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The annual Amsterdam Pride Canal Parade was about to set sail, so I put on my Pride of LGBT tartan kilt, and headed to Amsterdam, to run the Amsterdam Hash House Harriers’ “Gay for a Day” trail again, and of course watch the parade!
No photos of the Canal Parade itself this time, just a couple of photo impressions of my trip and the run. And of my kilt, of course!
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If you want to read about this trip from start to finish, instead of in reverse order, click here!
All good things come to an end, and so did this trip… I rolled up my kilt again—the Eurostar metal detectors don’t like its buckles and pin—and for the first time in two weeks, I was back in breeks again.
After an early breakfast in the hotel I successfully finished the packing puzzle: even with an extra T-shirt, pyjama bottoms, silly kilt towel, eight new items of haberdashery—of which six for others—and a bottle of whisky, I was able to zip up my bag quite smoothly!
After chilling in the Avanti West Coast Lounge of Glasgow Central for a bit, the staff announced our train was waiting for us at platform two.
Five minutes after boarding I already had my first cup of tea, and I would be well catered to for the whole 4.5 hour trip to London Euston.
After arrival I quickly went to the lounge in Euston, mainly to use the toilet—too many people queuing to go on the train—and enjoy the air-conditioning for a bit. Apparently outwith Scotland, there’s some kind of heatwave!
On to BrewDog Camden then, mainly just because it’s BrewDog Camden, and of course to try some more beers.
Before heading to St Pancras International, I managed to squeeze in a new place for dinner: Beer + Burger. Don’t know why I postponed it for this long, since the beer selection is impressive! And the burger was tasty…
Then there was only the slightly delayed Eurostar, taking me back to Brussels and thus marking the end of this trip…
Finally! Another ‘big trip’! Not unexpectedly it’s to Scotland again, but with a very specific goal: experience the shortest night of the year—Simmer Dim—on Shetland. As usual, the first day is all about getting to Scotland: 1287 km in under 21 hours, including over 7 hours in London…
Faithfully filling out all those questionnaires from Eurostar meant I had gathered enough points to upgrade to Eurostar Plus. There’s no lounge access included in that class, but in Brussels that’s usually not really needed anyway. For me the most important advantage of class upgrades are the solo seats. On trains to London however, Plus actually includes a light meal and drinks as well! On the menu today: roast beef bowl with horseradish and lovage potato salad, green beans and courgettes, apricot Bakewell. I also got to try the Two Tribes beer Nomad, brewed exclusively for Eurostar.
After arrival—just seven minutes late—I first headed to Hoppers for the second part of my lunch. Not that I didn’t enjoy the food on the train, but it was just a light meal, and definitely not enough for what was about to come… Also, Hoppers had been on my to-do list ever since I saw the founder as a guest chef on the Sorted YouTube channel. So I had an egg hopper, the Lankan chicken kari, tomato chutney, pol sambol, and seeni sambol, all of that with a Toddy Ale by SALT.
I wouldn’t stray too far from the train stations today, but still, taking my big wheelie bag—with a kilt roll and a smaller backpack strapped to it—would be quite annoying. So it was time to store my bag at what turned out to be the cutest Nannybag location I ever used. The lady running the shop calling me ‘dear’ all the time reinforced this sentiment even further…
After that I had some time to relax a bit and have the first decent coffee in days, at Store St Espresso.
From there it was just a five minute walk to The Queen’s Head. I’ve been to this bar a couple of times—probably already my very first time in London—but the beer menu never disappoints! To soak up a bit of the beer before my last stop, I finished off with a Mr. Barrick’s pork pie.
Then it was time to retrieve my bag while the shop was still open—even though the nice lady gave me clear instructions on what to do if it was closed—and head to my traditional pre-sleeper stop: the Euston Tap! It was sweltering inside, so after my first half, I ordered a pint to take outside.
I didn’t stay too long, since I hadn’t tested the new Caledonian Sleeper lounge yet. It’s definitely nice they have a space of their own now: you already get your room key card—pre-activated, so no messing about with double-tapping—and an announcement when it’s time to board. And of course all the shortbread and Irn-Bru—and coffee and tea—you can stomach! The lounge was quite busy, but I still found a seat.
When I was finally on board, I quickly dropped my bag in my room, filled out the breakfast card, and headed to the Club Car, for my traditional whisky and Scottish cheese plate. After my second dram, I decided it was time to go to bed, and spend most of the 914 km to Inverness sleeping. After all, breakfast will be served at 7:15…
So for now, time to take off my trousers and stash them away for the next two weeks, and get some sleep!
Bonus! A little video of my Caledonian Sleeper experience!
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If you want to read about this trip from start to finish, instead of in reverse order, click here!
Okay, technically the run isn’t part of the Paris Beer Festival… However, the Paris hashers made it a tradition to end the run in the festival week at the beer festival. Obviously, I joined them for this run!
After enjoying a coffee and some cake at Café Tranquille, I dropped off my bag at a Nannybag location near the Gare du Nord. That way, I wouldn’t have to go back to the hotel on my way home, yet still spend the day running and drinking unencumbered by a backpack.
Once that was taken care of, I went to metro station Michel Bizot, the start location of today’s hash.
I was a bit early, but soon the members of Sans Clue H3 started to arrive. As it turned out, there were only two runners, including me! In order to get to the beer festival in time—Sundays can be busy there, apparently—it would be a rather short run, and an even shorter circle.
Up until that point it had been quite a drizzly day, which probably helped to keep the queues short so far. It also meant that by the time we got in, most of the outside tables were still empty, so we managed to secure a spot for ourselves for the remainder of the festival.
Eventually it was time to go home though, so back to the Gare du Nord I went. The Eurostar left perfectly on time, and I was home again before dark…
I’m back in Paris! This time the reason for my visit is a beer festival—my first French one—and a run—also my first French one!
I didn’t try any of the newer—cheaper—train options available, but took the comfortably quick Eurostar again. After arrival, I whipped out my Navigo card—which surprisingly still had a lot of rides on it—to take the métropolitain to my hotel for the weekend, the ibis Paris la Villette, in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. After check-in, some coffee and banana bread at Kaffeebar 19, I was ready for an afternoon and evening of beer bars and breweries!
With some places only opening at four or five, it was a bit of a puzzle. However, in the end I had a schedule that enabled me to visit all the bars and breweries I picked out for this trip! First up was Paname Brewing Company, near my hotel.
After that I had to take the metro again to get to Le BaB OPERA. While they didn’t actually have a Paris Beer Festival event on Friday, they still had most beers from a Nuka Brewing tap takeover the day before.
There were no events at I.B.U Petites Écuries and BEER Paris either, but they had some nice beers on nevertheless.
At brewpub Les Cuves de Fauve they did have a Paris Beer Week event: a Sudden Death tap takeover and collab brew.
Last stop of the night was L’Atalante—back near my hotel again—where they had a Kauri Brewery and Wabi Brewing tap takeover.
I could easily have spent hours in each of those bars—which were all new to me—but it was nice to at least have visited them briefly!
