Hooters, Canyons and the Vissers

Balmer's Tents

The Vissers at Balmers

Our good friends, Dave and Angie Visser, have left us here in Geneva and moved back to Seattle. It has not even been a month since they left, but we already miss them.  As part of saying goodbye, we planned a trip to Interlaken for the weekend, to go canyoning, something Travers and I had done last summer, that the Vissers wanted to experience.

So we got a group together, and all headed up to Interlaken. Taking the train, we arrived Friday night, checked into our tents at Balmer's, and relaxed in the hammocks, by the bar, and by the pool, taking in the large mountains surrounding us. Now if you all remember, this was the site of the mouse incident last summer, when a mouse somehow snuck into my bag and ate an entire corner of a loaf of bread, then snuck back out. So, I was very adamant about not keeping any food out that that could happen again. We kept a cooler zipped shut, and other foods, high up on a table that we knew the mouse could not get to. And thankfully, it worked, as we were completely mouse-free this trip. Phew!

We then headed out to dinner at our friend Mike's favorite restaurant, Hooters!  And to be honest, we were all extremely happy to be going there for dinner, for some tasty wings, fries, and beer.  We had a tasty dinner, enjoying the night night, and made sure we were all back in our tents at a decent hour as we were being picked up at 7:45am the next morning for our big canyoning adventure!

For those that don't know, canyoning is basically walking, jumping, sliding, crawling through this canyon, through the water, sometimes dangling, sometimes rappelling, sometimes bouncing along through the water, over rocks, and down waterslides. Last summer we did the moderate canyon as it was our first time, but this summer we wanted to step up the challenge, so we opted for the more advanced canyon. I was a little hesitant as the guides really emphasize how dangerous it can be, but I knew that I couldn't let Travers go by himself, so I sucked it up and put on a brave face. It was definitely a more challenging canyon, but at the end, we all made it safely through, although I fell down once (on the walk from the car to the start of the canyon....when did I become so clumsy?), and gave myself a bit of whiplash on one jump, while bruising the backs of my legs. But all in all, those were minor injuries, and we were all pumping with adrenaline at the end of the day.

It was a wonderful day, and I think the Vissers enjoyed the adventure, especially as its something you can't easily do in the states. We ended the weekend, with more pool and hammock time at the tents, followed by a delicious mexican dinner in town.  

Sunday was spent with pool time again, and with a few shenanigans by the boys before hopping on a train back to Geneva.  It was an amazing weekend to say goodbye to the Vissers.  We saw them just one more time before they hopped on a plane back to Seattle. Its been strange not having them around, but we know they are happy to be back home, near family and friends, and they will definitely be our life long friends.

Belgium Waffles are tasty

 To finish up our travels in May, we trained it from Amsterdam into Belgium, spending a night in Brussels, and a night in Bruges. We arrived mid-afternoon and stayed at Le Meridien hotel right next to the train station. We had just under 24 hours in Brussels, and we tried to make the most of it. Luckily our hotel was just in the center of town, and we could walk that night into the old town area for some dinner and wandering the streets. It was a Sunday and a bank holiday weekend, so we weren't expecting much to be open, but everything seemed to be open and lively and filled with people. 

Sitting at Kelderke

We walked to Le Grand-Place, a large square lined with shops and restaurants.  And just our luck, there was a jazz concert going on in the center of it!  We walked around the square and settled at a restaurant on one end called Kelderke, listended to the music, stared at the beautiful architecture around us, and enjoyed a tasty meal. As the sun set, the lights in the surrounding buildings came on, and there was a beautiful glow from each of them.


After dinner, we strolled through the rest of the old town. It was extremely busy for a Sunday, but most people had the next day off, so they were extending their weekend fun. We walked through the cobblestone streets, past several restaurants and bars and found a place we would get lunch at the next day. Exhausted from our weekend in Amsterdam, we found a waffle shop, ordered one plain and one decked out in ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Since we can't use our waffle maker in Geneva (doesn't work with the power, even with a converter), we were very excited to have these waffles. And boy were they tasty!  Unfortunately, we ate them too fast for me to take a photo. Next time.

