The first Sunday of a Dutch Work Party is usually spent getting (re)acquainted with the other participating scouts, and a simple hike in the area. Considering the recent snowfall, we decided we wanted to go snowshoeing.
After waking up in the white Alps, having breakfast and preparing a packed lunch, we started looking into the different options for the day.
The view from my room the first morning.The breakfast buffet.The breakfast buffet.
Plans and mountain conditions don’t always go well together though, and our first choice—going up with the Sunnbuël gondola lift and follow a snowshoeing trail from the top station—fell through: the trail was closed because of the high avalanche risk. The alternative we then picked, was a lower trail starting in the valley.
After strapping the snowshoes to our backpack, the five of us headed off. The trail started out snow free, but sure it would be covered higher up? It wasn’t… We reached the viewpoint—the highest point of our trail—without ever needing to put on our snowshoes.
Ready for a day of snowshoeing!Not quite enough snow for snowshoeing…
Back in the centre of Kandersteg, we rewarded ourselves with some pastry at the Marmotte tea room, and a beer in the bar of Hotel des Alpes, affectionately called “Dessie’s” by KISC staff and regulars.
Pastry and coffee break at MarmotteAnd a beer at ‘Dessie’s’ (Hotel des Alpes) of course…
While we were there and on our way back to KISC, it didn’t stop snowing, so by the end of the day, there probably was enough snow on the trail to use snowshoes…
A familiar sight to anyone who has ever been to KISC.Some newer additions…Some newer additions…And home again!
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…
Back on an ICE to Köln! This time with my Deuter backpack as well…My ICE after arrival in Köln Hbf.Breakfast at Heberer in Köln Hbf.The special but wrong train I almost got on…
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.
The train I actually needed, the EC 7.My spot on the EC 7 for the next six hours…The dining car on the EC 7.Not very busy in my carriage…Ghackets mit Hörnli for lunch, in the dining car of the EC 7.
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.
Unplanned change at Basel SBB.And off we go again, another hour until Bern…Arrival in 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.
No need to lug around my bags…Sightseeing in BernSightseeing in rainy BernCoffee at VERSACoffee at VERSA
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.
OnTapA local beer in OnTapOnTapOnTapOnTapOnTap
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’sZwanze 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!
Biercafe au TrappisteBiercafe au TrappisteBiercafe au TrappisteBiercafe au TrappisteBiercafe au Trappiste. Thomas didn’t mind I was sitting there…Biercafe au Trappiste. You have to drink a Cantillon beer on Zwanze Day…Biercafe au Trappiste.
The final bar before getting back on the train, was the beer minded metal and rock bar Ebrietas.
Sightseeing in BernEbrietasEbrietasEbrietasEbrietasEbrietasSightseeing in Bern
Bag picked up, back on the train—an SBBRegioExpress this time—and an hour later I arrived in a rather cold and very white Kandersteg.
Bern stationReady for the last leg…Views from the RE1: a first glimpse of the Alps!The whole route. Arrival in Kandersteg.
From the station it was then a twenty minute walk to my home for the next week: the New Chalet of KISC.
Views from my walk to KISC.Views from my walk to KISC.Dinner kindly put aside for me, waiting in my room.My room for the coming week.And there it is!
The beer festival season has well and truly started for me! After a very enjoyable trip to CBFS24 in Stuttgart in February, I visited two more beer festivals in Belgium I had never been to yet: The Beer Experience in Zolder, and Fest’IPA in Namur.
The Beer Experience – 24-25 March 2024
First up was The Beer Experience, which I visited on the 23rd of March. I arrived quite late—it was a two train trip, all the way to Zolder—so it was in full swing by the time I entered. There were lots of familiar faces, bot among the visitors and the stand holders, but more importantly, also a lot of breweries I hadn’t tried any beers of yet!
The location was quite special—an old mining site—and I didn’t quite get around to exploring all of it. Neither did I had the time to ‘experience’ all aspects of the festival fully, with its art exhibits spread out over the buildings, since there were simply too many beers to try! I did get to enjoy some of the live music, though!
This definitely is a festival I will visit again, and allow a bit more time for next time!
