Jordaan Food Tour

 

 

 

 

While travel is about discovering new places and customs it also helps you learn things about yourself. Food tours provide a great opportunity to try different food and learn how a city developed in relationship to other cultures. Recently I enjoyed a food tour of the Jordan area in Amsterdam. Our trip featured some stereotypical Dutch food but also cuisine inspired by its colonies. Our first stop was at a traditional “brown café” which is a pub historically decorated in dark woods.  After meeting our group and enjoying poffertjes with coffee our guide lead us through the area to different shops and restaurants where we sampled pastries, herring, kibbling, cheeses and bitterballen. I expected to sample  Indonesian Food however our tour included a Suriname restaurant: this cuisine had been developed by Indonesians when they immigrated to Suriname. The fusion of cultures made for a great food experience.

Brú na Bóinne

New Grange

The Neolithic Period commenced about 10000BC and ended between 4500-200BC. As a reference this is the period in which Jericho was built and Stonehenge erected: it was also the era during which passage tombs were created beside the Boyne River in Ireland. Today a world heritage site has been established at Brú na Bóinne which features these tombs: two of which are accessible to visitors. Knowth and New Grange were both built about 3200BC and served as ceremonial tombs that incorporated astronomical clocks into their designs. In the case of New Grange that calendar function continues today: the passage of that structure is designed so that light only enters the center of the tomb on the winter solstice. This feature allowed farmers to determine when spring would occur so that they could commence planting crops.

Inner Passage at Knowth

The tombs are similar in size but differ from each other in two ways. Knowth has one passage oriented to the east with a second to the west and most of the kerbstones around its perimeter have been decorated with designs. New Grange is slightly smaller with only one passage (facing to the south) and the front of it was decorated with a design of black and white stones.

The presentation at New Grange includes a lighting component that mimics the entry of light into the passage which occurs at the winter equinox. Starting in darkness a flickering beam stretches across the chamber and you visualize light as a dynamic force and understand the relevance of the sun in Neolithic culture.

We may marvel at the tombs because of the methods and labour used to construct them however their carved kerbstones make them significant. What you see at Brú na Bóinne represents the highest concentration of megalithic art in Europe. The meanings of the symbols are for the most part a mystery but one has been interpreted as a calendar and a second as an astronomical map.

Kerb Stone at New Grange

Hoorn

European cities get crowded during the summer months and Amsterdam is one example: streets are congested and hotels become expensive. Hoorn, located thirty five kilometres north of city is a viable alternative for exploring the Netherlands. Day trips to Amsterdam are feasible but the town itself features historic buildings, traditional squares and outdoor cafes. Its smaller size makes it easier to connect with people: on my third day the residents made me feel like a local. The area is a great location for cycling or walking: cars are prohibited on several of its streets and the Grote Noord is exclusively a pedestrian thorough fare. Hoorn became a city in 1357 and its seaport served as a base for the Dutch East India Trading Company. Touring the area you can see the old locks to the city’s canals and two towers that served as part of the original city walls. Many of the buildings built during the Elizabethan Era still are in use

including the Maria Tower which can be rented as tourist accommodation. Two dikes now separate Hoorn from the sea and it now functions as an inland port on the Markermeer. On Saturdays the town hosts a large Farmer’s market where shoppers can explore a wide variety of food and products.

The Antrim Coast

The Antrim Coast of Northern Ireland extends between Ballintoy and Portrush. Prior to 1998 political issues discouraged tourism into this area and it remains relatively rural. On the day I travelled the A2 along its coastal route the weather was sunny and we had clear views of Rathlin Island and the Hebrides of Scotland. Many of the scenes from Game of Thrones are filmed in the area including the sites of Dark Hedges and the Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge. It’s popularity has attracted tourists to the area and a visit to Dark Hedges, an avenue of mature Beach trees that interconnect over the road way, should be taken either early morning or late evening, a second location equally popularized is Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge located east of Ballintoy. The one kilometre path to the bridge is scenic but remember that you need to buy a ticket at the trailhead before making the hike otherwise you are not able to cross to the island. Originally fishermen crossed to Carrick-A-Rede to harvest salmon but now it is managed by the National Trust as a tourist attraction. The village of Ballintoy is nearby and looks like a great spot for cyclists or hikers to stay in a bed and breakfast or enjoy a local pub.

 

Seven miles away the National Trust manages a visitor’s center at the Giant’s Causeway. The building itself has won an architectural award: part of it is set underground so that it is inconspicuous against the cliffs and its basalt columns echo the geology of the area. To view the Giant’s Causeway visitors have to walk 800 meters from the reception down the hill to Port Noffer. Ulsterbus offers service between the two points during the high season so that tourists may avoid trekking up or down the hill. I was impressed by the center’s interpretive displays which traced the theories, fact and fiction of this landform.

Our final call was a photo stop at Dunluce Castle east of Portrush.  This site is also managed by National Trust: most of the room have fallen in but visitors can view it’s two remaining towers and walk down to the Mermaids Cave beneath the stronghold (another setting used in Game of Thrones).

Trent Canal Hastings to Campbellford

My first experiences on the Trent Canal were when I visited cousins in Hastings and the lock keepers would let us help turn the arms which opened and closed the lock gates. Recently friends invited me to join them on their boat for the trip from Hastings to Campbellford. These communities are also connected by the Trans Canada trail which gave me the opportunity to cycle to Hastings without worrying about traffic.

 

Trans Canada Trail

The trail itself is beautiful: it starts just behind the Canadian Tire and travels on the old rail bed to the bridge in Hastings. The surface is stony with some packed earth areas, small bridges extend over creeks and it passes through a huge culvert under Highway #35. I saw a lot of birds as while transiting fields, woods and at one spot a barnyard. The day was warm but a lot of the trial is shaded. Mountain bike tires are necessary: there is loose gravel and road tires are ineffective.

Lock 15 - Healey Falls

Going down the canal was a blast. Hastings is at Lock 18 while Campbellford is located below Lock 13 and the drop varies at the different locations. Our most significant descent were the double locks at Healey Falls with a drop of twenty four feet: it was bizarre to see the base of the canal appear as we dropped below the eight foot depth. Staff at each lock were good about taking the lines to secure our boat and often would stop their routine to chat. En route we saw lakes and farmland: most of the route is secluded and you only find shops and restaurants in the larger towns of Campbellford and Hastings.