Author Archives: Estidb

I was pleasantly surprised by an early morning exit from the apartment. In all fairness we were home last night and didn’t have a particularly late one so there really isn’t anything to shout about but still, I’ll take this little victory. Ash had found a very cool coffee spot called Back to Black on Weteringstraat about 10 minutes away so that was the first stop off. The coffee was excellent but the highlight for me was the delicious, moist (yes, I used the word) and textural cinnamon bun, while the fresh butter croissant wasn’t too shabby either.

After breakfast we headed north towards “De 9 Straatjes” (translated as the 9 streets). It’s an intimate shopping area with picturesque streets connecting the canals and filled with boutiques, stylish cafés, galleries, vintage clothing stores and gift shops. Although a lot of the side streets don’t feature cars, they are accesible to bikes and you need to be switched on if you want to leave with both legs intact. I’ll just say locals who are using those streets everyday often tend to be in a rush and don’t feel rocks for some stoned kid who’s on his first overseas trip away from mom and dad. They will ride, toot their bells (if they can be assed) and proceed forwards at pace so be on the look out for that when crossing roads in the Dam… or die.

After a lot of browsing and some purchases (I’ll highlight my CATAN purchase – very stoked) we walked to SOJU Bar to meet Jonts & Cait for some Korean fried chicken and beer. I think it was on our travels to Asia back in 2019 when I first fell in love with Korean chicken so I was really looking forward to this. The menu is simple… it’s Korean style chicken pieces served as 8 or 12 pieces in a selection of flavours or you can get the lunch combo which comprises 5 pieces of chicken in the flavour of your choice and a beer.

We all went for the 5 piece chicken combo with myself and Cait opting for “Spicy sweet” (Dads famous Korean spicy sweet sauce) and Ash and Jonts got the “Soju Gangnam Style” (boneless chicken topped with Gochujang mayo sauce). It was the incredibly delicious bone in, spicy sweet flavoured chicken taking the unanimous win across the table. I’ll be back I promise!

We did a little more shopping that afternoon before heading home to shower and get ready for drinks at ARIE in De Pijp. Jonty had booked it for drinks pre the gig and invited Gareth to join. When we arrived Gareth (and Bulldog Steve) were already there with Jonts and Cait and we settled into a few Heinekens. A few too many I think… we had plans of eating at Bird (Thai) in Chinatown but by the time we arrived the queue was already snaking outside and onto the street.

We queued for roughly 30 minutes at Bird and were the next table in when we reached a last minute consensus to ditch our position and forage on towards the music. We walked at a pace towards Het Scheepvaart Museum where the gig was starting at 21:45 and made a beeline to “Sotto! pizza” to try and salvage a couple pizzas before the show. Gareth ordered 4 for takeaway which were all ready inside of 10 minutes for us to devour. We sat outside and folded those pizzas down our gullets like a pelican to a school of sardines.

2 minutes later we were scanning our entry tickets and making our way into this beautifully candlelit courtyard in the centre of the Het Scheepvaart Museum. The performers were the Lucerna Quarter – a string quarter comprising 3 ladies on violins and another on a cello. The setup resembled a boxing arena with the quartet at the centre and 360 degree seats surrounding them for a quaint and intimidate hour-long mash up of Rock 🎸 classics. Full set list below:

• Thunderstruck – AC/DC
• Paint It Black – Rolling Stones
• Kashmir – Led Zeppelin
• Nothing Else Matters – Metallica
• Smoke on the Water – Deep Purple
• Crying – Aerosmith
• Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd
• Under the Bridge – Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Come as You Are – Nirvana
• Everlong – Foo Fighters
• With or Without You – U2
• Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen

It’s difficult for me to describe just how talented they are when I have absolutely no prior experience on a violin or any string instrument. I had a brief stint on the saxophone in junior school which lasted about as long Liz Truss as PM before I realised I wasn’t going to be the next Charlie Parker let alone get into the school band.

For a little taster I’ll leave a video of them closing with Queen for you to be the judge.

We all walked down to the Centraal station and got the metro home for some rest. Tomorrow brings the last day of 2022 so it would be good to get about and about a bit before the joll begins 🎉. Thanks for an amazing trip Ashes x loved every minute.

Another gloomy morning greeted us in Amsterdam. It’s been a mixed bag of weather this trip I must be honest. It started with those extreme cold weather temperatures which brought snow to the UK and parts of France for our first few days. The warmer weather then melted the snow and brought more comfortable days in Belgium and Amsterdam. The problem now is the rain. My hands aren’t freezing anymore but they’re cramping from carrying an open umbrella everywhere.

