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Dutch Work Party – Return & Reflection

Dutch Work Party – Return & Reflection

Published on 28 April 2024 
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If you want to read about this trip from start to finish, instead of in reverse order, click here!

And then it was Sunday, and time to go home again… Bags packed, room cleaned, checked out, and it was time to walk into the village for the last time, to go to the station. Goodbye Kandersteg!

I had to take a regional train to Bern two hours earlier than I originally booked, which meant I had some time to walk into town for a coffee.

From Bern my EuroCity was supposed to go straight to Köln, but after standing still before and in Basel Bad for way to long, the train staff urged us to change onto one of the ICEs at other platforms. Just as well I took their advice, since the updated arrival time of the EC would have meant I would have missed my connection in Köln.

In Köln I arrived not much later than my EuroCity should have, so eventually the only train going as planned was my ICE 10 to Brussels…

Reflection

Even over ten years after the last time I was at KISC, it felt like home again straight away! The staff, my fellow members of the Dutch Work Party, the mountains… Seeing people of so many backgrounds and nationalities work together for a common goal, is truly inspiring, and it’s been a real pleasure and privilege to be part of that again.

It was also nice to wear my neckerchief again for a week, and actually do something hands-on for scouting again, and not just meetings and writing, even though that has its place as well.

So while I fully intend to help out with the 2027 World Jamboree in Poland in whatever capacity, I’ll definitely try to squeeze in another Dutch Work Party before then!

Dutch Work Party – Back to Switzerland!

Dutch Work Party – Back to Switzerland!

Published on 20 April 2024

For the first time in a little over ten years, I’m off volunteering at the Kandersteg International Scout Centre again! I joined the Dutch Work Party for this four times before—spring 2008, autumn 2008, spring 2010, and autumn 2013—but studies, work, relationships, and just bad timing kept me from returning… until now. As the only participant from Belgium, I offered to travel to Kandersteg by myself by train. This conveniently also enabled me to plan a extended stop in Bern for some beers…

As usual for trips to the east, the first leg of the trip was an ICE to Köln. You’d say by now I know how to get in Brussels Midi station on time, but thanks to the Brussels public transport company, this turned out to be quite a challenge: the metro broke down four stops before the train station, so when it still wasn’t moving after five minutes, I decided to call an Uber for the last bit. With only a minute to spare, I eventually made it onto my ICE…

After grabbing some breakfast in Köln station—it was only a quarter past eight by then—I boarded the EuroCity 7, going straight to Bern. No solo seats on an EC, but the passenger who was to sit across from me from Koblenz, never showed up! My seat was all the way back in the last carriage, so I noticed the door with a view to the back, giving me the opportunity to do film from it, like train vloggers do!

Since this train also had a dining car, and I would be travelling until well after lunchtime, I decided to take full advantage of it and already get a taste of Swiss cuisine with some Ghackets mit Hörnli and a Möhl Shorley.

Due to accumulating delays however, my comfortable EC 7 was terminated at Basel, so I had to change onto an Intercity for the remainder of the trip to Bern.

After eventually arriving in Bern and putting my bag in a locker, I headed to VERSA for a proper coffee! The delay meant I didn’t have to spend a lot of time there killing time until the bars would open, and playing tourist was reduced to a minimum as well.

The first bar on my list was OnTap. They had quite an interesting list of beers from all over the world, but I of course had to start with something local: A Slice of Red by Riot Act Brewing, a brewery in Zollikofen, a suburb of the city of Bern.

Next up was Biercafe au Trappiste. As you can imagine, they do like Belgian beers here, and it was actually the only Swiss location to celebrate Cantillon’s Zwanze Day, today! Unfortunately the event would only start at nine in the evening, and even flashing my tattoo didn’t help to get an early taste of the Zwanze 2024… Still, I had to drink a Cantillon as well!

The final bar before getting back on the train, was the beer minded metal and rock bar Ebrietas.

Bag picked up, back on the train—an SBB RegioExpress this time—and an hour later I arrived in a rather cold and very white Kandersteg.

From the station it was then a twenty minute walk to my home for the next week: the New Chalet of KISC.

Back to the ‘Dams

Back to the ‘Dams

Published on 20 October 2023

My little autumn break wasn’t quite over yet, after my Warszawa-Berlin trip, so on Friday I went to both Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

For the long stretch Brussels-Amsterdam, I used up all my Thalys points—mostly earned by filling out questionnaires—for the high speed option. Although officially the company is Eurostar now, my train was still adorned with the Thalys branding.