I also skipped the food trucks for once, since I had my heart set on something I can only get the way I want it in Limburg, it seems: a döner kebab in Turkish bread that doesn’t get squished in a panini grill, and with green peppers on the side. The appropriately named snack bar De Mijnhad exactly that!
After a beer festival, train trips with a change to get home are always a bit risky, but I didn’t miss any connections, and made it back to Brussels without a hitch.
The location for the festival—La Nef—was already quite special. It was in fact the desecrated Notre-Dame church of Namur, but a lot of the artwork was still in place.
No entrance fee, no tokens, just one bar with six beer pumps and a couple of fridges. Apparently that’s all you need, since I had a great time tasting some of the beers they had selected. If I didn’t have to get up early the next morning, I would happily have spent a couple of hours more!
So that’s another, completely different, beer festival to look out for next year!
The Three Leaves of my Saint Patrick’s Day Shamrock
I’ve been organising a Saint Patrick’s Day Pub Crawl for years now, in one form or another. At some point this endeavour became more craft beer focused, and the last couple of years, a run became part of the tradition as well. This year, live music was added to the mix, as a third part of the trinity.
Saint-Patrick’s Warm Up at Magasin4
The musical part actually started a week in advance already, with a concert of the French female Celtic rock band Toxic Frogs, and the Belgian Celtic punk rock band Black Tartans, and a happy reunion with a friend I hadn’t seen for a long time. Although Magasin4 announced it as a Saint-Patrick’s Warm Up event, I decided to wear my black kilt, which better fitted the not-quite-Irish groups and music.
Beer of the evening: Zinnebir!
The Celtic Seven at Brasserie de la Mule
On the eve of Saint Patrick’s Day Brasserie de la Mule invited The Celtic Seven to perform. Surprisingly, most of their songs were in French—how Irish even is Les lacs du Connemara?—but there were a lot more green clothes in the audience and amongst the staff! This time I actually did wear my saffron kilt!
As Brasserie de la Mule is specialised in German beers, that was what I drank that evening.
BMPH³ Trail 1924 – Saint Patrick’s Day Trail!
Only slightly hungover, a little after noon on Sunday—actual Saint Patrick’s Day— I headed over to Demey metro station a to run the BMPH³ Saint Patrick’s Day Trail. Plenty of green on this trail, since those who didn’t wear any green risked getting a very unpleasant ‘down down’. Exceptionally, we had to provide our own beer for circle, so I brought some beers actually from Ireland, one by Kinnegar (from Letterkenny, County Donegal) and the other one by Brehon (from Inniskeen, County Monaghan)!
Saint Patrick’s Day Pub Crawl – Craft Beer Edition
After a shower and a change, it was time for the highlight of the celebrations: the pub crawl! Once again, no bars seemed to be actually importing any Irish beers this year, so we tried to just stick to beers in Irish styles—actually just Irish dry stout—and the bars serving those beers.
First up was BBP Bailli! Ever since they opened, they’ve been serving the MC Nitro Stout, in memory of the Michael Collins bar that used to be in that location. We had it last year on the pub crawl, and fully expected it to be available this Saint Patrick’s Day as well. However, as it turns out, the beer was discontinued last year… They did have Oatly Stout though, so that hd to do. Will this then have been the last time BBP Bailli was included in the Saint Patrick’s Day Pub Crawl?
The last planned stop was L’Ermitage Saint-Gilles, where they had Ceallach, an Irish stout they made in collaboration with the Irish brewery Land & Labour, from Galway. Unfortunately they closed over an hour early, thereby sadly cutting our pub crawl short…
Next year Saint Patrick’s Day will be on a Monday, which will pose a challenge again!
It has been a while since I have been on a trip worth blogging about, but last weekend I travelled more than 1000 km on trains, providing me with plenty of things to show and tell… My main destination was Stuttgart, for the CBFS24 – Craft Beer Festival Stuttgart. Since I would never be able to be back in time in Brussels for the BMPH3 hash on Sunday, and I had to change trains in Frankfurt am Main anyway, I decided to run with the Frankfurt Hash House Harriers instead.
