After my afternoon exploring Rotterdam and Kinderdijk I grabbed my bag and jumped on the train for the short 30 minute journey to the next major city – Delft. My friend and former colleague Niels lives in Delft and had kindly offered to let me stay the night with him.

As we walked from the train station towards his apartment, a lady asked Niels for directions to a hotel in town. Rather than giving her directions and sending her on her way he offered to take her as it was almost on the way. What followed was a very informative and sometimes comical history of Delft – delivered in both English and Dutch as we walked the few streets and canals into the city. Like most Dutch cities, it was built around canals and Niels convinced me that they were once clean and pure enough to brew some of the finest beer. As the water became more and more polluted, the breweries packed up, took their recipes and moved to Belgium. And because Niels’ surname is Brouwers which literally means brewer I am somewhat inclined to believe him.

I had arrived after dark, so I dropped my bag at the apartment and we headed out to dinner. On Niels’ recommendation we ended up at ‘De Parel van Flores’. Entering the restaurant and I was confronted by fake plants, tacky travel posters and a boisterous little man in a red chilli print shirt. He was the owner and proclaimed to me that this was the only other place in the world to get authentic Indonesian food. This guy was a bit of a legend amongst the students of Delft University, and the food certainly lived up to the lofty claim he had made. It took me a while to make the connection, but Indonesia used to be a Dutch colony (the Dutch East India Trading Company was founded in Delft).

After filling up on Indonesian we took the bridge over the canal into a tiny little bar on the street corner. This black doored bar was Trappisten Lokaal ‘T Klooster – a Belgium beer bar specialising in Trappist beers… the beers brewed by monks in their convent. Needless to say they had a pretty fantastic beer collection. Niels started by recommending a few to start with (and hence continuing my education in Belgium beers). We moved up to the bar when a few seats opened up and got chatting to the bartender – an uncontested expert when it came to the topic of beers and he was most willing to oblige when you requested a ‘slightly more fruity/bitter/hoppy beer’. My favourite beer of the evening – the “Op & Top” which was actually a Dutch beer. The night finished with a nice glass of Scotch Whisky from Niels’ extensive collection.

The Beer Menu

Op & Top

The next day was a gloomy, wet day – but that didn’t stop me from exploring the city. I started walking south and after an hour of wandering down little cobblestone streets and across canals I finally found the Royal Delft pottery factory. Those little blue and white plates with windmills painted on them – that is Dutch pottery and Royal Delft is the only traditional pottery house left. I picked up a few souvenirs for family back home while I was there.

Royal Delftware

I spent the remainder of the afternoon around the town centre. I found a coffee shop (cafe – not the other one) in a beautifully renovated building near the town hall and I spent the afternoon sheltering from the miserable weather with a nice warm coffee and writing blogs. I was not alone either. The tables and big rustic bench I was sitting at was home to students madly typing assignment or reading large textbooks.

The Dutch and their Bikes

The Old Church

Beautiful little terraces

The Old Delft canal

Living on the canal

Delft Town Square

de Oude Delft

Unlike most train stations, I could not find any lockers at the Delft train station, so I had left my bag at a nearby hotel. The end of the day was drawing near so I left the warm comfort of the cafe and headed back to collect my bag and catch another very short train ride north.

When I was staying with Mitch and Lu they had told me about Kinderdijk – one of the picture postcard part of Holland.

I left Nijmegen – loaded up with both my packs on their spare bike and rode to the station where I said goodbye to Lu and hopped on a train to Rotterdam.

The Netherlands being such a small country it didn’t take long to get there. I found a locker big enough for my pack and then went on a walk around Rotterdam downtown while I searched for some lunch. It was extensively bombed in the war, so there is very little in the way of old building left. I did find a rather large market in the centre of the city. It sold everything – fresh vegetables, fish, socks, plants and anything else you could think of.

Street Market in Rotterdam

I had pre-planned my trip to Kinderdijk. The lack of public transport makes it a little inconvenient – but this is The Netherlands and a bike is only a moment away. I made my way to a train station nearby to hire a bike, but was confronted by a small problem. The public transport pass (think Oystercard/Go Card/smartcard thing) I had didn’t allow me to hire bikes. I was left confused for about half an hour, wondering if I was at the right place. I started talking to the caretaker of the bike hire service, and after a conversation in broken English he realised I was a tourist who wanted to ride to Kinderdijk and gave me a bike to hire.

