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Started By
Message
European Vacation Pics- Spain, Belgium, Amsterdam
Posted on 7/12/23 at 6:06 am
Posted on 7/12/23 at 6:06 am
DFW>Madrid>Pamplona>San Sebastian>Antwerp>Brussels>Amsterdam>DFW
Flew direct Iberia to Madrid and was a good flight. Our main destination was San Sebastian but spent 2 nights in Madrid where it was 100 degrees so didn't explore too much. But we did hit tapas places both nights and damn the food is great here and drinking Vermut (vermouth) straight is fantastic. We want to come back when the weather is cooler.
Flew direct Iberia to Madrid and was a good flight. Our main destination was San Sebastian but spent 2 nights in Madrid where it was 100 degrees so didn't explore too much. But we did hit tapas places both nights and damn the food is great here and drinking Vermut (vermouth) straight is fantastic. We want to come back when the weather is cooler.
This post was edited on 7/12/23 at 7:25 am
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Posted on 7/12/23 at 6:14 am to Zappas Stache
That neck pillow is the tits...best one I've ever used.
Posted on 7/12/23 at 6:16 am to LSUfan4444
quote:
That neck pillow is the tits...best one I've ever used.
Somebody on here recommended it, maybe you. And yea, it worked pretty well on the plane.
Posted on 7/12/23 at 6:36 am to Zappas Stache
quote:
Somebody on here recommended it, maybe you.
I obviously recognize genius when I see it, even in myself
Sweet pics...I could eat my way through Europe, never walk into a museum and be content.
Looking forward to getting back there soon as we have been heading East (Hawaii, Asia, etc) the last few years but in the beginning stages of thiking about how we want to attack Eurpoe with a young teen.
Posted on 7/12/23 at 7:23 am to LSUfan4444
After spending 2 nights in Madrid to shake off the jet lag we took a 2 hr train ride to Pamplona, a place my wife has always wanted to visit since she read The Sun Also Rises when she was young. I didn't have much expectation for the town so was pleasantly surprised it had one of the most beautiful Old Towns we have seen, and we've seen a lot of Old Towns. Tallin, Estonia is still the best we've seen but Pamplona is up there. We had a really nice Airbnb in old town next to the gothic cathedral with a balcony that had views to the surrounding mountains. We spent 2 nights here and checked out some Hemingway haunts and walked the course for Running of the Bulls which goes right through old town and us uphill the first part, it would be tough running up that hill on cobbels. The tapas, or pinxtos as they call them here at the edge of Basque country, were disappointing after Madrid. They pre make the pinxtos here and put them on the counter until you order and then pop it in the microwave. We went to the top rated pinxto that has won rave reviews by food critics and the public and it was average at best. We did stumble upon a pinxto at the edge of old town that no reviews mention. It was obviously a mostly local place and they cooked the pinxtos to order it was pretty damn good.
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This post was edited on 7/12/23 at 7:30 am
Posted on 7/12/23 at 7:45 am to Zappas Stache
Well done!
Posted on 7/12/23 at 8:03 am to Zappas Stache
Posted on 7/12/23 at 8:12 am to Zappas Stache
....making me want a Mahou right now.
Posted on 7/12/23 at 8:15 am to Zappas Stache
Nice pics, thanks for sharing!
Posted on 7/12/23 at 9:13 am to H2O Tiger
Was on a train to our next destination when I started this thread. I will continue to update when I get some down time.
Posted on 7/12/23 at 4:09 pm to Zappas Stache
quote:
But we did hit tapas places both nights and damn the food is great here
I dont believe you, only new orleans has good food.
Posted on 7/12/23 at 4:28 pm to Zappas Stache
Look at you in economy, I love it. Your pictures are fantastic.
I'm glad you reminded me, I undervalue Spanish olives. I will eat the arse end out of them in about 36 hours in Barca.
I'm guessing you were on the A330?
I'm glad you reminded me, I undervalue Spanish olives. I will eat the arse end out of them in about 36 hours in Barca.
I'm guessing you were on the A330?
Posted on 7/12/23 at 4:56 pm to LemmyLives
quote:
Look at you in economy
Premium economy bitch. It's like economy was 20 years ago. You can tilt back and eat off the business class menu. But I'm xanaxed out so it's all wasted on me.
This post was edited on 7/12/23 at 4:57 pm
Posted on 7/12/23 at 7:31 pm to Zappas Stache
quote:
But I'm xanaxed out so it's all wasted on me.
Hell yeah!
I packed my "liquids" bag which consists of the the most vodka I could stuff in a fly bag.
BTW, premium economy on Singapore (IAh to MAN), doesn't have moveable armrests. Given how empty the flight is, premium economy is awastre.
