As CJ says in the Zurich post, all these are after the fact, but appropriately so, as we just couldn’t seem to bring ourselves to sit down in front of a computer for the last two weeks.There was simply so many other, better things to do – people to talk with, places to explore, bikes to ride, and we needed to let our bodies do more of what they’ve evolved to do – move.
For me, this was somewhat of a return trip to Belgium… though I had only been to Brussels and Bruges in 2003 when I had come through before during my month-long spring break that was part of a study abroad stint in Swansea, Wales.It was exciting to return this time with CJ, some of our dear friends from Fort Collins, and new equally wonderful people from other stages of Seth and Maria’s lives.This time I was ready for more of an outdoor experience, fewer museums and souvenirs, and using a bike as my primary mode of transportation from city to city.
After we did indeed jump heist-style into the European style Ford van Maria and Seth had rented, we drove the 300 or so miles through France to Orval in southern Belgium – our first planned beer destination: the Abbaye Notre Dame d'Orval and home of Orval beer.It is worth mentioning that in transit, we stopped at a gas station and were disappointed to discover that none of the credit cards within our group were accepted at the station.As it was after hours and there was no attendant, we began hoping for another person to drive through the station to whom we thought we might be able to pay cash if they would be kind enough to use their credit card in the machine (it turns out a chip is now required for credit cards in France, and much of Europe).Thankfully, a couple drove up to get gas, and CJ began the renewal of his French language skills by asking them the favor.Turned out our kind samaritan had shaken Barak Obama’s hand when he had been in Stuttgart for his first visit to the UK, and was happy to help us.It’s not to say he wouldn’t have helped us had Obama not been elected, but the fact that he was happy about our newly elected president made a world of difference to me, especially in comparison to the last time I had traveled through Europe in 2003.
We made it to La Nouvelle Hostellerie d’Orval, near the Abbaye Notre Dame d’Orval at 1:00 in the morning, silently crept up the stairs to our awaiting rooms so as not to wake the other guests and promptly fell asleep.After nearly 48 hours, this was our first opportunity to lay flat – what a wonderful thing we take for granted! Our morning exploration of the Abbey was relaxing and enchanting.With a small entrance fee we were free to wander old ruins of the old chapel, herb garden and residences of former monks.The newer, existing chapel, grounds, and brewery are closed to tourists except those who wish to stay for three or four days to learn about monastic life.
The name and legend that surround the Abbey entail the 11th century Countess Mathilda of Tuscany, who accidentally dropperd her wedding ring, a present from her deseased husband, into a stream near the Abbey.In despair, she prayed to the Virgin and her ring was returned in the mouth of a fish.At this, the Countess exclaimed that she was truly in a valley of gold or vale du or – and now the Orval abbey and beer are marked by a fish with a ring in its mouth.
A case of Orval beer was purchased, I insisted upon a loaf of freashly baked organic bread from the café near by, and we were off to Brussels.
In addition to the Orval history, it is appropriate to explain a bit of Belgium’s beer history as well!Here is what the guide book tells us:“It is St. Arnold, the patron saint of brewers, who must be thanked for this bevy of beers.When plague broke out in the Middle Ages, St. Arnold convinced locals to drink beer rather than water.As beer was boiled and water wasn’t, this so-called ‘cure’ worked.Beer became an everyday drink – a ‘liquid bread’ to supplement an otherwise meager diet.Honey and spices were added to enhance the flavour, as was gruut, a belnd of herbs and flowers such as rosemary and myrtle.Coriander is another favored spice, believed to protect against hangovers.”
Blogging after the fact, there is much to say about Zurich. What a beautiful city! Linda and I arrived in the Zurich airport on the morning of the 10th. We rode the airport train back and forth twice not realizing that it had only two stations. The first time, we didn't think we were in the right place and didn't get off the train only to be shuttled back to the terminal. Wiser the second time and having seen a Swiss mountain girl blowing kisses outside the window of the train now three times, we headed downstairs to figure out how to take a train into town. Some minor language struggles aside, we managed our way onto a very nice train that took us directly to the main Zurich train station. We wandered down the river that runs to the Zurichsee, a beautiful lake at the south end of the city, had breakfast (espresso-like coffee and an apricot pastrie) at a cafe on the river, and watched cyclists on every type of bike pedal by - a good omen given the cycling to come!
We decided to climb the Grossmunster (the first of many cathedrals and windy stairs on the trip) for a view of the city...simply stellar! You catch views of the lake, the city, the Fraumunster across the river and the St. Peter cathedral with the largest clockface in Europe (seen in the pic below). The streets in this part of the city wind all cobbly and wonderful through little shops and up and down hills.
We snoozed in the arboretum by the lake and watched school groups make their noisy processions through the greenery before spending some time outside the Fraumunster where we were to meet the van. Attempts to find internet also put us at a Starbucks where Linda again succombed to her narcileptic tendencies. The stained glass windows in the Fraumunster were designed by Marc Chagal and are fantastic to see. The Mazeratis driving around, a product of the banking industry, also make this a unique place. After a nice dose of Zurich we made our telephone connection with Maria and the van and found them just outside the trafficky center of Zurich. We jumped in the van (quite literally) as it was stopped at a light and were off for our long drive to the Orval hostellerie and Belgium. We found out that the phenomenal number of time trial bikes were the result of the Ironman Zurich that had been going on and the van with all of its bikes on top was expected to take part and had been signaled off the road and into the triathlon area!
