5 very cute Dutch towns and Brussels! Thank you to Ida, Wim and Linda for sharing your beautiful country!

We met up with Ida, Wim and Linda Van Bergen in Brussels, Belgium, and spent a week with them, exploring Holland.  What a beautiful country!  They really pack in very cute towns!  We went to Maastricht to tour this very historic city, the birthplace of the EU; Zaansche to see the Windmills; Marken, a very cute coast town that was an island!; Volendam, a very cute fishing village; and Edam, an even cuter town!  And of course Brussels, a most impressive capital that deserves a visit from everyone!

Maastricht:

City tour- in a School Bus from Florida!  

The Old Bridge- from the 1200's

We took a cave/tunnel tour.  The towns people mined building rock from underground.  There are 80 KM of tunnels!  During the war, people hid here.  Also, they hid art from the Nazi's.  Rich, then Wim, were holders of the lamp of light!  Here, Wim kids with Rich

Linda, Wim and Rich with the light in the tunnel

The tunnel!  At one point, our guide left the group in one of the rooms and took the lights, so we experienced absolute darkness.

People would make art in the tunnels.  Using charcoals, they would blacken an area, then carve out their art.

Zaanse: land of working windmills.  Several old windmills were moved to this area.  You can tour a working windmill.  We did- the peanut oil windmill:-)

Rich trying on wooden shoes

Waffles and Windmills- what is more Dutch?:-)

Rich, Ida, Linda and Wim with Windmills in the back

Rich with the windmill we climbed

Rich and I with our windmill

Windmill scene: I know we added lots of photos of windmills, but they are awesome!!

Marken: CUTE

Harbor

Lunch!  Note the clapboard siding on the restaurant- every home in the area has the same type of siding.

Canal view- totally cute

Rich and Wim on a bridge.  Note the interesting bridges!  The same style is used throughout the area.

Volendam:

Ida, Linda, Wim and Rich in the harbor of Volendam.  It is quite large, and very cute.

CHEESE!

Harbor view- fishing village:-)

Edam- and even cuter small village

Rich and Linda on the canal

Town square

Edam cheese factory/store

Rich and the cheese lady

Canal view

Brussels!  A world class city of beauty

The city cathedral

Stained Glass!  One the right- St. George; on the left- Archangel Michael; center- jesus

The gate of the Royal Palace

The Royal Palace.  Ida and Linda called ahead, but the Queen was out of the country, so we couldn't lunch with her:-)

Mennekin Pis- the most famous statue in Brussels.  We read it was small- but it is VERY small- like 18 inches tall!

St. George in the main square, which is incredibly beautiful!  Sadly, no photos could express the size and beauty, but we try with the following photos.

Bruge: Quintessentially CUTE!

Bruge- it defines the word "cute"!  to the point that Rich has said I can no longer use the word- ever-again:-).  The city became rich from the cloth industry in the 13th and 14th centuries so the city built beautiful homes, monuments, churches, parks and canals.  Lucky for us, they sank into obscurity for centuries, where they remained unchanged.  Now, the city is the definition of cute.  Every turn on every corner; every movement of the sun; every change in the clouds; every stroll along a canal; every viewing from morning to night, brings something new to the city.  It must be seen to be believed!

Tomorrow morning we leave this beautiful city.  But coming here was something I have dreamed about for decades, ever since I saw photos in Junior High.  So I am fulfilled!  I hope these photos help you decide to visit!

 Roof line showing gables and spires.  They are everywhere in the city.

 At the Church of the Holy Blood, a relic!  Some of Jesus' blood!

 Stained glass in the Church of the Holy Blood

 Rich on one of the many beautiful bridges that cross the canals.

 Belgium is known for waffles!!!!!  They are delicious covered in chocolate:-)

 The Belfrie of Bruge!

 Row houses in the main square!

 A view of the main square

 The Belfrie!

Bruge has many canals, each with many bridges.  Homes and squares line the canals,and they are all beautiful!!!

 Rich on a canal

 The Jan Van Eyk square on the canal

 Another canal view!

 A main square view

 Our favorite beer: Zot dark!  Delicious!

