Curiously enough, Japanese microbrews have only been legal since 1994. Prior to ’94, only uber-large breweries were granted permission to brew. Do the names Sapporo, Asahi, and Kirin sound familiar? That’s because these are some of the few macro-breweries in Japan that were granted permission to produce beer. After the legislation was lifted, sake brewers from far and wide began experimenting with brewing. With high-quality equipment and careers worth of knowledge about the production of alcohol, they quickly began reaching deliciousness.

Add ‘tasting Japanese microbrews’ to your list of to-dos once you get to Tokyo. Here are four of the best bars to get your tasting on: Ant ‘n’ Bee, Popeye, Ushi Tora, and La Cachette. If you don’t speak Japanese, don’t worry. There’s only one word you need to know for this tasty experience: “oishii!” (delicious).

Photo credits: Japanese beers at Meno Mosso, craigemorsels; Japanese Beers, foilman;

Thanks to Insulinde on Flickr for this great photo.

Amsterdam, Netherlands: Open until January 8, 2012

The holiday shopping in and around Amsterdam is some of the best in Europe. Check out the markets in the City Center on the Albert Cuypstraat where you can find colorful decorations, sparkling lights, many boutique shops and hand-crafted art. For a dazzling Christmas market experience, head to the Rembrandtplein market that boasts plenty of Christmas trees and snowmen. The best part about Christmas markets in Amsterdam? They are open until January 8, 2012, so you can stretch your holiday spirit all the way into the New Year!

Cologne, Germany: Open from November 21 – December 23

Cologne is home to one of the largest cathedral domes in Europe. The cathedral serves as the perfect centerpiece for holiday festivities during the winter. The Christmas markets near the dome (Am Dom) will get you in the spirit, where you can enjoy Christmas goodies and indulge in a cup of holiday heaven, “Glühwein”. With this delicious, hot mulled wine beverage in hand, you can drink outside while catching up with friends and listening to Christmas music.

Brussels, Belgium: Open from November 25 – January 3, 2012

Brussels is postcard perfect and charming during the winter months. While it is widely known for its French-oriented cuisine, the City Center and the Grand Place turn into a world of yuletide merriment with little huts and barns where you can escape the cold weather and enjoy delicious holiday food and drink. Try the Belgian chocolate, gingerbread or French specialties, such as steamed “moules” or even snails combined with a glass of wine and French olives. Bon appetit!

Photo credit: Christmas tree in Nieuwmarkt, Amsterdam, slideshow bob; Christmas market in front of the Cologne Cathedral and Christmas market in Place Sainte Catherine, Brussels, Nenyaki.

Glühwein is spiced, mulled wine that is served around the holidays. Glühwein is most popular in German speaking nations, but is often served all across Europe in various forms and cultural adaptations. It is a Christmas market staple, and often times hot Glühwein comes with a keepsake mug from the market stands. Glühwein is easy to make and will brighten up any home with a bit of European holiday cheer. It goes great with pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, too!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 orange
• 10 whole cloves
• 1  bottle red wine

Next time you’re planning a trip, browse through these links to find a plethora of tools that will make you’re life easier, guaranteed.

10 Best Travel Planning and Organizing Websites

Use these sites to do everything from finding cheap flights and hotels to determining the best itinerary, finding free places to stay and tracking all of your confirmation numbers.

10 Best Travel Apps

These apps make organizing your travels on the go easy as pie. This list includes everything from great photo apps to flight trackers and deal finders.

Best Travel Photography Apps

If you have a smartphone, don’t set off for your adventures before you download at least one photography app. Instagram is the most popular and is quite easy to use, but there are many other alternatives that offer more control and functionality to turn cell phone photos into frame-worthy masterpieces.

A Comparison of the Top 10 E-Readers

E-readers are great for entertaining yourself on long plane and train rides. Ditch your sudoku puzzle book and opt for a sleek e-reader. You can store an entire bookstore in the palm of your hand. Load books onto your e-reader before you go and have endless hours of literary fun. There are tons of options out there, so do your research on which one is right for you.

7 Tips for Travel Blogging

Don’t just photograph your travels, write about them! Read these tips to make your memories into interesting stories for others to read and live vicariously through you.

Photo credit: Travelling Companion, David Goehring; Blank Pages in an Open Notebook, D. Sharon Priutt

After you explore the bustling city of Amsterdam for a few days, hop on a train and catch some scenery on your way to the next adventure. Don’t forget your camera!

For time tables and schedules, check Rail Europe.

Photo credit: Simon Pielow on Flickr

Clues:

• This city is home to the 3rd tallest building in the world.
• The west side of this city’s waterfront might look like a scene out of English parliament. It was was occupied by the British in the mid 1800′s.
• The city is noted for having the world’s first commercial high-speed magnetic levitation train line. Top speeds have reached 311 mph.

Bonus Questions:

• In 2010, this city received a major face lift. Roads were improved, the waterfront was built up and beautified, and money was put into preparing the city for thousands of tourists. Which event was responsible?
• Which Portland sister city is located a few hours outside of this city? Craftsmen from this place were responsible for building one well known city garden in Portland.

Think you know where? Tell us! Leave your best guess as a comment.

