€3.57 for a Case of Beer?

...Euro Cart Bier?

Wait, isn't that the generic brand?

Albert Hiejn* Pilsner?

They make generic beer over here?

I mean, it is one thing to forgo the Green Giant vegetables and the Del Monte fruit for the best of BiLo brand. But generic beer? Can it really compete with Heineken, Amstel, and Grolsch?

This definitely called for a taste test. Now, my dad and Matt might not have Brian H.'s honed beer taste buds, but they will serve as fine test subjects. And frankly Matt's beer future in the Netherlands hangs in the balance. If he can't correctly identify the generic beer, no more €3.99 a six pack of Heineken - it's a €3.57 case of Euro Cart Bier for us.

The Line Up:

Premiums

• Grolsch
• Heineken
• Amstel +
• Alfa Edel Pils

Generics**

• Albert Heijn Pilsner
• Euro Cart Bier

The Tasters:

Matt & Dad
The results:

Neither tester correctly identified any of the 6 beers. Dad's favorite was Abert Heijn Bier; his least favorite was the Alfa. While Matt did not correctly identify any of the beers, he did correctly pick out one of the generics - the Albert Heijn Bier. I guess I will continue to fork over the big bucks for €5.98 for two six packs of Heineken, but if it ever comes down to chocolate or premium beer it's Euro Cart for sure!

Notes:

*Albert Heijn is a grocery store

+ Note this is not Amstel Light - that is a beer made and marketed only in the U.S. Over here they sell six varieties of Amstel, including a fall brew - Amstel Bock. The original Amstel was used in the taste test.

** Drew W.- we looked for a Miller Lite to add to the generic list but no go. Apparently they would rather drink generic beer over here than Miller Lite.

37 Molens

Today dad and I took a 65+ kilometer bike ride around the middle of the Netherlands. Our goal was to see as many windmills as possible.

Our Route:

1. Gouda (pronounced How-dah)
2. Haastrecht
3. Vlist
4. Schoonhoven
5. Groot Ammers
6. Brandwijk
7. De Donk
8. Donkse Laagten (Natural Area)
9. Kinderdijk
10. Lots of Farm Land
11. Gouda
12. Bar

Enjoy the photos - they are straight out of an Impressionist Painting!


The last two photos are from Kinderdijk, a UNESCO cultural heritage site. There is a group of 19 windmills here that were built in the 1700s. These windmills are kept in working order and are on display on weekends during the summer months. Most of the windmills are currently inhabited by local residents.

Dad thought this was the best bike ride of the week. He really enjoyed seeing the farms and farm houses.

We saw at least 37 windmills during the course of our 5 hour bike ride. Wow!

Zeeland Bike Ride - Day Two

Day Two

This morning we got up early to walk along the North Sea before breakfast. It was beautiful - the dunes here are gorgeous. They are hilly, covered in grasses, shrubs, trees, and flowers, and quite wide; I am sure they are what the dunes in the US looked like before tourist hotels and shops were built over every square inch of them.

We started the 25 km ride back to Middelburg right after breakfast to avoid any rainstorms. The fietspad followed the dike along the North Sea; it was so windy that at times I swear I was going backwards.In Westkappelle we stopped to climb the church tower turned lighthouse.

Behind the tower was a WWII memorial to the townspeople that died when the Allied forces bombed the sea wall in 1944 in the hopes of flooding out the German defense.
After our ride, we rewarded ourselves with warm stroopwafels from the market in Middelburg.

Zeeland Bike Ride - Day One

Day One

On Wednesday, dad and I rode our bikes from Middelburg to Domburg - roughly 21 km. Along the way we encountered a Vliedberg mound or a refuge mound. This was their protection in the middle ages against their worst nightmare - floods and tidal surges.Next we passed a turnip mound - this is any child's worst nightmare :)
It was rainy, windy, and cold, so our accommodations for the night were extra special. We slept like kings and queens.Because our clothes were soaked and we were tired, we stayed in that night and played games in hostel bar. Dad cheated at war.

Peace Palace

On Tuesday, dad and I rode our bikes to Scheveningen Pier and back. It was a quiet day on the North Sea, but I can imagine the crowds and activity on summer weekend.













On the way back we stopped at the Peace Palace in The Hague. The building was completed in 1913 and was designed to be a place to arbitrate disagreements between states, international companies, and treaties. Currently the building houses the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Hague Academy of International Law, International Court of Justice, Carnegie Foundation, and Carnegie Library. However, contrary to popular thought and my own, it is not where they try war criminals. This building is only for matters of the states and international organizations.


While the building was paid for by Andrew Carnegie and designed by the French architect Louis M. Cordonnier, the interior design and decor is a collaboration between the many countries that make up the UN. I wish I could post pictures but photography was not allowed inside; so you will just have to come visit and see for yourself.

