New Favorite Breakfast

I'm completely hooked on my new favorite breakfast, savory oatmeal with egg. I don't like a sweet, sugary breakfast and I wanted to enjoy oatmeal, so this is the perfect marriage. The fiber and the protein in this meal keep me feeling full for hours.

Savory Oatmeal with Egg

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 egg
1/3 oz. grated cheddar
1 chopped scallion
pepper

In a small saucepan, combine water and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add rolled oats and stir. Reduce heat to medium-low. Let oats cook for a minute, then crack the egg into the pan. Continue occasionally stirring oatmeal and egg whites, leaving yolk intact. Cook about 4 minutes, until oatmeal is cooked and thickened and egg yolk is set. Pour oatmeal and egg into a bowl. Add cheddar. Add pepper and scallion to taste.

Serves 1. About 270 calories.

Paris-Belgium-Amsterdam Misc. Expenses

Here's a list of some of our transportation and attraction expenses, along with other tidbits of information that might be helpful. All information is as of April 2011.

Paris

* The train from Charles de Gaulle Airport to downtown Paris is 8.70 Euros/ticket.

* The Metro is 1.60 Euros/ride. You can buy packs of 10 tickets for 12 Euros at any Metro station if you plan on using the subway a lot like we did. We went through 20 tickets during our five days.

* Saint Chapelle admission costs 8 Euros/person.

* Versailles plus Hamlet admission costs 18 Euros/person.

* Arc de Triomphe costs 9.50 Euros/person to climb.

* Notre Dame costs 8 Euros/person to climb.

* Musee D'Orsay admission costs 5.50 Euros/person. Our tickets were purchased at 8:30 pm. I think they're normally more expensive, but you can save money by going late on Thurs., the day the museum is open late.

* Louve admission costs 10 Euros/person.

Ghent

* Castle admission costs 8 Euros/person.

Amsterdam

* Admission to the Anne Frank Museum costs 8.50 Euros/person

* Admission to the Van Gogh Museum costs 14 Euros/person.

Day Fourteen - Last Day in Amsterdam

Aw, it's our last day in Amsterdam and of vacation (sniffle). For breakfast we had pancakes somewhere not worth mentioning. They weren't good. Should have gone back to The Pancake Bakery.

We went to the Van Gogh Museum, which was fantastic. Besides all the amazing Van Gogh's, there was an exhibit going on called "Picasso in Paris 1900-1907," which helped to make up for the Picasso Museum in Paris being closed for renovations. The exhibit was all about Picasso's works when he was living in Monmartre and some of his blue paintings were there, which I love. My favorite was Poor Couple. Sad but beautiful. Not a drop of cubism in this exhibit.

Two floors were dedicated to Van Gogh. It is his museum after all. My favorite paintings were a very detailed self-portrait that was signed, the Sunflowers, and the Cherry Blossoms. The darkest personality paints the prettiest flowers.

The rest of the museum is filled with Van Gogh's mentors, contemporaries, and other artists working in Monmartre when he lived there. Very cool to see the original posters by Henri Toulouse-Latrec and Steinlen's Chat Noir.

After the museum, we walked to The Pantry for lunch. It's a cozy little restaurant and the traditional Dutch food is great. We started out with goat cheese croquettes that were ooey-gooey on the inside.

Hubs had a meatball with mashed potatoes 3 ways: with sauerkraut, beef and carrot stew, and kale. The sauerkraut ones were the best. One of these days I'm going to try and recreate those.

I had a dish that was like shepherd's pie, but the meat was curried and the potatoes had cauliflower mixed in. So good. My kind of comfort food.

For dessert we shared little pancakes, not like the pancakes at The Pancake Bakery, more like little abelskivers. Little bites of puffy sweetness.

1 set menu with croquettes, shepherd's pie dish, and pancakes + meatball and potatoes + 2 beers = 43 Euros

After lunch we walked over to Vondel Park, a huge park near the museums.


