Travel

5 things to love about Bruges, Belgium

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There is a lot to love about Bruges so it was a little difficult to pick just five things … so here goes. It starts with chocolate! The medieval city is pretty much surrounded by water and, who knew, it has lots of lovely chocolate shops. You can smell the sweet aroma as it hits your nostrils from the street. The Chocolate Line is legendary and probably my favorite chocolate shop! For a small price you can sample anything in the store … usually means picking out a minimum of 3 pieces. You quickly get your chocolate buzz on just walking in a few shops! I think we bought a box in every store we entered. My only regret … not bringing two backpacks for the plane ride home; one to fill with cheese from Holland and the other for Belgian chocolate from Bruges.

Second on my list was Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child housed in the Church of Our Lady. The beautiful marble sculpture is said to be the only Michelangelo statute to leave Italy in his lifetime. It is the same sculpture depicted in the book and movie “The Monument Men,” stolen by the Nazi’s during World War II. It was eventually found and returned. There is a small fee to view the part of the church where the statute rests.

Then there were the lovely surprises like a delightful older gentlemen and his organ. We actually managed to get a video of our encounter but unfortunately we can only run it sideways. When I put a few coins in his cup, I was invited to turn the crank on his organ. The jolly guy put his derby on my head and before I turned over the crank to someone else kissed me on the cheek! We also admired things like an amazing old chest with intricate locking mechanism on the underside of the lid in the Church of Our Lady. Then there was the Caprese Salad that was out of this world! Coming across an old well that probably supplied water to the area for hundreds of years was another surprise.

We stayed at the Heritage Hotel which is located in the center of the city a block from the Markt. A 4-star hotel with fine dining restaurant made our stay complete. Our last evening we sprang for a three-course meal with wine pairings in the hotel’s restaurant Le Mystique. Between each course the chef prepared a “amuse bouche,” which is a little bite of food to amuse and invigorate the palate. The meal lasted for three hours and was the perfect way to end our vacation!

Last on my list of things to love about Bruges was the canal boat ride. Located in middle of the city, the reasonably priced canal ride lasts about 45 minutes. The motor boat holds about 20 people and the captain points out interesting sites. I can’t tell you how many times we got lost or turned around walking around Bruges. It was nice to get a different perspective.

World’s largest corn maze

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When my son, Ricky, told me about his adventure with his wife, Kate, in the world’s largest corn maze, I thought it would make a great blog post, especially for Halloween. We have corn mazes in Texas, but this one seems to have taken mazes to a whole different level. In honor of Halloween, I’m calling the following … Ricky’s “blob post.”

My wife, Kate, and I have been living out in the modest city of Dixon, California, for the past four years, largely due to its proximity to Travis Air Force Base, where I’m stationed, and where Kate works in Sacramento. The quiet, triangle-shaped city’s main claim-to-fame is the Dixon May Fair, held every year in, you guessed it, the month of May. Boasted as the longest-running fair in all of California, you can find fried anything, midway games, and celebrity acts ranging from Snoop Dog to Larry the Cable Guy–what a variety right? Sadly, even though the May Fair is a 20-minute walk from our door step, Kate and I have never made the trek to the famous fair; it seems we’re always spending time in Napa that time of year!

Aside from the annual May Fair, did you know Dixon hosts the Guinness Book of World Records largest corn maze? Who knew tiny Dixon, also known as “Sheep Town” or “Lamb Town,” had so many quirks? Well it took us three-and-one-half years, but recently we made the five-minute drive over to Cool Patch Pumpkins to conquer the maize maze. After parking, quite appropriately, in a field, we wandered on up to buy our tickets. At $12 per person, we thought the price was steep for a simple corn maze, but we quickly found our jaws dropping in disbelief after looking at the map of the maze!

“Please allow two hours to complete the Corn Maze,” said a posted sign. Probably meant to be a cautionary note, we took it as a challenge and glided to the maze entrance. The labyrinth of corn has you doing loops, following corridors in a large grid, and scratching your head at quadruple forks-in-the-road going in all directions. The map is absolutely necessary to keep you on track, because some of the fake paths are extensive. An alpha-numeric grid helps you match your position on the map with various markers along the maze paths, just in case you’re completely stumped, but watch out for pranksters that have moved the markers around the maze!

