European Epic # 2: Living Below Sea Level

The next step of my adventures involved a lot of living below sea level.  Taking a train from London to the European continent plainly involves doing that -- but it happens more than once.  That's because the Eurostar trains leave from St. Pancras station on the northeast side of central London and have to dive through a tunnel under the tidal estuary of the Thames River on the way down to Folkestone where the main event -- the tunnel to France -- begins.  And then, of course, I wound up in Amsterdam which is all about living below sea level!

On one of my early trips to Europe in the 1970s, the journey from London to Amsterdam took about 12-13 hours, via the special "boat train" from London to Harwich Parkeston Quay, then the large Sealink ferry sailing through the night to the Hook of Holland (with seasickness a definite possibility in the boisterous waters of the North Sea), and finally another boat train from there to Amsterdam.

But now we have the Channel Tunnel, and the Eurostar high-speed trains.

This time around, the Eurostar flew from London down to Folkestone, through the Channel Tunnel, and on to Brussels Midi station in just 2 hours and 10 minutes.  At that speed, you don't see much scenery other than varying degrees of blur.  In Brussels, I transferred to a Thalys fast train which took another 1 hour 50 minutes to reach Amsterdam.

These trains have 3 classes of service, but at different names depending on the operator.  I chose a second-class Standard Premier for the Eurostar, which included a single seat in the 1+2 layout, and a "light bite" served at the seat.  This proved to be a continental breakfast of bread basket, yogurt, fruit, and choice of coffee or tea with juice.  On the Thalys, I had a first-class Premier ticket (at a much more reasonable price than the Eurostar) and a cold lunch with beer or wine, fresh rolls, and coffee or tea included.

Why not a cheaper Standard (3rd-class) ticket?  In Standard class you either lug your own food in, or else stagger through anything up to seven cars to reach the buffet car, wait in line for who-knows-how-long, find out they are out of whatever you want, and stagger all the way back.  And if you do get something, whether from the buffet or a café on the station, you'll end up paying far more than it's worth -- and not saving much by comparison with the higher-priced ticket.

Both the Eurostar and the Thalys move.  And believe me, when they say these are high-speed trains, they mean high speed -- they are not joking.

            (the posted speed limit on that highway was 100 km/h = 62 mph)

Total end-to-end time including the 50-minute stopover: 4 hours 50 minutes.  It would take far longer even to fly from London to Amsterdam (with travel to/from airports plus check-in, security, passport control and baggage claim time all included), hence the success of the Eurostar.  Even with the requirement to arrive a minimum of 30 minutes in advance for check-in and security, you still come out well ahead of the game.  The brand-new direct Eurostar train to Amsterdam gets there even faster, in just 3 hours 40 minutes from London.  The Channel Tunnel has dramatically rewritten the rules about travel in Europe for many people.

In Amsterdam, my Holiday Inn points led me to a large Holiday Inn Express right next door to the suburban Sloterdijk railway station.  The room was blessedly bigger, but the bed was Euro-typically harder than in London.  Holiday Inn Express always includes a free breakfast, and this one was typically Dutch: assorted cereals, cold boiled eggs, cold cuts and cheeses, breads and rolls, pastries, fruit, juice, coffee and tea.  There's also a bar which opens in the afternoon/evening hours where you can get light snacks, baked-to-order pizza, and drinks of all sorts.

At a glance, you might wonder why a history buff like me would choose to stay in a modern high-rise out in the middle of the modern-high-rise suburbs.  It's the location of this hotel, right by a rail station, that makes it a winner -- a quick 5-minute train ride from Amsterdam Centraal.  From Centraal, you can get anywhere in the city easily on the Metro and the famous Amsterdam trams, or just by using your feet -- downtown Amsterdam is surprisingly compact.  The transit agency GVB has a ticket office right outside the Centraal Station which sells one-day and multi-day transit passes.  Speaking of the trams, the # 19 route leaves from Sloterdijk, right behind the hotel, and takes you in 20 minutes to the outdoor entertainment and dining area of the Leidseplein and to the Museumplein where you find the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk, and the Van Gogh Museum all together.  There's also a Metro station right under the rail station, although that line is less convenient to get into town.