The park was packed on a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon and made for great people watching. People sprawled out on the pond lawns, dogs swimming, bicycles coasting by. It was beautiful. Great place to relax, read a book, maybe get some of those pages written.

We strolled over to the quiet Jordaan and walked around the neighborhood. Not a tourist in sight, it feels like a real city. We passed a woman feeding some waterbird standing on the roof of a car. The bird did not belong here. It was bizarre.

Though we weren't starving, we wanted to eat something that could loosely be considered dinner. I don't know where we ate, but it was a little bar on the border of the Jordaan and we sat at a table outside. After a few days in Amsterdam, Amstel starts to grow on you, so we had a couple and split a cheese, sausage, and liverwurst plate and some meatballs (which were actually more like croquettes). The food wasn't spectacular, but it was a fine last meal. Sitting outside, enjoying the beautiful weather, having a cold beer. Ah, vacation.

Back at the hotel, we packed, finished watching Shakespeare in Love, and ate the rest of our Dumon chocolates in bed.

Goodbye, Europe. Until next time.

Day Thirteen - Tulips and Anne Frank

Today we went to Keukenhof. It's a huge flower garden only open in the spring, about a half hour outside of the city. Take the train to the airport and you can purchase tickets and take a bus to the garden. It's a whimsical place to spend a few hours. The gardens are orchestrated really well, interesting color combinations so you don't feel like you're seeing the same thing over and over again.

If you go to Keukenhof, you'll see a lot of scenes that look like this:

And this:

And this:

There's a windmill you can climb up that gives a spectacular view of the surrounding tulip fields:

If you're in Amsterdam in the spring, I recommend it. Go early. The place was fairly crowded by the time we left in the early afternoon.

Back in Amsterdam, we ate lunch at The Pancake Bakery. Hubs was especially excited about this one because he loves all things pancakes. I feared these Dutch pancakes would be like crepes, not my favorite, but they weren't. They were delicious, light yet hearty, a slightly eggier American pancake. I had a savory mushroom and cheese one. If they had these in the U.S., it would be one of my favorite brunch dishes.

Hubs had a banana rum with whipped cream on top.

2 pancakes + 1 large water = 30 Euros

Bellies full, it was time to go wait in line at the Anne Frank Museum. I read Anne Frank's diary in the 8th grade just like everyone else. I'm sure at some point I learned that Anne Frank lived in Amsterdam, but I'd forgotten that fact until I started researching Amsterdam. At first, I had no interest in going. I just thought it would be sad. But then I thought I might regret not visiting since we were right there, so we went. And I'm really glad we did.

From the outside, the house looks like all the other beautiful houses in Amsterdam. And the house sits right on one of the canals in the heart of Amsterdam, prime real estate. I wasn't expecting that.

Once inside, the museum takes you through the house, the office. The minute I stepped in, I thought I was going to cry. I don't know why, I guess just the immensity. The Holocaust has always seemed so far away, two generations past, across the ocean. And here it was.

Then you go upstairs to where the family was hidden. There is no furniture. It makes the rooms feel larger than they would have seemed. The windows were covered as they would have been. No fresh air. It's hard to imagine living like that, knowing the beautiful canal and streets right outside and not being able to see them.

Anne Frank's bedroom was the most sobering. Some of her decorations still adorn the wall, mostly American celebrities, just like any teenage girl. So sad.

The museum is laid out so well. It's extremely informative, very interesting. Even if you don't think you care about Anne Frank, the museum is worth it for the world history lesson alone. Anne's father, Otto, helped design the museum, and you can tell. The displays are all so tastefully done.

After Anne Frank, we were depressed and tired. On the way back to the tram we passed Pucinni Bomboni and decided a truffle might make us feel better.

The Sweet Pepper was The. Best. Truffle. Ever. You could taste the sweet and savory of the pepper and with the chocolate...perfection. We also had a Tamarind one that was very good. I don't know how much they cost, whatever it was, it was worth it.

We went back to the hotel and ended up eating at Foodeez, a Thai restaurant around the corner. I had pad thai, which was very eggy, almost like a Thai carbonara. I liked it.

