A Walk and a Float 2025: Intermission Days 7-9

Day 7:
   So we did do some cool things in Belgium (Liege).
We did that geeky geocache 20-puzzle challenge thing (As I mentioned before, there are about 50 different ones of these in the world. Belgium has one. In Liege. Which was one reason we went to Liege). Fortunately, it was not so hot this day (the previous day was absolutely sweltering). It required a long climb up a 'hill' that gave a nice view of the river and the city. It was also a very nice nature walk.
We ate some waffles in Belgium, at a place that was officially certified for "Liege-style" Belgian waffles by the Belgian Waffle Office. They were tasty.
I drank some Belgian beer (Jupiler); very beery.
We looked at the chocolate at a famous Chocolateria store - it was laid out more like a jewelry store than a chocolate store, with each piece on a pedestal and suggested options for mix/match to create designs, and all under glass. But neither of us were enough into chocolate to purchase any. They were pretty, though.
Because the hill-climb was not enough, we scaled some famous stairs (Montagne de Bueren). 374 of them. There was a guy there with a weighted vest who was running laps up one side and down the other (he lapped us twice), which I kind of set aside in my mind. Then there were the two elderly women ahead of us, who stayed ahead of us the flight up - and realized they probably do this climb every day to get their groceries - and that did make me feel a little inadequate.
At the top of the stairs, we continue our way up the hill and walked around a Michelin rated park, which contained multiple monuments to the WWI and WWII soldiers from Belgium.
There was laundry.
   And some fine dining nearby.

Day 8:
Off to Rotterdam. We were going to go to Amsterdam, but all the hotels seemed to be booked and the places we could find were way high-priced (something like 350-400 Euro for a night at the Holliday Inn Express). When we checked in at Rotterdam, and mentioned this, our host made some sort of comment about "Knot-toe" happening.
Then we remembered - it is the NATO summit. And the US representative was arriving that day. And security was high. And trains were a mess. And prices/availability everywhere got spiked (but less so in Rotterdam).
After checking in, we did some city exploring around downtown Rotterdam, learned some about the North Sea Jazz Festivals (held annually in Rotterdam), and tried to learn some of the local customs:
1) You have to swipe your train ticket when you LEAVE the station when coming from another country. This is a bit of an artifact of using your credit card when you enter/exit any public transport, and they charge by the number of kilometers between points. But for a short bit, we didn't know how to get out.
2) Not accustomed for using a credit card (1.10 Euro) to enter a train-station loo. Or having a receipt that can be used to receive a discount from the gift shop inside the loo.
3) Bikes. And figuring out the rules on how to be 'predictable' when crossing lanes of traffic with people/bikes/motorbikes/cars all sharing the same space.
4) Steep staircases.
5) Everyone here speaks a minimum of three languages. Even the people behind the counter at Drippy's Burgers (kind of a Steak-n-Shake sort of place).
But we are scientists. And we figured it all out. Except the languages.

Day 9:
Day trip to Amsterdam. Paying the Express 'supplement' to bypass The Hague. A long standing-room-only train ride - very Dutch. And extra-crowded because *everyone* was trying to avoid the Hague; and a section of the train line was out because of a signal failure; and another section of another train line was out for an overhead line failure. So everyone was a little antsy. - very not Dutch.
There is one of those geeky geocaches in the Netherlands (in Amsterdam), so we did that. Not sure rooting around a bicycle parking lot directly under a raised-platform train-station, immediately next to the AJAX football stadium, and during the NATO summit, was really a smart thing to do - but we were in Amsterdam for this day only, and that logbook had to be signed. Fortunately the search was brief, and no one paid attention to us.
Oh - and the cultural education/growth thing. We spent some hours at the Van Gogh museum. I have heard that some "Ass-toot" art historians say that he is a pretty big deal in the art world. After seeing some of his work in person, I think there might be something to that.
Then we walked to the Anne Frank house (which did not seem to be admitting anyone today).
Near that we had Dutch pancakes.
And beer (Heineken).
And look out for those seagulls. They will snatch the food out of your hands if you are not careful.
Then the ride back to Rotterdam. We took the longer route back (that passed through the Hague, which is now less of a cauldron now that the US delegation has departed). Lots of stations to get back. Started with standing. Then we got seats. Then more crowded, and then the aisle was completely crammed, and I got whacked in the head by a smelly guy's man-bag multiple times.

Tomorrow, we move locations to our previously arranged B+B. And in 3 days, we start the float.

Pictures!

Day 7:
Belgium, Liege: on our walk up the hill, saw these two insects on adjacent leaves. The first seems to be a Harlequin Ladybug. Not so sure about the second.

Steep climb reminded me some of Oregon:

And the view of the city from up top:

Hey! A poppy!! Not in great shape, but a poppy.

Waffles. One Vanilla (I think) and one Caramel (I think):

Now with all that sugar, up some stairs:

Looking down some stairs:

At the Citadel Park, and the view from over the city:

There were some sobering reminders. Including the posts that the Germans tied Belgian soldiers to, before a firing squad. And many other WWI/WWII memorials.

Back in the city, the Opera house

And a Visit to St. Paul's Cathedral:

Day 8:
Leaving Belgium - the Liege train station:

In Rotterdam. The place where we are staying, we are on 3rd floor (ground floor being 0). The stairs are about 6" from front-to-back, and are seriously steep. I don't know how it is that every Dutch murder mystery is not about someone being pushed down stairs.

A lot of European Herring Gulls (in addition to Black-Headed and Lesser Black-Backed gulls). The Herring Gulls, though, are the most aggressive. On multiple occasions I have seen them try to take food from people's hands while they eat.

These guys will also try to go for your food. Jackdaws. Small crows.

And then there are these plastic-legged coot-like critters, called Eurasian Coots:

And art along the waterway. This one was pretty twisted.

And for more twisted, here is a super-sized wild-eyed Santa bearing a.... gift?

And, as mentioned, NATO was happening, and the US delegation had just arrived. And just in front of our hotel, a half-dozen police trucks showed up. Turns out they were there to shepherd a protest through town to make sure nothing got out of hand. They passed directly below our window.

Day 9:
Day trip to Amsterdam. 1st stop, Ajax stadium for a geeky geocache thing.

Oh - I mentioned bikes. This is a bicycle parking lot.

A Black-Headed Gull, seen while waiting to get into the Van Gogh Museum:

And inside the museum.

Of course, you can always go to google-image and get a much better look than what my camera does, and go into maximum-zoom and inspect the individual brush-strokes with incredible definition,
(eg: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/self-portrait-with-grey-felt-hat/PgEJ1hPIzqsM2w;
or https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/sunflowers/hwEGmsM-FoHAwA)
but there was something about the 3-D strokes/shadows from seeing it in person. And of course none of that was captured with my pictures - I think my camera does nothing more than to prove I was there.
And if you have any interest at all in art, and haven't played with Google https://artsandculture.google.com/explore, I highly recommend taking a tour.

We took a long walk along the canals. A lot of tour boats. A lot of apartments. A lot of bicycles. A lot of pedestrians.

A pretty corner between perpendicular canals:

Dutch Pancakes (Jana had the strawberry art piece, and I had the blob of apple crumble with raisins that somehow looked less appealing [tasted great, but looked... less appealing]). And Dutch Beer.