Author: Lee Hausman

I had a relatively nice train ride from Amsterdam yesterday to London. “Relatively” because on the leg to Brussels I had to sit with my back to the direction of travel, which I dislike. On the French Thalys train web site it’s always a roll of the dice for me when trying to select a seat facing the “correct” way. Then there was the lady in the seat behind who hacked and coughed like she had pneumonia all the way – and the car was full so I couldn’t change seats. No ill effects for me, though. At least the service was good, my changeover to Eurostar for the run to London was easy, and Lady Phlegm did not follow me to London.

The “chunnel” train is always nice, the staff is very pleasant, and the food is reasonable. When we got to the tunnel mouth at Calais, I was particularly interested to see the high number of track-side security guards and all the additional new razor-wire fencing. There have been a lot incidents in recent months of illegal immigrants trying to get onto Eurostar trains (under the carriage, on the roof, etc.) to get to England. There’s a squatters’ camp with some 3,000 of them nearby, and some have died in the attempt. I saw none.

On the ride from St. Pancras Station to the Paddington Hilton, my Black Cab driver had some strong opinions about Uber. Mostly along the lines of how unfair it was to regulate the professional cabbies but allow Uber into the market with little or no regulation (and I agree with him). At the moment, there’s a London court case in progress affecting the Uber app but any decision is not expected to seriously impede Uber. 

I was shocked upon arrival to see that Paddington Station is under seriously renovation, with large areas of “The Lawn” blocked off. I also had unprecedented difficulty getting a decent room at the Hilton, which was shocking. Their app for online check-in and room selection is misleading and apparently interferes with getting a Hilton Honors member room upgrade. In the end, I had to go to and reject two rooms before getting a decent one. The second rejectee was on the top floor with a terrace and rock-star amenities, but sadly it came with rock-star damage: stains down the wall, shower stall mold, abused furnishings, and a plastic bag wrapped around the ceiling smoke detector! Thank God for the cell phone camera, as I was able to document all this in pictures when I returned to the lobby to speak with the hotel manager. 

One amusing thing about that room was the 55″ flat screen TV mounted on two columns right at the end of the bed. You could get a suntan from it while sleeping! Too bad if you wanted to watch it without being in the bed. I’m now in a regular, nice Hilton room. 
 

 

I went upstairs to the Mad Bear and Bishop pub for a pint of good English ale and was not disappointed. The Rugby World Cup was on the TV and it was fun to watch while enjoying my pint. The sign above shows when casks of ale were tapped (opened to allow some air in and start secondary fermentation) and when they were subsequently first served. Nice to see that kind of information and rare, too. I’ve never seen a sign like that before. 

I’m off Oxford and Reading for the day tomorrow.

No, I’m not exactly sure how that’s pronounced either, but no visit to Amsterdam is complete without a stop at this great craft brewery.

  
It’s located right beneath the last remaining windmill in Amsterdam, where the original brewer used to live. Take the #22 bus from Centraal Station to get here.

  
Here’s their nice Black IPA. Creamy and not too bitter, with Simcoe and other hops, at 5.4% ABV, a very drinkable beer. I also had their Pilsner and their Amber Ale; both very tasty. 

  
Since my last visit, they’ve updated and expanded their tap room, to very nice effect. Seating space was tripled inside and new glass walls give a view into the brewery. I was the third person through the door when they opened at 2pm on a Monday and by 3pm the inside and outside seating were full – popular place, no? Their bottled beer is available locally, but a visit here should be on any beer lover’s list when visiting Amsterdam. The windmill is pretty dang cool, too.

It’s a very foggy morning here in Amsterdam and a fine time to finish a few left-over thoughts from my visit to Venice. 
I cannot emphasize enough how difficult it is to get around Venice with a suitcase in tow. Almost all the streets are made with pavers or cobble stones, which are horrible on suitcase wheels. There are a lot of canals, so there are a lot of bridges you may have to carry your suitcase over. Knowing how to get to your hotel and planning a route in advance is essential, and may affect which vaporetto (water bus) you take. Street signs and building numbers are often non-existent. Don’t think that Google will necessarily show you the way, either. I can’t tell you how often I see folks dragging their bags, looking at their cell phones in panicky confusion as darkness nears. Google can be, and often is, highly inaccurate in Venice and the availability of cellular signals can be spotty. If you’re lucky, your hotel has noticed this and worked with Google to correct their information. If not, well… another piece of good advice is plan to get to Venice by midday or early afternoon. Get your hotel to send you exact instructions about finding it. And, unless you’re wealthy and can afford a private motorboat taxi ($100-120 one-way to/from airport) and a stay at a luxury hotel with a canal-side dock ($500+/night) do not even think of bringing more than one wheeled suitcase per person. The crowds on vaporettos and the walkways make this a horrible experience.
 