Hubs had a cashew pork dish that was even better.

2 entrees + 2 beers = 26 Euros

We went back to the hotel and lounged around, enjoying our plush hotel room for the evening. Inglorious Basterds is a great movie to watch after visiting the Anne Frank house.

Day Twelve - Amsterdam

A new day. You have to have a police report to get a new passport, you have to have passport photos to get a passport, and you have to go to the Embassy when it's open to get a passport. The Embassy is only open for a few hours a day and, due to a holiday, I only had a one day window to get that passport. And that window was today.

First, passport photos. Check. Second, police report. We had an appointment. We waited. The youngest policeman ever took the report, slowly. Very slowly. Ran to the Embassy. Passport is being made. Deep sigh of relief.

During the few hours we had until the passport would be finished, we ate lunch at Gartine, the cutest hole-in-the-wall restaurant ever. The place is run with much love by one man and woman. I had a liverwurst on a brown roll. I mean, look at the presentation with the dijon in the egg holder:

And the liverwurst was delicious. Definitely not the stuff you by in a tube at the grocery store. Hubs had a sausage on a brown roll. Also very good.

We shared a lemon tart for dessert which was like a lemon cheesecake. Yum. I overheard another table say they'd had a fair share of cheesecakes and Gartine's was one of the best ever. If Gartine had been open for dinner, we would have gone back. Highly recommended. And affordable!

2 sandwiches + lemon tart + water + 1 coffee = 21 Euros.

Walked around for awhile, then back to the Embassy. Yea! I now have a passport!

Wandered around for a long time looking for a place to eat dinner. A lot of places are only open for lunch, so it was more of a challenge than we wanted. We ended up settling on de vergulde Gaper, Prinsenstraat 30, which turned out to be a good choice. It was right on the canal, which was relaxing:

Hubs had steak with fries, and they were the best fries of the trip other than the Bruges belfry fries. Total surprise.

I had a salad with phyllo-wrapped goat cheese. So good. I had been craving a salad and this satisfied.

steak and fries + small goat cheese salad + 3 beers = 36 Euros

Time for dessert. Went to Winkel, which we had tried to go for dinner, but it was packed and we didn't feel like waiting for an outside table. But I was fine eating dessert indoors, so we went back for apple cake. I'd read multiple times that Winkel has the best apple cake and it was delicious.

More walking around the canals. The city is so romantic at night, away from all the tourists, the light reflecting on the water. This is what vacation is all about.

Day Eleven - Antwerp & Rotterdamn

We left for Amsterdam on 4/20. Appropriate, no? But we wanted to make a pit stop in Antwerp and see the town square because one of our Lonely Planet books named Antwerp one of the ten most beautiful town squares in the world, even beating Brussels. So we went. The stop might be worth it just for the train station.

It's really stunning, right up there with Grand Central in NYC.

From the train station we walked down Meir, the main shopping street, to the Grote Markt.

Yeah, it was lovely. And we weren't there at night when I'm sure it's more striking, but I thought Brussels was more impressive. My two cents.

Then we walked around Antwerp for awhile. It's a picturesque city and might have been fun to spend a night there. The air felt really good and smelled like the ocean.

We ate a knockwurst and some fries at Max on the Groenplaats (Green Square). I don't know what knockwurst is. I don't want to know. It tastes like deep fried sausage and I felt like I was going to die of a heart attack when I was consuming it.

Back on the train and up to Amsterdam. I was dozing, as I do on all modes of transportation. On planes, no matter what time of day, I'm usually out before takeoff. As passengers got off and on at the Rotterdam stop, I woke up. A passenger ten rows in front of us started asking if anyone had seen his bag because it was gone. My stomach dropped. I stood up to check on my backpack which I had put in storage above my head. It was gone.

I'm mostly irritated at myself. I shouldn't have stowed something that would fit at my feet just for want of more leg room. But after you've been travelling for ten days and taking trains and public transportation all the time, you gain a sense of security. And I don't want to be some paranoid person addicted to Fox News. I refuse to live in fear. I know whoever stole my bag has it coming. This little terrorist will be caught someday and he or she will pay for making off with the following: my passport, driver's license, coasters from 't Brugs Beertje, and our Canon Rebel 2Ti.

