Nerd of Noir

Note that on the right is a link to Pete's blog. http://nerdofnoir.blogspot.com/ He has some feedback from various authors already. For amusement purposes only

Pete encouraged me to start this blog of our trip. I am charged up to continue but I need a topic. Vacation rambling only goes so far. It was a bit easier to keep up when we were away from home. Once you are around the house it seems there are more distractions from writing. I think the topic is key. Can I find something I am passionate about, I know something about and people want to hear? Kind of a daunting task right there.

Brussels and out

Train to brussels was nice. Not so crowded. Had a wheel blow out on a suitcase on the walk to the station though. Over heated and melted out the plastic holder. No fixing it so we are carrying it now.
OK hotel and had a nice walk around grand place and scoped out where theart museum is. Got a little side tracked on the walk back to the hotel.Got into a kind of seedy part of town but survived ok when we found abus map with our location on it.

Day 2
The museum was cool. Reuben is the belgian painter of note and there was a gallery with a dozen of the huge paintings by him.

Took a 90 minute bus tour too. The whole European union is run from Brussels and the senate building is huge. Actually most of the important buildings are pretty good sized.
Had the mussels for dinner. Mussels are the Belguim specialty. Pretty much like the ones they make at theMoon Buffet without the sauce. Tired of the breakfast buffet at the hotel so we visited a little hole in the wall that advertised breakfast. Kind of took him by supprise I think he mostly sold coffee and rolls. We got a couple eggs with a salad some grilled chicken and some bread with fresh OJ. A little odd but interesting. Ran a little on the expensive side though.
Took the train to Schipol Airport and the hotel bus to the hotel and we fly out in the morning. Took a short walk to the local mall. It actually is kind ofwarm here the last 2 days. Probably still hotter back home though.

Rented bikes at the BargeHotel very good way to get around. Toured the Half Maan (moon)brewery where supposedly they make the local brew Zot. I didn't see much that looked like it worked. Cool old building though and we got to go to the roof and look around.
Climbed the tower in Market square. Lots of steps and it struck 4 pm while we were at the top. Very loud. There is a carillon that played a tune too.
Heard the some ancient nuns singing in a church too. We have been well entertained during our stay here.

In Brugges

Took 2 train transfers to get from Amsterdam to Brugges. Kind of hectic in Antwerp. The station was huge and we came in on the lowest level and our connection was 4 levels above, once we found it on the monitor. We had 6 minutes and used them all. There is a train every hour but it was a point of pride to make our connection.

Walked to the Bargehotel from the train. Lots of schlepping of baggage. It is a very cool hotel and the room is surprisingly not much smaller than our Amsterdam room. We have a window right on the river although the neighbors are feeding the ducks and they mill about squawking if they think it is dinner time.

Walked the city yesterday, there was a big concert in the Market square right in front of the tower. The tower was closed anyway.

North by Northwest

More touring the city another canal tour and a visit to the Amsterdam historical Museum. 23 rooms packed full. And a large hall with those huge portraits of groups of Amsterdam buisnessmen.

Got tickets to Brugges yesterday and today we travel. A couple of train changes to get there so we have to stay on our toes.

The film museum is having Cary Grant movies this summer. We saw North by Northwest last night. Smallish theater and comfortable seats.

Amsterdam Museums

Visited the Rijkmuseum and the Van Gogh. They are both near our hotel and are the most popular attractions around. The Rijksmuseum is mostly about Dutch hitory and the golden age of artists. They have the Rembrants and such. The Van Gogh has some of his contemporaries too.

Did the boat tour also which is pretty crazy. They come under a bridge and crank a right turn into the next canal in a space about the length of the boat. Lots of house boats and just regular boats parked around. I haven't seen a Lund or Crestliner yet. I wonder how you reserve a spot, or if you even can.

We have a compass now which started the game "which way is north?". Everything is so curved a compass really helps get around. I guess gps would be better but this will do.

Pannekouken for breakfast and pizza with a knife and fork for supper.

Took a bus into Amsterdam today and our hotel. Apollo museum, it has anice lobby. We are in the room you cannot get to, you go to floor 2 onthe lift, walk to the end of the hall, take the stairs(ladder) up to alanding with 4 rooms, we do have the street side window.
Wandered about a bit yesterday. This place reminds us of Disneyland only real.Hundreds of tourists wandering about the magic kingdom shopping andseeing the sights. We visited the old church which dates to the 1600s.There was an organ recital that night and the performer was rehersing sowe got a free concert while visiting.
We had what we were told was a traditional Dutch lunch. Smoked herringfrom a street vendor and onversneden (the local gin like drink).

The green contraption is an outdoor urinal. Just kind of wander in and let fly. I've only seen guys go in to use it so far. There is a bit of an odor