the starting point.  This took much longer than expected with many wrong turns, but we ended up at a great coffee shop for a sweet treat and cappuccino to refuel us.  The western Castillo walk took us by the arsenal, city park, and one of the few active residential areas on the island.  We ended at twilight on the Riva walk to watch the sun set over the grand canal.

We got an early start the next morning to beat the crowds again. Monday's agenda was island hopping. From the north shore of Venice, we took the vaperetto to the nearby islands of San Michel, Murano, Burano, and Torcello.  San Michel is a small island used only as the cemetery of Venice. Apparently Napoleon got the idea to move the dead away from the space constrained main city. The problem is the small island has also run out of space.  It seems you can get your own resting place for about 10 years, then you are moved to a group stack or family plot (except for the rich and famous of course). Next up, Murano was the biggest island of our stops and is known for its glassmaking trade. A lot of the shops and furnaces were closed as it was a holiday, but we still got to see a brief glass blowing demonstration. We took a leisurely loop around the island and decided to head on to Burano. At this point, the crowds had caught up with us, and the experience of being herded onto an extremely full water taxi was not a highlight of the trip.  Burano was a surprising delight. The little fisherman's island has the tradition of painting their houses bright colors. It makes for great pictures and gives the island a sense of childish joy.  From there, we hopped the next boat over to Torcello. The smallest of the islands, Torcello was the original founding point of what would become Venice. Today, it is little more than a church, an inn, and a few restaurants. However, it did have quite a bit of open green space to wander. We took full advantage after feeling a bit cooped up in the tight streets of Venice.  An hour long boat ride back brought us to where we had started the day. It was late afternoon and we were snacky. Thankfully, Venice has the culinary tradition of cicchetti. Osterias serve these light snacks with a glass of wine or spritz as a warm-up to dinner.  We stopped in at Bar Puppa to see what it was all about. Great choice. Fried risotto balls, samosas, and a spinach mozzarella roll served with a tasty Aperol spritz hit the spot.  We had kind of forgotten that it was Halloween (a bit purposely while on the cemetery island) but since the time had just changed it was already getting dark and the spooks started coming out. Since there aren't many actual residences in Venice anymore, the kids in costume run from bar to restaurant to bar trick-or-treating. It was fun to see. Our dinner reservation was at Vineria alle'Amarone, a wine bar and kitchen with supposedly the "best tiramisu in town." We had a great meal but Tyler's pistachio, lemon, raspberry ricotta desert may have topped the tiramisu.

San Michel

Murano

Burano

Trick-or-Treat!

By Tuesday, we had run out of steam a bit. We had intended to spend the majority of the day seeing the inside of the big sites, but the holiday closure hours prevented us from getting into San Marco early.  We took a loop around a part of the city we had not yet seen and ended back at San Marco in the early afternoon to see if we could get inside. Fortunately, the line was reasonable and we were inside before long. Certainly, this church is one of a kind with design influences apparent from many cultures and the floor to ceiling mosaics are unbelievable.

A view from the top of the basilica

The basilica

A peak at the Doge's Palace and the Grand Canal

Overall, it was a interesting trip.  There is no denying the beauty, charm, and wonder of this city. When we were lucky enough to be alone on a street with a great view, it was easy to see why people have been drawn to this city from all over the world for centuries. We were at times frustrated with the dense crowds and touristic imitations of the disappearing local culture. But in the end, we truly enjoyed visiting this unique destination.

Tavern Al Remer - http://www.alremer.it/
Gam Gam - http://gamgamkosher.com/
Bar Puppa - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pasticieri-Bar-Puppa/283787865159536
Vineria alle'Amarone - https://www.allamarone.com/

Jessica & Mary Lee visit - October 7-11

In the first week of October, we had some very exciting guests!! Molly's sister, Jessica and her wife, Mary Lee came to visit.  By the time they reached us in Belgium, they had already had a whirlwind tour of Europe, including stops in Paris, Cinque Terre and Florence.  They arrived on Friday afternoon for a full weekend in Belgium!  On Friday night, we hit up our favorite restaurant to take guests for typical Belgian fare (Mampoko).  While they have a small printed menu, most of the offerings are on a chalkboard and change daily.  We all had a delicious meal, but Jessica won the award for best with her order of Farm Chicken (better than City Chicken!).  From dinner, we wandered back through the city center to catch the Grote Markt at night, an amazing site to see.  After a stop at the Elfde Gebod (another common stop for visitors) to try another Belgian beer, we headed home to rest up for our day of exploring Antwerp!  

