ontap78
10-23-2004, 09:16 AM
My wife and I just returned from an adoption trip to Russia and on the way home we had an overnight layover in Amsterdam.Knowing this in advance I started looking for places to get Belgian beer in bars or for retail. I soon came to the realization that having time to get to some of the retail beer on time was a lost cause so I focused on bar life. I stumbled on to a place called Cafe Gollum on the internet.They boasted 200 different kinds of beer, mostly Belgains.Well being new at international travel we ventured out into the Amsterdam evening on the tram system.We only had 4 hours to work with and we had to get some grub in there too.I had a map and Cafe Gollum's address with me so we got off our tram in what I thought was the area (wrong!).We fumbled around for a bit and I discovered we left the tram early.No problem, hop another tram.By this time, we're losing valuable time.If you've never been to Amsterdam,go. It's a very cool city and everybody speaks english quite well.Well, we found the street we needed to be on but still didn't see Cafe Gollum. Then I looked down this narrow street (we'd can it an alley) and saw a little sign that said Gollum.We walked over to it and looked in the door.It was obvious there was no food there so we went to an Italian restuarant next block over. I ate very fast,wanting Belgian beers of coarse.We went into Cafe Gollum and were very surprised. The place is about 15 feet by 20 feet, that's it!The walls are lined with chalkboards with all their beers and prices.We only had about an hour before the trams stopped running so I ordered us up a couple beers quick.A Rodenbach Grand Cru (nice and sour) for me and a Chimay Wit for my non-beer drinking wife. She likes that sort of beer so I figured it was a safe one to get her.It was standing room only the first 10 minutes but then a couple chairs opened up in the little loft they have.We went up there and it was tight and tiny with old hand made looking chairs and tables that looked 300 years old.Kinda like the bar scene in the first Lord of the Rings movie.While I enjoyed my Rodenbach Grand Cru, I looked around at the chalkboards and it was amazing! I've never seen such a long list of Belgian beers. My only regret is that we only had an hour and that's about how long it was going to take me to enjoy my beer and 3/4 of my wife's.I hope to back there again with more time but if I never get the chance, at least I got to pass the word to some of you who may get a better chance to spend more time there than us.You won't be disappointed, I guaranty it!