Where else but in the Low Countries with their level landscapes would you see a multi-level parking garage for bicycles?  It's right beside the Centraal Station.  Many commuters use two bikes -- one at the suburban home end of the journey, and the other downtown for the final leg to work, with the train providing the connecting link!

Or try this eye-popping cycle park by the downtown Metro station on Rokin.  How does anyone ever find the right bicycle again?

Also right outside the Centraal station are the docks of half-a-dozen canal boat cruise companies.  All of them offer broadly similar 1-hour sightseeing tours, on a circuit through the city's horseshoe-shaped canal network.  Now, there's also a daylong hop-on-hop-off canal boat "bus" tour service.  For a first-time visitor, there's no better way to introduce yourself to the city -- and I always take a boat tour every time I come here, just because I love the experience so much.

Along the way, you see classic architecture from the city's "golden age" in the 17th and 18th centuries, along with a selection of the over 2000 houseboats permanently moored in the city,...

...as well as some more modern buildings,...

...and the classic Amsterdam pattern of cars and bicycles parked along the canal side.

Once you leave the canal boat, you can proceed on foot to such famous places as the Dam, the open square in the middle of the city flanked by the Royal Palace and the New Church (that's 1700s new, by the way).  The appearance of the Dam ranges from crowded all the way up to shoehorn-packed.  It's not often that you will see much open pavement here at any one moment.

And what's that new arrival in the last picture?  Let's just zoom in a bit.

Amsterdam is famous -- notorious, even -- for such things as the "brown cafes" where marijuana can be openly smoked, with the Bulldog Palace on the busy Leidseplein one of the first and most famous -- not least because of its location in a former police station.  Oh, the irony...

Then, there's the extensive "red light district", and the numerous lively and even raucous nightclubs and gay bars.  If those aren't your thing, there are multiple shopping districts, most famously the Nieuwendijk pedestrian shopping street.

None of these particularly appeal to me.  What draws me back to Amsterdam time and again is the historic ambience of the city, the extensive walking possibilities, and above all the opportunities for buying a brew or two...

...along with a good rib-sticking meal of chicken satay...

...and then just relaxing at an outdoor café table to watch the world go by.  Okay, fine.  I admit it -- I'm an eccentric.  Not that this is "news" to anyone who knows me personally!  (PS -- those cigarette butts in the ashtray are not mine!).

One thing that's shifted in a big way in Amsterdam is this whole area of food.  When I first came here in the 1970s, Indonesian restaurants were everywhere.  One short street in particular, Binnen Bantammerstraat, had 8 or 9 of them in a single block -- and all of them have now (sadly) switched to other kinds of cuisine.  These were, of course, a cultural remnant of the days before the 1950s when the Netherlands ruled over the area now known as Indonesia, formerly called the Dutch East Indies.

The signature meal experience was the rijsttafel ("rice table").  I had it twice.  You got a bowl of steamed rice, surrounded by a series of small dishes containing different recipes of meat, poultry, fish, or vegetables, cooked in different sauces or seasonings, with alternating sweet or savoury, spicy or mild, creamy or juicy, etc., and with coconut and peanuts as two of the more common ingredients in the various preparations.  The dishes sat on a warming tray.  The idea was to transfer some rice to your plate, add a small quantity of the contents of a dish, and enjoy -- while making sure to go through the dishes in the proper numerical order to keep the different tastes alternating.  This internet photo gives a pretty good idea of what it looked like, except that I had smaller and fewer dishes because I was having a rijsttafel "sampler" for one person.

When it was time to leave Amsterdam, I just had to hop on a train going the opposite direction through Sloterdijk Station, and in 10 more minutes arrived at Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport.  Ever since I first travelled here in 1971 as a teenager, Schiphol has intrigued me -- and not just because the whole airport (like so much of the Netherlands) sits below sea level.  Honestly, what other place in the world could you find an airport in a location whose name translates into English as "ship hell."  Google it sometime; there are multiple theories and intriguing explanations for this peculiar name.

