In which I set off on my year of travels, explore the history of the low countries and eat all of the beige food.
Day 1, 4th September 2023: Leeds to Brussels
And Iʼm off! After years of saving and months of planning, I now have a whole year off work. Stage one of my travels kicks off by interrailing, which has been on the cards ever since I got jealous of university friends doing it nearly 10 years ago. Hopefully it will be 6 weeks or so of history, pastries and not-too
terrible hostels.
At 9.15 I was whizzing down to Kingʼs Cross, and at 13.01 I was on the Eurostar, pulling into Brussels at a very timely 16.00. Brussels was hot, especially as I had no acclimatisation after a miserable summer in the UK.
My trip started off with a little win, as I got given a free breakfast voucher due to someone pushing into the queue while I was checking into the hostel. Iʼm always down for free food!
After dumping my bags I went for a wander to see what Brussels had to offer. It was warm well into the evening, so I walked pretty aimlessly and without really trying managed to tick off most of the main sights. I refuelled with some Belgian frîtes (it would be rude not to!), then headed back to the hostel for a beer on the terrace and to do some planning for the next few days.
Day 2, 5th September 2023: Brussels
After making the most of my free breakfast and demolishing enough cereal, fruit, cheese and meats to feed a small village, I walked down the canal in the sunshine and went to the Arkose climbing gym. Iʼm ending my trip with ten days of Italian sport climbing with my partner, so Iʼm hoping to keep up with
my climbing a little bit while Iʼm travelling.
The gym was €11 and was big, airy and, perhaps most importantly, not a million degrees. The setting was a little harder than Iʼm used to, with the grades ranging from ʻfacileʼ to ʻtrès difficileʼ, but I got a lot done and it was lovely and quiet.
I then walked back to the city centre to get a sugar hit with a Liège waffle. Recovery complete, I went to the natural history museum (€13) and spent a solid two and a half hours learning all about minerals, human evolution, the development of life as we know it and all things iguanadon.
I sometimes find it a bit overwhelming deciding where to go and eat when Iʼm in a big busy city, so I opted on the value option of picking up a big salad and snacks from a grocery store and eating back at the hostel.
Day 3, 6th September 2023: Brussels to Ghent
I had one last morning in Brussels, so I walked around some of the mural trail while the streets were quiet, then became my cosmopolitan self by having a coffee and croissant sat outside a cafe at a little tiled table.
I checked out of the hostel and hauled my backpack to the station. The 30° heat was really making me regret my probable overpacking! It was a quick half hour on the train to Ghent, and as it was too early to check into my hostel I bought myself a picnic and sat under a shady tree in the nearest park.
My hostel was in a prime location just next to St Michaelʼs bridge, with great views over the river and old buildings. I went for a very sedate walk around the town, and Ghent is a lot smaller and more scenic than Brussels so I managed to pack in a lot of sights in a small time.
In the evening I met up with some people from the hostel Iʼd got in touch with through the Hostelworld app, and we acquainted ourselves with the very extensive Belgian beer menu at the Het Waterhuis. We then moved onto Mexicali for more beers and some very much needed tacos and nachos. It was a large group from all across the world, and Iʼm always embarrassed about my lack of language skills when people can talk about a huge range of subjects with a better vocabulary than me!
Day 4, 7th September 2023: Ghent to Bruges
In the morning I joined a free walking tour with the group from the hostel Iʼd met the previous night. It was a great overview of the city, without being too academic or an overwhelming information dump.
We were pretty hungry afterwards, so we stopped at Frituur Tartaar for some more frîtes. Weʼd been warned that the portions were generous, but I had no idea that a ʻsmallʼ serving was a whole tray of chips! Although ravenous, I did end up having to leave some and felt pretty bad.
On the recommendation of our tour guide, we went to the Dulle Grier bar, where you trade a shoe (and €13) for a 1.2l beer that comes in a tall hourglass shaped glass. Although it was definitely a novelty to lure in tourists (it worked!), the bar was really cool and the beer was delicious.
