Our first stop was ...
Bruges, Belgium
This city is so beautiful and fairy-tale quaint, you almost feel like you are on a set of a movie. Some of our highlights from Bruges were:
Belfry Tower
This is a 13th century tower where the city's medieval charter of rights were held. Now it is known for the beautiful music played by the bells. The views of Bruges were stunning from the top!
Madonna and Child at the Church
The Church of Our Lady started being built in 1220 and then took over 200 years to complete. The church is stunning, and even while we were there, they were in the process of restoring it, but that did not deter from its beauty. Also the Michelangelo's sculpture of Madonna and child is located here. This is the only work of Michelangelo's to leave Italy during his lifetime, and it is said that Michelangelo charged him a very hefty fee, since he actually erected the statue for a church in Sienna. This is also the statue that was stolen during WWII, and if you have seen The Monument's Men, you will recognize this peace of artwork as one of the main story lines.
Also, in this church they were preparing for the last supper re-enactment. Jeremy started to explain to the girls, and before he could get out just about anything, Kaytlin began to say... Daddy, this is for the last supper. This was the last time before Jesus died on the cross that he ate with his friends. J&I's hearts were so full as she told us the story- a true delight.
Canal Boat Ride
The Provinciaal Hoff
This building houses the local government.
Stadhuis
This is one of the oldest town halls in Belgium- quite an exquisite building.
Blind Donkey Alley
The city itself and the buildings were stunning
At night...
Don't forget about the yummies...
I don't normally mention where we stay, as most are local hotels (we try and stay out of the 'American' ones to make our stays feel a bit more authentic), but in Bruges we stayed at an unbelievable B&B that is worth the mention. The original mansion was owned by a mother and her son, and the mother lived on one side of it, and the son on the other. The family that bought it renovated it, making the mother's side their home (which is absolutely stunning) and the son's side into seven bed and breakfast rooms/suites. We had a suite, therefore, ours was 2 bedrooms with a living room and kitchen. It was so well done, the owner has been mentioned in many magazines, and articles, and the B&B and their house have been in countless magazine's and books. In fact, the owner is now asked to renovate other properties since he did such a brilliant job on this one. Here are a few pictures from our place.
After we left Bruges, we made our way up the Belgium and Netherlands coast line. I truly felt like we could have been in TX driving along the coast. It felt like home. We drove up the far west side of the coast stopping for lunch in Middleburg and getting to see the Delta Project. These dykes were built so that Zeeland would not flood again and have all the catastrophic damage of 1953. It was an intense and expensive 30 years of work, but long story short- they built up the coastline, added dams, and these dykes to protect themselves better.
Our next stop was...
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Rotterdam is the largest port in the Europe! I never realized this, but it was so evident as we drove in. The industrial area of the city is extensive. Rotterdam also offers stunning and incomparable architecture. For instance, check out the cubic houses below. Rotterdam actually was much prettier than I expected.
For dinner one night, we drove and checked out The Hague and ate at a Mexican Food restaurant that had been suggested to us. It was a very nice meal (no Tex-Mex, but the closest thing we have had to Tex-Mex since being abroad :-) The atmosphere was amazing though, just like back home!
On our drive up to Keukenhof Gardens our Aussie friends wanted to stop off in Kindrdijk to see the windmills...
Keukenhof Gardens
As we continued to make our way to Amsterdam we stopped at the Keukenhof Gardens. To be honest, these gardens and the fields outside of the gardens are one of the main reasons we headed to The Netherlands for Easter. The tulip gardens are world-renown and hopefully from the pics you can tell it was worth it! Stunning!
Amsterdam
Being one of Europe's major destinations, we could not wait to visit. We have heard so much about Amsterdam and have to say it makes for a great weekend break. Unfortunately, the rest of Europe also thought Amsterdam would be perfect at Easter, so it was quite crowded, but we made the most of it anyway :-) This just means we will have to revisit the city another time when there are not as many people :)
Bikes
We first tried to see Amsterdam a bit on bikes- it was fun, but unfortunately, just too crowded the weekend we were there to truly enjoy the bikes. Macs Bikes gets a mega shout out though- they were amazing- lots of options and just the most lovely group of people.