The room that impressed me the most was the "Japan Room". The walls were decorated with handwoven tapestries that 48,000 people worked to complete. The front of the room had four 600 year old Ming Vases that were in immaculate shape. The "Japan Room" is where the council meets to go over administrative items and such, and so each country has its own chair for its diplomat/ambassador to sit in. On the chairs are hand embroidered crests of each country. The floor covering is the second largest, single piece Turkish rug - and despite all the foot traffic over the years is in surprising wonderful shape.


Outside of the Peace Palace is The World Peace Flame Monument. In the center is a flame that was lit from a torch from all seven continents. The flame is surrounded by The World Peace Flame Pathway. In the pathway there are 196 stones, one from each of the United Nation states and 6 others, brought by their ambassadors/diplomats from their home country. We looked for the stone from The United States on the map of the monument, but someone had crossed it off the diagram.

Cubans (cigars, not immigrants)

Unlike the US, The Netherlands does not have a trade embargo with Cuba. You know what that means...

Dad & Delft

On Monday, I gave my dad a bike ride tour of Delft. I started the tour by taking him to Delft Midden and letting him try out our favorite swing.

Oostport was the next stop on the tour. It used to be the east gate of the city and was built around 1400.

Then it was off to Delftse Hout and to the petting zoo. The goats were happy to be petted and even nibbled on your clothes.

The sheep, however, were not into it. Look at their pour little heads - they are bald from be petted a few too many times. They congregate near the gate to be let "out to pasture" (a.k.a. out of the petting zoo)!After visiting the parks, we headed into town to visit the Oude Kerk and the Nieuw Kerk. The old church is home to grave of Johannes Vermeer and was built in 1240.












The New Church was built in 1496 and is burial site of the entire Dutch Royal Family since William I, Prince of Orange.












The last stop on our tour was Royal Delft, the oldest earthenware factory in town.

Price tag on the vase? Over €6000!

Seals

During our bike ride on Saturday around Texel Island, we visited Ecomare. The museum tells the history of the island, concentrating on the battle between the land and the sea. In addition, it is has an aquarium full of the local sea life, including starfish, crabs, and other various fish. My favorite part of the aquarium was the nursery, where all the babies were in small tanks. The miniature starfish and baby flat fish were the cutest!

The facility also has a seal and sea bird sanctuary. We enjoyed watching the seals play with feathers and eat fish.

Amsterdam

On Sunday we gave my dad the whirlwind tour of Amsterdam. This, of course, included starting the day with chocolate waffles.After starting in Dam Square, we walked through the center of Amsterdam, through the Jordaan District, past Anne Frank's house, by the Homomonument, around the church where Rembrandt is buried, and through the floating flower markets.

Next up was lunch, where we introduced my dad to Indonesian Cuisine at Restaurant Kantjil en de Tijger. Indonesia was once a colony of the Netherlands, so there are quite a lot of Indonesian restaurants and stores around. Lunch was delicious! We ate huge bowls of noodles, vegetables, rice, and meat. Matt's came with a coconut sauce and Dad's and mine came with a peanut butter sate sauce. And of course, it was washed down with a round of Belgium beers.After lunch, we visit the Dutch Resistance Museum. It was a wonderful, informative museum that told the story of Dutch from the late nineteen-thirties until after liberation. The museum was exceptionally well put together, with interactive displays, a multimedia guide, lots of artifacts, informative text, videos, and sound recordings, and tons of photographs. I would highly recommend this museum to anyone visiting Amsterdam. After over two hours, we found ourselves being ushered out by the docents as we had stayed past closing.

And then, it was back to Delft...

Botel

Boat + Hotel = Botel

This weekend we stayed on Botel Christina in Amsterdam Inner Harbor. While not an experience for the light sleeper, it was definitely a place I'd go back again. The rooms were small and the beds short, but the atmosphere and breakfast made up for it.

And for all you wondering, the showers were vastly superior to the one in our apartment. Some genius sloped the floor so the water flows to the drain and does not flood the entire bathroom floor. The knobs also had temperature markings so you could precisely choose your water temperature, as opposed to continually tweaking the knobs the entire shower to avoid cold bursts and scalding moments. The pipes were also set up in way that allows someone to use the shower, someone to use the toilet, and someone to use the sink - and no one gets burned, frozen, or is lacking water. Maybe the genius could come redo our bathroom.

Texel Island

Texel Island Bike Ride

Starting out around the island on bike.

The wool from Texel Island is highly valued.

Dad resting on the dyke.

View of the Wadden Sea.

Matt riding on the dyke along the Wadden Sea.


Sheep Shelter


Beer stop in Den Burg - Dad drinking Texel Stormbok.


Hills!


Waves of the North Sea


A kite surfer in the North Sea.


Dunes of the North Sea beach.


Church in Den Hoorn

View of the pasture land outside of Den Hoorn.