Donnerstag, 24. Mai 2007

Frankfurt and Benelux: March 10-17

Part One: Frankfurt and Belgium

For my first real trip in Europe, complete with hostels and tourist maps, I was joined by my sister, brother-in-law, and his brother. This was Anna and Scott's first trip to Europe, while Travis had already studied abroad in Germany.

On March 10, I met the trio in Frankfurt at our hotel. It was nice to stay in an actual hotel, rather than a hostel, because we got little chocolates on our pillows. The first day I was surprised by how not tired my sister Anna was. Apparently, she was hopped up on Coke.
While in Frankfurt, we opted to walk rather than take the S-Bahn. Anna loved how clean it was, and I loved being with Anna and Scott when they had their first Doner Kebab! And that's just an experience everyone should have. I'm sure they'll never be the same again, thanks to Travis and me.

We saw the stock market bull and bear statues, the old opera house, and the Goethe House. It was interesting to see how the two Europe-newbies frantically bickered over map directions, while the old-timers just sat back and watched. After all, what's wrong with walking an hour in the wrong direction? It's an adventure!

Onward! Next we traveled to Brussels, Belgium. Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French, and German, and Brussels is the headquaters to the EU and NATO. Not surprisingly, it's often called the capital of Europe. Grand Place, built as a merchant market in the 13th century, serves as the city center, and is a beautiful display of architecture. The Royal Palace and Brussels Park are also must-sees.

As a day trip, we traveled to Ghent, a mere 35 minute train ride. There, we met up with Liselot, a friend of mine who I met while studying in Bamberg. It was great to see a friendly face and also to have a personal tour guide to show us her hometown. Despite having a hurt knee, she still didn't mind giving us a walking tour in English. Ghent is a small, but beautiful city situated on the Graslei and Korenlei Rivers.

We saw numerous churchs and great views along the rivers. St. Bavo's Cathedral holds the famous Adoration of the Mystic Lamb painted by Jan and Huber van Eyck in 1432. The architecture varies from Gothic to Renaissance, and the progression of time can be seen from views on the rivers.

After a long day, we settled down in a quaint pub for some authentic Belgian beer. I opted for a light Chiquita banana beer, Anna branched out for an Orval (though not to her liking), and the Thompson brothers went for the trappist beers, made by monks, and in different strengths: regular, double, and triple. At the end of the day, I was sad to leave Liselot, but we had more traveling in Brussels.
Our last day in Brussels was perhaps my favorite. After all, it involved food! After a recommendation from our helpful hostel owner, we hiked over to Place du Grand Sablon, home to the famous chocolatier, Pierre Marcolini. Anna and I split an amazing piece of chocolate cake with a surprisingly refreshing fruity center. It was nothing short of divine.

After purchasing a gift for my chocoholic mother, we ventured to try the best fries in the city. It was a long walk, but was rewared with tasty fries and curry ketchup. They did not parallel the quality of our fine chocolate, yet were still better than any fast food joint you'll ever encounter. After all, people were lurking around outside waiting for it to open.

That, my little curious ones, was the first part of our week-long trip. Unfortunately, I'm not including everything fun (trying to eat at Pizza Hut to no avail, the prolific presence of blisters on Scott's feet, or our somewhat hectic taxi ride), but there's more to come. After all, we went to Amsterdam next, and who doesn't come back with a story from there?

1 Kommentar:

Travis hat gesagt…

just to add on: there was a procession of tour buses blaring their horns on the streets of Brussels. We asked the guy at our hotel what it was about. His reply? "Eh. They're always protesting something around here. There's no telling what it was about."


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