Le Grand Place

At Night

Monday we woke up and since we had limited time to see the rest of Brussels, we bought two tickets for the hop on, hop off bus tour. We had done this in Paris several years before, and in Barcelona last summer with Rosemary and Mike. Its a great way to see a city if you have a limited amount of time. And being a nice sunny day, we figured we'd get a nice tan sitting in the open top of the bus. We didn't end up actually hopping off until the end of the first route since we were limited in time, but we saw lots of great monuments and historical buildings.  We  grabbed a beer from a local brewery, and savory crepes from the restaurant we had found the night before, then we hopped back onto the second route to see the rest of the city. After a couple more hours, it was time to leave and head to Bruges. So we grabbed our bags, hopped on a train, and late that afternoon we arrived in Bruges at the Grand Hotel Casselbergh.

We decided to go to this little town mostly because of the movie In Bruges, starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.  And once we arrived, we knew it was a great decision. This little town is not so little actually, and we absolutely loved it. The architecture, the large plazas, the canals. It had a very romantic feeling to it, and it was a great end to our 5 day-3 city trip.

Again, we had less than 24 hours in this city so we tried to make the most of it. We dropped our bags at the hotel, and went out for a stroll to see the city and have a tasty dinner. We saw the Belfry of Bruges (although we did not go up it, as there is no elevator and we just weren't going to make it up those stairs). And we walked through several large plazas lined with shops and restaurants. We wandered down some cobblestone alleyways and found a few interesting restaurants to try.

We settled in at a Mediterranean restaurant called The Olive Tree, where the owner and his wife were the hosts and watiers, and were incredibly friendly to each customer, chatting us up towards the end of our meal, sharing some Ouzo with us and teaching us the best way to drink it: add a little water, a few ice cubes to keep it cold, and sip instead of taking it like a shot, which is what we usually do. I didn't like the taste of Ouzo at all, as you can see in this photo, so he brought me a tasty fruity drink instead that cleansed my palate and was a perfect refreshing end to the meal.  The entire meal was delicious, and the fact that the owner made it so personal and really cared about his restaurant made it such a great last night of vacation for us.


After dinner, we strolled through the streets again, seeing the most picturesque canals and buildings, and eventually settling in at a bar that had over 400 different types of beer. We got a few tasters, and chatted up some other Americans that were in the bar. Being a small town, they ended up asking us to leave before midnight as they were closing up for the night. After strolling some more, making some more friends along the way, we called it a night as we had a lot to do the next day before catching a train back to Brussels so we could fly back to Geneva that evening.









The next morning, we decided to rent some bikes so that we could see as much of the city as possible. We had breakfast at a cute place called Petit Maxim then found a nearby bike rental place.

We hopped on our bikes and rode all around town, seeing more lovely canals, old buildings, churches, and eventually making our way to see four large windmills that were just along the side of one the larger canals that circled the city.











We passed over several bridges, and saw some really interesting boats going by us in the canals, and saw some really interesting architecture throughout the city. After a few hours, we were getting close to catching our train, so we returned our bikes, did a little souvenir shopping, and got our bags from the hotel, before catching a bus to the train station.

Overall, the entire weekend was amazing. I had never been to Belgium before and I was so impressed by the architecture, the people, the beautiful canals, and the food.  


We got back to Geneva Tuesday night, exhausted, but happy with our trip. We had only a few days to rest though as we were leaving town again that friday for a canyoning trip to Interlaken with a bunch of our friends. The travelling continues...

Bridges, Canals, and Pringles

After landing in Geneva from JFK on Monday morning, Travers and I took a couple hours nap, before I had to get up and get to work. Travers on the other hand, got to sleep another hour or so before getting up, re-packing, and going back to the airport for a work trip to Kiev!  With both of us being jetlagged, it was not an easy week for either of us, but by Friday, we were very excited to be going on another vacation to Amsterdam, Brussels, and Bruges!

We took a mid-day flight to Amsterdam, and trained it to our hotel, The Manor Hotel Amsterdam. After checking in, we immediately went back out to find a drink and a snack and to soak in some sun before it went down. We chose a restaurant down the street from our hotel that we could tell immediately was filled with locals, not tourists. We were staying in Amsterdam Oost, which is just east of the main city center, and only a short tram ride away. So we were out of the super-touristy area, mixing in with the locals, which is something Travers and I love to do on vacations.