Ash managed to get a very last minute hair appointment down the road in De Pijp which meant that I would have a few hours open in the morning until lunch. Taking that as the perfect opportunity to get out for a run I laced up and made my way to closest point of the Amstel, Torontobrug, and set off in a southerly direction towards Amstelpark on a run. It was overcast, with a slight drizzle, and therefore ideal for quieter streets. This also meant I could run in the bike lane and not worry to much about passing bikes or scooters using the lane to avoid congested roads.

I set off on a fartlek run (a type of interval training with mixed up slow and faster running throughout) 6km down the Amstel before turning back on myself to complete the 12. You don’t need to venture too far down to see some epic freestanding houses owned by some of the wealthiest residents. Forget the image of apartment homes alongside the canals or in crammed suburbs built on top of each other and picture Constantia homes instead. That’s what they are buying and building on the other side of the Amstelpark.

Large properties with double garages, big gardens with outdoor gyms or guest flats and then massive modern double and triple story houses. I don’t know the property market at all but Jonty reckons €5 million (R90m) might get you a whiff of that life.

After a lovely run I strolled over to De Wasserette for a latte and then home to shower. When Ash was done we met at Albert Cuyp Markt to browse the stores and get some lunch. We saw a cute lady frying up spring rolls at “Vietnamese Loempia’s Van Bui” who reminded us a bit of Natti at the back of her restaurant with her head firmly over sizzling hot oil. We ordered 2 chicken and 2 veg spring rolls and stood around her stand eating them with a side of sweet chilli while they were still hot.

We picked up a few things on route and made a stop via Albert Heijn before retreating back home. With plans made for tomorrow and New Years we needed this night off to ferment on the couch. We organised the house and our things a bit, made calls to family and prepared a snack style dinner with lovely New Zealand lamb chops. It was then a couch dictated evening with some series and late night tea & biscuits.

A morning of tea, biscuits and reading/blogging. A really slow start which saw us not leave the house until lunchtime where I made a dart for the Albert Heijn to get some groceries. Jonts and Cait were at gym and messaged to say they were keen to come for lunch afterwards. I bought Mexican tortilla wraps, black beans, cheese, humus, avos, salad, mushrooms, chicken and some sauces and dips for wraps.

While everyone chatted and Ash prepared all the sides, I fried up the mushrooms, chicken strips and finished off the chilli beans. I then tossed the wraps on the pan for 2 minutes each and violà… lunch was served. We chatted plans for the 30th and 31st as Jonts had booked events on both nights for us and also chatted about dinner later on at A-Fusion, a southeast Asian restaurant, where we had booked a kind of “Christmas present” dinner for the 4 of us to enjoy instead of buying something small for one another.

What’s a meeting without a game? A missed opportunity I’d say. Not wanting this to be the result, Jonts whipped out the Monopoly Deal and we sat around the dining room table and played a few hands. It’s Monopoly themed but less like the original game in terms of the length of the game or goal to win. It’s also a card game with no pieces or additional elements like the actual game has. The first person to complete three property sets wins. We had some tea and biscuits and and then Jonts and Cait left to get ready for dinner.

I chatted to Ayra and my folks, Ash stretched and then we chilled before having a shower and walking the 30 minutes over to A-Fusion on the outskirts of Chinatown. The walk from De Pijp was beautiful along the canals with many apartments lit up in Christmas lights still, while restaurants and bars were buzzing with chatter heard each time the doors swung open with more people escaping the cold outdoors for the warm indoors. We sat down to smells of sizzling beef, teriyaki sauce and Asian flavours. The girls selected a bottle of Villa Blanche Chardonnay and we had some Asahi Japanese beers.

The style of Japanese and south East Asian cuisine is much like the Spanish tapas dining. Small sharing plates for the whole table to enjoy. And enjoy we did! We started with the a Flaming Sake & Two Times Tuna special rollsa and the Ebi tempura rolls. We then moved onto the Mama Wongs dumplings and Sticky Korean chicken before trying both the tuna tataki and Cambodian basil beef tatake. We also ordered some more Chardonnay before trying the Spicy Dynamite special rolls, Sze Chuan Crab and the “self assembly” duck pancakes. These were a lot of fun with the strips of duck, fresh greens and Hoi sin sauce to tie it all together. We also finished off with the Tom Yum chicken sticks. Instead of writing out the ingredients for each dish… I attach the menu below with the dishes we ate highlighted in blue.

