Beautiful Brugge
by Albernfrau
We spent two days in Brugge and only wish we would have had time to stay longer. We drove to Brugge from Frankfurt. We parked in the parking lot at the train station (cheapest and convenient). A man offered to help us find our hotel; he took us on the right bus and walked us to our hotel. He wanted money in return but we didn’t mind one bit as it would have taken us forever to figure out how to get there. Our hotel (Het Gheestelic Hof was a wonderful old place on a quiet street near the centre of Brugge.
We headed out on a canal boat tour through the canals of Brugge. We then devoured Belgian chocolate from one of the many chocolate shops and headed to Central Markt (square) where we headed straight for the French fry stand at the base of the Bell Tower. The frituurs (Belgian “French” fries) were delicious. We then explored the surrounding streets, found a grocery store and bought dinner and snacks. We stopped for tea at “Matinee” restaurant right near where the typical postcard view of Brugge is.
The next day we went to the Burg to see the City Hall and the Basilica of the Holy Blood. We then walked to the Minnewater (Lake of Love); our favourite spot. We also went to the Begijnhof to see the nun’s peaceful courtyard. Heading back towards town we stopped and relaxed in the garden of the Almshouses. We then went back to the centre of town and did the easy climb of 366 steps to the bell tower of the Belfry. The view from the the top was fabulous. The 47 bells were pretty impressive too. After descending we rented bicycles joining the hundreds of locals who ride their bikes in the streets of Brugge. We headed to the town of Damme, pedaling for 30 mins. along the tree-lined canal path. A beautiful windmill and cottage welcomed us to Damme. We walked through the small town and then biked back to Brugge.
Once we were back in Brugge we went for lunch at the Kasteel Minnewater located on the Minnewater with garden, canal-side seating. We ate Belgian waffles with ice cream and whipped cream; delicious! In the afternoon we rode to the Lace Centre. Watching the women lace makers was amazing; they were so fast we couldn’t believe our eyes. We spent the rest of the day eating chocolate, sitting at the Minnewater watching the swans and having tea in the Markt; absolute heaven!!!!
Trip Report - Belgium, Netherlands and Germany
by Albernfrau
"Belgium"
We drove from Frankfurt to Brugge, Belgium. We parked in the parking lot at the Brugge train station (cheapest and convenient). A man offered to help us find our hotel; he took us on the right bus and walked us to our hotel. He wanted money in return but we didn’t mind one bit as it would have taken us forever to figure out how to get there. Our hotel (Het Gheestelic Hof was a wonderful old place on a quiet street near the centre of Brugge.
We headed out on a canal boat tour through the canals of Brugge. We then devoured Belgian chocolate from one of the many chocolate shops and headed to Central Markt (square) where we headed straight for the French fry stand at the base of the Bell Tower. The frituurs (Belgian “French” fries) were delicious. We then explored the surrounding streets, found a grocery store and bought dinner and snacks. We stopped for tea at “Matinee” restaurant right near where the typical postcard view of Brugge is.
The next day we went to the Burg to see the City Hall and the Basilica of the Holy Blood. We then walked to the Minnewater (Lake of Love); our favourite spot. We also went to the Begijnhof to see the nun’s peaceful courtyard. Heading back towards town we stopped and relaxed in the garden of the Almshouses. We then went back to the centre of town and did the easy climb of 366 steps to the bell tower of the Belfry. The view from the the top was fabulous. The 47 bells were pretty impressive too. After descending we rented bicycles joining the hundreds of locals who ride their bikes in the streets of Brugge. We headed to the town of Damme, pedaling for 30 mins. along the tree-lined canal path. A beautiful windmill and cottage welcomed us to Damme. We walked through the small town and then biked back to Brugge.
Once we were back in Brugge we went for lunch at the Kasteel Minnewater located on the Minnewater with garden, canal-side seating. We ate Belgian waffles with ice cream and whipped cream; delicious! In the afternoon we rode to the Lace Centre. Watching the women lace makers was amazing; they were so fast we couldn’t believe our eyes. We spent the rest of the day eating chocolate, sitting at the Minnewater watching the swans and having tea in the Markt; absolute heaven!!!!
"Netherlands"
We drove from Brugge to Edam (as in the cheese), Holland in 3 hours. Our hotel, Hotel Fortuna, was the most adorable hotel ever. Not to mention Edam, as cute as a town can get! For the afternoon we went to the nearby town of Volendam. This town is the ultimate tourist trap. We did enjoy the museum which was interesting and contains the famous bizarre cigar papered walls. We then headed to Zaanse Schans (20 mins. from Amsterdam), an outdoor Dutch museum, and it was absolutely fabulous! It is everything typically Dutch all in one place. It had working windmills, a clog making factory, a cheese museum, a pewter workshop, and many other traditional stores and huts. We spent the evening in Edam, riding rented bicycles around the town and the nearby countryside which was beautiful.
The next day we caught the local bus to Amsterdam (30 mins. and better than trying to drive and find parking). We started with a canal tour; boring and not worth the money. We then walked around wondering why people like this city as all we noticed were the negatives - neon signs everywhere; it was packed with people; and it was dirty. Sure there were nicer areas like the Jordaan but overall we couldn’t figure out the appeal (aside from the museums). We checked out the red light district and although it was interesting it just depressed me. The one thing we did love was the Anne Frank Museum which was excellent and worth waiting in line for.
That night we headed to the nearby town of Marken (30 mins. from Amsterdam) and checked into our hotel (Hof Van Marken; great!). This town was very interesting. It is located at the end of a causeway out in the middle of a huge lake. Most of the houses are all identical blue/white green/white with many on stilts. We strolled the neat shops, explored the harbour, saw the inside of a traditional Marken home, saw locals in traditional dress, and saw clogs being hand made (there are only 25 people who make clogs by hand in Holland). We then rented bicycles and road the path to the lighthouse and then around the entire town. We would definitely recommend this town.
"Germany"
We flew from Canada to Frankfurt and picked up our Avis/National rental car, an Opal Corsa (booked through autoeurope.com on the net for only $300CAN for 12 days) and headed out on the autobahn. No one drove nearly as fast as we thought they would (average speed was 130km/h and there was roadwork everywhere. We used a Germany/Benelux Michelin map book and Michelin website driving instructions; both were great and we couldn’t have done without either of them.
We drove part of the “Castle Route”, the hour-long castle rich area of the Rhine River between Koblenz and Bacharach; amazing! We arrived at Bacharach and were rewarded with a quaint town with our amazing castle hostel, the Castle (Burg) Stahleck (44E for a couple private room). The view from the castle hostel, which sits way above the town, was absolutely outstanding! Vineyards, the town and Rhine River were all visible from the castle.
We headed to Belgium and Holland and then returned to Germany and we stayed in Oelde (NW) with my relatives. While in Germany there we did visited three moated castles Norkirchen, Westerwinkel and Vishering in Munsterland (NW Germany), the city of Paderborn, and the university city of Munster (good for shopping). The highlight for my husband was the curried bratwurst sold by street vendors!
On our last day we drove to the Frankfurt Airport and dropped off our rental car. Unfortunately we found out the hotel I booked was way out of the city and a taxi ride would cost 40E so we decided it wasn’t worth the money and hassle so we stayed in a hotel at the airport (Hotel Steinburger – 119E).
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