Tea, Bikes and Open Mics

This past weekend was my first-ever trip to the Netherlands! A flat land of bicycle lovers-and I mean that in the most affectionate way possible. From Saturday morning to Monday afternoon, I took a little side trip to the small Dutch town of Nijmegen. The reason why I went there and why you have probably never heard of it (No, I wasn't in Amsterdam), is that I have some old friends there from my studies in Glasgow, Scotland. A handful of them all came from the same University, which as you probably guessed, is in Nijmegen. Like a lot of places in Europe, the Netherlands are actually quite close, it only took me two and half hours to get there by train. The difference with this train ride is that everything gradually began to be in Dutch...

As I've mentioned before, Belgium is divided into to halves: French-speaking Wallonia in the South, and Flemish or Dutch-speaking Flanders in the North. So once I got out of Brussels and transfered to my next train, people started speaking Dutch everywhere, and all the station signs were in Dutch. Luckily, since Brussels is a bilingual city, I'm already used to some words in Dutch- like 'spoor' for train platform. As with Luxembourg, I'm not sure when I crossed the border, but at some point everything outside my window became flat in all directions. It's a beautiful country, full of green farm lands and gleaming rivers cutting through the land.

I got off the train, looking around for the exit to the main train station where I hoped to find my friends, and instead found my friend Elke right in front of me! Walking to the main area we found my friend Daan as well- it was so good to see them again. It's been a year since Glasgow, so we haven't seen each other face to face for quite a while- it was at first a little hard to believe that we were actually all there together again, but after just an hour it was the most normal thing in the world.

But besides being ridiculously excited to see my friends, the first thing I noticed about the Netherlands? BIKES! Stereotypical, and exceedingly true. As in we came out of the train station, and went to go get my friends bikes- out of a two floor 'bike garage'. The only way to understand this is to show it, so here you go:

The top level, there's another one underground, plus there's about 10 rows of bikes

While bikes might be stereotypical Netherlands, they are really practical. Since it's such a flat country, there are no difficult hills to bike up, and you can just keep going for ages. The entire city of Nijmegen is built for bikes, all roads and paths have bike lanes. Traffic lights not only have the pedestrian walk or don't walk lights, but red and green bike ones as well! Stairs such as the ones leading up to brides have a rivet along the side so you can walk your bike up next to you. In the heart of the town, and outside all buildings and residences are bike racks. With this plethora of bikes, there are also a bunch of little accessories that I'm sure are second nature to the Dutch, but which I noticed. For example: everybody has these little clip-on lights, one red (for the back) and one white (for the front) to put on their bikes at night so they can be seen. Easy and ingenious. The bikes also all have a mini-platform on the back of them- a lot of people have these packs that hang off either side which you can put items in-or, you can sit on them while your friend tows you.

That's how I spent the majority of my weekend, hanging on to Elke and sitting on the back of her bike! I'll be honest, I was terrible at getting on at first and had no idea how to sit. But by Sunday, I felt like a pro- I could hop on and off the bike while it was moving. I felt a little bit more Dutch.

Elke's beautiful turquoise bike that I rode on the back of all weekend

Nijmegen is a beautiful little city, and perhaps the oldest in the Netherlands (a debate with Maastricht I believe). The River Waal runs right next to the city, dividing it from Nijmegen Lent, and crossed by two arching bridges that gave a lovely view of the city. There are loads of quaint and reasonably priced restaurants on the side of the river- and also seven or eight foot tall gates to hold back the water should it flood- not something I'm used to!

The River Waal

As we walked around the city, they recounted some of the city history for me, from how a random big stone in the ground used to be where criminals were judged (though a virgin could walk around them three times and claim him as a husband if she wanted and he'd be saved), to a statue of a young woman who defied the devil. It being a Saturday, there were markets in full swing, and perhaps the most tempting were the bakery stands and freshly made stroopwafels! Stoopwafels are another ingenious dutch invention- two wafer-thin waffles with a carmel layer in between. Delicious. Especially with tea, which we had a whole lot of that weekend. In fact, most of the weekend was either spent biking around the city in the lovely, spring-like weather or sitting in somebody's room talking and drinking tea- and I was completely okay with that!