Not allowing space for dessert, we settled the bill and headed outside to walk around Chinatown. The narrow roads are filled with bars, Amsterdam coffee shops 💨, restaurants, sex shops, vibey clothing shops and everything else in between. It’s chaotic yet special. It’s one of the things that makes Amsterdam, Amsterdam. Definitely more so for the youthful tourists on their first Contiki or European adventure. It must be mind blowing.

Feeling like a nightcap, I found us a famous cocktail bar in Singel about a 20 minute walk away on route towards the Rijks. Flying Dutchmen Cocktails focuses on neo-classic cocktails and features the largest backbar in the Netherlands with over 800 unique spirits. It’s also got some impressive accolades with Best cocktailbar and Top 10 Cocktailbar Europe to name a few.

The place bar is small and quaint but really beautiful. That backbar is actually mesmerising and quite difficult to take your eyes off. As it was our first time there we decided to order of the specials menu. Here are our orders:

• Jonty & Cait – Passionfruit Fix. Ketel One vodka, fresh passionfruit, lemon juice, Galliano Liqueur and vanilla syrup. “Not only Pornstars get to have all the fun. Our fixed answer to the modern martini”
• Ash – Boulevardier. Bulleit Rye Whiskey, Campari and Dolin red vermouth. “American whiskey at its heart and named after the magazine edited by the drinks inventor: Harry McElhone”
• Esti – Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. Chairman’s reserve rum, Falernum, Cointreau and Lime juice. “This Bermuda yacht club creation only got the prefix “Royal” after Prince Albert decided to become a regular”

I could have stayed for another and another but they had reservations coming in and we had lost our seats so we all decided to call it a night. We said cheers to Jonts and Cait and walked the short trek into De Pijp for some much needed rest. An awesome day but I’m stuffed. I don’t know how the Baron and his guests were eating and drinking like that everyday at the De Haar Castle back in the 19th century. Piggies 🐷

Our first day trip from the Netherlands on this trip and that excited me. As much as I do love Amsterdam, I was also really enjoying the nomadic unplanned days in our car prior to our arrival here. A “where to next” approach that had me with car keys in hand and Ash frequenting Airbnb and Booking.com more than instagram or other socials. We walked over to Weesperzijde to get the car from its parking bay and waited for Jonts and Cait to arrive.

The plan for the day was to first visit the Kasteel de Haar and then visit the city of Utrecht for lunch. The drive south to the Castle was only about 30km and took us bang on 30 minutes. It’s actually within minutes of leaving Amsterdam vía the Johan Cruijff Arena that you start seeing green fields on both sides of the A2 and the farming countryside swallows you in. Upon arrival at the Castle grounds we parked outside and made our way into the Coach House for a quick coffee prior to our 11:00 tour slot. Again, much like the Gravensteen, it was an unguided tour but here, there were gentlemen stationed in each of the rooms who could answer any questions you had or blurt out a quick history lesson if they so pleased. There were also A3 sized information cards in each room (in multiple languages) which you could pick up and read while you peered around.

Although this 19th century castle is the largest in the Netherlands with its medieval style and multiple stories comprising 200 rooms and 30 bathrooms (as well as a full moat surrounding it), it’s dwarfed by the size of the exterior grounds. Surrounding the castle is a park which was originally constructed with 7000 grown trees that were ordered in by the designer. There is a maze in the garden and a deer park with some really tame deer in it but we will get back to this a little later on.

The interior of this castle is decorated with richly ornamented woodcarving, reminiscent of the interior of Roman Catholic Churches. There are also limestone carvings, many works from the Rothschild collections as well as incredible porcelain from Japan. Wherever you look you see intricate detail and hand-made decorations and carving that would have taken hours and hours to construct. It’s very “un-Dutch”. I see the Dutch are modest, yet affluent, but still very frugal in their demeanour. This castle is opulence, excess and gluttony throughout. It was once the private residence of the Van Zuylen family, whose descendants still stay here yearly. In the last century it has also hosted international jet setters such as Coco Chanel and Roger Moore.