 
I saw something interesting the other day: a sign at a shop saying “Stamps and mailbox available here”. Now, this is probably news to the Italian Poste system, because this had nothing to do with them and, I think, borders on fraud. I have always been successful sending postcards and letters via the Poste but perhaps their track record is poor, because private mail systems have appeared. Yes, when I asked in the shop, it turns out they sell special “GPS Mail” stamps (at twice the price of those from Poste) and they have their own private “mailbox” for you to use. The stamps include a bar code and, as their flyer breathlessly informs you, if you get their app you can track your postcard! Now, this sounds to me like a solution looking for a problem, but perhaps there is a demand for it. Or maybe their real goal is to get you to buy/install their app. I saw one other private postal system advertised elsewhere in Venice, too. 

  
Venice has become a bit like Disneyland: way too many tourists and an over abundance of cheap trinket shops and pushy sidewalk vendors. The mental strain of just walking anywhere or riding a vaporetto is very tiresome. There were a few times when I was distinctly aware of how unsafe my situation was due, for example, to complete blockage of aisles by suitcases inside a boat (you’re supposed to leave them in a special area up front but perhaps there was no room there). Tourists pay no mind to conductors, many of whom just stop trying. I’m afraid the lustre has gone off a bit for me, but maybe coming a little later in the year (as I usually do) would help.

Here’s how my 1 hour and 35 minute flight from Venice to Amsterdam became a stress-filled, 12-hour journey. 

I made a rookie mistake and failed to check on my flight status before leaving my hotel. This is really an important thing to do when departing from the Venice aiport because a) the airport is hard to get to and it takes over an hour to get there; b) the airport is too small physically for the volume it handles and doesn’t accomodate long lines well; and c) airport staff and travellers are often quite stupid.

Once it was announced that our morning KLM flight was cancelled (due to heavy fog in Amsterdam), I got on my cell phone right away while standing in line and booked myself on EasyJet flight at 5pm. However, I still endured hours standing in lines, getting conflicting info from KLM staff about possible earlier flights, refund authorizations, and what not. 

Cooled my heels at the airport all afternoon, watching my half day and evening in Amsterdam vaporize. My EasyJet flight was packed, naturally, and I encountered many bad travel cliche situations: I had a middle seat due to my late booking, there seemed to be negative space from my knees to the seat in front of me, the fellow on my left seemed to have ADHD and constantly jiggled his legs and worked the seatback tray latch incessantly, the fellow on my right had a major case of halitosis with onion/garlic bad breath, and so on. It was a long seeming flight.

At least my luggage arrived in AMS with me and catching the train into town went smoothly. Arriving at 7pm meant I couldn’t get a Hilton Honors hotel room upgrade and that means no access to the Executive Lounge, so the nasty effects will ripple through the rest of my stay. In the larger scale of bad things happening in the world, this was very minor (if stressful) and all is well now. Van Gogh Museum, here I come.

Now here’s a nice Venetian tradition: cicchetti, Venice’s answer to tapas. These tasty treats, each 2-3 bites and made with today’s fresh ingredients, are on offer at bars across the city. You have one or two, with a small glass of wine, chat with locals and other travellers for 10 minutes, and then move on to the next bar. An excellent social event!

 

  

 
One of my favorites (which I ate before remembering to pull out my camera) is the deep fried Zuccini flower, stuffed with an anchovie. Very fresh, very tasty.

I had lunch today at the Taverna San Trovaso, near the southern end of the Accademia Bridge. I try to have at least one meal here every time I visit Venice because it’s so reliably good. 

What you’re looking at is Mezzalune ai Porcini ed Olio Tartufato (homemade ravioli stuffed with porcini mushrooms and truffle oil). I suspected that it was going to be fabulous so I deliberately avoided an appetizer or pre-meal bread. Mama mia! The first bite flowered across my mouth, bloomed into my head, and quickened my pulse. What an amazing dish! I paused between almost every bite to savor how good it was. It was incredible and after finishing it I didn’t want to leave my table for a long time because doing so would break the spell. If you come to Venice, you must try this taverna.