With my camera strapped over my back, and my tripod wedged in place on the back of the bike I rode down towards the ferry whilst getting used to riding again. I had printed a map before I left, so the ferry terminal was easy to find and I didn’t wait long to catch the ferry and ride through the town of Kinderdijk to the scenic windmills on the other side.

Windmills

My goal was to be a Kinderdijk late in the afternoon to get some nice sunset photos. Unfortunately for me, the weather was not cooperating and the sky was full of clouds. Still, I was able to get some nice photos of the windmills all lined up as the breeze. I only had 45 minutes before the last ferry back (lucky I wasn’t waiting for sunset photos), so I rode around, took my photos and arrived back at the pier just before the ferry arrived.

In the breeze

Life on the canals

Three Ducks in a Row

A bit of colour

I returned the bike – no questions asked, caught the train back to Rotterdam, collected my bag and hopped straight onto another train. And just like that I was on my way to my next destination.

Mitch, Lu and I got up early at the little YHA hostel in Vianden and jumped in the little Peugeot en-route to the capital. The drive was not too long – Luxembourg is a tiny country wedged between France, Germany and Belgium – but the landscape is hilly which lends itself to nice windy roads and beautiful vistas.

Windy Roads

Beautiful Valleys

In the morning sun

Another Castle

We stopped off to check out an old castle on the way just as a few old race cars drove past.

We arrived in the capital mid-morning and found a carpark in the centre of the city. It was a cold, overcast morning and the city was deserted. We started walking and attempted to discover the city by foot.

Luxembourg City

Mitch and Lu

Parks in Luxembourg

The sun decided to poke out from behind a cloud and the city started to glow with the autumn colours of the trees and fallen leaves on the ground. We started up in the Ville Haute (High City) but walked down into the gorge around the valley and into the Ville Basse (Low City). Following a meandering river around the Ville Haute and around the corner into the most picturesque part of the city.

Autumn Leaves

Meandering River

Beautiful Afternoon

Reflections

Relaxing in the Sun

Later in the afternoon we headed back to find the car – and found the city’s shopping streets suddenly full of people. It turned out that it was a ‘shopping Sunday’ in Luxembourg that weekend – the one Sunday in the month that the shops open on Sunday. We indulged in some waffles from a street seller and enjoyed the liveliness of the streets before heading back to the car and our drive back to The Netherlands.

So on a nice Saturday morning Mitch, Lu and myself jumped in their little burgundy Peugeot and started driving south-west from Nijmegen. Our destination was Luxenbourg, in hope of exploring a few of the town Mitch and Lu had heard about.

It took a few hours of driving via Belgium and Germany we finally passed over the German/Luxembourg border. After spending almost a week in ‘flatland’ it was a change to suddenly be amongst the mountainous terrain of Luxembourg.

Our first destination was the tiny town of Echternach. This little town is right on the German border, and we took a few hours to wander around the city and along the river that flows along side the town and defines the border of Luxembourg. Unfortunately, like a lot of small towns in Europe, a lot of the stores were closed for the weekend, but we did manage to find a nice restaurant in the main square and get ourselves some lunch before heading off again.

Main Square of Echternach

Autumn Leaves

By the River

Our destination for the day was the small town of Vianden, north of Echternach. The small town is in a valley with a huge castle perched above it. We had booked to stay the night in the Hostel International hostel that was right next to the castle (and had quite the view of the castle from the dorm window). The weather was rather average and we tried to avoid the rain by exploring the castle instead. Château de Vianden was restored in the 70s and has a great view over the little town and was quite interesting to explore.

Château de Vianden

Ceiling in the Castle

View of Vianden

The Cellar

Lit up

In the evening we walked down the hill into the village and enjoyed an authentic Luxembourg meal with some local beer in the village pub. A great first day in Luxembourg!

Pronouncing the name of the city was hard (hint: ‘ij’ is pronounced ‘aay’ and ‘g’ is a sound no English speaker can make), but getting there was an easy 90 minute train from Amsterdam.