We walked around visiting the ball room, dining room already laid for 34 guests, the study, mens game room, ladies dressing rooms, maids chambers, the office where all castle admin was done, 8 of the incredible guest rooms, the scullery and finally one of the most beautiful kitchens I’ve ever seen. In 1898 this ultramodern kitchen was installed by Paris kitchen manufacturer Atelier Briffaut. The grates in the floor around the coal fired cooking furnace served to provide air for the two coal fires. The smoke was funnelled Agar through underground ducts to the chimney against the north wall, behind the fireplace where the rotisseries turned around.

My highlight of the trip was reading about “a day in the kitchen”. The pâtissier and one of the commis started on breakfast at 05:00. They baked croissants and bread, made scrambled eggs and various kinds of porridge. Their shift ended at 11:00. A hot lunch was served at exactly 13:00 (the Baron was very strict in this regard). The children ate at 12:30. At 16:00 it was time for afternoon tea and cakes, biscuits and savoury sandwiches. Finger-food was served with an aperitif in the Great Hall, and at 21:00, dinner was served. Dinner always included at least four courses and then everything still needed to be cleaned afterwards. I wouldn’t have minded receiving an invite to one of their September soirées.

Afterwards we walked the grounds and attempted the maze. Cait and Ash did it with relative ease but Jonty and I looked a little silly – firstly trying to find the centre endpoint but then more so attempting to find the exit again. Directionally clueless I tell you. We then visited the deer park and one of the deer, rather oddly, took a liking to a head scratch from Jonty. In order to not let this weirdness go on any longer we told Jonty we needed to go have lunch in the city and quickly scurried along to the car.

After a short drive into Utrecht we parked at Hoog Catharijne (underneath a mall) and walked over to find lunch in the oudegracht. We sat against the window at PK Bar & Kitchen and ordered some food. For starters we shared traditional Dutch bitterballen and chicken nachos. For mains Jonts and I went for the beef burgers while Cait had the cheese and ham toastie and Ash had the same as Cait except for the inclusion of a tomato soup. Cait had to exit early as she was catching a train back to AMS for a doctors appointment while the rest of us walked the old town a bit and browsed a few of the shops. Although a lot of the shops are great, they are all in AMS anyway and knowing that, we didn’t stay long.

After the short half hour drive back we found ourselves deep in another game of CATAN. It’s amazing how much more you know the second time around. We had a really competitive battle over about 90 minutes before I managed to sneak a victory. Beginners luck. Not wanting to have another late night (and also to avoid a rematch haha) we said cheers and walked back to De Pijp. We went via the Albert Heijn (supermarket chain) and picked up some salad ingredients. Ash and I whipped up some much needed freshness, settled into some Wednesday on Netflix, and then hit the sack.

What happens when you have back to back 2am’ers in your 30s and finish a bottle of Captain post a Christmas feast? Absolutely nothing! You become as useless as a knitted condom.

It was bordering on lunch time by the time we left the apartment for our daily fix of coffees. We walked past the Locals coffee takeout branch, a different one to the one we had eaten at yesterday, and got our oat flat white and regular latte. Knowing full well that it was a useless start to the day we decided to make up for it with a long walk from De Pijp. We walked in a westerly direction to Museumplein where 3 major museums are based – the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh museum, and Stedelijk museum. They have also built a winter ice rink in the plein which was humming with kids and that holiday spirit. I think we may give this a go later in the week with Jonts and Cait.

From here we headed into Vondelpark which lies in the borough of Amsterdam-Zuid. There were quite a few families out with their kids on walks or in the front of their urban arrow family cargo bikes as well as a lot of runners working out their Christmas feasts from the day before. We looped the park before connecting with the Amstel river and making our way over to Jonts and Cait for a left over roast roll and a movie. On route there a pigeon decided to shit on my head but unluckily for him I was wearing a cap. Jokes on you.

We made gammon rolls, had some humous, cheese and cured meats and then sat down to watch Knives Out : Glass Onion together.

After the movie they introduced us to CATAN. It’s a multiplayer board game where players take on the roles of settlers, each attempting to build and develop holdings while trading and acquiring resources. You basically gain victory points as your settlement grows and the first player to 10 victory points wins the game. Their is an element of similarity to Monopoly with the positional play, strategising and chance cards but more bartering and engagement from my standpoint personally.

After the game we said our goodbyes and walked back home. We shared a pizza from De Pizzabakkers and chilled on the couch watching the new Adams family spin-off, Wednesday, on Netflix. Tomorrow the plan is to do out first day trip out of the city and visit the famous De Haar Castle outside of the Utrecht centre before visiting the city canals, shopping district and having lunch.