Dublin has been great, there's so much to see and so many famous people from here. When I arrived I got a three day bus pass that you can also use on a double decker tour bus company here which goes to all the sites around town so that's been great. Yesterday I went to Trinity College and to their amazing library with the famous Book of Kells. Trinity College is so old and they have a lot of laws for their campus that have been outdated but never repealed - laws like "Students are allowed to carry their swords on campus", or "If a student sees a priest walking down Grafton Street on a Saturday afternoon with his collar on, they can shoot them, but only from the first floor window, and only with a crossbow".
Then it was on to Grafton Street (didn't see any priests) just to walk down it - it was where a couple of the scenes from the movie "Once" was filmed.
Next I went to Saint Patricks Cathedral, which was incredible. Amazing architecture and breathtaking stained glass works.
Then to Kilmainin Gaol - and old jail where several of the leaders of the 1916 Irish Rebellion were executed. It was also used in the original version of "The Italian Job", the movie "Michael Collins", and the new series "The Tudors".
Next to the old Jameson Whiskey Distillery. That tour was really interesting since I had never been to a distillery before.
Then it was off for appetizers at The Porterhouse - one of the only Microbreweries in Ireland. Pretty good beer.. but not amazing. I did have some oysters there though, and they were good. After than I wandered to M.J. O'Neills because I had been recommended their Guinness Beef Stew - and it was amazing. I left there though, because the live music was looking to be more of a performance than a session and walked to The Cobblestones in Smithfield. There were a couple girls playing fiddle and concertina and I joined them for awhile, but it's hard being the only rhythm and chord instrument when it's harmonica, and you don't really know the songs. Then I walked to The Boars Head and there was a large group of musicians and I sat down with them and jammed - tons of fun. There was a fiddle player and mandolin player there who were amazing and were in a bluegrass band together - some of the stuff they played blew my mind.
Now it's off to some museums, art galleries, and just enjoying the city for one more day before I head to Belgium early tomorrow!
Our trek across central Europe from Italy to Belgium got off to an early start with final loading of the van and last minute shopping trips for food, an audio converted to play I-pods in the van and of course coffee. Not just any coffee however, but coffee so extravagant that it was worth taking a picture of. Our first leg of the trip took us through Northern Italy passed uneventfully. In case anyone is interested Northern Italy looks like Iowa but with Terracotta roofs and a random assortment of factories. The only thing that we passed that was even close to a point of interest was the IKEA distribution center for Southern Europe. Things didn’t really start to get interesting until we started into the Alps. Granite cliffs, tunnels and verdant hillsides soon surrounded us as we moved higher into the mountains.
Nothing increases ones appreciation of one of the most beautiful cities in the world like 20 hours on an airplane and thousands of other tourists. Fortunately, Maria was able to guide us to an out of the way part of the city (the historic Jewish ghetto) where we found a nice little café. Following a relaxed, canal side lunch we felt energized enough to brave the crowds of San Marco Plaza. Along the way we enjoyed the interesting architectural influences of this ancient trading center. Once we reach the square the sureality of the place became overwhelming. Perhaps it was the sleep deprivation, the untold multitudes of people or the countless replications of Venetian architecture but it was difficult to shake the feeling of being at Disneyland. It was fun to tourist watch though and we had some great Gilato. Also, the ride down the central canal on the river taxi in the late afternoon light was very picturesque.
Dave here from Dublin! Today I went around the city by bus briefly checking out the sites and then toured the Guinness Storehouse. Pretty great place. It's a self-guided tour so you can go through it at your own pace which is nice, because the portion on the brewing process is interesting - but if you've done all of the Fort Collins brewery tours it doesn't really stack up. It's more like an exhibit - because the tour goes through the storehouse, and you don't get to see the actual beer being brewed. The most interesting is the advertising section showing all of the advertising throughout the ages. There's also an archive room that has all of the log books and working records going back all the way to 1759. You can pull out notes from advertising campaigns, old newspapers and read the reports that the people from Guinness who toured around the world wrote about their beer experiences in other countries and how well Guinness is being represented. There's logs going back to the early 1900s. Really interesting.
Last night I took a musical pub tour about the pub tradition and music in Ireland - I didn't learn anything new on the music side, but I met the tour guides who were both musicians and they told me of a session going on that night at a place called the Palace Bar and I was able to join in with a trio of guys. It was a little intimidating, because it was in the tourist area of town and there were a bunch of people there watching and the guy leading it was older and was really good, but I decided to sit down anyway and play and had a great time and got a lot of compliments.
Last night (my final night in Belfast) I went back to Kelly's Cellar - agreed by me and many others to be the best pub in Belfast - and started jamming with some guys and I noticed that the girl who works at the hostel I was staying at was also there with some of her friends. I went over and said hi and started talking to her and when she asked where I was from she told me that she knew exactly where Fort Collins was - her brother's ex-girlfriend lives there and she's still good friends with her. I asked who she was & said I might know her - in a town the size of Fort Collins its still a longshot, but less so than saying something like "Oh, you know someone who lives in the US? I live in the US, maybe I know them!" - and when she said the name - I totally knew her. For those of you Poudre High School folks - it was Maiki Teene - and this girl in Belfast knew all the Teene's and grew up in the same neighborhood in Canada. How crazy is that!
This blog has been expressly created to document the cycling travels of Ellie Bissell, Lindsay Brust, Emily Elmore, Nathan Howard, Seth Jansen, Jeff Knezovich, Keith Lippmann, Maria Elena Price, Linda and CJ Riley, Dave Wisbon, and Laurie Zuehlsdorff through the idyllic Belgian countryside in search of beer, chocolate, cheese and possibly locations of historical and artistic significance, if there is time.