I met greeted at the train station by my old uni mate Mitch and his wife Lu. They had an old bike for me, and I must have looked funny riding down the bike path with my 75L pack on my back. It was only a short 5 minute ride to their beautiful apartment not far from the city centre.

It was really nice just to sit down and relax at their place, not feeling the need to rush out and see the city in the little time I usually have in a city. We had a good chat about work, life and travel over a nice meal and some beers.

The next day we took the bikes into the city and had a good look around the little town of Nijmegen. It claims to be the oldest town in the Netherlands, but little of the original building survived the time and wars that have passed. There are still some interesting architecture in part of the city, and some nice modern buildings too. There was a nice, small town buzz in the main pedestrian streets which I’m told becomes packed full of people on the weekends.

Old Building

and Old Stonework

Nice park

Bikes and cheese - very Dutch

A Red Door

Another interesting door

Later in the afternoon Mitch and I rode over the bridge to the tiny town on the other side and enjoyed riding thru the Dutch countryside.

Over the River

Mitch

Mitch and Lu had asked me what I wanted to see in the area, we had discussed many possibilities, by my mention of Luxembourg sparked their interest and it was quickly decided to head there for a weekend road trip… but more on that in another blog.

Windmill at Dusk

After returning from my road trip I was happy to relax, catch up on a few blogs and other tasks I had been ignoring the past few weeks in my rush around Europe. I even got the chance to get back in the kitchen and cook a meal to my gracious hosts.

The Comfortable Red Couch

My Room

So it was great to spend some time living and travelling with some old friends on this trip.

An hour out of Amsterdam I needed to change trains to my next destination. It was the town of Utrecht and the night before my friend Niels had convinced me to take a few hours and have a look around. The town – like Amsterdam and many other Dutch cities – is built around a series of canals, but unlike Amsterdam, the city and streets are built a full story higher than the water level of the canals.

Beautiful day in Utrecht

The canals were used for transporting goods, and along the side of the canals are doors that lead to warehouses. The goods would be unloaded directly into the warehouse spaces underneath the city and sold in the stores above. Pretty cool. The old spaces underneath the city are now being transformed into shops, cafes and homes.

Bikes and Canals

Looking up the Oudegracht

Downstairs

Shop by the Canal

Cafe on the Oudegracht

Another Cafe

Chatting in the sun

I spent a few hours just wandering around the city, diverting down interesting little side streets and following the canal as it meandered though the city.

Academiegebouw

Fresh Flowers

Reading Chair

Unlike the previous few days in Amsterdam, it was a beautiful sunny day and I really enjoyed taking the time to explore the gorgeous little town of Utrecht.

I was walking down the main street between the main train station and Dam Square avoid puddles during a sun shower; the sound of bicycle bells and the smell of pot lingering in the air. I had arrived in Amsterdam.

My hostel was right in the heart of the Red Light District of Amsterdam, with some red light windows and a ‘Thai massage’ place on the same street. Unfortunately tho, the hostel was a ‘Christian’ one and wasn’t quite the same atmosphere as other hostels. It was however half the price of the big name hostels in town and had free breakfast, and the absence of other Australians and rowdy Englishmen was a plus.

Red Lights

Tourist T-shirts

Tourist District

Window Shopping

My stay in Amsterdam was without pub crawls, museums and coffeeshops. All I wanted to do there was take photos of the beautiful architecture of the old terrace houses and canals. The weather didn’t help me much – rain followed by sun followed by rain. Still, I enjoyed my free reign on the city as I happily snapped away at what I found interesting.

Dark Skies

Wooden Tulips

Bikes, bikes, bikes

Warming up on a cold day

Solitary Bike

Boats and Bikes

Ding-dong

Crooked Houses

Canals

Another form of transport

Blue skies

I did meet up with a few people in Amsterdam. Amanda – a design student I met in Copenhagen was there with some of her friends and it was nice to see a familiar face at the hostel.

An old work colleague of mine from CSIRO, Niels, lives in nearby Delft and he caught the train up one evening to catch up over dinner and a few beers. I learnt a bit about the Netherlands’ history and about good Dutch/Belgium beer too.

Typical Tourist Photo

My time in Amsterdam was short, but I had visited here before and wanted to move on and explore more of Holland outside of the tourist mecca of Amsterdam.