A few hours later, after returning to the hotel to change and get ready for the evening, we decided to tram to the city center and just wander the streets, hoping to see some beautiful canals, find something tasty for dinner, and just explore Amsterdam.  We had heard about this popular burger joint called Burger Bar that was supposed to have the best burgers in town. We have an on-going search in Geneva for the best burgers (which we think we found one the other day actually, but that's another story), so the opportunity to have a tasty burger was something we weren't going to pass up. And we were glad we didn't because these burgers were huge, so tasty, with a great bun (which is one of the most important parts of a good burger), and yummy fries on the side.

T's bacon cheddar burger

My blue cheese burger

After filling up on good food, we just started walking around town and seeing whatever we could. We wandered down some small alleyways, crossed some beautiful canals, and saw some really cool architecture.

We then found ourselves in the Nieuwmarkt square, surrounded by bars and restaurants, and a huge building that used to be one of the city gates and former city walls. Its now occupied by the Waag society, and the Nieuwmarkt was built around it and the weighing scales were placed inside it. Not really sure what the weigh scales do now, but it was a really cool building to look at. So we chose a bar that faced the square and grabbed some Amstel's and just people-watched for awhile. And while we were sitting there, I noticed this amazing machine next to us. I don't know why I like it so much, but what's not to like about mini-cans of Pringles in a bubble-gum machine!?

We then decided to walk towards the infamous Red-Light District.  I wasn't quite sure what to expect, and it was certainly a surprise to see such a lively area. There were several bars and restaurants interspersed with all the "windows" of ladies, and hundreds of people pouring out of bars, walking up and down the street, with the canal in between. With the amount of people drinking, I was surprised there wasn't more of a railing between the canal and the sidewalk, but seemed like no one was going to fall in. We stopped at a pub called The Old Sailor and got a great seat by the window so we could watch all the passersby.  After getting our fill of people-watching, and strolling the crowded streets, we headed back to the hotel for a good night's rest so we could do it all again and more the next day.


The next morning, we got up and found a cute local coffee shop called Coffee Bru. After ordering two coffees, a muffin, and banana bread, we sat on a bench they had outside and soaked in the sun. As we were finishing our breakfast we noticed a cheese and bread shop next door. The large rounds of cheese and the fresh baked bread looked delicious, so we decided to get some, along with some salami they had, and have a picnic in a few hours once in the city center.

So we hopped on the tram and got closer to the museum quarter of Amsterdam. We strolled past the Rijks Museum, some lovely canals, and found ourselves in a huge park called Museumplein. We saw the I Am Amsterdam sign, the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk Museum.  We then found ourselves a nice place to sit in the park under a tree and have some local cheese, bread and salami for lunch!









We continued our walk back towards the center of town. We saw some beautiful canals and walked down some quaint streets. There were a lot of bicycles out and we managed not to get in their way too much. And we passed by tons of people enjoying the weather sitting outside at cafes all along the canals. After a few hours of walking around, we decided to join all these people and stopped for an ice cold beer, at a cafe right on a canal.


















The rest of the day was much of the same, walking through small streets, past lovely canals and wonderful architecture. There were lots of people in their boats cruising down the canals, and we crossed many bridges on our stroll through the city. One bridge in particular was the famous wooden bridge that is one of the most beautiful bridges in Amsterdam.

The Wooden Bridge

us at the wooden bridge

After a long day of walking the entire city of Amsterdam, we went back to the hotel to rest up and get ready for the evening.  Heading back out for a pre-dinner drink, we chose a spot in the Rembrandtplein where we could watch a soccer match on the tv.  We also had a great view of the square so we could watch all the people going by as well.  We then chose a nearby restaurant called Coco's Outback, who's slogan is "Lousy Food, Warm Beer", which was anything but. We had delicious bbq chicken and fries before heading across the street to a bar that happened to have a live band playing some of our favorite songs! We listened to some great music, then made our way around the corner to Club Smokey where we danced for the next few hours to some of the best dance music in Europe.

Sunday morning we checked out of our hotel, and headed towards the city center to grab some breakfast before hopping on a train to our next destination, Brussels.  Amsterdam was amazing to see and we definitely saw a lot of it. Its amazing thinking back that we were only there for a day and a half but were able to see so much of the city and really enjoy the culture, the people, and the lovely canals.  Its definitely somewhere we will go back someday.