It was another short half-hour train trip over to Bruges. I went and checked into my hostel, grateful that it had air conditioning, then went into the centre of Bruges for a walk around. Bruges is a bit like York, but with more American accents, and Iʼd got my bearings after an hour or two.
After my mountain of frîtes I needed some vitamins, so again picked up a salad and went to sit in the lovely hostel courtyard as the sun went down. The hostel had a singer that evening, which eventually turned into an open mic night as the locals who also were at the bar got drunker and increasingly worse at remembering lyrics!
Day 5, 8th September 2023: Bruges to Amsterdam
After a great breakfast for a mere €4, I went to the belfry tower (off of In Bruges fame) to go on another walking tour. This one had a bit more of an entertainment slant and involved my personal hell of audience participation, but I managed to make it through unscathed and it was actually quite good.
Bruges is a UNESCO world heritage site, which explains why it feels a bit more sanitised, twee and touristy than Ghent.
I got some lunch and sat in the sun in the Minnewater park, then got my bag from the hostel and headed to the station to go to Amsterdam. Once I was back at Brussels I realised my direct train to Amsterdam was cancelled, so I had a last minute dash across Brussels from Midi to Nord, then a train
to Antwerp and finally Amsterdam.
My hostel was in Amsterdam Nord, so I got the free ferry across the water, dropped my bag into my boiling hot room and went out to search for some food and ring my partner.
Day 6, 9th September 2023: Amsterdam
The room was approximately the temperature of the sun but I managed to sleep surprisingly well with the little bit of air movement the tiny fan provided. On the plus side, the washing Iʼd done last night was already dry!
After breakfast I went to explore the Jordaan neighbourhood, and then wandered north to the Westerpark which had some old converted gasholders that were now ponds with boardwalks and lilypads.
I then went back to Centraal to get the train to Haarlem for the afternoon, but once there I realised it was a bus replacement service, which made me feel at home! I got the train out to the suburb of Sloterdijk, then followed some other slightly clueless tourists to find the coach stop, which was in the
middle of a dual carriageway in the full scorching sun.
Haarlem was a lot less touristy than Bruges, but was still historic with old buildings and churches. There was a food market on around the cathedral, so I picked up a herring bap, which is apparently one of the ʻmust-tryʼ Dutch foods!
I went to the Teylerʼs museum, and luckily it was free because there was a national museum weekend on. It was an interesting small museum with lots of minerals, fossils and scientific instruments, but not much in English so I was quite glad it was a bargain.
After refuelling with a giant slice of apple cake, I went back to Amsterdam and the hostel, and played a bit of ping pong and watched Hidden Figures in the cute hostel courtyard.
Day 7, 10th September 2023
After yesterday I looked up the Dutch museum weekend to find out if there were any bargains to be had in Amsterdam. Apparently the Groote museum had an €11 discount on the entry fee if you did a free tour at the beginning, so I made that my destination for the morning. Unfortunately, I quickly realised that the tour was only in Dutch, so I did my best to concentrate hard and get the gist of what was going on, all while hoping I didnʼt give the game away by being asked a question! Once free of the tour, the rest of the museum was really interesting (and in Dutch and English!), so I was glad I stuck it
out!
Iʼd arranged to meet up with some of the people Iʼd met in Ghent for the afternoon and we hired some bikes. We decided to head north out of Amsterdam to see a bit of countryside, and luckily I wasnʼt the one in charge of navigation! It was a really beautiful route through woods and farmland to the windmills at Zaanse Schans. It was another scorching day, and I could have killed to be swimming in one of the lakes! We got a giant and well-needed soft serve ice cream, then cycled back to the hostel.
After a shower, we picked up some food and beers and sat outside at the Oeverpark chatting and watching the sun set over the city skyline – beautiful!
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