Posted on 7/17/23 at 6:25 am to Zappas Stache
The next morning we woke up and walked with our bags across the plaza to the bus station for a 1 hour ride to San Sebastian. The route goes through a beautiful mountainous area and then descends down to the town. San Sebastian is a beautiful beach town in the Basque region of Spain surrounded by mountains and has a reputation as a "foodie" town.
We just chilled and walked around checking things out.
We ended up at a well know beer and vermouth place where the owner is a fun character, joking with everyone and pouring drinks.
The next morning we walked 5 minutes from our Airbnb to the street the Tour de France would be finishing that days stage on. We walked about 1.5 miles to the finish line just checking things out and then walked back to the 1km banner where the sprint would be starting for the finish. We stood there for about an hour and a half waiting and everytime a team car or motorcycle cop would drive by the crowd would cheer and slap the barriers, pretty funny.
Afterwords we walked around, stopping at pinxtos, eatin' and drinkin'
All the stores were closed when we decided to head back to the Airbnb and I needed a house beer. My brilliant wife told me to buy one at the pinxto and pour it in our water bottle!
Next day another stage if the tour was coming through town and finishing over the french border. After they passed through we headed to a little cafe on top of a mountain that overlooked the bay, very nice.
Spent July 4th here
[20230706-163418404.jpg[/img]
Overall, the food was good here but not as good as Madrid
We just chilled and walked around checking things out.
We ended up at a well know beer and vermouth place where the owner is a fun character, joking with everyone and pouring drinks.
The next morning we walked 5 minutes from our Airbnb to the street the Tour de France would be finishing that days stage on. We walked about 1.5 miles to the finish line just checking things out and then walked back to the 1km banner where the sprint would be starting for the finish. We stood there for about an hour and a half waiting and everytime a team car or motorcycle cop would drive by the crowd would cheer and slap the barriers, pretty funny.
Afterwords we walked around, stopping at pinxtos, eatin' and drinkin'
All the stores were closed when we decided to head back to the Airbnb and I needed a house beer. My brilliant wife told me to buy one at the pinxto and pour it in our water bottle!
Next day another stage if the tour was coming through town and finishing over the french border. After they passed through we headed to a little cafe on top of a mountain that overlooked the bay, very nice.
Spent July 4th here
[20230706-163418404.jpg[/img]
Overall, the food was good here but not as good as Madrid
Posted on 7/17/23 at 7:01 am to Zappas Stache
That looks tasty
Posted on 7/17/23 at 3:28 pm to Zappas Stache
No cider house while in San Sebastian? I think that was one of my highlights of my time there.
Also, it may be my new life goal to be invited into one of the gastronomic societies throughout the city. Those people ate/drank at all hours of the day.
Also, it may be my new life goal to be invited into one of the gastronomic societies throughout the city. Those people ate/drank at all hours of the day.
Posted on 7/17/23 at 8:11 pm to Zappas Stache
Great pics. Got really into vermouth when over there last year. Got so bad I was ordering splits of vermouth by the case from an airport alcohol distributor in Miami. Such a tremendous drink.
Posted on 7/17/23 at 10:02 pm to Zappas Stache
Excellent pics and what a great trip.
Your pics reminded me of my time living in Holland for 2 years in the mid-90s -- pre-European Union. Bicycles, backpacks, dark beer, hostels, freedom, (mostly) good food (I will never eat herring on a cracker ever again), great museums, and the general hustle of the street.
Good times. Thank you for your post.
Your pics reminded me of my time living in Holland for 2 years in the mid-90s -- pre-European Union. Bicycles, backpacks, dark beer, hostels, freedom, (mostly) good food (I will never eat herring on a cracker ever again), great museums, and the general hustle of the street.
Good times. Thank you for your post.
Posted on 7/21/23 at 9:31 am to G Vice
We spent 5 days in San Sebastian and had plans to day trip to Bilbao to visit the Frank Geary Guggenheim Museum. The only way to get to Bilbao was by bus but there were several running each way all day so I didn't try to purchase tix until the day before. We could get to Bilbao but everything coming back was sold out. That was the only hiccup of the trip so we just bailed on that plan and stayed in San Sebastian.
