By Barbara Rice (of Shasta County)
A page from her travels, on request from A News Cafe
“What an odd thing tourism is. You fly off to a strange land, eagerly abandoning all the comforts of home, and then expend vast quantities of time and money in a largely futile attempt to recapture the comforts that you wouldn’t have lost if you hadn’t left home in the first place.” ~ Bill Bryson
I do love to travel, but I also love to come home.The novelty of exploring European plumbing, deciphering whimsically placed street signs, ordering and eating strange and sometimes wonderful food, and living out of a Kelty backpack eventually grows wearisome. I long for familiarity, even if all that means is picking up my PG&E bill at the post office, or opening a yogurt container in my refrigerator to find out if new and unusual life forms have taken root, or finding that one of the cats threw up on the paper in my printer. While spending hours sorting through the photos I downloaded at Internet cafes and trying to remember just why I took a shot of some now-mysterious landmark, I was reminded of just why travel is such a delight: finding the unexpected in random places.
Have you ever known anyone from Antwerp? Thought good thoughts about Antwerp? Wanted desperately to die in Antwerp? Me neither, but we found ourselves in Antwerp on a late spring afternoon, and dang me if it wasn’t just wonderful. It is by far the cleanest European city I’ve ever visited (not that clean is necessarily a valuable criteria when choosing a destination), and the architecture was stunning, ornate, neo-Baroque, like Disneyland without the pink fluff. This is one city I would return to for a stay longer than just the few hours we spent.
And of course they have Belgian waffles.
It was at Taverne Rubens in Antwerp (address: Wapper 18) that we learned about Belgian Dubbel and Tripel beers, which have considerably more alcoholic content than American beer (up to 12% or more). They don’t taste like anything dangerous: you sip contentedly away until you find yourself singing dirty songs in Flemish and doing hand pantomines to accompany yourself. You’ve been warned.
Our last stop before heading back to Shasta County was Cologne (Koln). It might not be on everyone’s wanna-see list, but it’s definitely worth at least a couple of days. The most famous landmark is the cathedral, which I can’t really describe without resorting to standard phrases like soaring, breathtaking, magnificent, etc. Maybe it could be summed up by saying those who designed it believed they were honoring God.
Cologne also offers modern art in Museum Ludwig, with one of the largest Picasso collections in Europe, as well as works by Warhol, Lichtenstein, Ellsworth Kelly, Louise Nevelson, George Segal, and Rene Magritte: well worth a visit, one of many surprises in this charming old city.
Here are a few of my favorite places we visited: If you’re heading across the pond, check them out.
Ardmore House, 68 Cleveland Road, Ealing, London – B&B
www.ardmorehouse.co.uk
Toucan Pub, 19 Carlisle Street (near Soho Square), London – very small, good Guinness, cheap. No food served.
Sherlock Holmes Pub, http://www.sherlockholmespub.com/ 10 Northumberland Street, London (near Trafalgar Square). Good pub food (fish and chips, shepherd’s pie), comfortable atmosphere.
Cork & Bottle Wine Bar, 44-46 Cranbourne Street, London (near the Leicester Square tube) www.corkandbottle.net This place doesn’t look like much from the outside and you’ll probably walk right past the entrance. The bar/restaurant itself is down a winding flight of stairs. Not especially cheap, but the wine selection is amazing, as is their food. Gets VERY crowded in the evening so reserve a table – better to go during the afternoon.
Cafe De Blaffande Vis, Westerstraat 118, Amsterdam – great atmosphere, delicious food, budget-friendly. This bar/restaurant is what the Dutch would call gezellig – comfortable, warm, sociable. Outdoor seating available.
Bos Otten Trading Company http://www.singel91.nl/, Singel 91, Amsterdam – wonderful handmade wood furniture and home decor, delightful owner
Debra Hill Evolution Art, www.debrahill.nl Stadhouderskade/corner Leidseplein
Amsterdam – this is a kiosk selling original art and t-shirts.
Cafe Alto www.jazz-cafe-alto.nl Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 115, Amsterdam – a jazz club. For 5 Euro we got to listen to Wouter Kiers, an amazing saxophonist, for three hours. Love this place.
Brauhaus Em Kosche Boor www.koelscheboor.com Eigelstein 121, Köln – authentic food from Koln. More than you can eat at a great price, no-nonsense waiters who will tell you their beer/food is the best in town. Try the sauerkraut soup.
Hotel Domstern http://www.domstern.com/ Domstrasse 26, Koln – very helpful and friendly staff, good breakfast, convenient location, budget-friendly.
Barbara Rice is a native Igonian. Upon discovering the Beatles at age 9, she picked up an atlas and figured out how far England was and how long it would take to get there (5371 miles, 12 hours). Though gainfully employed, she regards work as a necessary evil to finance vacations. In her spare time she looks up cheap airfares and daydreams about her next trip. She never did meet Sir Paul but she knows where his office is.
