The Tiny Paper: 2009

Belgian chocolates in Brugge

Part I - International Spieltage, Essen Germany

This weekend we took a roadtrip to Germany. Having braved the channel tunnel, switched to driving on the right side of the road, and driven through France, Belgium, Netherlands, and into Germany, we crossed the Ruhr and were unceremoniously dumped by Sally at the doors of the Etap Duisburg Hotel. The room was small. A double bed with a bunk over top, a modular toilet stall and adjacent shower stall (no bathroom...literally a glorified port-a-john built into the corner of the room with lovely acoustics), a sink in the opposite corner, and a large window, which we didn't manage to close properly until the last night. Now, I am not knocking the room. We wanted cheap accommodation, and we got it. It was clean, well managed, and secure, which met our primary criteria. It also benefited from being built above a grocer with a bakery section that made the most exquisite pastries. Our breakfasts were a delightful experience to be looked forward to every morning.

Off to the Bakery for breakfast

The main purpose was to attend International Spieltage 09, which is a board game convention held in Essen Germany annually. In Germany, boardgaming, and gaming in general, is much more popular than it is in the UK or the States. It is not unusual for families to entertain guests after dinner with a board game. Essen's annual convention attracts over 125,000 people, whereas a typical gaming convention in the U.S. or the U.K. is a mere fraction of that. The event attracts a mainstream audience, and if you want to see some of the freakier "gaming" sorts, you really have to head to hall 6, where the LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) vendors are set up alongside RPG and wargaming stalls. The LARP vendors are incredibly fun to mill about. There is armor, helms, chainmail, weapons and leather goods, cutlery, clothing, potions and more. Many of the vendors and customers are decked out in fabulous period and fantasy costumes which are truly delightful to witness. The armor can range from 40 to thousands of Euro, while the weapons sell for 10 Euro for simple child's sword to thousands. Most of the clothing is 80 to 200, and a set of simple cutlery will put you back 15 Euro.

LARPers (Live Action Role Players)

The webpage for Spiel is lacking. For example, it claims to link you to coordinates for directions, but they forgot to add them. Also, there is no mention that the cost of the entry does not include the whopping 5Euro per day parking fee. Parking was a mess, and they closed the road to the main parking lot, sent us around to various other lots who all said to go to the next one...only to end up in the first parking lot that we had arrived at half an hour later, frustrated and getting annoyed with the blatant rudeness of the staff. That was on the first morning, but it seemed to become better organized thereafter.

Arriving at the off hour...no crowd!!!

For me, there is nothing quite as satisfying as a gaming convention. Usually, I detest crowds, but I was not so bothered by the crowded halls of Essen. People are packed in and herding through the corridors, but on each side of you, there are tables, and vendors chock full of brand new games just released to the public. Some you have never heard of, and some have been anticipated with great excitement, such as Dominion, this years Spiel des Jahres winner.

The first day tried out Gormiti and Pokemon, but basically we just walked the halls and took in the sights, sounds and smells. Alongside the smell of freshly manufactured games, which smell much like new books, the smell of hot donuts and pretzels wafted through the air.

Naturally, we were quite hungry after some time, so after picking up a copy of Dungeon Twister 2: Prison, we decided to head out and find a place to eat dinner. We arrived moments later at the NYC Restaurant, where we gorged on Burgers, chicken nuggets and french fries. Neil and Mike had milkshakes, and I was stuck with a coffee that was tiny and bitter. Coffee isn't quite the same in Europe as it is in the States or even the UK., I was getting pretty good at improvising by the end of the trip though by adding copious amounts of milk and sugar!

On day two we got down to serious business. We came to play games, and by gosh did we ever! We adopted the child friendly method, first we played with some marble mazes, then stopped by Eagle Games to see their new offerings (I especially liked Birds on a Wire), we played some table top "air" hockey, then found a life size game of Kleine Magier (Little Magician) and Mike jumped in and won a prize.

We headed over to the Lego booth to check out their new releases, and we were quite pleased with their offerings. We played Lego Ramses Pyramid which Mike really enjoyed the look and feel of the theme, and Lego Creationary, a very fun, highly engaging family game that keeps you laughing, guessing and using your wits. While we didn't purchase Creationary at the Con, we will purchase it in the future.

Afterwards we spotted African Park, a card game I was interested in seeing. We were offered a great deal on that game as a package, along with Acqua Dolce, Medievalia, Medievalia Action and Bulp, so we added them to the collection, before walking back to hall 2 for some free time for Mike.