Merry Christmas ! We haven’t done many in Europe in our lifetimes so to not wake up to white roads, snowmen and kids sledding through the streets was a bit disappointing. I blame all those American movies growing up for this outward sigh. Anyway, much like when I realised Santa was a figment of my brainwashed kids brain, I got over this relatively fast.

Ash and I headed for a walk into De Pijp and settled into breakfast at Locals and some backgammon. We shared a pancake stack with fresh berries and sipped on our hot coffees. Surprisingly for Christmas it was really busy. The queue had formed out of nowhere and people were patiently waiting for a seat regardless of where one became available. I was so used to being in a house where Christmas very rarely left the vicinity of our property so to see so many people eating out at restaurants or coffee bars meant two things. One, the Dutch don’t really make a huge deal out of Christmas or the Christmas spirit. Two, there are a lot of tourists here without families and to congregate at these coffee shops brings that sense of togetherness and gives them comfort.

After getting ready for Christmas lunch we walked over to Jonts and Cait who were hosting us for the day. They were hosting the same 8 from yesterday as well as Robyn and Gareth. Robs had been in Amsterdam for a while and was friendly with Jonts and Cait while Gareth had recently only moved over from SA with a backpack and his English bulldog Steve. Oh, I mustn’t forget about Steve. That takes Christmas lunch to 11 sorry. Steve was very responsive to all of Gareth’s requests and knew when it was time to chill, be around us, sit away from the food and not beg or just sleep. I was surprised as I hadn’t been around many English bulldogs and hadn’t seen this obedient side to them. He did let out a couple rippers post lunch for us to enjoy … there’s the English spirit!

We chatted around a harvest table of chilli Biltong, droewors, Dutch mature cheese, olives, dips and crackers while they finished off their mains preparation in the kitchen.

For mains it was a classic Christmas roast. We had turkey, stuffing, roasted potatoes, some beans and stem sides, roast gammon and a beautiful sweet, yet tangy mustard that Cait had whipped up. Couple this all with some red wine, Christmas crackers and a bunch of expat Saffas and you get one very lekker joll.

After a delicious meal, and once the plates had been cleared, we started a game of dirty Santa. Everyone had had a “rough” budget of €25 and was tasked with buying a unisex gift for the day. Given the relatively low budget I was very impressed with the gifts that were being opened and the high quality steals that Ash and I both made towards the end of the game. We ended with some Ottolenghi sushi plates as well as a pair of spiral shaped candles and a citrus printed kitchen apron from Dille & Kamile. We were all like little kids opening gifts on Christmas Day. Energy levels were heightened.

We resorted back to the lounge chairs and couches (and don’t forget the Netflix fireplace) for some chats and dessert. An assortment of chocolate, ice cream, sticky toffee pudding and malva pudding. When the food coma kicked in, the crowd slowly thinned. Kelly was driving Warren, Josie and Bryn back to The Hague. Robs also left in the evening while the rest of us stayed and Jonty, Gareth and I turned our attention to the infamous Captain Morgan. Before we knew it it was 1am and the bottle of Spiced Gold was as empty as the surface below the Christmas tree. And with that realisation (and the fact that I was a little tipsy for the walk) we called an Uber and thanked Jonts and Cait again for an awesome day. Played out your boots guys 👢.

The morning started with delicious Amsterdam coffee (proper milk) and a Roti De Boeuf at Five Ways Coffee roasters on Boerhaaveplein with Jonty and Cait. We chatted about the plan for us later that day heading to Den Haag for Christmas Eve dinner and also got them to recommend de Bijenkorf (like a John Lewis) to us for some last minute secret Santa shopping for Christmas Day lunch. Ash and I said cheers and took the metro through to Centraal where we had to queue at de Bijenkorf for a little while before getting in. We weren’t the only ones that had left the shopping until the final hour.

Luckily for us the shop had 5 floors and an assortment of interesting homeware, books and unisex gifts so we managed to find the gifts quite quickly. We also bought some wine for the festivities and then headed home to chill for a few hours before linking up with Jonts and Cait again. I tidied up the flat, unpacked and did some laundry while Ash caught up on some rest. After getting ready we walked the 20 minutes to Wibautstraat to meet J&C before metro’ing over to Centraal for the overground train to Den Haag. We had some time to kill so we grabbed a beer from the Grand Café, the stations former 1881 waiting room with grand Art Nouveau decor.

