Definitely Groningen

It was Groningen we visited yesterday. Dolores recognised the beautiful new museum. She really recognised the station. Which handily also has "GRONINGEN" in big letters on the facade.

In case yesterday's posts had you imagining me stumbling drunkenly through the city, dragging the kids. In case you believe my trips are just one long pub crawl. Allow me to drift, for a while, from the confines of my beery theme.

Groningen has a new museum. It's right opposite the station, and the bridge across the old town's former moat passes, well, right through it. I suppose it's one way of finding a site: build in a canal. The galleries are one floor down from the bridge. Disconcerting is how it feels when, looking through one of the windows, you notice that the water is around waist height.

The museum is currently holding an exhibition called "Russusche Sprookjes" (Russian Fairy Tales). Some was what you would expect - pre-Raphaelite medieval romanticisation. But they also had a couple of Kandinsky paintings. Alexei liked the paintings with Viking ships in them. He's just finished his own version. The kids were entertained for oh, maybe 30 minutes. Longer than I expected.

None of the real beer destinations . . Sorry Neither of the real beer destinations opens at lunchtime. We arrived at one. Pintelier opens at three. Half an hour at the museum, ten minutes to walk there . . . that's nearly two hours to fill.

I've been to countless towns with something called Vismarkt or Fischmarkt. Usually there isn't a fish to be seen. How different is Groningen's Vismarkt. It's still a real market. A sizeable number of the stalls were selling fish. The rest were cheese-sellers, butchers, bakers (no candlestick makers). Just food. I took the kids there to buy food for the return train ride. (Have you seen the price they charge for sandwiches in the station?) And lunch , too. The kids had a little healthfood number called Vlaamse Frites. (Andrew has just reminded me that his came with ketchup.)

We were leaning on the door of Pintelier at 14:55. Not a bad place. They have a special tap - shaped like the glass and its wooden holder - for Kwak. I should have taken a photo. But this is December in northern Europe. There's precious little daylight, even at midday.

They had a few christmas beers on tap. I had a Gouden Carolus Kerstbier. Very nice. I should say "with that distinctive spicy house yeast character" or some cobblers like that. But I wasn't sampling the beer. I was just having a drink. Over-analysis can take all the fun out of beer-drinking.

The friendly bloke at Van Erp had pointed out the way, quite literally, to Pintelier. Van Erp is a very decent beer shop, in the same mould as Bert's Bierhuis, Bierkoning or Gekraakte Ketel. I see that scandinavian beers are edging into Holland. There were a couple here. Good to see. I'm quite partial to Danish beer. And Norwegian and Swedish. I had a bottle of that Nils Oscar Imperial Stout on Friday. Very nice, indeed. More to my taste than the three strong AMerican Stouts I'd tried earlier in the week.

Andrew's getting impatient. I told him he could draw a map of our wanderings yesterday. Maybe I'll find time to add more words between my Sunday afternoon doze and my Tatort nap. Or maybe not.

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Grotere kaart weergeven
Belgisch Café de Pintelier
Kleine Kromme Elleboog 9,
9712 BG Groningen.
Tel: 050 - 318 5100
Fax: 050 - 311 9358
http://www.pintelier.nl/


Van Erp Dranken
Grote Kromme Elleboog 16,
9712 BK Groningen.
Tel.: 050 - 312 6414
Fax: 050 - 313 9324
http://www.vanerpwijn.nl/