As we trekked through the corn rows, our strategies to tackle the maze evolved and refined. We began considering drawing a complete start-to-finish line on our map, then highlighting our position as we went—this proved difficult without writing utensils! Another consideration was using Google Maps on our phone, but, alas, no cell service! About a third of the way through, we started trailing a couple that looked confident in their route, which got us another third of the way through the maze before they took a wrong turn and got us lost as well! Finally, Kate surrendered, gave me the map, and I used my internal compass and sense of direction to calculate our path. Despite these obstacles, we finished in just under one hour! Not the case with everyone where every weekend someone calls 911 hopelessly lost in the corn maze. In case you were wondering, there is no cheese at the end of the maze, but we did take a celebratory photo, high-fived, and headed to nearby Woodland, California for Mexican food and margaritas, which, honestly, should be at the end of every maze.

So while you may not jump to book your next vacation in Dixon, California, remember the world record-setting corn maze at Cool Patch Pumpkins for your next visit out to Northern California. You may just need to walk off some of that wine and cheese from nearby Napa Valley!

Amsterdam … and a visit with Anne Frank and Van Gogh

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The Anne Frank Museum and the Van Gogh Museum were hands down … at the top of my Amsterdam bucket list when I was planning the trip! Even more important, as time is so fleeting when you travel, was to purchase our tickets online before leaving home. I hate to stand in long lines and the Anne Frank House in particular is notorious for VERY LONG LINES!

First, the Anne Frank Museum is located in the Joordan area of Amsterdam about a twenty-minute stroll from the Central Station. Before you leave home, make a commitment to the day and time you will be there. Museum tickets are 9.50 euros per adult. Decide if you want to participate in the 30 minute introduction lecture (add 5 euros to cost of an adult ticket) before you hit the “purchase” button. Even if you have read Anne’s entire diary the day before your visit, you will learn so much you didn’t know! Personally, I’ve read her diary twice and never knew the museum is actually located in the factory Anne’s father owned. Among other things, Mr. Frank was the inventor of pectin, an ingredient that canners will recognize that is so crucial to the whole canning process. Mr. Frank carefully planned the hiding place located in his factory. It was worked on little-by-little in one of the upper stories of the factory/warehouse as the war was raging around Holland.

As is the case in most museums, you can’t take photographs. Oh, and beware there are steep stairs. Walking through the “bookcase entrance” into the hidden rooms that was their hiding place is but a small part of the museum. The message of the museum … never forget.

The museum’s bookshop has Anne’s diary in many languages. Allow 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

Van Gogh Musuem mural "The Bedroom"

As for the Van Gogh Museum, you can also purchase tickets via email for 15 euros per adult ticket. Your eticket lets you enter via the fast lane entrance. Again, no photographs are allowed. There is a huge poster-style mural on one of the floors of The Bedroom. You can snap a candid picture of that if you like! I totally didn’t recall that Van Gogh was such a tortured soul. The museum really shows the progression of his art through his career. Van Gogh produced lots of art, although I believe his brother was the only one to actually purchase one of his paintings during his lifetime. Some of my favorite Van Gogh art included Sunflowers, Almond Blossom, Irises, The Potato Eaters and several Van Gogh self-portraits. Also, don’t go looking for The Starry Night. It is at the MOMA in New York City. You can’t have everything.

The museum has a lovely and well-stocked café and … as with every art museum I have ever visited … a fantastic gift shop!

Mimi and her Van Gogh lunch boxes

Which brings me to the story of Mimi’s lunchbox. Several years ago our oldest daughter traveled to Amsterdam on business. Of course, Katie visited the Van Gogh Museum and brought back a Van Gogh Sunflowers lunch box for Mimi, her sister. For several years, Mimi has carried that lunch box back and forth every day to her day center. Several years’ use has seen a few dents and little rust on the inside. During our trip this year, I was able to replace Mimi’s lunch box with a new Van Gogh … this time Poppies and Butterflies!

Holland’s Haarlem

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I wanted to write several more posts about Holland before I wander on to other subjects. We visited Haarlem on the same day as Delft and the Kinderdijk. In retrospect, maybe we should have traveled to two places instead of three. I have a few regrets. I was reading Corrie ten Boom’s book “The Hiding Place” on the plane. Her family home/watch shop was right there in Haarlem. Corrie and her family hid Jews during World War II. Corrie also worked for the Dutch Resistance and survived a concentration camp. Several members of her family did not. But alas, we got to Haarlem too late to tour it. And the Grote Kerk, or Great Church, was also closed. The 15th century church filled the town square. On two of its sides were tiny little shops built onto the outside of the church. Most unusual but it totally worked! But we had a great dinner at a tapas restaurant celebrating hubby’s and Kate’s birthdays. We sat outside sharing eight little delightful tapas plates while the day turned to evening. After that … one last stop for gelato. It was another magical day.