Downtown, pleasantly busy Nigmegen

Fresh Stroopwafels!

The church in Nijmegen

We did see some other cool sites in the city, evidence of it's ancient beginnings such as castle walls, a half-ruin in the park and not so ancient things in the form of a giant bunny. No one is really sure why it's there, but there's a huge, blue and white bunny with a red nose that stands a good 50ft high in the park. Rumors are that it was built to see if something that tall would work well in that part of the city, but it's awkwardly stayed there. Other highlights of the city would be seeing a real black swan in another park- they're beautiful and slightly intimidating with their blood-red beaks. Ironically, I realized that I saw the movie black swan almost exactly a year ago- nice timing.

Told you there was a giant bunny.

Me, Daan and Elke in the park!

Black Swan! the real kind

We went to a football match on Saturday night, and it was great fun to see everybody, literally everybody from the community come out and cheer for their team. Nijmegen won 4-0, so it was definitely a good night, with a really fun atmosphere! Plus, I love soccer/football, so it was great to see a live match again. I tried some Dutch food as well that was really good- suikerbrood or sugarbread and yogurt-drink at breakfast, and hutspot for dinner (a mix of mashed potatoes, carrots, onions).

The stadium was packed full, completely unlike the US with its soccer matches

Since this post is getting rather long, I'll wrap up with our fantastic Sunday night- we went out to a pub called Wunderbar, where they have live music and an open mic night every Sunday evening. It was a great little place with a great atmosphere, and a guy who can play nearly every instrument possible and sing heads up the night. People just got up and jammed together, and there were even some freestylers that were really good. Plus this guy that was incredible- rapping and switching back and forth between Dutch and English flawlessly. Somehow, I ended up on stage as well, singing a song with the main guy backing me up on guitar. I love singing, but I've never done an open mic night before and was slightly terrified but it was really fun and the guy was fantastic despite not actually knowing the song!

Proof that I sang :)

So, a lovely first introduction to the Netherlands- lots of bikes, tea and catching up with old friends. Seemed like the perfect weekend to me.

Orange Attack! (Carnaval at Binche)

Last week I said that we were going to a special Carnaval celebration in a small town called Binche, well not only did we go, but we came back with our bags, pockets and purses full of oranges! And not just any oranges- but oranges sanguine- more on that later.

The Erasmus commission at Saint-Louis, our University, organized the adventure for us, and a good twenty or so people showed up Tuesday morning. After solidly blockading the sidewalk in front of FUSL for a few minutes we all marched to Gare du Nord to take the train to Binche. It was only an hour and fifteen minute ride, but this train was packed. We literally walked down then entire train just to find seats, and luckily we got some. The people getting on at the subsequent stops were not so lucky, every seat was taken and people were standing in the aisles. Signs of carnival started to appear- a little girl dressed up as a princess, teenagers with some crazy-colored wigs, but nothing too outrageous.

While it started out as a beautiful day in Brussels, Binche was quite a bit colder, as we discovered by the somewhat cold wind and cloudy skies that greeted us. But that definitely didn't stop the people of Binche from throwing their party- even outside the train station, the cracks in between the cobblestones were filled with brightly colored confetti. Right off the bat one girl in our group was approached by an older man and given a sprig of yellow mimosa flowers- a Carnaval tradition in Binche. He also proudly declared his love for her, but I don't think that's part of the tradition... As we walked down the street, gradually getting closer to the city center, more sign of the festivities appear. Two girls on a balcony playfully dumping confetti on people passing by, more kids in costumes, stalls selling wacky additions to costumes such as hats, wigs and feather boas in ever possible color. And then we heard it- the sound of a drum. A snare drum, beating out a loud marching rhythm, its bearer hidden behind the Gilles. Here was tradition Binche: Gilles are men or boys dressed up in the tradition costume, padded with straw, dressed with lace and bells and wearing very distinctive white caps with a strip of fabric going under the chin and tying on top of the head. It kinda reminded me of a baby bonnet. They all marched in time, holding a  stave-like bundle of sticks, moving it to the beat.

