Belgium and The Netherlands

When I last wrote from Copenhagen, we were about to fly to Brussels. Our flight went well and we were glad that we had flown rather than taking the 12 hour train. Brussels is a big city, very focused on history and now also on the European Union as it is the seat of the EU Parliament. It is a very old city and it's main square reflects that in it's buildings and statues. We spent our time visiting the square, wandering a few side streets, having a delicious dinner at a Michelin restaurant, and eating some delicious Belgian chocolates (mine were sugar free!). The next morning we got on to a train and traveled to Bruges.

We had heard so much about this medieval town and during our days there we were not disappointed! We much prefer small towns to big cities and Bruges is much smaller than Brussels. We stayed in a great little hotel a short distance from the main square. We stayed for three nights and truly enjoyed ourselves! We took a canal cruise the first afternoon since the weather was perfect! We also both got hair cuts and I got mine colored - it was well past due. One of the main things we wanted to see was the only sculpture done by Michaelangelo to leave Italy in his lifetime. It is in the Church of Our Lady (Notre Dame) and is a lovely Madonna and child. We also took a city bus tour and then, since the weather had cleared from cloudy and rainy to sunny, we took a tour to the nearby city of Damme. We rode one way on the bus and went back on a boat on the canal. It was a very relaxing way to sightsee and to appreciate the countryside. The city of Bruges dates continually from the middle ages and was a major port at that time. Since then, silt has filled in about 10 kilometers but the city has continued to exist. It's main commerce now is tourism. It is a beautiful city and I would recommend a visit to anyone who plans to visit the region.

Last Monday we took the train to Amsterdam. Again we are staying some distance from the central area but we like being in more residential areas. Public transportation is great here, with a wonderful tram system as well as buses. There is a subway that functions mainly to connect the suburbs to the downtown area. We immediately bought 6 day transit cards which are good on all of the above. Two tram lines run about a block away and both go to the downtown hub. They go by about every five minutes so getting around is so easy! Amsterdam is shaped like a fan, with the central train station in the north and a series of canals and the Amstel river in concentric circles around it.

We decided to divide our 7 days here between the city and the surrounding area. We spent the first day using a 24 hour pass for canal and city bus tours. There are four different canal tours which cover different areas of the city. We had time for three of the tours that day and the next morning took a bus tour to pick up whatever the canals missed. The bus tour included a stop at Gassen's diamond center; interesting but no purchases were made. In the afternoon we visited the Ryksmuseum. It is currently under huge renovation but happily the best of their collection is presented in a more compact area which makes the visit still extremely worthwhile but much easier on the feet! Rembrandt is probably the most famous Dutch painter and the collection in the museum is fantastic. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Another day was divided between Anne Frank's house, the Red Light district and the Van Gogh museum (I know - quite a contrast). We started our morning at Anne Frank's hiding place in order to beat the crowds. It is incredibly moving to walk through the rooms and see the few articles there and remember her story; hallowed ground, to be sure. After having lunch, we took a short stroll along Rick Steves' tour path in the Red Light district. We saw condoms shops, drug shops and prostitutes advertising in their windows. All of this is quite legal although tightly regulated. We didn't need to see any more. That evening we visited the Van Gogh museum which is only about 2 blocks away from our hotel. His sad personal story stands in contrast to his amazing paintings and the museum does a wonderful job of presenting both.

Last Thursday we went on a day trip to The Hague and Delft. We visited the first in the morning and spent the afternoon in the beautiful smaller town. The Hague is home to the World Court and we had hoped to go inside the Peace Palace to see it in action. Unfortunately, the building was closed to visitors which is not unusual. So we quickly moved on to Delft. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed walking through the open air market and visiting the old and new churches. I was very interested in visiting the Delft ceramics plant and we enjoyed a 30 minute tour and made a couple of small purchases before heading back to Amsterdam on the train. Yesterday we took Rick Steves' Historical Triangle trip and rode north to the town of Hoorn where we took a coal fired steam train to another small town. There we caught an old style passenger boat that took us to an open air folk museum. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time during each segment of the trip. At the end, we took the train back to Amsterdam. Today has been a time of arranging details, doing some laundry, beginning to pack etc. Tomorrow we take a taxi to join our last tour, the month long river cruise, which begins in Amsterdam's harbor.

Photos, from the top left: bicycles are everywhere here - these are parked at the train station in Delft, on the canal tour in Bruges, swans on the canal with us, Belgian waffles - yum!, Anne Frank's house highlighted on a map of Amsterdam, on a canal tour in Amsterdam, a life-size cow and me at the Delft ceramics plant, modern windmills creating energy, a traditional windmill at the open air museum, and Gouda cheese at the museum.