A visit to Delft

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If you have the chance to travel to Holland, don’t just hang out in Amsterdam! Add a few small towns on our travel agenda. We visited Delft and wished we had a full day to explore. The town is called the “City of Princes,” because of the shared past and present with the Dutch royal family. Because we visited Delft, the Kinderdijk and Haarlem the same day, we did not do the town of Delft justice. We did visit the Nieuwe Kerk, or New Church, built in the 1300’s, but did not make it to the Oude Kerk, or Old Church, a 5-minute walk away or the Delft Factory. Obviously, we spent too much time in the local cheese shop! Or perhaps it was the leisurely beer and crepe lunch?

When things go RIGHT regarding Amsterdam

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Lovely Joordan areaToday was a pretty good day! I received in the mail from our credit card company a letter regarding our dispute with the dude who double booked the apartment we were to rent in Amsterdam. See my previous post from September 21. The temporary credits were made permanent! Note to all those reserving accommodations … use a credit card … and keep all correspondence, etc. regarding the rental. I really credit my awesome husband with writing down the entire scenario on his iPad the day of the event while tempers were red hot and details laundry fresh while I was on the phone with the credit card people for hours disputing the charge. There is justice!

Also, today is the second anniversary of my blog! Go ahead … have a piece of toast … or if you would rather … toast to another year of blogging! Statistics for the past year include 35 posts, 554 followers, 4,502 blog views (doubled from last year) with 52 countries viewing from as far away as Iceland and Hong Kong!

A most excellent collection of windmills in Holland

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If you go to Holland, eating Dutch cheese, visiting the Anne Frank House, and checking out a windmill should really be on your bucket list.

Located close to Rotterdam, is a most excellent collection of windmills called the Kinderdijk. Be sure and visit their informative website if you are planning a visit.

In 1997, the area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has 19 impressive windmills for your viewing enjoyment. Located on both sides of a waterway, the best way to view the windmills is via bike, although we saw quite a few walking the path. Bike rental fees are just 2.50 euros for two hours.

As I hadn’t actually pedaled a bike in many years, I imagined the thick, tall grasses on both sides of the pathway were planted just for me. In case I fell off the bike I wouldn’t fracture any bones … or fall into the water.

One of the windmills, second on the right, is a working museum and charges a small fee. As a visit to Delft and Haarlem were on the list that day we didn’t make it to the museum.

Here is an interesting factoid: 17 of the restored windmills were built between 1738 and 1740 for water drainage.

My grandfather, who was from northern Holland, actually took care of water levels, probably in such a windmill. The visit to the Kinderdijk, made it all the more personal and impressive.

When things go wrong in Amsterdam

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The above photographs show the area of Amsterdam where we were supposed to stay. Pretty nice looking right? When we started planning our trip to Holland it was always with the intent of renting an apartment, as our son and daughter-in-law from California would be hanging out with us. Months before we left, I sat in front of my computer for hours looking for just the right spot on VRBO.com. The one I eventually rented was in the Joordan neighborhood, with 2 bedroom, 2 baths, laundry facilities and kitchen. We envisioned the trendy neighborhood known for specialty shopping, cafes, restaurants and art galleries. It would be perfect!

A week before arriving in Amsterdam there was a flurry of emails back and forth between me and the apartment owner. Final arrangements! Then two days before the dude asked if I wanted to check-in early, for a fee of 50 euros to cover the early housekeeping fee, as his renters would be leaving the night before. After a little hesitation … I knew he was gouging me … but I said yes anyway. The upside was it would give us all an opportunity to perhaps nap and adjust a little to the time change before meeting my cousin and her husband for lunch. My last two emails with the owner before I turned off my computer and left for the airport was … we would meet between 9 and 9:30 am at the apartment to get the key.

Many, many flight hours later, Hubby and I arrived at 9:15 am and knocked on the apartment door. We rang the bell. No answer. We didn’t panic. The dude still had a little time to arrive with the key. Pretty soon it was 9:45 and still no dude … and it was starting to rain. We found a bench two doors down and covered slightly with scaffolding. When 9:15 turned into 10:30 and still no guy with the key, we started to worry. Ricky and Kate showed up and a hug-fest ensued. I guess they could tell by the steam pouring from my ears that I was a teapot about to blow. We had the owner’s phone number but our phones were not cooperating. When a nice lady that lived on the block offered to help call the owner for us, we were hopeful. After several tries and leaving messages, we were finally able to chat with our missing-in-action owner.

“Oh so sorry, but I’m an hour away. I’ll give you the key code and you can let yourself in,” he said.

Hubby pushed some numbers on the key pad and opened a little door that was to hold the key. Only there was no key. Suddenly, from behind the door to our apartment, the blinds lifted. There was a scary-looking lady in the window. After a short conversation, she confided she was locked in by her apartment mates, who had left for a few hours, and besides, they were not set to leave until the next day.