Amsterdam Schiphol is the third-busiest airport in Europe, and must be one of the biggest airports in the world contained entirely in one terminal building.  Depending on which airline you are using, and where you are travelling, you may be faced with a fairly lengthy walk.  Once again, I got the treatment, with 30 minutes of brisk walking from train to gate -- not counting stops for check-in and security.  If nothing else, Schiphol definitely gives your legs a good workout.

My flight this time was on Swiss International, and involved a connection through Zurich.  I opted for Swiss partly because it helps me to earn more Aeroplan miles, and partly because -- well, who wouldn't want one of these to tide you over until the next meal time?

That's right -- delicious, smooth, creamy, rich, gooey (because of the heat) Swiss milk chocolate.  The airline says it has given out over a quarter of a million of these in its fifteen years of operation -- and they just gave me 3 more.  The predecessor national airline, Swissair, did it too.  Yummy.

Oh, where was my flight headed, you ask?  To be continued....

European Epic # 1: Touchdown Londontown

This week I set off on a 6-week holiday in Europe, a holiday involving a number of "firsts" for me.

One of my "firsts," for this blog, is that I'm not telling my readers up front all about everywhere I am going to go.  We'll find that out together as the trip progresses!

As anyone who's been can tell you, travelling in Europe is not cheap by comparison with North America.  One of the biggest factors making this trip possible for me is the amount of money I'm saving by using airline and hotel points along the way.  The essence of the loyalty points game is to earn points on the cheap in North America and then spend them where the cash cost would hurt the most.  I earn all over Canada and in smaller cities in the United States, and cash in when travelling in some of the more expensive destinations like New York, Rome, Hawaii, or London.

As usual, I cashed in my Aeroplan points to fly from Toronto to London in business class, and as usual I took the daily Air Canada "Daytimer" flight that leaves Toronto at 0910 every morning and arrives at London Heathrow at 2100 the same evening.

I learned years ago that I could reduce my jetlag to a minimum when I didn't lose a night's sleep on the flight over to Europe (sleeping on planes is something I have never been very good at doing, even with a lie-flat bed seat).  The good news?  The Daytimer flight is now operated by a high-tech Boeing 787 jet, with numerous features that reduce jetlag even further.  And, of course, it's hard to beat the comfort of the individual Business Class "pod" on Air Canada, a mode of travel I could never afford if I had to pay actual dollars for it!

I spent the daylight hours of my first two days in London doing almost nothing I hadn't done before and enjoying it all immensely.  Among other things, this led to some sunny walks in the gardens of Regent's Park...

...and along the Victoria Embankment on the north bank of the Thames, with the spectacular view towards the skyscrapers of the City of London and the ever-majestic dome of St. Paul's Cathedral.

One of the main sights along the Embankment is "Cleopatra's Needle", a slightly-off-the-mark name for the Egyptian obelisk which was actually erected in Luxor by Thutmose III about 1400 years before the birth of the famous Greco-Egyptian queen.  It's flanked by a couple of faux sphinxes.  Oddly enough, this is not another example of European "raiding" of other countries' cultural treasures since it was given to Britain by the then-ruler of Egypt and the Sudan in 1819.

I also paid a return visit to the nearby Temple Church, an ancient Gothic building with a most unusual history and design.  Originally built by the Knights Templar, it now belongs to the Inner Temple and Middle Temple, two of the Inns of Court which are the professional law societies and colleges of the United Kingdom.  It's thus now called the Mother Church of the Common Law.

Typically, in Gothic religious architecture, the long, straight portion of a church is called the nave, and is where the hoi polloi would sit, while the often-rounded end is called the chancel and contains the seating for the choir and priests, as well as the high altar where communion would be celebrated.

The Temple Church gets it all backwards.  The round church was built first, consecrated in 1185, and the linear three-aisled chancel was added later on, in the 1250s.  The original round church thus serves today as the nave.