After 5 days in San Sebastain we had our longest travel day of the trip, besides the flights over and back. We had to catch a local train to Hendaye, France, a 30 minute ride. There, we caught the TGV to Paris which was a 4 hour ride. Then we had 2 hours to get from the Montparnasse train station to the Gare de Nord station. We were planning to uber since we had bags but as we got close, google told us it was a 45 minute uber and a 20 minute Metro ride with a 5 minute walk to the metro stop. We decided to go with the Metro and frick google!.....not the only time google screwed us up on this trip. The walk to the metro stop was about 20 minutes through underground tunnels and with our bags it wasn't fun. Finally got to the metro and it was asses to elbows and pretty war but it was only about 15 minutes and we were are Gare de Nord. We found the platform for our next train and had time to grab a sandwich at a little store in the station, it was a pretty good sandwich. Nest train was only 2 hours and we were in Antwerp. All in all, not bad considering all the connections that could have been missed.
Walk to the Paris Metro was a slog
On the metro
Antwerp Station
FBD at the cafe under our airbnb. Owners of the airbnb own the cafe too and were very nice.
Our Airbnb was very nice.
The Grote Markt was a 1 minute walk from the airbnb
So Kulminator Bar is world famous for its beer selection. The owner has bought several apartments adjacent to his bar and cellars beer in all the basements. The aged beer selection list is a book about an inch...errr 3 cm thick.
Now when we arrived the door was locked and I stood there looking for the times they are open, often places are closed for a few weeks in the summer. Then the owner opened the door and asked me what I wanted. I said I wanted to drink some of his beers. He looked at me with disdain and told me to go somewhere else. I told him I wanted to experience his wonderful bar and he shooed me away. I kept talking, knowing he wanted to make sure I was a serious beer connoisseur so started name checking obscure Kriek beers but he was not impressed. Then I finally said I wanted to "taste" the beers and he nodded his head and said ahhh, that is different than drinking a beer. He motioned me in and he told us to sit at the end of a table with another couple. The man sitting there, a swede who now lives in los angeles laughed and said he thought I was not going to get in. Apparently if you research online, you find out you have to say you want to "taste" beer, not drink it. I totally pulled the secret word out of my arse. I felt victorious!
y-PXL-20230708-143403725.jpg>
That's the crotchety old frick there. We were there for 2 hours and he turned 6 or 7 people away, crazy!
We had been to Antwerp about 20 years ago and thought it was nice but not much going on. This time, it was very lively, lots of cafes and restaurants. We really loved Antwerp this go round.
After 5 days in San Sebastain we had our longest travel day of the trip, besides the flights over and back. We had to catch a local train to Hendaye, France, a 30 minute ride. There, we caught the TGV to Paris which was a 4 hour ride. Then we had 2 hours to get from the Montparnasse train station to the Gare de Nord station. We were planning to uber since we had bags but as we got close, google told us it was a 45 minute uber and a 20 minute Metro ride with a 5 minute walk to the metro stop. We decided to go with the Metro and frick google!.....not the only time google screwed us up on this trip. The walk to the metro stop was about 20 minutes through underground tunnels and with our bags it wasn't fun. Finally got to the metro and it was asses to elbows and pretty war but it was only about 15 minutes and we were are Gare de Nord. We found the platform for our next train and had time to grab a sandwich at a little store in the station, it was a pretty good sandwich. Nest train was only 2 hours and we were in Antwerp. All in all, not bad considering all the connections that could have been missed.
Walk to the Paris Metro was a slog
On the metro
Antwerp Station
FBD at the cafe under our airbnb. Owners of the airbnb own the cafe too and were very nice.
Our Airbnb was very nice.
The Grote Markt was a 1 minute walk from the airbnb
So Kulminator Bar is world famous for its beer selection. The owner has bought several apartments adjacent to his bar and cellars beer in all the basements. The aged beer selection list is a book about an inch...errr 3 cm thick.
Now when we arrived the door was locked and I stood there looking for the times they are open, often places are closed for a few weeks in the summer. Then the owner opened the door and asked me what I wanted. I said I wanted to drink some of his beers. He looked at me with disdain and told me to go somewhere else. I told him I wanted to experience his wonderful bar and he shooed me away. I kept talking, knowing he wanted to make sure I was a serious beer connoisseur so started name checking obscure Kriek beers but he was not impressed. Then I finally said I wanted to "taste" the beers and he nodded his head and said ahhh, that is different than drinking a beer. He motioned me in and he told us to sit at the end of a table with another couple. The man sitting there, a swede who now lives in los angeles laughed and said he thought I was not going to get in. Apparently if you research online, you find out you have to say you want to "taste" beer, not drink it. I totally pulled the secret word out of my arse. I felt victorious!
That's the crotchety old frick there. We were there for 2 hours and he turned 6 or 7 people away, crazy!
We had been to Antwerp about 20 years ago and thought it was nice but not much going on. This time, it was very lively, lots of cafes and restaurants. We really loved Antwerp this go round.
This post was edited on 7/26/23 at 10:30 am
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