After my morning commitments—my trip wasn’t all leisure—I stopped at Quartier Putain for a coffee and a piece of apple pie. I’m not sure if that name would go down well in cities where they actually speak French!

By then it was time to discover the newest addition to BrewDog‘s portfolio of bars: BrewDog Amsterdam Centraal! It opened just a week before, when I was about a 1000 km east from here, so I missed the EFP opening, unfortunately… The shipload of EFPs—literally, since they had organised a communal ferry crossing for the opening—didn’t drink the bar dry though, and they even had one beer on draught I hadn’t had yet!

It was only around lunch time, but the bar was packed, the staff seemed to be well-trained, and handled the crowd well. Apart from a couple of beers, I had the Cluck & Satay Skewer. It’s always nice to have something ‘local’ on the food menu of a BrewDog bar!

Just before leaving, I also had a nice chat with franchisee Peter, who seemed to be confident he had found a great location for the bar. I can’t disagree with him: located right within Amsterdam Central Station, it will definitely one I’ll be visiting more often!

From the bar to the train platform was only a couple of minutes’ walk, and soon I was off to my next destination: Rotterdam!

The BrewDog Outpost Rotterdam was the only BrewDog bar in the Benelux participating in this year’s edition of Collabfest, so if I wanted to taste any of the beers, I had to make a stop there. Not every bar get’s all beers, but the selection in Rotterdam was great. As it turns out, it even included the highest rated beer, which was Rotterdam’s own collaboration with the Moersleutel: the K9 Chocolate Stout – Brewdog Rotterdam Outpost Collab!

After trying almost all the Collabfest beers, and a few others, it was time to go back to the gorgeous Rotterdam Central train station, and catch the train home again…

Warszawa & Berlin – Day 7

Published on 18 October 2023 
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Back to Brussels…

And just like that, it was time to go home again.

To keep things simple, I just had breakfast at ibis Berlin Mitte, with a view on wat seemed to be a rooftop apiary. I didn’t try the waffle maker, but I was tempted!

After checking out of the hotel, I took the M2 tram again—the tram with which every day in Berlin started and ended—to Berlin Hauptbahnhof, to take the ICE to Köln.

The ICE arrived almost in time, so I had plenty of time for a coffee at Blooming Coffeebar and Roastery, before a last beer in Germany. I was considering going for a Kölsch, like last time, but when I passed Craftbeer Corner Coeln, still well before its opening tim, there was already some movement inside, and the door was open. When I asked about their 18:00 opening, they took pity on me, and served me some beers already!

From there it was back onto an ICE, for the last stretch to Brussels. That meant the end of another wonderful trip, full of great discoveries, and happy revisits of familiar places!

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Warszawa & Berlin – Day 6

Published on 17 October 2023

Last Full Day…

My last day in Berlin started at Town Mouse Coffee with a delicious—and just spicy enough—”Mouse Trap” sourdough toastie (with Emmental, feta, and the house chutney) and a coffee. Always nice to find places like this near my hotel!

From there I went to the Mitte Museum. I usually make a habit of visiting the ‘local’ museum of any city I visit, but Berlin is so huge, it actually made sense to learn more about the ‘Bezirk’ (borough) I’ve always stayed in. Who knew porcelain was so important for Mitte?

My next stop was at the Museum in der Kulturbrauerei, to learn more about East Germany in its communist years. I had been to a museum with the same theme last year, but this one was definitely less touristy and more educational!

For lunch I went to Burgermeister, apparently an institute in Berlin. Not bad, but definitely not the best burger I’ve had…

For my after-lunch coffee I went to Bonanza Coffee.

After a little break at the hotel to recharge, e went to BrewDog Mitte—just two new beers there—and Mikkeller Berlin. I totally forgot about the Mikkeller Running Club, which had a run right when I was there!

Last time I was there, I didn’t spend enough time in Bräugier Brewpub, so I made up for that this time.

For nostalgia’s sake—I grew up in Limburg after all—for dinner I had a classic veal döner kebap at Kebap House—”Best Döner in Prenzlauer Berg” they say themselves—which is a bit different from the Gemüse Kebap with chicken you often find in Berlin…

My very last beer stop in Berlin was at another place with a banging beer list and great service: Manifest Taproom. The perfect end of my beer journey in Berlin…