For a music buff like myself, there's one notable aspect of the Temple Church's history aside from its long and distinguished record of choral and organ music.  One night in (I think) 1962, the strings of the Sinfonia of London moved into the church after midnight with conductor Sir John Barbirolli.  They were, of course, trying to capture a recording without daytime traffic and other noises.  The result was, and remains, one of the great classics of recorded music -- a well-nigh definitive performance of the famous Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

For my first three nights, I stayed in a modern Holiday Inn just off Kensington High Street.  Like many London hotels, this one has unbelievably tiny rooms, although they are certainly comfortable.  Unlike many (most?) central London hotels, this one actually has a "leisure club" with an indoor pool -- always an attractive feature for me (although, in the event, I didn't get around to using this one).  Add in a tube station on the corner, and several good restaurants nearby and it becomes an ideal base.

On my third day, I travelled for 70 minutes northeast of London by train, to the small city of Ely.  In British law, it's considered a city despite its size and population (20,000), because it is the home of a cathedral of the church of England.  This one, too, is architecturally distinctive -- and on a much grander scale than the Temple Church.  Ely and its cathedral are built on an island of clay soil in the midst of the Fens, a vast region comprising wetlands which were gradually drained and converted to agricultural land during the 1700s and 1800s.

I started with lunch, on a riverside patio, and enjoyed the views of all the old canal boats converted into houseboats.

Here are a couple of views of the exterior of the cathedral.  We'll start with the elaborate Lady Chapel, built in the mid-1300s at the height of the medieval cult of the Virgin Mary.

Here's the elaborate multi-arcaded front of the cathedral.  The peculiar off-centre look of the main tower with the southwest transept resulted when the matching northwest transept collapsed in the early 1300s.  The soft ground on which the cathedral was built was the culprit.

Inside, Ely features a long, tall nave built in Norman times (the 1100s) with rounded arches.

At the entrance to the chancel, the elaborate carved choir screen frames the oak choir stalls.  A few weeks ago, my brother, sister-in-law and niece sang daily services in these stalls for a week.

At the highest point in the chancel stands the high altar, with the elaborate carved screen known as a reredos behind it.

But the great architectural glory of Ely is the magnificent Octagon.  The cathedral formerly had a tall central tower over the crossing of the two arms of the building.  This tower collapsed in the 1300s, likely also due to the soft ground.  One or more men of sheer genius evolved the solution, by removing the original four corner pillars and replacing them with eight pillars placed further out from the centre, on firmer ground.  And here's the result.  On the outside, it looks elaborate, but not too extraordinary otherwise.

The extraordinary is what you see on the inside.

The elaborate vaulting on top of the eight pillars is actually just a wooden skin.  The real lifting work is done by an elaborate timber framework concealed behind the ceiling.  If anything ever causes the Octagon to fall, it will have to be replaced with metalwork of some kind because there are no longer any trees in the United Kingdom big enough to replace those timber structural frameworks.

The remarkable effect on the interior of the cathedral is the sheer amount of space in the crossing because of the octagonal layout, and also the huge amount of natural daylight shed into the interior of the church by the four corner windows and the eight windows in the octagonal lantern tower.  Ironically, all that daylight makes the interior very difficult to photograph without professional-quality equipment.

For my last night in London, I transferred to the Renaissance Hotel St. Pancras.  This deluxe hotel occupies several floors of the former Midland Hotel attached to St. Pancras railway station, the terminus for the Eurostar high-speed express trains that operate from London through the Channel Tunnel to Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam.

This station originally housed the terminus of the Midland Railway, and the single-span arched iron roof over the platforms (now lovingly restored) was an engineering wonder when it was designed  and built by William Henry Barlow, opening in 1868.  When you recall that this was the height of the "steam age" with coal-fired locomotives belching thick black smoke into the air, you can understand why high-arched roofs were de rigeur for Victorian railway stations.  And you'll also understand why the iron structures always looked so black in the old photographs.

Here's an internet view of the modern version of the building.

The hotel building was designed by George Gilbert Scott in his signature Gothic Revival style, and opened originally in 1873 as the Midland Hotel.  The resemblance to Barry and Pugin's Palace of Westminster -- that's the correct formal name of the Houses of Parliament -- is both unmistakable and non-accidental.