On Saturday, after fueling up with a good breakfast, we headed out to show Jess and ML our city!  Since it was Saturday, we had to make a stop at the market to check out what was on offer.  Luckily we did because we found the man selling homemade stroop waffles!  Stroop waffles are a delicious waffle cookie sandwich with honey in the middle that comes from the Netherlands.  We each got a stroop waffle and a cappuccino (for €2.50 no less!) and it was fabulous!  From there, we walked the city and saw the sites with plenty of stops for snacks, coffee and beers in between.  We really enjoyed spending a day together and catching up.  After a slightly difficult search for dinner (Its getting cold, which reduces restaurant space without terraces, requiring reservations) we ended up at one of our favorites for fish and chips.  We rounded out the night by trying Jenever and stopping at the Filou cafe for Filou beers (another fabulous Belgian brew).  Tyler ordered a tea at the Filou cafe and it came with a small tiramisu on the side, we will definitely be back, we are suckers for a free sweet treat!  

Stroop waffels and coffee

Hangin' at the Filou Bar

On Sunday, we decided to venture to another city in Flanders, so we headed to Gent, the city often over looked for Bruge.  Gent is a the fourth largest city in Belgium and has a large university.  While we had visited once before, we saw new sites with our visitors.  We even tried a typical Gentse gummy that we had never dared to try before, cuberdones.  We decided they are cuberdon'ts but now we know!  We toured three churches in Gent and Jess and ML toured the castle before we headed back to Antwerp for ML and Tyler's fancy birthday dinner thanks to Momma Smartt!!!!  We went to the Zoute Zoen and had a fabulous meal.  Tyler had a 5 course meal while Jess and Molly opted for the sissy 3 course version.  And ML struck out on her own and went a la cart, a successful yet confusing decision.  We all really enjoyed our meals and Jessica and Molly were super happy that they got to be included in the birthday shenanigans!  

Gent

Street art in Gent

On Monday, poor Tyler had to go to work while the girls continued to have fun throughout Belgium.  With a slightly later start to the day, we headed to Brussels to see the capital.  We toured the Grand Place, saw Mannekin Pis, ate chocolate and stopped for a frituur lunch as part of our adventure.  They will have to come back to Belgium because the frituur we chose definitely did not have the best frites in Belgium.  We headed back to Antwerp with a stop for groceries to have a home cooked meal.  Before we could finish out our day, Jessica HAD to try a Belgian waffle.  The verdict...she liked it!  A few more stops for souvenirs and our legs were done.  We stayed in and had a nice salad for dinner to detox from the weekends overload of sweets and foods!     

Brussels

Molly LOVES frites

And Jessica LOVED the waffle

Jessica and ML were flying back to the US from Amsterdam on Wednesday, so on Tuesday we took the train to Amsterdam, again leaving Tyler behind to work.  We took the early train to maximize our day in the city.  Since we were toting luggage, we made a b-line for the hotel to get rid of it.  Jess and ML had picked out a very nice hotel right next to the Albert Cuyp market.  Molly had been to AMS a few times but has never visited the market.  Though it was a bit early for all the stalls to be set up, we wandered through the market.  Since we had that detox salad, we couldn't resist the poffertjes (tiny pancakes).  Though we didn't know it at the time, the poffertjes are made by a father-son team that has been at the Albert Cuyp market since 1987!  (http://www.poffertjesalbertcuyp.nl/Over/)  They were so tasty, they rivaled the waffle and stroop waffle we had earlier in the trip... I realize in writing this post how many breakfast treats we had...there is also a small possibility I didn't discuss them all.  As we were finishing our walk through the market, it started to rain and we found solace in a cafe for a cup of coffee to warm us up and fight off the sugar rush.  With the rain dying down, we headed to the Museumplein and the Vondelpark to explore the green spaces of Amsterdam.  The Vondelpark is huge with all types of activities and walking paths.  After wandering around, we decided to head to the Jordaan district to find lunch and explore.  We ate at a typical Dutch Brown cafe, where Jessica and Mary Lee finally tried bitterballen.  In the afternoon, we took a canal tour and explored the center area of Amsterdam.  Before we knew it, it was time for Molly to catch the train back to Antwerp.  As always, we loved getting to spend time with our visitors and see new sites and eat new treats in our region.  We hope Jess & ML find a way to come back and visit again!

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