Leiden, Holland
Cousins Claire, Chris and Spooky)
Cousins Andrew (left), Chris (right) and friend George
The Dutch love their bikes ... used by ALL ages in ALL weather!!
Amsterdam has bike parking decks!
Amsterdam has bike parking decks!
The timing of our trip was also PERFECT for tulip viewing season in Holland. OH MY, what a feast for the eyes. We visited the famous Kukenhof Gardens and saw the fields from the trian!! I'll let the pictures tell the story.
Kukenhof Gardens and Splendor in the countryside
We did an afternoon visit to Den Haag (The Hague) to visit the Mauritshuis Museum to get a taste of painting by the Dutch Masters. This is a small museum, but full of wonderful paintings by the likes of Rembrandt, Steen, Leyster, and Vermeer. The next morning we rode the train into Amsterdam, for more Flemish School / Dutch Master viewing at the Rijksmuseum and of course a visit to the Van Gogh Museum was done as well. Both are incredible places, just not enough time. It was quite interesting to advance forward along the art history time line to the Flemish School, because this period marked quite a change from the previous centuries of art done for the royal courts of Italy, France, Spain, etc. We throughly enjoyed what we saw, but Walker still is a Renaissance loving kind of man. After museums, we visited the home of Anne Frank which is of course a very moving and thought provoking experience.
Next it was train south to Brugges, Belgium where we had another wonderful treat of meeting up with friends, Mary Margaret and Stan Link from Winston-Salem, and their son from Staunton, Virginia. Given that the Links are wonderfully informed history scholars, and we are curious history hounds, visiting the historic (and extremely picturesque) town of Brugges (via bike and boat) and a day touring Flanders Fields (of WW I historic importance) made for a perfect 4 day adventure. In addition to the Links, we were able to spend our last day in Brugges with Kay and Dan Donahue, also from Winston-Salem. For we Americans lost in France, this was a joyful family reunion of Americans.
Mary Margaret and Stan Link
Dick, Dan and Kaye Donahue
Brugges Roof Tops
Brugges Canals
*A note here for you fellow history tracing traveling types, we would highly recommend a journey to this part of Belgium!!! Flanders Fields was oh so beautiful, and learning more about the 4 horrific years of World War I that occurred here, enlightened us all! Another trip you need to add to your list!!!
WWI cemetary in Flanders Fields
w/ the famous red poppy
Next we were off to Bruxelles, to wrap up our journey. We spent two nights in the big, busy city (never our favorite kind of environment!). Maybe I should say we actually slept one night because our first night was such a total comedy (now) that sleep was hardly possible. Despite the lack of sleep, lots of hysterical moments were filed into the memory bank. Oh the joys of world travel!!! One has to be of tough skin I'll tell ya.
We had a gorgeous visit to the Belgian Royal Greenhouses, located just outside Brussels. This is where the king and queen reside, along with their 20 full time gardeners, and their INCREDIBLE greenhouses. The structures themselves are phenomenal, and then the range of floral beauty on the inside is just amazing. The greenhouses are open to the public only 2 weeks a year, and luckily our timing was just right. It was spectacular and what a national treasure for Belgium.
The next day we had to say good-bye to the Links as they flew back to NC and we chugged back south on the TGV to Valence where we were greeted at the train station by Carlos and Zydeco. Nice to see their happy faces. The next morning, the school bell rang bright and early for Walker, and then the next morning Dick once again did his "hop across the big pond commute" back to work in the US. With his being gone, the bright and beautiful spring days have kept me outside as I attempt to do some weed control.
Brugges Roof Tops
Brugges Canals*A note here for you fellow history tracing traveling types, we would highly recommend a journey to this part of Belgium!!! Flanders Fields was oh so beautiful, and learning more about the 4 horrific years of World War I that occurred here, enlightened us all! Another trip you need to add to your list!!!
WWI cemetary in Flanders Fields
w/ the famous red poppy
Next we were off to Bruxelles, to wrap up our journey. We spent two nights in the big, busy city (never our favorite kind of environment!). Maybe I should say we actually slept one night because our first night was such a total comedy (now) that sleep was hardly possible. Despite the lack of sleep, lots of hysterical moments were filed into the memory bank. Oh the joys of world travel!!! One has to be of tough skin I'll tell ya.
We had a gorgeous visit to the Belgian Royal Greenhouses, located just outside Brussels. This is where the king and queen reside, along with their 20 full time gardeners, and their INCREDIBLE greenhouses. The structures themselves are phenomenal, and then the range of floral beauty on the inside is just amazing. The greenhouses are open to the public only 2 weeks a year, and luckily our timing was just right. It was spectacular and what a national treasure for Belgium.
The next day we had to say good-bye to the Links as they flew back to NC and we chugged back south on the TGV to Valence where we were greeted at the train station by Carlos and Zydeco. Nice to see their happy faces. The next morning, the school bell rang bright and early for Walker, and then the next morning Dick once again did his "hop across the big pond commute" back to work in the US. With his being gone, the bright and beautiful spring days have kept me outside as I attempt to do some weed control.
Our next big happening will be the long anticipated arrival of Kate on May 11th. Dick will return on May 16th. At last we'll all 4 be living in the same hemisphere, in the same time zone and on the same side of the pond! It will be so nice for all of us to be here for our remaining 6 weeks in France. So stay tuned as the adventures, learning and laughter continue to take us to unknown destinations.
Solo, but not for long ...
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