Today's hotel looks very different, with the red brick exterior beautifully cleaned and restored.  The hotel today uses the lower floors of Scott's building together with a modern wing extending along the west side of the station.  The upper floors of  the old classic hotel have been converted into loft flats and condominiums.

For dinner, I visited the Booking Office restaurant, located inside the former ticket office of the station.  (It was too dim for photography, but here's a pic from the hotel's website with an arrow to show where I was sitting).

Certainly it was convenient to walk from room to train the next morning without even going outside.

This blog will resume with my first train journey through the Channel Tunnel.

A Love Affair With History

Okay, I admit that, at one level at least, my love affair with history describes my entire life.

But this is a travel blog, and so this post describes my weekend jaunt to the second-largest city in Canada, and the largest French-speaking city in the world outside of France: Montreal.

Montreal is a bustling, diverse, modern metropolis with all the usual appurtenances which that description implies. I've been here so many times I've lost count. The limo driver who brought me in from the airport asked when I first visited. I told him (it was 1967) and he whistled and said, "That's before my parents were born." Now I feel old!

Over the years, I've spent a lot of time in the more modern parts of the city but really, all in all, I would rather be right down in the waterfront area known as Vieux-Montreal, a historic district where old rubs shoulders with new, still in the vibrant mainstream of the city's life. A recreated outdoor museum this old town area is not!

For me, the biggest attraction of Vieux-Montreal is the way that this area lends itself to walking around. The next-biggest attraction is the incredible diversity of restaurants found there. I've been to (among others) old French, nouvelle cuisine, old and modern Quebecois, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Polish (see below), wine bars, brew pubs, cafés, breakfast places, crepe restaurants -- and that only covers the ones I've actually tried! The only reason I don't gain 10 kilos on every visit is the amount of walking I do while I'm here.

The area has many hotels, apartments, guest houses, and Air BnBs at just about any price point other than the absolutely dirt-cheap. Major chain luxury high-rise hotels line the edge of the district, along Rue St-Antoine. Inside the historic area, heights of buildings are strictly controlled and so the hotels are smaller -- although some are still modern.

My own favourite is the Springhill Suites by Marriott, which is right smack in the centre of Vieux-Montreal -- a couple of minutes walk one way to the Metro and downtown, or the other way to the river. The suites are modern and comfortable, with big windows which give plenty of natural light, and which can actually be opened (bonus)! A generous breakfast buffet is included in all room rates. More than anything, it's the location that makes this hotel such a winner.

So, off I went this morning, just a few steps down the hill, and around the corner onto Rue St. Paul.  This long narrow street is the beating heart of Vieux-Montreal, lined with block after block of boutiques and restaurants to suit every taste.

Like this one. If anyone's brave enough to sample this place's products, I want to know if the after-effects are as drastic as the sign suggests.

A few more blocks down the street brings you to the Place Jacques-Cartier.  In summer, this open plaza is alive with activity, with outdoor café terraces packed, all under the dignified supervision of Montreal's City Hall at the crest of the hill.

Right by the top end of this square is the Chateau Ramezay, formerly the home of colonial governors, and now a museum.

Not far beyond Place Jacques Cartier, you come to the old Bonsecours Market, a long-time hub of commercial activity.

Just beyond the market is the historic chapel of Notre-Dame de Bonsecours. It's known as the "sailor's chapel" because of its proximity to the old port of Montreal, and the number of carved ship models (given as thank-offerings by sailors) which hang in the ornate interior of the church.

It's no accident that the statue of the Virgin Mary on top of the dome above the altar is turned away from the city and facing towards the harbour, with arms upraised in blessing.

 

Just one more block down the hill brings you to the old port area. Although active docks and significant port facilities are still found both up and down the riverbank from here, this portion adjacent to Vieux-Montreal has been developed as an amusement-entertainment complex, with restaurants, visitor attractions, walking areas, and summer-shopping kiosks.

The newest attraction is the Grand Roue de Montreal (the Great Wheel).

I've always been attracted to heights and views so I paid my $28.50, and enjoyed a 30-minute ride (3 complete circuits) with wonderful views of the port, the city and the river islands, even if it was cloudy.