Canal Boat Cruise
Seeing the city from the canals is a must. It gives you a completely different perspective.
Anne Frank House
Central Station
Royal Palace
Dam Square
Was packed with a fun fair and TONS of people- everyone wants to see the beautiful tulips like us at that time of year :-)
Museum District (one of my favorite areas- so gorgeous!)
Easter Sunday in Amsterdam
Not being with family on Easter, we always try and make the Easter (or whatever corresponding holiday) especially fun for the girls. This year, we looked into things to do on Easter and an American buffet breakfast with painting eggs, faces, and arts and crafts was taking place at the Hard Rock Cafe, so we made sure to make reservations, as we also want them to experience a piece of home while we are abroad as well :-) They had a blast and it made our hearts so full! We also, celebrated our Lord at the Hillsong Amsterdam service, which was nice.
Other bits from Amsterdam...
Zaanse Schans
Just north of Amsterdam is a re-created Dutch village - it was perfection! Windmills, clog making shops, eateries, animals, cheese shops, etc. This in our opinion should also be a must when visiting Amsterdam (especially with small children- our girls loved it).
From Amsterdam we made our way South to...
Maastricht
Such a stunning little city that is squeezed between Germany and the Netherlands that boast of being the oldest city in the Netherlands, as it was settled by the Romans which is evidenced all over Masstricht (although this is disputed by Nijmegen, as they claim to be the oldest). Here are some highlights from this quaint, must see city!
The American War World II Cemetery and Memorial
Just east of Maastricht is Margraten where 8,301 of our men lay buried here with another 1,722 mens named displayed on walls of those whom were never found. These men died in "Operation Market Garden" in the battles to liberate Holland in the fall winter of 1944.
Every one of the men buried in the cemetery, as well as those in the Canadian and British military cemeteries, has been adopted by a Dutch family who mind the grave, decorate it, and keep alive the memory of the soldier they have adopted. It is even the custom to keep a portrait of "their" American soldier in a place of honor in their home. While we were there, we found out there is a list of over 3,000 Dutch families whom are waiting for a soldier- and some families have had their soldier in their family for three decades.
Annually, on "Liberation Day," memorial services are held for "the men who died to liberate Holland." The day concludes with a concert. The final piece is always "Il Silenzio," a memorial piece commissioned by the Dutch and first played in 1965 on the 20th anniversary of Holland's liberation. It has been the concluding piece of the memorial concert ever since.
After we left Masstricht, we were off to...
Brussels
I had not heard wonderful things about Brussels, so maybe my expectations were low- but we thought it was very nice city. Great for shopping with a bit of city seeing-plus all the chocolate and sweets you could ever dream of or want :-) Highlights from Brussels included:
The Grand Place (ornate 17th century architecture)
Manneken Pis
There are so many different rumors and fables about this statue - from a dutch man's son was lost and he said he would build a statue of how he found his son when he discovered him-resulting in this statue; to another theory claiming that the son of the duke was caught urinating against a tree in the middle of a battle and then this statue was erected as a symbol of military courage. Don't think those are the only two legends, more exist, but no matter the fable-it is a major tourist attraction-hehe
The girls and I loved all the mimicking chocolate statues.
Galeries St Hubert
Theatre Royal de la Monnaie
Curent Palace where the King lives
Belgian Chocolate and Waffles... Need I say more?!?
Other bits from Brussels...
Our final stop was Ghent. We literally were just in Ghent for several hours, because we wanted to stop and see the famous Ghent altar piece. It was stunning and the church that it lives in was just as breath taking. No pictures were allowed, but the hubs did not realize this, so we got some :) Again this art piece was a main story line in the recent George Clooney/Matt Damon movie Monument's Men.
What a blessing to have been able to see and do all that we did this Easter, but I have to admit, we were ready to be home, so seeing the while cliffs of Dover was nice.
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