They have a wonderful children's hall full of activities such as bouncy castles, rock walls, and various games for the children to play. All for free! Every day we would spend a bit of time in Hall 2 to rest while Mike played.

On day two I finally located a copy of Diamant. I had been wanting to purchase this game for 3 years, but had not been able to locate it, so I made a special effort to keep an eye out for it while at Essen and found it in a dutch stall. I will need to download the English directions, but I am delighted to have found it. Neil and Mike, meanwhile, were busy finding balloon sculptors and people in funny costumes, so when I met back up with them Mike gave me a lovely little balloon doggy.

We also met a lot of game developers and fledgling publishing companies. We played some of their games and listened to the pitches for games such as EAT and Dragon Keeper and Fantastate, a creative word guessing game with a twist. We picked up a starter set of The Spoils, a collectible card game with delicious art, before heading toward the exit, and stopping to play a quick game of Fast Food, which was fun, fast and engaging enough, that we made the decision to pick it up the next day. That evening we had dinner at a Pizza place across the street from the Hotel. We got a large pizza with mushrooms and salami, and it was MASSIVE! We could not possibly finish it, but it was delicious.

On the final day at Essen, we struggled with the last of our budget and the decision that would end our purchasing frenzy. We were tied between Witch of Salem and Small World. We had lunch in the Conference center cafe, not a cheap meal, but it was a tasty pork and potato dish. While we weighed the pros and cons of the decision we went to Haba booth and played 4 children's games, then went to Mayfair's booth to try Witch of Salem, but instead played a game of Shear Panic, a game that absolutely delighted me but made no impression on Michael or Neil. We walked back to Days of Wonder, where Small World was being sold, and finally dove in and bought it. A table opened up and we quickly grabbed it and sat down with one of the booth employees to play a quick game. We wrapped up, with Neil the king of Small World, as the power cut off and the people slowly milled out of the building. Essen was closed for the day, and for us, Essen was over. We headed to Duisburg to find somewhere to eat dinner, and settled on a restaurant on the river which had lovely service and food.

What made it home with us from Essen 09

Good night Mike! Our last night at Etap Duisburg

Part II - Day trip to Brugge Belgium

The history of Brugge is long and rich, so the draw for us was overwhelming. We drove from Essen to Brugge in the morning, and were delighted to learn that we would be getting an extra hour for the day thanks to the time change. The parking is dug underneath the city, and after driving down winding, narrow, cobblestone streets full of bikers and pedestrians, we found a parking lot in the town center. When we walked outside, we were greeted to the view in the picture above and that wasn't even the best Brugge had to offer!

We walked about a block before noticing a crowd gathered around a small cafe window. It looked promising, so we went inside and sat down for lunch. The menu was vast and had an English subtext. I felt obliged to have the Belgian Waffle, and it was unlike any that I had eaten before, light, and fried to crisp, it melts in your mouth. Neil had the savory pancakes with pepper, onion and ham, while Mike had a fish sandwich and fries. I had a lovely Irish coffee there.

We headed from there down the street towards the market square. It seemed every other shop was a chocolateir, and we got a few chuckles from chocolates shaped like religious figures and some other not-so-wholesome shapes (see below).

Fancy a chocolate?

The market square was stunning. They had horse and buggy rides, and so many people milling about and taking pictures it was hard to get photos that didn't have some stranger staring into your lens. You can understand why though, as the weather was so beautiful and the day mild and bright, so everyone with half a mind was out enjoying the day.

The storefronts are exactly as you would imagine them to be in a town that has been so historically preserved.

The canals were peaceful and well utilized by the tourist boats, and a street musician played steele drums and a lovely wooden pipe in the background.

We took a walk off the beaten path and happened across this playground. Without even asking, Mike bounded off to play (and can you blame him?), and we sat down at a picnic table and enjoyed the weather and calm peace of the day while he played.

Michael discovered this fabulous tunnel at the playground, and had fun running through it several times.

On the walk back from the park, we stopped to enjoy the beautiful little duck pond.

Then headed back to the canals, through the Market Square, and finally to the street to the parking area, where we stopped and bought some chocolates before leaving Brugge.

I think the look on Mike's face says it all when it comes to a day in Brugge.....

We got to the Channel tunnel several hours earlier than planned and made it across and home to the UK by 8pm. I don't like the Channel Tunnel for reasons that seem reasonable to me (underwater tomb)....but it is the most practical method of crossing to the continent, so I dealt with it...and survived!