About an hour later we arrived at Den Haag Centraal, otherwise known as “The Hague”. Located south west of Amsterdam, on the North Sea coastline, The Hague is the country’s administrative centre and seat of government. We strolled around the city passing some beautiful buildings like the Binnenhof and Mauritshuis before diving through The Passage (shopping mall) on route to Kelly and Warren.

In addition to the 6 of us, Warrens cousin Josie and her husband Bryn were joining for dinner. They recently moved over to the Netherlands from Durban and had luckily found a place a stone throne away from Kelly and Warren. We sat around in the lounge chatting for a while while Warren “lit” the fire. There was no need for matches or even wood, just “play” on the Netflix console and the fireplace was stoked. The “fire” burnt bright , my cheeks brighter. I assumed an immediate bar rash and had to remove my jersey as a result – just embarrassing Esti.

Warren also has an intangible cultural heritage dating back to Indonesia and a result (and an absolute treat for the rest of us I’ll add) he had prepared a traditional indo rijsttafel (meaning “rice table”) comprising many small, shareable dishes ranging from mild to spicy served of course alongside rice.

My highlights were…

• Rempeyek – picture a peanut brittle but savoury, light and you don’t have to visit the dentist afterwards.
• Gado-gado – raw vegetable salad served with a boiled egg
• Beef rendang – it was melt in the mouth beef with a rich flavour from the dry spice mix
• chilli cashew chicken – sweet, sticky crispy chicken balls similar to a Korean Dakgangjeong

We ate good! We shared many a laugh around the table and honestly interacted like we had known each other our whole lives, which in part was true for some, but not for all of us. It was the first time the 8 of us had ever sat together for a meal but it didn’t feel that way. Warren ensured our glasses were always topped and before we knew it it was already Christmas Day. Remembering the last service back to AMS was at 00:30 we thanked them for such incredible effort and said our “goodbyes” . They were more like “see you in a few hours” as all of us were congregating at the Blumberg’s for Christmas Day lunch in a few hours. Let the festivities continue 🎄

After checking out from La Lys and taking our bags back to the car in the underground parking for storage we headed for breakfast at Luv L’oeuf (love the egg). It was recommend to us by the owner of NOMAD in Bruges. We had oat cappuccinos and very glutinous waffles 🧇. Ash ordered the fried chicken – crispy fried chicken on a cheddar waffle , fried egg, Canadian maple syrup, chipotle mayo and homemade pickles. I went for the crispy bacon and melted Brie on a cheddar waffle with truffle honey , walnuts and balsamic-marinated pears. Yummy!

Feeling the need for some cultural stimulation we signed up for the self directed audio tour of the Gravensteen Castle in the heart of the old town. The current castle dates from 1180 and was the residence of the Counts of Flanders until 1353. It was subsequently re-purposed as a court, prison, mint, and even as a cotton factory. It was restored over 1893–1903 and is now a museum and a major landmark in the city. What we didn’t know about the tour was that the audio would be so absurd and strange. It was the voice of an older Flemish man (speaking English of course) who kept banging on about what he believed happened in each of the rooms in the castle.

There were 18 audio stops along the tour and although some were informative and factually depicted history, quite a few of them were him trying to be funny, but actually just being creepy and prompting uneasy/confused facial expressions from the visitors who sat or stood in each of the rooms with the audio devices pressed against their ears. In one room he droned on about the count and his wife (they were 13 and 14 years old at the time) engaging in a love scene at the fireplace and in another he recounted his top 5 torture scenes which were carried out in the basement level torture chamber and on the city streets for public view.

Needing a drink after this we exited the tour and took some steps down to their winterbar on the castle site. It was beautifully lit down their and Ash and I had some Belgium blondes while I blogged a bit and she planned our run for Amsterdam before we found ourselves in one of those torture chambers.

I called Jonty to let him know we were hitting the road and greeted him with a hello “bokkie” (soft, loving word) instead of “boychie” (strong, masculine word) which I had been trying to say. We had a laugh about this because I had had one Belgium beer and in classic Jonty fashion he accused me of having a one beer screamer. In my defence I was actually feeling fine and proved this by driving the next 3 hours to Amsterdam. The roads were surprisingly open for a Friday afternoon , especially given it was the last of official work day for many of 2022. We did a bit of rush hour traffic on the outskirts of Antwerp but other than that it was smooth sailing into Amsterdam. My highlight of the trip was Ash’s music playlist derived from all Shazam’s she had done as well as the 5 lane highway entering Amsterdam. It has to be the greatest joy of driving when you pick a lane, a speed and drive uninterrupted for a lengthy period of time.