It was never part of my plan to visit Iceland – not that I didn’t want to go, but it seemed too far out of the way and therefore too expensive so I didn’t even bother looking. This was before I got random invitation to head there for a week.

The invitation was from Barbora – a Slovakian living in London. I met her and Lukas in Kiev back in May. I figured I wouldn’t get another chance to go to Iceland for a while, so I booked my flights and met them at Keflavik Airport in Iceland. I had only met Barbora (Babs/Baska/Barbie) and Lukas (Keko) before, and travelling with us were Lubo, Joe and Mima.

First stop – Reykjavik to check into our apartments and start exploring. It was great travelling with the group – they had pre-organised everything and I got to sit back and relax for a while.

The next morning we picked up our hire car – a huge 7 seater SUV and headed East from Reykjavik along the south coast of Iceland. Our destination was a glacier at the point where it broke off and joined the ocean. And as they say – getting there is half the adventure. I quickly got to know everyone over a few bottles of homemade fruit brandy that we consumed along the way and we had plenty of fun both in the car and stopping off along the way at various waterfalls and pit-stops.

The Mossy Tundra

Ice-land or Green-land?

Eyjafjallajökull is somewhere behind those clouds

Volcanic Landscape

Skógarfoss waterfall

From the top of Skógarfoss

Bashka

Lubo

Keko

We finally reached Jökulsárlón in the late afternoon and went exploring around the huge lake of icebergs that has formed between the glacier and the ocean. Little did I know but the boys had a bit of a dare going and had decided to jump in the (literally) freezing cold water for a bit of a stunt. Lucky for you they filmed it.

Going for a swim

Beautiful Colours

As far as the eye can see

Icebergs

It took us a while to find our accommodation for the night – a youth hostel basically in the middle of nowhere off the highway. We had the place to ourself – this huge ‘youth camp’ that could easily have accommodated 60 or more people. Needless to say there was drinking games involved before the night was over.

It was a pre-dawn rise the next morning and most of use slept off the night before while Lubo took the wheel again on the way to our destination. We arrived just before lunchtime – a shop and restaurant in the middle of nowhere. After lunch we took a short walk down the way to see what the fuss was about. A rather large waterfall – Gullfoss awaited. The weather was crap – so we returned to the shelter of the restaurant.

Sunrise

Our actual destination for the morning was a glacier nearby. We were picked up in a huge (and I mean huge) 4wd and driven over to the glacier. What awaited was a fleet of snowmobiles. We had originally planned to go dog-sledding, but due to the lack of snow we opted for snowmobiling instead. Driving these was much like a jetski, except slightly more dangerous thanks to large fissures in the glacier. This meant that we needed to stick to a pre-defined path which made the excursion far less adventurous that I would have hoped. Still – is isn’t very often you get to go snowmobiling on a Icelandic glacier!

Snowmobiles

On our way back to Reykjavik we passed Geysir – as in the original geyser. It doesn’t erupt very often, but the other geyser ‘Strokkur’ only 50 meters away erupts every 5 minutes.

Geysir

Strokkur

Strokkur erupting

Just outside Reykjavik

Afternoon light

That evening when arrived back in Reykjavik to check into our apartment. The week that we had decided to go to Iceland just happened to coincide with a huge music festival being held in Reykjavik called Airwaves. Unfortunately by the time I found out about it the tickets were all sold out – but it wasn’t all bad. Because of the influx of tourists, our accommodation had overbooked and we were moved to a brand new luxury apartment closer to the centre of town!

We had booked the car for one more day, and decided to make the most of it by driving south to see some of the coast line of Iceland. Our first stop was Raykjanes – the meeting point of Europe and America. It is the place where the two tectonic plates meet. There is a bridge built over this small canyon which represents crossing between the two continents.

We met a nice couple who told us how to get to the south-west most point of the island. We followed their directions to find huge cliffs overlooking the Atlantic ocean.

The Coastline

Sheer Cliffs

Baska vs the Atlantic

We drove back the long way, exploring the back roads back to Reykjavik – and almost getting stuck in the black sand of a lake when Lubo decided he wanted to do doughnuts on the beach.

