Bruges

At first glance Bruges, Belgium is sort of like a medieval Disney Land. There is the large market square ringed by old buildings and a looming clock tower, there are horse drawn carriage tours, canals all around the city, and, of course, there are lots and lots of tourists. But if you look carefully it is possible to see a bit of the real Bruges. Down quite streets, or at the early morning markets where ancient ladies come to buy their weeks produce. I would like the say that I explored the "real" Bruges as much as possible, but that was simply not the case. The truth is that it is kind of fun to be a tourist in Bruges. I did buy lace and chocolates (and even a Tintin postcard), and I did gawk at the old buildings, and yes, I even took a horse drawn carriage ride (but only because my sister wanted to).







Of all the things that one can do in Bruges I recommend touring the Begijnhof, and biking to the town of Damm. The Begijnhof (which is hard to say and spell) once housed an order of nuns. Unlike regular nuns, who are nuns for life, the Begijns were able to marry and leave if they wanted, and spent their lives devoted to religion and work. Based on my slim knowledge of the middle ages this life seems a hell of a lot better than the ones most other women led, making me think that I would have lived in the Begijnhof back in the day.





Damme is a little town about four miles from Bruges. The bike ride there was just lovely, on a peaceful trail between a canal and a cornfield. The town of Damme itself is cute, but the surrounding countryside is the real draw, with miles of road perfect for biking. My father and I were so charmed by the area that we biked a little farther than we should have, and ended up facing quite the long haul back. Needless to say I was pretty exhausted by the time we reached the hotel and didn't do much of anything for the rest of the day.

Laag-Soeren and the Dutch Countryside

After we left Amsterdam, we drove in our rented car to the tiny Dutch town of Laag-Soeren, where we stayed in a beautiful guest house facing the towns only street. While the amusements were somewhat limited in Laag-Soeren there were plenty of things to do nearby including the Kroller-Muller Museum and the Open Air Museum.

The Kroller-Muller Museum was a large museum complex spread across several acres of Dutch woods. It was composed of an art museum, a sculpture garden, and miles of trails upon which visitors could ride in complimentary bikes. Inside the museum were works by Picasso and Van Gogh and many other "old masters" as well as contemporary photography. For me, the major highlight was seeing Van Gogh "Cafe-terrace at night." I couldn't believe I was looking at the real painting, the fact that Van Gogh's own hands had spread the paint blew my mind!







The Open Air Museum (Openluchtmuseum) was pretty much the most amazing museum that I have ever seen. The "museum" was really acres of woods with reconstructions of historical Dutch homes and buildings. We visited a farm from the 1700's, a candy store from 1900, an old church, and hundreds of other buildings all set up to reflect the way they would have looked. It was so much fun walking around the "town" and imagining what life would have been like in the Netherlands through the ages.

Amsterdam continued

One of the best parts of traveling is all the new foods and restaurants one gets to sample. In Amsterdam two restaurants in particular stood out. The first was a place called Moeders (mothers) that served traditional Dutch food. The singular thing about Moeders was not the food, but the fact that the walls were crammed from floor to ceiling with framed pictures of peoples mothers. Old, young, some naked, mothers of all shapes and sizes gazed down at us from the walls and made sure that we ate all our vegetables. The second restaurant, Cinema Paradiso, was an old movie theater that had been converted into an Italian Restaurant. We ate amazing food (gnocchi!), while watching a strange sci-fi movie staring Bruce Willis. Between the food and the movie we ended up wiling away more then three hours.

Beside food, museums are another major plus of traveling. In Amsterdam we visited the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. While it was nice to see actual Van Gogh's, my favorite painting was Vermeer's "The Kitchen Maid" in the Rijksmuseum. The scene was so tranquil that it seemed to bring peace to that corner of the crowded museum.

Amsterdam was absolutely lovely, but after five days we were ready for our next destination... the Dutch countryside.

Amsterdam

Being as I am from the technologically rich Seattle, it slipped my mind that other countries might not have the same abundance of free wi-fi. As a result I have been quite starved for the internet and my blog has understandably suffered. I will try and update when I can, however, and I will go back and start from the beginning with Amsterdam.

Ahh... Amsterdam, it was the kind of city I could picture myself living in (after mastering Dutch I guess). My family stayed in an apartment in the Jordaan district, an area which was beyond beautiful. Picture street after street of picturesque old wooden houses facing the canals, beautiful Dutch people sitting at outdoor cafes, and of course, ancient-looking bikes chained to every available surface. It was all I could do to stop myself from taking a picture of every street!

Our first morning we were awoken by the early morning sounds of a flea market setting up across the street. Such an eclectic bunch of people and goods I have never seen. There were impeccably dressed women browsing bolts of fabric, girls in peasant skirts rifling through scarves, and tourists munching spring rolls (of all things!). I sat in our huge bay window for over an hour just sipping tea and watching everyone.

Later the first day as we were walking home from the supermarket, my family was stopped by a friendly French man. He invited us into his apartment where we proceeded to spend the next hour hearing his life story and admiring his immense collection of foreign beer and liquor. He had one impressive bottle that had a tiny music box inside which could be wound up to make a small dancer spin, we were suitably impressed.

I have already used the computer for longer than I should so I will end for now, there will be more about Amsterdam later and hopefully I will also have pictures soon.

A blog!

I decided to start this blog because in just one week I will be leaving for Europe. I am studying in France beginning in September but I will be traveling before and after with a variety of people. Although I am not visiting all the European countries like "Grand Tours" of old, I do think that many exciting things will occur, and that by writing this blog I can save myself the trouble of having to describe said exciting things to everyone I know. Therefore, read on if you feel so inclined. Cheers until next week, where the adventure begins in Amsterdam!