Once in the city we unpacked our bags at Murray and Cara’s apartment. They are in CT for the holidays and kindly offered up their beautiful apartment to us for the week. We then parked our car in yet another underground, this time it was Weesperzijde, located along the east side of the Amstelriver, a short 25 minute walk from the apartment. Not having the car right outside doesn’t bother me as, much like London, everything is accessible by public transport or a short stroll. Also the amount of cyclists on these roads is no joke and flattening one of them like a pannenkoek just before Christmas isn’t a gift I want to give. We ordered an Uber Eats delivery of Tom Ka Kai, spicy beef noodles and a chicken Pad Thai from Baibua Thai and settled into the new “Knives Out – Glass Onion” movie on Netflix.

We weren’t even half way through the soup starter when Jonty messaged and said we should pull in for a drink down the road (500m away to be precise) as they were having dinner at Five Brothers Fat Zuid with Em Puggia. Let me just mention now that I only learnt the name of the place much later on in the night. Not wanting to disappoint an old and dear friend we scoffed down the food so quickly it would cause indigestion for most, and messaged him back for directions and the name of the place they were at. Jonty, being a bit of a phone addict, had enabled Sleep mode on his phone which kicks in at 20:45 each night. His initial message was sent to us at 20:43. So when I responded about 10 minutes later saying we are ready to pull in he didn’t get the notification on his phone and therefore didn’t respond. I tried him several times over the next hour and even messaged Cait. Guess what? She also enables Sleep Mode. What’s going on with the world? I was all but changed into my pyjamas by the time he responded with the name and address of the place and Ash was in a deep sleep with a face mask on and cucumbers over her eyes. Ok I’m being a bit dramatic but it was a long, quiet wait for a response. Here I am spying on Jonty at the restaurant waiting for him to look at his phone … see below.

Being the great mates that we are we sprung into action, grabbed our things and walked the literal 6 minutes to the restaurant. It was that close! Jokes aside, It was awesome to see them all again as the last time we saw Jonts, Cait and Em was at Easter when we visited. We settled into a couple Moscow Mules and chatted for a good couple of hours before calling it a night. Em was off to the south of the Netherlands for Christmas and was then heading back to SA and Londolozi Game Reserve for new years, while we were all opting for the colder Dutch winter “hell week” (joll week after Christmas) but I was ok with that. Let the festivities begin.

After heading for a stroll to take some loose bags to the car we made our way to Coffeebar Adriaan for a coffee and a couple games of backgammon. We then headed back to the hotel for check out and to leave our bags in the storage room before taking to the streets. We had initial plans of visiting the chocolate museum but the sun was peering through the clouds and the weather outside was saying otherwise. We strolled the canals, side streets and residential suburbs while intermittently popping our heads into shops. I found a great vinyl shop called Cherry Picker which had loads of brand new records including many of the Warner repertoire that we already have at home as well as a lot that I still need to order through work. It’s crazy to see the prices that physical music is commanding as well as the demand for this even in this new digital music era. It only took me a few minutes to realise the insane value of the records we have at home (in storage) from work orders over the years. I can’t wait to get a good player and break a couple of them in.

For brunch we had been drawn to “That’s Toast” as it kept creeping up in reviews and online articles of places to eat in Bruges. We queued for a about 15 minutes and during that time I chatted to Thands and got to see beautiful Ayra wake up from her lunchtime nap. Ooh she must be so amped for her first proper Christmas (she’s 2) now that she understands the concepts and celebrations around it so much more than a year ago.

Once inside we ordered bloody Mary’s (delicious!) and some classics from their “Savory Toast” section. Ash got the Mogu – mushroom humous, mixed creamy mushrooms, chilli pepper topped with a fried egg. I ordered The Triple Madame – molten Bruges cheese and Serrano jam on triple layered toast topped with a fried egg and sweet pepper mayo on the side. We ended up sharing them anyway as both were unreal. After brunch we needed to walk off the fullness so we browsed shops for secret Santa gifts and also bought ourselves some beautiful Moroccan handmade glassware from Harfi. It was then to the car for our short 50km journey across to Ghent.