Our last stop for the day was ‘The Pearl’ lookout above the city. Really a small hill above Reykjavik airport, but you can get a view of the city and there was a nice sunset.

The Gang

The next two days were pretty relaxing. A combination of the gloomy weather, hangovers and sheer laziness gave us an excuse to live up life in our apartment. That was until the evenings. We were in Reykjavik on Friday and Saturday nights, in the middle of a huge music festival, in one of the nightlife capitals of Europe. Both nights started with pre-drinks at the apartment. Drinks in clubs are expensive in Iceland (about $10 a drink) so the locals usually pre-game at home and head to the clubs after midnight. Both nights we ended up at a club called b5 and had a great time there.

On the crew’s last day in Iceland we headed out to the Blue Lagoon for a relaxing dip. The man-made lagoon is milky blue in colour and unlike anything I’ve seen before. It is quite the experience – first the naked shower down in the change rooms, then the ice cold air before jumping in an opaque warm bath with a few hundred other people. The lagoon is huge, and has a waterfall, massage clinic, sauna, bar etc. Yes – you can drink in the lagoon – and also cover your face in some form of silicon mud. Was a pretty good day actually – but would have been better if the sun had come out to play.

Lagoon robes

Warm in - cold out

Covered in 'mud'

Joe takes a shower

Lubo in the Lagoon

Mima and Joe

Relaxing

The others were to leave in the morning, and figured that they could party until they had to leave for the airport at 3am. That plan went out the window when we discovered that the little party town of Reykjavik is completely dead on a Sunday night. We had a fantastic dinner at a tapas restaurant and found a pub to have a drink in, but everything closed at midnight. I was flying out a day later and was staying at a hostel in downtown so I had a bed to stay in, but unfortunately the others did not – so they amused themselves until their flight in the morning.

So I had one day to explore Reykjavik on my own, and behold the sun came out for the first time in a week. I spent the next few hours wandering the streets of Reykjavik . The wind picked up and I retreated into a quaint little cafe/art space for a pot of tea to warm me up.It seems I wasn’t the only cold one – I saw a group of joggers run past in ski jackets.

Small town Reykjavik

Some street art

Barbara

Graffiti

A warm place to relax

Down at the Docks

Three in a row

House of Marek

Sunset behind the clouds

Hallgrímskirkja

My very last Iceland experience before flying out in the morning was a lucky break. Thanks to the beautiful clear sky, there was now the possibility of seeing Aurora Borealis – the Northern Lights. I booked myself on a bus tour to head out of the city with my camera and tripod in tow. It wasn’t long before we had pulled over to the side of the road and could see a mystical green glow in the sky. Back behind us was the faint glow of lights from Reykjavik and the ‘Imagine Peace’ tower of light, but in front was a strip of green illuminating the sky just above the horizon. The lights dance around and the photos I took do not begin to do it justice. I just feel sorry for the others who flew out that morning and didn’t get a chance to see them.

The Northern Lights

Reykjavik, Imagine Peace Tower and Aurora Borealis

So that was my random, crazy Iceland adventure. A spur of the moment booking with people I had know for mere hours – but I had a great time getting to know them (and trying to learn Slovakian in Iceland – I’m sure not many people have tried that). Iceland is a gorgeous country full of friendly people and good nightlife – definitely on the list of places I want to return to!

Flying Out

The train arrived at the central train station exactly on time. I hop off the train and fire up my iPhone to find a wireless network; I find them everywhere but they all charge. Welcome to Denmark – where the service is world class – but so is the price.

Copenhagen Train Station

I walk the two kilometres thru the city to the hostel I had booked. The walk took me thru the city and past the man-made lakes. The sun was shining low on the horizon casting everyone in a lovely golden light and the city residents where making the most of the sun. I dropped my bag at the hostel, grabbed my camera and spent the next couple of hours taking photos until the light had well and truly disappeared and a low fog blanketed the city.

Enjoying the Sun

Afternoon Exercise

Enjoying the afternoon sun

Copenhagen Reflections

Evening fog

The next morning I was up early (well early for a backpacker) to make the most of my one full day in Copenhagen. I started by walking along the lakes – which used to be the water storage for the city – towards the fortress I could see on my map.