The first of many to come in fact. Some Gilles wore different costumes, but that was only true of the youngest boys, all the teenagers through older grandpas wore the same red, orange and tan outfit:

We made our way down to the square, encountering many more Gilles marching around and lots of open pubs and bars where people were already having a drink (it was only around 1:20pm by this time mind you). Finally we arrived at the main square- shops all around and metal crowd-fences lining the roads. We had some time to walk around and grab some food if we wanted before the parade started at 3pm. Only it was a little over an hour late, and we were exceedingly cold by then. Not matter, the oranges were coming!

Police on horseback led the parade, impressive in their straight, solid line, followed by a troop of policemen on foot and medical guys. And then the Gilles! Some in small groups of ten, others with thirty or forty guys. Now, however, instead of a bundle of sticks, they carried wicker baskets, all filled with sanguine oranges. Sanguine oranges, or blood oranges, are small and rather hard until you get past the skin which is a tie-dye combination of oranges and red. Note that I said they are pretty hard. Because, the Gilles not only carry the oranges, they launch them into the crowd. Now some are just gently tossed, some lobbed up high, and some are thrown like they used a grenade launcher. I would know. Yes, I may have gotten hit in the head with an orange. The general goal however, is not to get hit, but to catch them! I ended up catching about four or so, and was pretty proud. There was this one tall American guy in the crowd though that literally caught at least 25 oranges- lightning reflexes much?

Me in Binche! With confetti everywhere- I found some in my pockets the next day

Kid gilles, they would have different costumes

Oranges I caught! You start getting really into it to.. waving your hand around in an attempt to get the Gilles to throw you an orange

There were quite a lot of tourists there in addition to the locals, but it's also a UNESCO World Heritage event, so I guess that's to be expected! The parade went on for  over an hour, with hundreds of Gilles and thousands of oranges flying through the air. Some of the groups of Gilles had these massive hats that kinds of looked like giant feathery mushrooms, and were apparently really heavy (15 kilos! 30 pounds). Dare you to try wearing that since 6am in the morning.

Giant mushroom hats? Why not?

After the parade was stretching on and we got tired of dodging oranges, we made our way to the house of a professor from Saint-Louis who had invited us over for champagne and a brief rest. He is an economics professor at FUSL, and was also one of the Gilles! It was incredibly kind of him to have all twenty of us in his house, they were really hospitable and not only gave us each a glass of champagne, but fed us snacks of various tarts and half sandwiches. While some of the Erasmus students randomly disappeared, we stayed for over an hour, resting with the Gilles, and talking in French. I had a brief conversation with the professor, and it turns out he's not only been to Maryland, but he knows the city of Laurel! Small world eh? Several of the FUSL students know McDaniel as well since friends of theirs have gone on exchange there.

The baskets they hold the oranges in

The day wasn't over yet for the Gilles, and it was time to go march around the city some more. We followed the professor and his friends for a bit becoming their entourage, and discovered that while we were inside, the city had suddenly become even more of one massive party. The streets and squares were packed with people, people of all ages from infants on their parents shoulders, to teens drinking beer and adults surround the groups of Gilles around the city clapping and stomping together. Generally getting down. Bars were overflowing onto the streets, kids were dressed as animals, Zorro, and pirates. Everyone was wearing the mimosa flowers and had some kind of crazy costume item. Binche was literally one giant party in the streets, everyone drinking, dancing and drummers and Gilles marching everywhere. I've never seen anything like it.

Street Party!

We ventured through the streets, winding around the crowds and taking a thankfully less-crowded train home. Remember all those oranges we got? We made orange juice. Bright red orange juice. Definitely a unique Carnaval!

Inside of a sanguine orange- some were even redder than this

Red Orange Juice! It was delicious

Architecture and Yellow Phone booths

Europe is relatively small. Belgium, on the other hand, is tiny. Not as absolutely miniscule as one particular country I visited this weekend however- Luxembourg! Only three hours on a train, and suddenly we were in another country- I still have no idea when we passed the border. The public transportation here is fantastic- I love the fact that I essentially decided on Friday to go to another country on Saturday, and I easily bought my ticket and left in the morning (ridiculously early). Also, if you are a student, tickets are even cheaper and you get access to this wonderful deal called a Go-Pass: 10 journeys for 50€, which lets you go anywhere in the country for only 5€ essentially. 

