Hi everyone, here are the highlights from our week long trip around the Netherlands and Germany. Probably one of my longer blogs to date - we packed so much in, and there are many great photos to choose from!
With Mum and Dad in tow (or maybe it was the other way around), we boarded the Euro star on Saturday morning (21st June) bound for Amsterdam. After a pit stop for waffles and a train change in Brussels, we made it to Amsterdam and carried on to the picturesque town of Alkmaar, 25 minutes to the north.
Making the most of the long daylight hours, we took a walk around the town and managed to decipher a menu in Dutch for a thoroughly enjoyable dinner.
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| On the Euro star |
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| The Alkmaar town square at night |
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| Just a big kid really! |
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| Nice spot for dinner |
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| Looking towards the centre of the centre of the old town in Alkmaar along the canal outside our B&B |
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| Roof-top ornament |
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| Alkmaar |
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| Beautiful tower in Alkmaar |
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| Town hall/cheese museum... |
The next afternoon I had the pleasure of being introduced to my Mum's cousin Emiel, his wife Helma, and son Vincent. We were then treated to an afternoon cruising on Lake Alkmaar in Emiel and Helma's boat, followed by a family dinner (thanks very much Helma!).
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| Lake Alkmaar |
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| Emiel, pondering which direction to go in..? |
The next we all went to visit a small historic town called Enkhuizen, on the coast. We wandered around the open-air museum, showing life in a fishing village before they walled off the rugged Zuiderzee to created the IJsselmeer (lake).
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| Open air museum - old fishing village. We had an interesting chat to a guy hand making nets. |
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| Learning how to tie knots... |
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| Smoked herring |
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| Tucking in to the smoked fish & eel - delicious!! |
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| Cheeeeeeeese |
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| Ay ay Capt'n |
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| Shaun taking a break after a tough day... |
That afternoon Shaun and I headed off to spend a few days exploring Amsterdam. It got off to a bit of a bumpy start trying to sort out dramas with Helen stuck in a public hospital in Kuala Lumpur (thankfully she was OK, just a bit shaken and delayed by a day - I'll let her tell that story!), but we still managed to watch the Netherlands vs Chile football game in the vibrant Rembrandt Square.
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| Rembrandt |
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| Rembrandt Square |
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| Hup Holland! |
The next day we met with Mum and Dad and had a day looking around Amsterdam, taking in the Rijksmuseum and doing a canal cruise.
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| Art is therapy |
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| I AMsterdam |
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| He couldn't resist...thankfully I didn't fall over after he actually pulled on the rope! |
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| Mind-blowing paintings in the Rijksmuseum |
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| The Night Watch |
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| The Milk Maid |
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| Monet |
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| Van Gogh |
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| Dad getting a closer view of the canal cruise! |
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| You can see down through a bunch of bridges in a straight line |
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| Up close, the houses are disconcertingly crooked... |
After picking up Helen from the airport bright and early, we took a leisurely look at the a delft shop, the flower market, and tried about 30 samples of cheese from a shop. After that we took another canal cruise before sending Helen off to Utrecht with Mum and Dad. Shaun and I spent a relaxing evening having a few beers and dinner in Rembrandt Square, then taking a walk through the red light district.
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| Eating some smoked fish |
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| Some of the houses had quite spectacular roof decorations. |
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| Canal Cruise take #2 |
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| Dam Square |
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| Queens residence, Dam Square |
The next day we visited the tourist village of Zaanse Schans to admire all the traditional windmills. We then set off for Utrecht, where Helen (having recovered rather quickly from her ordeal in hospital) had booked tickets for us to climb the Dom tower.... 465 stairs later we were rewarded with great views over the city. We also had the pleasure of meeting my mother's aunt Elfreid.
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| Zaanse Schans |
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| Grinding chalk inside a windmill |
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| Lots of clogs! |
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| Nice swans..... |
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| This is what you get for messing with the swans.... |
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| Elfreid and Mum in Utrecht |
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| "photo bomb"... Actually Dad, you were the subject! |
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| A carving inside a church that had been literally 'defaced' during some kind of unrest. |
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| The Dom - all 465 steps of it! |
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| View of the other half of the church at the Dom, the middle part got destroyed in a storm! |
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| Spotted! |
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| View over Utrecht |
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| Shaun thinks we smell.... |
Early the next day we made our way to the small German town of Tauberbischofsheim, about 2 1/2 hours south of Frankfurt along the picturesque 'Romantic Road'. This is where my Great Uncle Rob lives.
Over the weekend we met more of Mum's family, had a look around the gorgeous town, and had dinner in an absolutely beautiful (Michelin rated) restaurant, Der Schafhof, nestled amongst the hills near Amorbach. A perfect way to end a busy holiday meeting extended family and ticking two new countries off our list. I'd definitely like to go back!
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| View from Rob and Marie-Louise's balcony |
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| Van Brakel family reunion |
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| Van Brakel family reunion |
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| Tauberbischofshiem - such a quaint little town |
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| Tauberbischofshiem |
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| Rob taking me for a walk around town |
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| Dinner at the gorgeous Der Schafhof |
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| We found some very cute baby bunnies - thankfully rabbit wasn't on the menu (although, I can't exactly read German!) |
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The train ride back to Frankfurt was very scenic - Germany, we will be back!
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We also want to say a big thank-you to Mum and Dad for travelling with us and introducing us to the family. Also a big thank you to Emiel, Helma, Rob and Marie-Louise for your generous hospitality.
Catherine & Shaun