Ash registered our vehicle on route as it’s a low emission zone and vehicles require a free registration prior to entry into the city. We parked at the nearest underground parking to our accommodation and lugged the bags over to La Lys studio apartments where we had Booking.com’d a place for the night. Once again, our place was in the heart of the city and only a stone throw from their famous Christmas market. It also commanded great views up the street and onto the cathedral.

The weather has become quite a bit warmer over the past few days, but at the same time a lot wetter which I actually dislike more. We grabbed the brollie and headed for the market to take in some of the evening sights. My goodness this architecture is incredible! Medieval in parts, stone faced, ancient sky scraper cathedrals, multi coloured and puzzle pieced together. Simply epic.

Although the market was filled with the Christmas specialities of chocolate waffles, crepes, bratwurst, toasties and sweets galore we fancied the healthier southern meal of sushi. Ash found a place close by called Twilight Sushi and we sat and shared a few classic rainbow and californian rolls and a Maes lager. Still my favourite meal.

We then hit up the shops for some water , fruit and smoothies for the morning and headed back through the market to the our studio apartment for the finale of Traitors and a good sleep. Tomorrow we will see Ghent in a bit of day light which should be impressive with all these buildings and also need to make a decision on whether we drive through to Amsterdam a day earlier than originally planned. Let the roadie continue 🙌🏻

Located in the Flemish region of Belgium, Bruges is the capital and largest city in the province of West Flanders. As one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Europe, this UNESCO World Heritage city has a population of about 200,000 but attracts nearly 7 million visitors annually. The small old city is surrounded by four gates along the old rampart, although Bruge’s official limits stretch down to the Zeebrugge, or port, on the North Sea. From the ramparts around the preserved old city, to path-lined canals, fields, farmland, and great beaches and boardwalks of the nearby coast, running in Bruges can be an absolute treat. We haven’t quite ventured out of the city yet so the ramparts and canals are all we have seen so far.

For our jog this morning we did the Rampart loop. The 10.5 km Outer Canal Loop is the signature running route in Bruges, as it heads along a dedicated waterside path around the historic center, passing through four historic gates and numerous important sites. We shared the AirPods , listened to some good tunes and took in quite a few beautiful sites including some epic canal-side apartments owned by the affluent. On the way back to the hotel we past Café Vlissinghe which is “probably” the oldest pub in the world – dating back to 1515!

After a hot shower we went for a coffee at The Novel and a pain au chocolat. From here we walked through the streets of the old city and into “Ten Wijngaerde” beguinage. The Flemish beguinages are a unique testimony to the medieval mystical movement which produced them. Beguines were religious women, widows or spinsters who wished to live an independent but committed life outside the recognised orders with their vows of fidelity and poverty. We only learnt about them after walking through one of them with a central courtyard lined with trees and on the walk through Ash mentioned she had seen a women’s face against the chapel wall and on second glance it had disappeared. She had no clue about the significance of women on this site. Wow.

We also went into the Beguinage chapel and quietly walked around before lighting a candle for the health and prosperity of our families and then exited onto the streets to find some lunch. We eventually settled on NOMAD where we found a strong South African influence both in the menu and around the place. They had biltong as a snack, a Cape Malay curry, Graham Beck, proteas on the tables and a Nelson Mandela table to name a few. Ash ordered a Singapore scampi laksa with chicken instead and I went for the Katsu chicken burger, fries and salad. Both meals were really good and when washed down with a Super 8 pils and a Tongerlo Blond really hit the spot. It was only when paying the bill that we struck up a conversation with the owner and found out that she and her husband lived in Noordhoek for 8 years and had both of their sons there. They love going back now on holidays and it holds a special place in their hearts. Of course bru!

After wandering through various shops we took a break at the hotel and mellowed out for a bit before finding a really dope Cocktail Bar, Groot Vlaenderen, for an evening drink. It was beautifully lit, with the bar the main feature and a rose/flower mural on the wall. The menu was equally as beautiful , so beautiful that I may have stolen a copy for my coffee table one day haha shhhh! Ash had the Fig Old Fashioned and I had a Mai Tai with the popcorn snacks they gave us.

We strolled the streets after the drinks , chatted and then decided to buy some loaded fries 🍟 because who comes to Belgium and doesn’t get Belgium fries.

We still need to buy some good chocolate but that’s tomorrows game plan as we have eyes on a chocolate museum and tasting 😉 before we head for Ghent. Good night.