I reached the harbour and walked around to the iconic LIttle Mermaid statue from the story by famous Dane – Hans Christian Andersen. Unfortunately the statue wasn’t there – it is on loan to the Denmark pavilion at World Expo in Shanghai this year… so lucky I saw it only a few months earlier. In its place is a huge LED screen displaying a ‘live’ image of the statue in Shanghai. The image wasn’t moving so I’m not exactly sure how live it actually is.

The Little Mermaid

The Real Little Mermaid

I finally found the entrance to the fortress and walked around the ramparts. The Kastellet is still owned by the Danish Defence Ministry and they still have buildings on site but it is primarily a park and public space now. The park was so colourful on this bright autumn day – the foliage was bright colours of green, yellow and red which contrasted against the deep blue of the sky.

Kastellet Ramparts

Windmill in the Kastellet

I continued walking, stumbling across the Official Residence of the Danish Royal family. I caught the end of the changing of the guard which was happening in the square. Not far away was the waterfront, with old sailing boats offering cruises against the backdrop of the Opera House.

Amalienborg

Power station or cafe?

Nyhavn is one of the most picturesque and recognisable areas of Copenhagen. I walked past the various cafes and restaurants (and some of the remaining red light clubs too). I had myself a hotdog from one of the famous stands and exhausted my camera’s card taking photos of the colourful terrace buildings.

Nyhavn

Colourful Copenhagen

Plants or Art?

I headed in the direction of Christianshavn. I could see the tall Von Freisers church from a distance and headed in that direction – over a few bridges and having to avoid the cyclist traffic. I reached the church and decided I had enough energy and money to climb up to the spiral spire for the views over the city. The 400 stairs was taxing, but worth the view over the city.

The real reason I headed over to Christianshavn was Christiania – Freetown Christiania. It is another self-declared state – much like Uzupis in Vilnius. Walking into Christiania was interesting – even without knowing what the place was you would immediately associate it with hippies. The main street is known as ‘Pusher Street’ and it is obvious why once you see what the street stalls are selling. The place has an interesting vibe – it is a mix between very friendly people, and a bunch of locals who obviously despise the place being a tourist attraction. Amongst the ‘Free Tibet’ t-shirts and happy people there are huge ‘No Photo’ signs and a bunch of heavyset guys who look more like gangs. Like I said, and interesting mix.

Christiania

As I left Christiania I noticed one of the free bike stations and decided to join the population of Copenhagen and take one. It didn’t take me too long to remember how to ride and I was happily riding along with everyone else. I quickly learnt to avoid cobblestones and then rode back towards the hostel. I was on the lookout for places to return the bikes, but even though they seemed plentiful while I was walking it was finding it impossible to find once I had the bike. I eventually found a bike rack near the metro station, but the bike refused to give my deposit back, so I left it for the next commuter or a poor homeless person.

Bikes

Community Garden

Stop sign for Men and Women

As I enjoyed the last of the fading light, I walked past cool shops, clubs, bars, burger joints and heaps of artistic places that I could spend hours exploring. Copenhagen is friendly and extremely interesting place to visit and I’d love to come back and explore a bit more in the future.

A Danish Danish

I left Hamburg and caught a train directly north into Denmark en route to its second biggest city – Århus.

I had never actually heard of the city before my good friend Katy moved here with her Danish boyfriend Anders. They both met me at the train station and we walk back to their beautiful little apartment a few blocks away.

I spent the evening catching up over beers at their apartment, followed by a few more at the local pub down the road.

In the morning was Vegemite on toast of breakfast (amazing how crazy Australians go for Vegemite when they are overseas) to counter the hangover. I only had one full day in Århus, so Katy and I spent the day walking around the city and exploring the waterfront, town centre and parks around Århus. It is a pretty relaxed little town, but with some beautiful old buildings, parks and a quite modern little town centre.

Buildings and Bridges

Leisurely afternoon

Downtown Arhus

Colourful vines

Local transport

Windmills

Doing the laundry

Bikes and bikes and bikes

That evening we went out for beer and steaks at a fantastic steak restaurant. The back of the menu was a postcard, so you could write a letter to friends while waiting for your steak and they post it off for you. Pretty cool idea.

It was great to catch up with Katy and Anders in Denmark. Århus is a beautiful little town full that I’m glad I got the chance to visit.