Here are some buildings during the day and night.  The city has GREAT lighting!

We Went...to Ghent!

Ghent!  Just the name brings to mind.....well, nothing really:-)  It is the name of a city we read about in Junior High School when we studied medieval Europe.  But our guide book said it is worth a visit as it is a bigger version of Bruge, without the number of tourists.  Right they were!  Rich actually said he wished we were staying in Ghent and not Bruge.  There is merit to what he said, but I have always wanted to go to Bruge, so I am good with where we are.

Rich and powerful in the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries from cloth.  Their riches are apparent with the beauty of the buildings, squares, and general architecture.  It is also a big university town, so has youth to give it vibrancy.

In short, it was beautiful!  Plus it has canals for boat rides, a castle, towers to climb, squares to sit in.  Just lovely and worth the visit!  It rained much of the day, and sky was grey, so sadly our photos came out washed out- so you will just have to visit in person to take in the absolute beauty!

 One of the many squares in the town!

 Some of the row houses in the main square

Throughout this part of northern Europe, towns and cities built belfries- bells were used for telling time, establishing work hours, notifying the people of events, etc.  Lucky for us, they are still here-and climbable!

 Selfie of the Ghent belfrie

 Night view of the Ghent belfrie

 The old dragon (a new one was put up in the 80's) still scares the dickens out of people:-)

 View from the top!

 The upper part of the belfrie with the dragon

The castle!!!!!  We could go in the courtyard, but the rest was closed.  It even has a museum of medieval torture- too bad we missed it!  (wink wink)

 St.Michaels cathedral- home of the Ghent Altar- Adoration of the Lamb. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent_Altarpiece)- made by JanVan Eyk.  We went to see it, but mass was going on.  We saw it, but no photos- I don't think the parish priest would be understanding:-)

 Outside the church on the Bridge of St.Michael, is a column, with the Archangel Michael smoting a dragon.

 Canal view!

 Street view of the spires of Ghent

Ghent golden dragon beer view!

Cologne!!!! Koln (in German) is the city that surprised!

We had an extra day between leaving Berlin and Arriving in Bruge, Belgium.  Originally we were slated to go to Hamburg.  Many Germans said to go there, but then our friend Dirk said not to.  We said to him,  "German's said to go there"  Then other Germans on the U-Bahn chimed in that the wrong German's told us to go there:-).  So Cologne it was!  Sadly, we only had one night:-(.  This is definitely a city that requires more than 1 day.  Of course there is the gothic Cathedral- the single most visited monument in all of Germany, and one of the largest (and most beautiful) cathedrals in Germany. But then there is the cute little old town, the Rhine river, bridges, pedestrian streets, and the non-tourist areas filled with some of the friendliest people in all the world.  We had read that people from Cologne were friendly, but we didn't expect FRIENDLY!  We loved it, and intend to come back for more:-).

 Front of the Cathedral!

 Dwarves!  This is a totally cute bas-relief of dwarves working.  This is one of the two panels, plus stone sculptures of other dwarves working and lounging around.  There is also a stone sculpture of a young woman.  Possibly Snow White?  We are not sure if the idea came from German folklore or not.  This is quite old, though, and definitely pre-dates the movie.

 Cathedral gargoyles!

 Another view of the front of the Cathedral!

The spires from the front door.  They are the second highest in all of Germany (after Ulm), and very difficult to get in a photo due to their height.

 Another view of the spires, with a model of one of the filials topping the spires (massive, they are!)

 St. George is always there watching over us!

 The old town from across the river, at sunset.  One the right is the cathedral, on the left, the town hall (Rathouse in German)

 Another view of the city from across the river- beautiful!  The building with the blue lights is the Opera House.

 Rich with the Hard Rock Cafe pin we bought- it is of a lock.  In Koln, lovers engrave a lock and then place it on the fence of the bridge that services the main train station, then they toss the key into the river.

 A view of the train fence with locks!  Thousands have done it!

 Me with the Cathedral in the back ground.

Cologne has this awesome beer: Kolsch.  It is only made in Cologne, and is delicious!!!!  Rich is here modeling two glasses of Kolsch we were about to devour:-)