Travel Planning Seminar Day 2: Why are you going? and Food and Beverage

Why? Why are you going? This is a question I have gotten in the past for why I went to China and to Europe. The why for me was simply, “why not?” I have always had an interest in geography and a love of different cultures so when the opportunity arrived, I took it. China was a very important trip for me and my experiences due to making new friendships from a completely different walk of life and to go to a new region in which I have never really thought of going. It pushed me out of my comfort zone and I loved it. As far as Europe goes, in Travel Planning Seminar Day 1, Europe happened spontaneously and I never had a why besides I wanted to go somewhere new and to see a European football match. As my friend Zach and I were talking about the cities we would go to, we knew we would be exploring the various food and beverage specials from the region.

The bulk of the expenses when arrived at the destination are the meals. The Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium are all more-developed countries with incredible cuisine and rich history of food and beverages. Since we did not plan on the actual places where we would eat, we did a little research into what made each place unique, this way we can explore more and worry less. The Netherlands is located on the North Sea and has a history of fresh fish, special cooked fries, and locally brewed, Belgian style beers. Amsterdam also has a style of pancakes called poffertjes. These are mini, yeast based pancakes that are covered in powdered sugar and butter. Cologne is known for their famous Kolsch beer which is a hybrid of an ale and lager style beer. It is very distinct and has been brewed since 38bc. On top of their already famous heavy German cuisine, Cologne is famous for their schnitzel and schweinshaxe (crispy pork knuckle.) Like Germany, Belgium has many different style beers and all different flavor profiles involved in each category. The Dubbel and Tripel were the beers that I was looking forward to trying most. These are rich, dense beers that are brewed with double and triple the amount of malts that are typically brewed with, creating a hazy, full flavored beer. I can honestly say this was the best way to go as far as planning meals. Just go with the flow and if a place looks like you would enjoy the atmosphere, do it. The food and beer of these locations were incredible.

If you are interested in the actual restaurants we went to, send me an email and I will let you know!