Returning to Bruges, Belgium on a Cold Day

Last year my daughter Andrea and I visited Bruges as part of our trip to see the tulips in The Netherlands. We had a fun and interesting time in this old city. This year as my wife and I were deciding where to visit in Europe, I felt like it would be good to take Silvette to Bruges as it had been such an interesting place to see. Originally I had thought we would go Friday, but the rain was…

Discovering Amsterdam from Land and Canals

Amsterdam is the largest city in The Netherlands and has a rich history as an industrial and economic leader. This shows in some of the unique ways the city has reinvented itself over the years. While there is much to see in this city, we toured the city in an afternoon knowing we were missing a lot. To get to the center of Amsterdam from our hotel, we would normally ride the train and be there in ten minutes. This…

Zaanse Schans: Experiencing the Unique Dutch Culture

When we returned from our trip to the Keukenhof Gardens, The bus dropped us off at the Amsterdam train station. From there we decided to explore a little bit of Amsterdam since tomorrow we would visit the Dutch village of Zaanse Schans. Amsterdam was bustling with people. We weren’t sure if this was typical or just because it was vacation week for so many people. There seemed to be large groups of young people around. We saw some old buildings,…

Bruges, Belgium: City of Canals, Churches, and Chocolate

The reason we decided to start our trip in Belgium was to visit the town of Bruges. Andrea had discovered interesting reviews of the town and decided it was a place to visit. The center of town has the distinction of being on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a medieval city. It has become a major tourist destination for Belgium. Bruges is only about a 30 minute train ride from Ghent. When we got on the train, it was…

Ghent, Belgium: Staying on the Edge of a Canal

In 2020 my daughter Andrea and I had plans to visit the tulip fields of the Netherlands. We planned to go during her spring break from school. We had all our reservations made, but then COVID hit. Our plans flew out the window as we scrambled to at least get our money back. This year we finally made good on those plans from two years ago. However, we made some modifications by starting in Belgium. Our first stop was Ghent.…