I managed to convince two friends to adventure with me, a girl from Turkmenistan and a guy from Tajikistan. While each country has its own language (Tajik and Turkmen), they can also speak Russian since both countries used to be under the Soviet Union back in the day. Thus our day was an interesting mix of English, Russian and French!

When we arrived in Luxembourg three hours later, not quite believing we were in another country already, the first thing I realized about the city were its yellow phone booths. Yellow? Having spent a semester in the UK, I'm used to seeing phone booths-in red. I never realized other countries had them in different colors! Fun fact of the day. I was so excited that I had to take a picture with it. Just a fun, unique part of the culture in Luxembourg.

That and really impressive architecture. Just walking up into the old city from the train station, we crossed over a huge, gorgeous bridge which arched over the green valley below. Luxembourg City is extremely unique because it is intersected by this giant valley, a river running far below, trees and plants creating a vivid green contrast to the solid brown and grey rock walls that encircle the greenery. Bridges crisscross the valley, some old aqueducts, others brilliant feats of engineering. Impressive architecture part one. What was even more impressive to me were the buildings and remains of fortresses and castles carved into the rock. Most are centuries old and have been built, destroyed and rebuilt multiple times, such as the Bock,whose inner chambers are a UNESCO world heritage site thanks to their history.

By chance, since we happened to go on a Saturday, there was a weekly market going on in Place Guillaume, much like the market at Gare Midi in Brussels. Fruits, veggies bread, and flowers! A whole lot of beautiful flowers, and some exceedingly odd-looking ones... My favorite stall that I discovered however was the pasta stand! It was entirely composed of freshly made pasta, in every shape imaginable: linguini, orcchiette ('little ears' in Italian, which is what they literally look like), tortellini and more. I desperately wanted to try some, but as we would be walking around the city all day and it was only the morning, we decided this might not be the best idea.

Instead, we meandered around the city, which is extremely small, just like its country. While walking through a park searching for an old villa (which was not all that exciting once we found it), we discovered a really exciting playground. I mean really exciting- it was an entire Pirate ship! Complete with forts, rope bridges, masts, and steering wheel. If only I had lived here as a kid. As it was, I couldn't resist climbing on it. Yup, definitely one of my high lights of Luxembourg City. Pirate playground.

Pirate Ship!!

I also found this fantastic museum, the Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art- I highly, highly recommend you visit if you're ever in Luxembourg- especially if you're a student because you get in free! There are four or five levels of History, starting at the very beginning of humanity up through the Renaissance, and then three or four levels of art. The layout of the museum is absolutely beautiful, all the exhibits are really well done. Everything is mostly in French and Dutch though, so it helps if you know one of the two to really enjoy it. If not, there are booklets in English and a few other languages on each floor too.

To wrap things up- Luxembourg is an incredibly beautiful, rather luxurious city (we did find a $250 haircut and a $10,000 watch), with incredible architecture. From the Palais Grand-Ducal where the Duke  of Luxembourg lives, to the museums, to ancient houses and the ultra-modern European Court of Justice, I felt like I walked through an Architecture 101 class. Tomorrow is Carnaval here in Europe, and we're going to visit the small Belgian town of Binche for their...unusual and famous Carnaval traditions!

A photo tour of the architecture:

Cathédrale Notre-Dame 

A random building with cool windows

Pont Adolphe

Palais Grand-Ducal

European Court of Justice

Dent Creuse: an old remnant of the walls and forts that used to encircle Luxembourg

Namur: Stairs & Icicles

This weekend, we decided it was time to see a little more of Belgium, and thus randomly picked a city to visit. The choice? Namur! Capital of Wallonia, the French-speaking half of Belgium, and also home to a really impressive Citadelle (the main reason I wanted to go). One of my favorite things about Europe is how easy the public transportation is- to get to Namur, all we had to do was walk to Gare du Nord, buy our passes (50€ for 10 trips, not a bad deal) and off we went, an American, two Quebecois and a Dutch guy.

