They like chocolate and beer but not chocolate beer

Today, I had lunch with a Nobel Prize winner. His name is Peter Grünberg and he is one of the Nobel Prize recipients for Physics in 2007. Yes, Nobel Prize winners are humans just like the rest of us but you can’t deny that it’s a bit awesome. Dr. Grünberg, along with Albert Fert of Université Paris-Sud in France, discovered giant magnetoresistance, a phenomenon that basically allowed the jump from gigabytes to terabytes in hard-drives and changed modern computer technology forever. I knew that a past Nobel Prize winner worked at the Forchungszentrum Jülich, as it was clearly advertised on banners lining the entrance to the research compound, but it would never have occurred to me in a million years that I would in fact meet him and under such informal circumstances. An acquaintance within our group used to work for Dr.Grünberg and invited him to dine with us. And just like that, I had the honour of eating a pineapple chicken with rice beside someone who revolutionized the computer industry. We chatted a little bit about Canada and I found out that he did his post-doc at Carleton University in Ottawa – my city!  Perhaps my fate in the world of academia will be changed forever from being in such proximity of a brilliant mind.

This weekend’s travel destinations turned out to be Bruges, Brussels and Gent in Belgium. The initial plans to go to Hamburg fell apart, like they always do, and so I decided organize a weekend somewhere cheap and easy to access. Searching on the Deutsche Bahn website, I found a one-way ticket from Aachen to Bruges for only 19EUR, and that’s how the Deutsche Bahn made my travel choices for me. As for the return, I booked a ticket on a Eurolines bus route from Gent to Aachen for only 14EUR. These are the best transportation deals that I have gotten ever since I set foot on this continent! Using Eurolines is indeed a great option to travel if train tickets get too expensive. However, the journey is greatly lengthened and the bus stop is most likely going to be situated in the middle of nowhere. So, as a small army of RISE interns headed towards Amsterdam (I would have loved to join them if the hostels weren’t as pricey), a friend and I set forth towards the beautiful town of Bruges, or what everyone calls “Venice of the North.”

We arrived at our hostel at around 12:30am, inconveniently located at the opposite end of town from the train station. Actually, it wasn’t terrible at all since it takes only about 30 to 40 minutes to cross Bruges by foot and the town is quite a gem to look at in the evening. Serene canals run along against the main roads, not quite as many as those seen in Venice or Amsterdam but these ones have swans! I felt a wave peacefulness overcome me at sight of swans sleeping, particularly deep in the night when nobody’s watching, floating as light as a single feather and not minding the current. On a random note, this reminded me of some words spoken by a friend who was once very into meditation: the ripples and waves will come and go, but a river remains a river. Same with people; problems will rise and fall, but you can’t be anything but yourself so you might as well forget about the impermanent stuff.

The free maps we received at the hostel were created for young people, by young people. One thing that immediately became obvious from these maps was that this particular local crowd didn’t like tourists that much and weren’t afraid to say it. Their cynical sense of humour was pretty amusing. It was mentioned that bicycles rule in Bruges and they even suggested renting a bike to ‘run over tourists’. (Side note: this was something that I got to experience first-hand. Perhaps looking like a tourist is really a trait that I can’t escape, particularly in Europe, ie: I’m Asian and own a camera.) Included was also a list of questions to piss off the locals:

· Oooh, I know this tower! It was built for the movie ‘In Bruges’, wasn’t it?

· When does Bruges close? And the classic:

· Where is McDonald’s?

Saturday morning, we got directed to a butcher shop that sells pancakes for 4.90EUR the kilo. It was weird to see the pancakes placed among rows upon rows of meat. This apparent contradiction was reconciled when my friend found a piece of solid pork fat inside the pancake… The rest of the day was spent in a touristy daze. We then went on a brewery tour at Den Halves Man and got a ‘free’ beer when we came back out, window-shopped along streets packed with souvenir stores, cartoon dens, and saw the Madonna and child by Michelangelo, which is a big deal since rarely are Michelangelo’s works seen outside of Italy. The best part of Bruges is to me, the churches. I discovered my favourite church of probably the world in Bruges. The exterior had nothing special – grey stone walls and such – but the grandeur of the interior shocked me. The space felt open, fresh and was glowing in natural sunlight.  Even though I’m a non-believer, I think that if there is a single way to showcase the true glory of God, this church’s got it.  The next church that awed me took a modern art approach. That is, empty frames hanging from the ceiling, a giant pool of water in the center, and a smoke-machine.  Too awesome. 

Late in the afternoon, we took a train to Brussels with a 13.30EUR return trip ticket. Yes there was still enough time to visit a capital city, we thought. We got to the Central train station at around 5pm and headed straight towards the main attractions : The Grand’ Place and the Mannekin Pis (famous little kid taking a leak). Actually, there is also a Jannekin Pis in Brussels (girl version), beside the Delirium bar, which holds the 2006 world record for the most variety of beers. Somehow, the statue of a little girl peeing just seems vulgar. We had dinner near the Grand’ Place, on a touristy street lined with vendors fighting for the attention of tourists and shouting salutations in Chinese or Japanese or wherever they figure we’re from. Tip for travellers in Brussels: something to keep in mind that the restaurant owners are willing to compromise if you’re not willing to pay the price on the menu, unless I’m totally wrong. Before sitting down and showing your interest in a particular restaurant, drop in a casual comment about the other neighbouring restaurants selling for less and usually they will match the price. Some restaurant owners even asks you how much you’re willing to pay. Fascinating!

After slurping down a delicious pot of moules et frites, we continued to stroll around downtown and finally winded up in an unpretentious little coffee shop called “Greenwich”. That was the hightlight of my day, sitting on old wooden stools in quiet thought, with my entire mind focused on a game of chess. I simply loved it. There was something magical about that place, with its antique feel, an old bar that you’d swear no one ever frequents and one lone bartender standing behind. A group of locals decides to gather in a back-corner thickened with tobacco smoke, a world away from the trendy youngsters sitting next door in overexposed Asian-fusion restaurants. The experience would have been complete if I had a cigarette on me. Then I remembered that I don’t smoke…

That’s it for today’s post!  Hope you enjoyed it.  Until next time!