BeNeLux

Electronic PostCard from BeNeLux - April 2003

Hi everyone,

We went to Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg (collectively known as Benelux) for 2 weeks some time back. Now we know that many of you may think that the Netherlands has a dodgy reputation which doesn't extend to conventional "sightseeing", Belgium a humdrum one and Luxembourg not one at all. But hopefully you will be pleasantly surprised at how many things there are to do that aren't illegal or boring in other countries.

Firstly some background. Our friend, Adam G., an Australian Greek friend had recently moved to the Netherlands to contract for IBM after being voluntarily drafted into the Greek Army (don’t ask). So we decided to avail ourselves of his downtown Amsterdam location to see some of the sights. He was even keen to help us “cost average” down our Belgian and Luxembourg holiday in the following week by tagging along. His dedication was quite touching since he had given up a trip to a Columbian wedding (allegedly attended by single supermodels) to spend time with us.

Adam is quite a complex hardworking type with a strong paranoid streak. His interests include:
· OLAP Data Warehousing
· Photography
· Complaining about his investment portfolio which looks like an intercontinental road smash
· Complaining about having to use ancient technology, because of his investment portfolio. His Palm PDA is 7 years old – so old in fact it is really just a mini Newton rip-off on steroids
· Eating like a hobbit
· Chasing unattainable women
If you are interested ladies his “Hot or Not” web link is here:

Like all decent Frankling travel stories there has to be unnecessary complicating factors. Getting into the spirit of things on the first day we bought a heavy, bulky Ikea flat packed outdoor table and large parasol to go with it. Then Andrew & Adam had to lug it up 4 flights of steep narrow stairs which are so typical of Amsterdam accommodation, past something that looked suspiciously like dog faeces. Adam hasn’t even been able to appreciate the assembled result, although to be fair, he didn’t mention his building did not have a lift.

Once ensconced in Adam’s flat we proceeded to learn about the finer points of the Dutch and Dutch culture in the following days such as:
· Virtually no one accepts credit card – while The Netherlands is an advanced western economy the Dutch are obviously tight.
· The general concept of customer service is that the Dutch will stare at you without attempting to serve you. Our hysterical laughing at an Enkhuizen Café (not space cake assisted) was in stark contrast to the staff.
· Cash machines must be very expensive since they are almost non-existent. One day in downtown Amsterdam we queued for 25 minutes to get cash.
· Things are really expensive and/or silly: eg membership of a video rental store costs €2 a month. The world famous Keukenhof, which is basically just masses of people looking at masses of nicely arranged tulips, other bulbs & signs; cost the better part of €30 for 2 people and a car. It was quickly dubbed Rippenhof.
· Sex and drugs appear to be available just about anytime but supermarkets close really early.
· The Dutch really are quite tall and thin. Adam described them as a “race of praying mantises”; but perhaps that was due to Adam’s experience with the local women.
· The famous Dutch attitude towards alternative lifestyle choices seems to have been around for much longer than most people realise.
· Open, portable urinals are put out in Amsterdam’s streets each weekend to try and reduce anti-social behaviour (Adam was keen to demonstrate).
· The ubiquitous, interesting and multifunctional bicycles.

If you get past the culture, in general we found Amsterdam to be a really pretty city. The canals and the narrow merchant houses that lean into the street add a dimension that most cities lack. This was particularly apparent as we went around the streetscapes in the evening taking photos with Adam.

We hit most of the high sights and a number of the smaller ones, and have listed some photos here: Van Gogh Museum, Vondelpark, Rembrandthuis, “Our Lord in the Attic” Chapel (Amstelkring Museum). Given our photographic bent, we also thoroughly enjoyed the World Press Photo Competition being displayed in Oude kerk. A little outside Amsterdam in Haarlem was the amazing Hiding Place where Corrie Ten Boom and other Christians hid Jews during WW2. Perhaps the only major disappointment (for Andrew at least) was that the Rijksmuseum, packed with various master’s paintings, was closed because they had just discovered asbestos in it.

On the weekends and Queen’s Day we took the opportunity to show Adam around some of the rest of the new country he called home. High lights included:
· Getting caught up in an overt display of Dutch nationalism complete with prams and orange balloons.
· Suffering rubbish bicycles at De Hoge Veluwe National Park. Still you could always nick someone else’s complimentary bike at the next stop.
· Deventer, a quiet non-touristy town with lots to photograph (sorry Andrew).
· Signs of Dutch eccentricity.

The Queen’s Day Street Party itself in Amsterdam was somewhat of a disappointment. If you can imagine semi-biblical quantities of rubbish mixed with split beer and sound systems seemingly borrowed from a The Who Concert (think jet engines) you’ll get the idea. It was rather like the world’s largest university party.