“This has never happened in the three years I’ve owned the apartment,” said the owner when we got him back on the phone.

His offer was for us to stay at one of his properties in another part of Amsterdam … for a night … then move back to the Joordan apartment tomorrow afternoon. Geez, we were already going to lose one day of our vacation because of this guy … why not go for two? Did we take him up on his offer … nope!

My son, our travel logistics expert, found us a couple of hotel rooms on Hotels.com before the taxi pulled up a few minutes later. The Room Mate Hotel was located in the UDock section of Amsterdam. The location was not ideal, the hotel was built on a new artificial island, but it was only a 10 minute walk to the train station and we made it work.

Why am I telling your this story? Because if you are going to rent an apartment, be sure and charge it to a credit card. We were able to dispute the charge. The credit card people do an investigation, and basically, if the apartment dude is deemed an idiot, the “temporary credit” becomes permanent.

The rest of the trip was awesome!

Five things I learned while in Amsterdam

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We recently returned from our fourth trip to Europe. Did you know that early September is generally a great month weather-wise to visit Europe? We started traveling to Europe in 2008. We’ve been to Italy twice and then Paris for our 40th anniversary in 2012. Every two years we head for parts unknown … at least to us! We can’t let our “world traveler” kids have all the fun.

This year we went to Holland, with a little side trip to Bruges, Belgium. My mom was born in Holland and I really wanted to experience the country. Holland did not disappoint … amazing cheeses, museums, canals, bikes and interesting architecture! Our son, Ricky, and lovely daughter-in-law, Kate, also joined us for the Holland part of our trip.

Amsterdam was totally not what I expected. The guide books never really prepare you for when your boots actually hit the ground. The airport is nuts. But people are friendly and most speak English! I now know how it feels to, as the famous playwright Tennessee Williams wrote, “… to rely on the kindness of strangers!”

Although Kate and Ricky landed 15 minutes later than we did … different flights, different terminals … we never could seem to tag up with them at the airport. It didn’t help that our cell phone programmed for international travel failed us. As Plan B was always to meet at the apartment I had rented in the Joordan area of Amsterdam, no big tragedy.

So here is my list of five things we learned while in Amsterdam:

We never met a piece of cheese we didn’t like! The weight of hubby’s carry-on backpack when we left for home can attest to that.

We learned that the wide bike paths found everywhere in Amsterdam are for bikes and you could get run over if not extremely careful!

A tulip museum, like a cheese museum, is not really a museum. It’s a shop that sells tulip bulbs.

Public transportation is your friend! Learn how to use it! Purchase a day pass (or multi-day pass) good for trams and buses. Very reasonably priced. Swipe your card when you get on … and off public transportation! It’s a two-step process. I have no idea why.

Purchase your tickets for the Anne Frank House and busy art museums before you leave on your trip! There is no way I would have stood in the long line outside the Anne Frank House. And let’s face it … if you go to Amsterdam you must pay the house a visit!

Next time I’ll share how to be flexible on your European vacation … especially when things go wrong!

Saugatuck, Michigan … love this harbor town

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Just got back from a lovely visit to Michigan to visit family. It’s July and the temperatures hovered in the 70’s and the humidity was non-existent. It was such a nice respite from the Houston heat!

While the boys went fishing, the girls visited the Lake Michigan harbor town of Saugatuck, about an hour away from Kalamazoo. We only had time to squeeze out a few hours. It felt like skipping stones over the surface of a travel destination loaded with plenty of seaside charm, lots of boutique shopping, dining … fine and casual, homemade fudge, cookies and ice cream establishments and wine tasting. We chose the Coral Gables Restaurant, right on the lake, located at 220 Water Street for our lunch break. Nice salads and gourmet sandwiches! Highly recommend!

From the Saugatuck Visitor’s Guide there appears to be plenty of lodging, performing arts and recreation, like the Harbor Duck tour and boat cruises. I could totally see hangin’ out in the town for a relaxing week.

During our stroll through the town, we sampled interesting olive oils and balsamic vinegars at the Olive Mill. There were purchases in the Spice Merchants, a shop specializing in spices and teas. I picked up some exotic salts and a spice mill. Kilwin’s Chocolates was out in force on the street handing out handmade fudge samples. Yum!

My personal favorite shop was The T-Shirt Shoppe located at 107 Butler Street. Sorry there was no website that I could find, although they already have a few great reviews! The store concept is simple and the results were lovely! Purchase a high quality t-shirt, pick out one of their unique designs. They silkscreen your shirt which is ready to pick up in under an hour. Check out the little duck design Mimi is sporting!

My only regret is we weren’t able to stay longer!