Yes, our fancy DSLR camera and ten days worth of photos were gone. Hubs brought a good point-and-shoot with, so he would be snapping photos with that while I had the DSLR. On some days, like Versailles, I didn't take any photos, so he had the DSLR, thus, no photos. None of Marie Antoinette's curtains. No Hamlet.

When I realized the camera was gone, I cried for five minutes, and then we had to move on. We still had four beautiful days ahead of us in Amsterdam and this wasn't going to ruin them. We contemplated how much time we'd spent taking those photos. Maybe too much time. Perhaps we should focus on living more in the moment during our vacations, rather than focusing on the more concrete memory that is photography. Next vacation, maybe we will take less photos, or spend less time taking them.

(I thought I had coped with the tragedy. But when we went to the airport a few days later, I tearfully realized that my iPod had also been in the stolen backpack. How was I going to make it through a transatlantic flight with no iPod? I stole Hubs' Kindle.)

We rolled into the Amsterdam train station, and I was completely spent. We tried to file a police report at the train station police station but were told to come back the next day. Frustrating.

Hubs bought tram/subway tickets and we made our way out to our hotel. If you're not renting a bike (I haven't ridden a bike in years and Amsterdam didn't seem the place to be on rusty wheels), buy the pass for whatever amount of days you're going to be there. It's worth it. Then you can jump on and off the trams any time you want.

We stayed at Citizen M Hotel, a very modern hotel that I highly recommend. Hotels in Amsterdam were extremely expensive. The whole vibe at Citizen M was upscale and chic with little fetishy flourishes thrown in here and there, but it was a decent price for Amsterdam. It's not near the city center, but it's near a tram stop, the subway, and a train station. Close to nothing, convenient to everything.

Time to eat. Emotionally spent, I wanted some comfort food. A burger sounded particularly good, so we went to Burger Meester to see how Holland does burgers. Pretty well, actually. We both ordered the Burger Meester, a thin patty piled high with grilled zucchini and eggplant and topped with a spicy mayo. The bun was dense and wheaty. This burger was a full meal and the most nutritionally well-rounded burger I've ever had. Just what we needed.

There's a patty in there somewhere

2 burgers + 1 milkshake = 20 Euros

We went down to the city center and walked around. We did the red light district walk-through, so very bizarre, and strolled along the canals.

And then it was time to put this very long day to bed.

Day Ten - Brussels

We got up early so Hubs could climb the Belfry before we left town. Heights aren't my thing. I can do one climb per vacation, and that was Notre Dame, so Hubs was on his own. After conducting the scientific experiment of which fry stand in front of the Belfry is better, Hubs and I both agreed it was the stand on the right. And, lucky for me, the stand on the right opened first, so I had fries for breakfast (you must order the cocktail sauce with them, it's so awfully good) and chatted with the vendor who was from Nepal. Now I want to go to Nepal. Add it to the list.

We had one more waffle on our way back to the hotel. Seriously, I wasn't a big fan of the waffle before this trip, but these are the densest, heartiest waffles with the perfect amount of sweetness. I'm a convert.

Took the train to Brussels and walked ten minutes to the Max Hotel. This hotel was a great deal, very clean and modern, and within walking distance to the Grand Place. We checked our bags, too early to check in, and did the ultra touristy lunch thing on rue de Bouchers. It's a street lined with restaurant after restaurant and waiters stand outside their restaurants trying to lure you in. We ate outside at Chez Leon and had the beer, moules, and frites combo.

And pate, of course.

The mussels weren't extraordinary, but I think it was a good deal at 13 Euros.

After lunch we walked to the Grand Place and saw the beautiful square.

We saw the little kid peeing a few blocks away. Most overrated tourist attraction ever.