In this picture, the red-brick building indicated by the arrow is the Springhill Suites where I'm staying -- which lets you see how it is completely in scale with its surroundings.

This picture of the islands shows several of the surviving buildings constructed just over half a century ago for the celebrated world's fair, Expo '67.  In fact, about 3/4 of the land mass of these islands was also constructed for the fair, using the excavation material from the construction of the Montreal Metro subway system and other projects.

After leaving the wheel, I headed down along the waterfront, and then cut back into the historic area to the long, narrow open space called Place d'Youville.

One of the features here is this famous upscale steak and seafood restaurant, Gibby's, located in the historic old Youville Stables. That's why I thought it appropriate that a horse-drawn calèche should roll along just as I was ready to take this picture.

From the Place d'Youville, I headed back onto Rue St Paul and up a few blocks to the corner where the Stash Café is located. This is one of my must-go places whenever I'm in Montreal. Polish beer, and a platter of ground pork schnitzels (actually more like burgers) with mushroom sauce, red cabbage salad, and potatoes made for a good rib-sticking feast. Warning: Stash Café is not only authentic in its recipes, but also authentic in the quantities of food -- in a word, generous. And very delicious too. Equally authentic are the old rough-stone walls, the hewn ceiling beams, and the bench seats which are actually pews taken from an old church!

A couple of blocks from Stash, and up on the crest of the ridge of Vieux-Montreal, is the old city's jewel in the crown -- the magnificent Notre-Dame Basilica. Even with the whole width of Place d'Armes directly in front of the church to help you, it's something of a challenge to fit the entire height of the building into a single photograph.

This imposing church was constructed in the period from 1824 to 1830, with the towers being completed by 1843. Although architect James O'Donnell gave an obvious nod to the famous cathedral of Paris in his design of the front with its two tall square towers, there are more differences than similarities -- the most notable being that the Montreal towers and the three great arches of the entrance are slimmer than their Parisian counterparts.  This makes them appear far taller even though the proportions (but not the height) of the façade as a whole remain virtually the same.

The interior is an eye-popping confection of brilliantly-painted and gilded woodwork and carving. (This picture was taken some years ago, with the choir preparing to rehearse for an annual Good Friday performance of Mozart's Requiem.)

And from there, I made my way the two short blocks back to my hotel.

**********

To close, a few helpful hints about Montreal.

Directions: In a word, confusing. The city's "baseline" is the riverfront, and streets which run parallel to the river are described as going east and west. Streets that run straight away from the river are described as north-south. Now look at a map.  Yup. That's right, folks. When you're heading "East" in Montreal you're actually going close to due north, and when you're heading "South" you're actually going east. And so on. Sorry, you just have to deal with it.

Language: Everywhere you go, you will be greeted in French. If you don't speak or understand French, no need to panic -- and there's certainly no need to avoid Montreal on that account. In tourist-heavy areas like downtown, Vieux-Montreal, Sherbrooke St., or the Gay Village, pretty much anyone who serves the public is fluent in both languages. Simply respond in English, with a smile, and conversation will continue in English.  Having said that, a smile and a simple "Merci" at the end of a transaction goes a long way, too.

Transit: The Montreal Metro and associated bus network is a great way to get around in a city where traffic can be a real penance. Study the website before you go (Societe de transport de Montreal), and you'll see a whole range of unlimited-ride or multi-ride pass tickets, any of which can be bought from vending machines at any Metro station. You'll receive a sturdy cardboard ticket, which you simply place onto the sensor on top of the turnstile to enter the Metro. Signs and directions are clear and easy to follow in all stations.

Driving: In a word -- don't. The streets of Vieux-Montreal are narrow, often paved with rugged bricks or cobblestones, and parking is at a premium in both space and dollars. So almost everyone walks here, and you should too. To put it bluntly, if you drive down into Vieux-Montreal to visit, you're either crazy or a total masochist IMHO. If you're staying elsewhere, there are two stations of the Montreal Metro convenient to the historic area -- Place d'Armes and Champ de Mars.