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Tag: running

Hash Pride Hash in Amsterdam

No, not that kind of hash—although I’ve been offered to buy some in Amsterdam many times—but as usual for me, it was time for another beery run! For the third time in a row (after 2025 and 2024), I joined the Amsterdam H3 to run, drink, and watch the Pride Amsterdam Canal Parade.

This time I didn’t take a Eurostar, nor a ‘normal’ train to Amsterdam, but for the very first time, I took the EuroCity Direct. Annoyingly, this train doesn’t stop in Brussels Central station, but like most international high speed trains, it departed from Brussels Midi. The train wasn’t too crowded though—at least until Rotterdam—and I was happy to discover there were power sockets and USB A ports at every pair of seats! 

After arrival in Amsterdam Zuid train station, my first order of business was to get to the general area of the parade and hash, and get some coffee in me. My pick of the day was photo gallery and coffee shop LYUBLU on the Waterlooplein, serving coffee by local roastery Stean’s Beans.

Then it was time to find the hashers in the Wertheimpark. Usually they’re quite easy to spot, with their flashy clothes, but on a Pride day, they didn’t quite stand out that much! We didn’t wait very long before starting the run, because the aim was to be back before the start of the parade. So the run was short—just a little over 5 km—and sweet, with some nice views on the floats and spectators getting ready. After the run we convened back in the park for lunch, and to watch the parade.

Apparently it was WorldPride, so a bit of a special edition of the Pride Amsterdam Canal Parade, drawing even more visitors than usual to Amsterdam, and to our little corner of the park in particular. This made it a bit harder to get a good view—or photos—of the floats, but luckily I could see a bit more from the nearby bridge.

After a nice afternoon with hash friends, barbecuing, and beer, I slowly made my way back to Amsterdam Zuid train station, but not after a stop at Gollem. So, there are actually several Gollem beer bars in Amsterdam, and by foolishly just following directions of a map app, I ended up at Gollem aan het Water, not the Gollem I actually intended to go… The beer offer was a bit smaller—especially on draught—but I didn’t have time to try that many anyway. They did have a Flammkuchen though, which I needed and enjoyed.

I made it to the station just in time, so two hours later, I was back in Brussels again.

An Oslo Odyssey

Time for some history and some more culinary discoveries today! And for the last time this trip, a run… 

There was no breakfast served in the hotel, but in same building there were a couple of options available. My first morning in Oslo proper, I went to Spor av Nord, for an egg salad sandwich and a kardemommebolle

Then I was off to the Norsk Folkemuseum. Like Bokrijk in Belgium, it’s an open-air museum, filled with buildings from all over the country, taken apart at their original location, and carefully put together again in their new home, thus saving them for posterity. 

Back in the city centre, it was time to try some of that famous brown cheese—brunost—and apparently it is quite good on a waffle. So I went to Haralds Vaffel, and asked for the ‘superclassic vaffel’. Not bad at all! 

Tim Wendelboe is a well-known name in the coffee world apparently, so obviously I had to have a coffee there!

And since just the waffle was not quite enough to be considered a whole lunch, I also stopped at Syverkiosken for a pølse med lompe, a hotdog in a potato flatbread.

Before my last run, I still had time to try two more bars: Brygg Oslo and Café Fiasco

But then I really had to get back to the hotel, change into my running kilt for the last time this trip, and catch a tram to the run start. Since it was Oslo H3’s run 2001, it took inspiration from the famous Kubrick film, and was titled “A Hash Odyssey!” We were very lucky with the weather this time, and had some great views over the water. 

Running & Reindeer

The last day of InterScandi—including a short run—but the first day of properly exploring Oslo! Well, I mostly discovered the bars, since it was a bit late for museums already…

But first the coaches took us and our luggage a bit closer to Oslo centre. We got off the coaches to start our Hangover Run, the luggage was then further transported to Pakkhuset Oslo, where our run finished. A final Circle and a sandwich, and that concluded InterScandi 2026

My CityBox Oslo hotel was only a couple of hundred metres away, so I quickly checked in, had a shower and a change, and I was ready to discover the rest of Oslo!

A quick coffee or two at Hakone Coffee, and I was off to the Amundsen Bryggeri & Spiseri. Lovely people behind the bar, and some really nice beers, brewed in the tiny brewery just behind the glass. 

Next: Dr. Jekyll’s Pub—with a cool hidden toilets entrance—and RØØR.

Finally time for some Norwegian cuisine, and Elias Mat & Sånt had exactly what I was looking for: finnbiff! This reindeer stew with bacon, mushroom, onion and carrot, double cream and brown cheese sauce, was served with mashed potatoes and lingonberries, and it was delicious. 

Sufficiently fed, I was ready for some more beer, trying to keep my selection as local as possible. Luckily Mad Goat Tap Room and Brewgata both had plenty of choice. 

InterScandi Saturday

Regular readers will know by now: the Saturday of a weekend-long hash event always includes a long run during the day, a nice dinner, and a party. InterScandi was of course no different. 

After breakfast, colourful groups of participants took off at different times for each of the different difficulty levels of trail. For the trail I chose—simply know as the “long” trail—the start was actually from Snippen, a train station one stop away from our accommodation in Kjelsås. From the train we could already see what to expect: lots of rocky climbs and descents, dense woods, and rain… While clouds and mist obscured some of the views, it was still a beautiful 16km run/walk/climb.

For dinner we had a tasty and satisfying Indian curry—I guess my exploration of Norwegian cuisine will have to wait until Sunday evening—and some kind of crumble for dessert. 

The party—themed “Circus”—included live music by “WrONg DirectiON”, a group of musical hashers. Oh, and I found out Face ID doesn’t work if I’m wearing a clown’s nose…

Transylvania Halloween Hash 2025

The drinking already properly been taken care of, it was time to do something about that running problem of ours! So there was a proper Transylvania Halloween Hash trail on Saturday, and a hangover trail on Sunday, to recover from the Halloween party in between. 

On those hash weekends I usually don’t pick the most extreme and long trail, aptly called the Ball-Breaker Trail. However, this weekend there were two options to choose from, and I considered the short one too short. We were told the Ball-Breaker Trail “includes extreme increases and decreases in elevation, and is only advised for the hashers looking to run, sweat, and cry…” Well, I didn’t cry, but I certainly felt those more than 600 meters of elevation gain, and was full of bloody scratches. And boy, were my knees happy I brought some poles! This was the first trail I ever did that came with a bear warning, by the way…

After dinner we had the Transylvania Halloween Hash Party, once again with Hop Hooligans on draught! 

On Sunday there was a short Hangover Trail, after which the weekend was officially brought to an end with a Closing Circle

Since many of us needed to get back to Braşov, mismanagement had kindly arranged a bus, to take us to the station. 

While most had to catch a train to Bucharest just an hour later, mine was over two hours later, so I dropped of my bag at the station, and headed into town. 

Some coffee at Meron—I hadn’t had decent coffee since Friday—and some last Romanian beers at The Beer Corner — and one to go, to drink on the train. 

Then it was time to head back to Braşov station to pick up my bag, and catch the Dacia Express sleeper to Wien Hbf. No issues this time either, and it seems I won the en-suite lottery! There are only a few rooms with shower and toilet on this train, and it is impossible to select when booking: one just has to wait and see… I lucked out this time, so I will be able to start my day in Wien clean and fresh!