I guess Brussels is where we went all out tourist. We ate on the touristy lunch street, and we decided to spend some extra Euros and eat on the actual Grote Markt, where the food usually isn't as good and more expensive, but has the good view. We ate at 't Kelderke and the food was excellent and the view was even better. Hubs ordered ham and chicory gratin. Rich and cheesy.

I had stoep de carbonnade which was mashed potatoes and spinach served with beer and beef stew. The stew was so good, one of the richest things I've ever eaten. I didn't even come close to finishing it.

We watched the sun set over the over the guild buildings. The square came to life. People brought picnics. It was really beautiful and worth the stop in Brussels.

View from our table at 't Kelderke

Brussels is a strange city. Walking the streets, it seems very blue collar, almost American. And then you look up and see beautiful old buildings on top of discount bridal shops and remember than you're in Europe. I like cities that can surprise you that way, but I left Brussels feeling like I didn't need to spend more than one day there.

Day Nine - A Full Day in Bruges

Today was our last day in lovely Bruges. We ate waffles for breakfast at Laurent, Steenstraat 79. I'm sure they were rolling their eyes at the silly Americans ordering waffles for breakfast, because waffles are more of a snack in Belgium, but we didn't care. Delicious.

I ordered a waffle with strawberries to get some vitamins. It came with a lot of sugar.

2 waffles, one with strawberries + 2 coffees = 22 Euros. These waffles were great. But we discovered later that all the waffles at the stands are just as good, and much cheaper. If you're paying more the 2 Euros for a waffle, you're paying too much.

And then we just wandered around. At the outskirts of the town there are three large windmills. The canals are beautiful, and if you leave the town center, there are hardly any tourists. I think I liked Bruges so much because it reminded me of Siena in Italy. You can find the hidden, empty corners, you just have to look for them.

We walked back toward the town square and ate at Jan Van Eyck, Jan Van Eychplein 12. I'd been reading all about the specialty Flemish asparagus, so I thought I'd try it.

It was served with soft cooked eggs and butter sauce. It was good, but nothing to rave about.  Hubs got the pre fix of steak with frites and salad and soup.

1 pre fix lunch + Flemish asparagus + 2 beers = 32 Euros.

Afterwards we tiptoed into Hof Bladelin, and tiny, enclosed square inhabited by nuns. Romantic and quiet.  We went back to the town center and bought chocolates at Dumon, a beautiful, family run shop.

More sweets. We had ice cream at Da Vinci, a couple chocolates from The Chocolate Line. I liked Dumon better. The chocolate designs were more creative and the shop felt warmer.

Our little box of Dumon chocolates

Along one of the canals, all the swans gathered for feeding time. There's a reason you always see swans swimming. When they walk, they look like zombies, awkwardly lurching forward, like mechanical robots in need of servicing.

Minnewater park was beautiful on a warm spring day, the tulips in full bloom.  We walked up Rozenhoedkaai along one of the beautiful canals. Lots of people, but really pretty.

If you want a cute bar with an enclosed, quiet patio that no one knows about, got to Cafe Rose Red. Only two other people were there. It's so quiet, you would never know you're only a couple minutes away from the obnoxious carnival rides in front of the Belfry. We had a couple beers. Hubs tried Gueze.

If you like your beer sparkly, this is for you. Not for me. Or Hubs, but he drank it like a trooper. 2 beers = 8.60 Euros.

We went to Cambrinus for dinner. We knew we couldn't repeat the magic of the previous evening, but Cambrinus seemed like the same kind of place as 't Brugs Beertje: enormous beer menu and packed during peak hours. And we weren't disappointed, more fabulous beer and good food.

Huge Beer Menu

A plate loaded with hams, salami, cheese, and pate. The perfect drinking plate.

Tagliatelle with three cheeses. We couldn't even finish it, so large and rich.

We both had the Cambrinus house beer with was dark and on draft. I had another Oerbier because it's my new favorite. Haven't found it in the States yet, but I'll keep looking. 4 beers + snack plate + tagliatelle = 34 Euros.

It's been happy eating and drinking in Bruges.