During our second week the 3 of us went to Belgium and Luxembourg, taking our car. The general idea was to do a rough clockwise loop before returning to Amsterdam.

Before we had even left the Netherlands we discovered how poor a packer Adam was, as we had to debate the merits of whether there was any downside for a Greek national to be travelling in Western Europe without his passport.

Our first stop was Waterloo of Eurovision fame. This was to be our base from where we would catch the train into Brussels. It was some time until the next train into Brussels so we decided to have a bite to eat in a café / bar near the station. With the 1970’s disco ball, antlers, faded south pacific wall photo and indoor mini golf course it was obvious that Belgians know how to have fun.

Brussels itself is an odd place and hard to describe easily. There are some interesting architectural sites such as the Train Station and the Art Nouveau Musee Horta. The Grand Place is certainly spectacular at night. The one day per year access to the Royal Glass Houses was certainly an eye opener, in part because of the almost non-existent security. And it would be remiss of us not to mention the memorable suburb of “Garbageville” which surrounded our backpackers. But Brussels appeared to lack a certain charm, which perhaps reflects its status as a young capital full of Eurocrats in stark contrast to its Flanders surrounds. Still it’s obviously well and truly on the tourist circuit, as evidenced by the young women con artists who wanted money for signing a petition.

Leaving Brussels we nipped back into the Netherlands for Maastricht, that rather ridiculous Dutch protrusion, which was a waste of time. The trip through Eastern Belgium to Luxembourg was boring; the town of Bastogne made famous in a Band of Brothers episode, was well, nothing like it was in Band of Brothers.

Luxembourg has obviously been seriously underrated by so many as a country, let alone a tourist destination. A possible exception are the Germans who send their investments their on holiday, and who presumably are more comfortable to pay €6 a litre for water at a restaurant than we were. Well, although you wouldn’t want to give it more than a couple of days, we can honestly say that Luxembourg was a very pleasant surprise. We particularly enjoyed the castles being renovated and the commanding position held by the heavily fortified Luxembourg City, although Andrew didn’t appreciate receiving a cranial guano deposit. And Luxembourg has the distinction of selling Belgian chocolate, branded by its cocoa content, at probably the lowest prices in the European Union…

We continued our invasion of the Low Countries with a push through the Ardennes into the rest of Southern Belgium. There was the working monastery at Orval with the ruined Abbaye Notre Dame. However perhaps most memorable was the antics of my (Andrew’s) companions. I can honestly say that being photographic caddy can be quite testing at times. Not only did I have to move out of shots & try not to get too bored, there was a fairly constant litany of whinges from the photographers regarding the poor quality of photographic opportunities. “If only X,Y, or Z weren’t in the photo…” was commonly expressed, to which my common response became “Just Photoshop it”. One time, Adam mistook bleach for soap and washed his hands with it. To entertain me more, Jen swallowed a fly and started hiccupping. On yet another occasion Adam accidentally Full Montied Andrew because he was the only one who couldn’t keep the door shut on a shower cubicle built for height challenged individuals without limbs (sorry, no picture available). This was so much more fun than Accommodation Plan A, which a dash to the well known (?) Belgian Coast late in the evening only to discover that our F1 Access Code didn’t work.

We left our backpackers, which offered breakfast in bed and the showers for midgets to go and explore Brugge, which must have one of the highest concentrations of tourists in Belgium. For once the photographic whinging died down and I think you will see why when you see some of the results.

B
R
U
G
G
E
!

The whinging recommenced with a vengeance when we got to Antwerp. Despite our nice hotel, the great range of beer (630 in one place) and gourmet chocolates this particularly outbreak seems to have been based on the complexity of actually getting in and out of Antwerp. It’s a wonder that Jen hasn’t agreed to get GPS a long time ago.

From Antwerp we headed back towards Amsterdam on our final leg. The Dutch seaside was pleasant enough but probably fairly forgettable if you actually had to holiday there, assuming you have seen a good beach. However, it was the different aspects of Dutch Engineering that were really impressive, such as:
· The truly gargantuan Dykes, which give you a really good sense of how low much of the Netherlands really is.
· Rotterdam, the world’s largest port. Driving past the port area at night was truly amazing, taking about half an hour at a not very leisurely pace.
· The World Heritage listed windmills at Kinderdijk, which were a truly striking sight in the fine weather of our last day.

These countries offer so much than beer, chocolate and alternative ways to prepare for matrimony.

Go and see them.

Regards,

Andrew & Jennifer

Notes:
· No illegal substances were abused in the production of this email.
· Adam gave up the option to review this email pre-release because he didn’t want to get in the way of the “creative process”!
· For the truly committed here are even more photos.