Belgium Royal Observatory

I had the chance to visit the Royal Observatory of Belgium, in Brussels. The Observatory is located in a very nice neighbourhood in Brussels. There, I met with Pascale Defraingne and Carine Bruyninx. Good discussions with top notch researchers.

The streets after the first World Cup game

Holland's first game in the World Cup was against Denmark. Holland won. After the game we went to the streets to see how the celebrations were taking place. Lots of people dressing orange, in any way imaginable, the pubs overflowing with people, and more police on the streets than we have ever saw before.

Scheveningen, Den Haag

In another cloudy and windy Sunday we visited the beach resort of Scheveningen, a district of The Hague. The tram took us all the way from Delft to there, a 45 minutes ride. We walked around the seashore and stepped in the cold waters of the North Sea. In spite of the weather, there were lots and lots of people visiting the place. There are several bars and restaurants along the seashore, some with suggestive names, like Copacabana. There is a long pier which has at its end a Casino and a tower where the most courageous can practice bungee jump.


We ended up our day dinning at a Brazilian restaurant, with an anthentic rodizio, being that the meat were all from elsewhere but Holland.

Dutch scenes: Saturday market

Like many cities in Holland, Delft has also its Saturday market. And, I have to admit, it is slightly larger than Fredericton's. Besides fruits and (obviously) cheese, there you will find fish, flowers (including tulips, lots of them), meat, handicraft (including Delft Blue), antiques, old books, vinyl long players, old coins from everywhere, clothes, suitcases, ..., and street musicians performing, some using music machines. Quite nice to stroll around and invest some Euros into the local economy.

Dutch Scenes: Haring

Eating fish is a very Dutchy thing. Specially herring, here called haring. The traditional way of eating it is raw, with onions, either alone or in a bun. When alone, there is no way to eat it but by doing the same as the Dutch soccer fan is doing: you hold the tail and bite it. Quite good, actually. A Dutch sushi? Or is it sushi Dutch?



I was told that today there was freshly arrived herring. Then I went to the market to had some. Then I started to ponder: what does "freshly arrived" mean? Does it mean that the herring I had last month was not fresh?

Well, in the market, there are also other type of fish: cod, shrimp, even fish eggs (not caviar), etc.

"Scientific Research" (part 21, 22, 23 of many) - UPDATE

The saga continues.

I enjoyed Wieckse Witte in an Argentinian restaurant in Amsterdam (during my last visit). It was a hot day, so the lemon helped to enjoy this light beer.

La Trappe Tripel is another excellent Belgium beer. UPDATE: A correction. As pointed out by Paul, La Trappe is Dutch!

And, finally, Wieckse Rose, which is a fruit beer, something really awful! I wasted 3 Euros with that. Darn!

Dutch Scenes: boat tours in the canals

What is the result of breeding tourists with canals?

Boat tours.