Photo credit: Thomas Lok on Flickr

The Nord Market, Jordaan District and Dam Square

We arrived in Amsterdam to weather much like Portland. Heavy drizzle did not stop us from venturing out. We ventured to Nord Market in the Jordaan district, which had everything from fruit to fish, cheese and clothing. These markets can be found all over the city on different days of the week. We wandered in the Jordaan, looking at the shops, and found a wonderful cheese shop/deli. It is amazing how many different types of cheese this country has! That evening, we headed out to explore Dam square, and the New Kerk. There was a group of musicians from Africa playing a concert in the Kerk, it was  a nice surprise to see and hear the music while looking through the church, while taking in the history of this beautiful sight.

Bike Rentals and Day Trips

We woke to a beautiful, sunny day, and decided this would be the day to explore outside the city, and take in the Dutch countryside. We rented bikes and took a free ferry behind Centraal Station with the bikes. After crossing the water, we were on our way. Within 20 minutes we were riding through quaint little towns through the waterland area. The views of the water and farmland were beautiful. It is surprising this is so close to the hustle of Amsterdam! We rode to Marken, a small fishing village, and popular tourist destination,  then took a ferry to Vollendam. The town was  having a festival of some kind, so it was VERY busy, so we did a little shopping, got back on our bikes and headed back towards Amsterdam. From there, we stopped in Monnickendam, another quaint little village, for coffee and Italian ice cream. Further on back towards Amsterdam, we stopped at a place that made wooden shoes and Dutch cheese. We watched a demonstration of how these were made. All in all we biked about 30 miles through the Dutch countryside, then back to the city! It was a great day!

Bike Ride to Haarlem

Today we took our bikes to Haarlem, a much busier ride, but a beautiful destination. We rode along the Haarlemmerestraat, which was a straight shot from Amsterdam to Haarlem. We sat in a nice rooftop cafe, which gave us a wonderful view of all the red rooftops in the town. We biked back to Amsterdam and took an evening canal tour, and saw the city by night. The canal tour offered a lot of historical information on the architecture of Amsterdam. We sat back and enjoyed the beautiful Amsterdam night.

Exploring the City

Today we explored Amsterdam! We bought a metro pass, which was a great way to see the city and made it very convenient to hop on and off the take in the sites. We hit the Albert Cuyp Market and the Floating Flower Market, also the other main squares in the city. We debated hitting a museum or two, but decided to save this for Paris. Amsterdam is filled with small inviting alleyways to explore and so many cafes just calling you to sit down and have a drink or two.

All Aboard to Paris!

We’re Paris bound on the Thalys Train! First, we had to try the Dutch delicacy of herring. It was not a huge hit, but we had to try it. Herring is definitely something you must acquire a taste for! When we arrived in Paris, we found our hotel in the Rue Cler area, near the Eiffel Tower. The elevator only held one person  – very tiny!  The Rue Cler is a great street that is filled with all kinds of markets, where you can make a complete lunch or dinner. Our hotel overlooked this street, and we had a peek of the Eiffel Tower from our room. That night, we went out to dinner  at a quaint café on the Rue Cler, amist all the hustle of people. We then walked to the Eiffel tower, and then down to the water. We boarded a river tour late at night, and went down the Seine, taking in Paris by night. The Eiffel tower was beginning the light show as we returned from the boat. What a beautiful sight.

Exploring the Parisian Lifestyle

We took a four hour bike tour around the city of Paris.  We met at the Notre Dam before starting the tour, so we were able to explore the cathedral prior to the tour. The tour took us through many areas of Paris that we may not have found on our own. After the tour, we walked back near the Notre Dam area, deciding to go to the Orsay Museum after dinner. We explored the museum, that evening, which may have been a mistake…our legs were tired!

The next day we toured the Sacré-Coeur Cathedral, and the Artist’s District. Next, we did our own walking tour (how Rick Steves of us)! We then toured the gardens at the Louvre, and made our way to the Arc De Triomphe, and back to the Louvre for an evening of art. We all found the museum as wonderful as we had been told, although we could only see a small piece of it! The guide at the museum told us that if we looked at each piece of art for 30 seconds, it would take us 6 months to see each piece if we went to the museum every day, open to close. That is a LOT of art.

That night, we went shopped in the small markets on the Rue Cler and packed our own picnic, which we took to the park under the Eiffel Tower. We had wine, bread, cheese and olives, and delicious tarts from a Patisserie.  The best part of our trip to Paris is being able to make our own dinner as we walked, picking up bits and pieces at the cafes and patisseries.

Homeward Bound

What a fantastic journey. From Amsterdam to Haarlem to Paris, we had an incredible time sipping the wine, sampling the food, exploring by bike and taking it all in. I must come back to Holland and France some day. As we headed back to Schipol for our nonstop flight back to Portland, I still can’t believe all that I have seen. Thank you I Fly Nonstop!

What is planking? Planking is now a world-wide viral trend that has spread from its roots in Australia to almost every corner of the world. The idea is to take the funniest, most creative planking pictures in the most public places you can find, and post them to Facebook or other social networking sites. As it becomes more widespread, taking planking photos while traveling is gaining popularity. PlankingEurope.com compiles planking photos from across Europe and offers Apple prizes to the best, most creative photos. One blog collects photos from plankers all across the world. The blog’s tagline is “Laying down has never been more extreme”. More tourists are documenting their travels by planking in interesting places, viewpoints and city centers.

While the trend is silly and strange, it can also be dangerous. Planking advocates advise to always plank safely.

So travelers, decide for yourself if you’d like to participate in this strange phenomenon or simply appreciate it (or laugh at it) from afar.

Take a look at this video to see this silly trend in practice: Planking in Holland!

Photo credits: Planking Flachau, Zell am See-Kaprun 3, Salzburg.land.