As has been the usual for the past two weeks, it was freezing, so when we got off the train roughly an hour later and were shivering in the train station- hot drinks sounded like an incredible idea. We stopped at a little café inside the station, all four of us buying a drink. Mine? Deliciously rich and creamy, topped with fresh, thick crème Chantilly: hot chocolate. Now I've had my fair share of hot chocolate, but let me tell you, this was incredible. 10 points for Belgium.

After a quick stop in the tourist center for a map, we found ourselves strolling along Rue de Fer, the central street leading to the Citadelle. Out of nowhere, we discovered a market in full swing; clothing, food and candy vendors everywhere displaying their colorful wares. Just past the market stalls were loads of little shops selling everything you could think of. Big clothing brands like Zara to specialty shoe stores, and of course, patisseries and chocolatiers (this is Belgium we're talking about). After a quick stop in a tea store with every flavor of tea you can imagine (and some you can't), we reached the bridge to get to the Citadelle!

Rue de Fer- lined with shops and market stalls!

Typical Belgian chocolate 'fruits de mer'

Patisserie! Extremely beautiful, and extremely expensive

Some of the really cool architecture in Namur

Stairs. That's probably the most distinctive feature of the fortress- its hundreds of stairs. The Citadelle of Namur has been used as a defensive fortress for hundreds of years, going back to the 15th century, up through World War II, and was only demilitarized in 1977. Needless to say, this fortress has seen a lot of action due to its exceedingly strategic position on the Meuse and Sambre Rivers, and position on top of a hill. Note the hill, which equals a whole lot of stairs. Despite our burning legs and lungs, getting to the top of the Citadelle was well worth the climb- the view was fantastic!

The Citadelle! The river was full of ice

River-side houses and shops

View of Namur from the top!

And the other direction

Unfortunately, due to the cold, we couldn't go on the sub-terrain tour of the network of chambers beneath the Citadelle. It was even colder down there than it was up on top, and all the water had frozen, making the paths too dangerous. (We're all starting to get pretty impatient for spring when everything will both warm up and open up) The snow made everything really beautiful though, and I found my first château! I have a bit of an obsession with castles, and was pretty excited to find my first one in Belgium even though it had been converted into a hotel, it was gorgeous.

The Château

Traipsing back down the hill into the old part of the city, we happened to find a fantastic little Italian restaurant for lunch, run by one older man. It was delicious- I'm not sure whether the man was Italian himself or not, but he sure knew how to make a pizza! When we ordered drinks, I was surprised that they all came in the old-fashioned glass bottles, but a personalized label glass to pour you soda in. I loved it. In fact, now that I've picked up on it again, I realize that's just typical Europe- nearly all soft drinks and water are served that way.

Also, this orange Fanta is way better than the stuff in the US. Paler, and somehow more natural

After a bit more exploring of old churches, theaters and the Musée d'Arts Anciens (which turned out to only contain religious artwork and relics), we headed back up to the Citadelle for a wine tasting event. It was something unique for winemakers around the Namur area (Namurois if you will), and fourteen different vineyards were represented. It was really interesting to go just for the atmosphere, only costing one euro and allowing us to sample quite a few different wines. I personally don't know much about wine, so I felt a bit like a fake, but it was still really cool to hear about how they had mixed different varieties to create the perfect blend. It was also extremely intimidating: having to approach people in French to ask to try the wine, knowing your French isn't up to par and also being some of the youngest people there... An interesting cultural experience nonetheless!

Dinner was rather random, because the place we meant to go was too expensive. Instead, we somehow ended up in a tea room/ dessert house, eating quiche Lorraine and salad (on my part) and crêpes!

Cathédrale St-Aubain

My delicious dessert crêpes

All in all, a really fun day trip out into the Belgian countryside! I can't wait to explore this country some more, especially as the weather warms up and more outdoor activities are possible (kayaking or spelunking anyone?).