I’ve passed the Doge’s Palace many times in my Venice visits and finally went in for this first time today. This was where the elected head of the Venetian Republic (the Doge) lived and where the governing councils met. A kind of White House/Capitol Hill combo. It’s smaller, of course, but makes up for it with lavish decor.

Apparently, they wanted everyone to keep their eyes on heaven, or at least on the best approximation of it that large-scale paintings and several tons of gold leaf could manage.

 

 
They had a fire that required a complete interior do-over in the 1500s, and we see the result of that effort today. One goal was to impress upon foreign trade envoys that they were dealing with the World Leader in commerce and luxury.

 

 
I focused my camera upward mostly but the rooms themselves also had ornate marble fireplaces, richly-tiled floor mosaics, and extravagant wall treatments.

  
For the 1300-1500s, the Venetians were remarkably democratic (if you were from a patrician family) and had an orderly, elected succession of Doges. The paintings are primarily devoted to religious scenes and the city’s great achievements in trade and battle. Along with about 80 other painters, Titian, Tintoretto, and Bellini all got large commissions during the post-fire renovation.

  
And this is the Big One, the Great Council Room, one of the largest rooms in Europe in its day. The Doge would preside over a council of as many as 2,000 members (all from patrician families – common folk were not invited). He was also advised by two other lesser councils. The artwork and ceiling are just amazing!

I was going to take the tour of the basement prison and the “Bridge of Sighs” but at the last minute I noticed a small sign informing the public that the ceiling height was 2 meters (just about 6 feet) in many corridors. That sounded a bit claustrophobic to me, so I decided to just enjoy the bridge from outside. 

The selfie stick, that extensible cell phone holder/wand that provides a little longer picture-taking perspective, is so common in the U.S. that it’s almost been declared passe. It’s alive and well here in the European tourist areas, though. OK, on the face of it, there’s nothing wrong with a compact, collapsible tool that lets you take a better photo. I’d love to be the person who thought of it and is probably making a fortune from the idea. 

  
But… my difficulty comes from users who never collapse it. They walk around with their phones at the end of a 30″ stick, at all times in all sorts of crowds, oblivious to the danger posed to others. I’ve nearly been poked in the face a few times. It also seems like they’re just holding their $500 smart phone out on a platter for thieves. Sadly, there is still no common sense requirement for getting a passport.

  
San Marco Plaza is shown above late in the day, with the Basillica and the Campanille in stylistic contrast with one another. The ubiquitous pigeons, those “rats with wings” as New Yorkers have it, still rule and visitors still feed them. The weather is comfortably cool and easy – really nice. My travels here from Paris took 7 hours door-to-door and only involved a 1:20 flight. The rest of the time involved train, bus, and boat trips, and security checks.

Amusing Scene: White-jacketed waiters at the empty, fancy (over-priced, mundane food, surly service) restaurant with the power-awning, chilled seafood display case, and table cloths, staring wistfully at the little dive bar across the calle where I sit, the one that’s packed to the gills with customers happily enjoying the $2 piccolo of wine and low-price cicchetti.

 

 
And here’s something you don’t see every day in Venice:

  
Give this scene any romantic caption you like! The truth is they’re models in an advertising photo shoot. It was interesting watching her navigate the tourist hordes and bridges in her wedding dress. 

This is just a remarkably nice Sunday in Paris, with cool temps and bright sunshine. This is a day for being out in the city and everyone is making the most of it.  

In additi0n to enjoying the “day without cars”, people are flocking into the parks. 

  

 

Luxembourg Garden is truly one of the nicest, most relaxing places in Paris. The landscaping and plantings are beautiful. There are also great swards of perfectly-maintained grass – which no one is allowed on.

  
A busking treat: Olivier Franc on the tenor sax on the sidwalk with pianist. Great, soulful music that echoed in the buildings. Check him out in this video with Wynton Marsalis: http://youtu.be/qBkF_priCUE

And that will wrap it up for my 2015 visit to the City of Light. Tomorrow: the Charles deGaulle airport scrum and on to Venice!

Yes, we mostly know this tower by a different name but my Parisian friend Phil insists it’s his wife Marti’s tower and who am I to disagree?

Lines to get into the tower have lately become absurdly long, so this time I tried the Viator.com “Skip the Line” ticket service and it was fantastic. We walked from our assembly point, past an hour-long line, right into an empty security lane, through the metal detector, and onto an elevator. Total wait 3 minutes. I highly recommend you use this service when you come to Paris!

  

  

 

The views from here are always stunning and all of Paris is laid out below you. Truly one of the world’s wonders.