Beautiful Bruges

Today we woke up to blue skies and sunshine through our little attic window!  We are staying at Gallery Yasmine - www.gallery-yasmine.be - which I selected because of it's location and the fact that the owner boasts of her beautiful breakfast.  Well, I'm pleased to say she was not understating her skills, which include making her own buttery croissants!  I didn't take any photos Di but I will try to remember to do it tomorrow, as today I was too busy eating - smoked salmon, creamy scrambled eggs, freshly baked croissants, fruit, yoghurt, juice and tea.  And then as we left Albina, the owner, insisted on us taking the left over croissants and chocolate nut bread (oh yes, I also managed a slice of that for breakfast!) with us for lunch!
Greg was feeling a bit stressed over some unfinished work he has to complete so the kids and I set off on a 4km walk from the guide book to discover Bruges.  We started at the Choco Story museum, secure in the knowledge that Greg would not feel he was missing out if we went there.  The reward is a freshly made chocolate filled with praline - we could just about fit it in on top of breakfast!  It was such a gorgeous day that we just enjoyed walking around (as per the guide book instructions!) and seeing the sights of Bruges.  When we reached the windmills (replicas that have been built to re-create the atmosphere of old Bruges!) Liam - encouraged by Bella! - decided he just had to roll down the hill.  Much to the amusement of  passing tourists who also took his photo!  Apparently it was a lot of fun but I was not impressed to see all the grass and mud stains on his jeans afterwards...  The walk ended at the oldest cafe in Bruges, opened in 1515.  Unfortunately, it's closed on Tuesdays!  Liam took a photo of Bella and I outside it!
We ate our lunch croissants in the market square and watched the mass of tourists go by.  It must be absolutely crazy here in the summer!  We found a baby shop - the first we've come across - and couldn't resist buying a little jacket and top for our soon to be born grandson/nephew.  Bella and I also found some gloves for 10 euro a pair - my ski gloves are quite warm but are also too big to fit in the pockets of my parka, meaning I tend to leave them behind - and miss them.  Despite the sun it was quite cool today.
We collected Greg in the afternoon and went op-shopping - Greg finally found the coat he has been searching for, and a hat (Thomas, you will like it when you see the photos!) - and some shoes!  Bella got a luxurious looking black fake fur swing coat for 25 euro, quite a steal, I can see I'll have to borrow it sometimes as it gives her quite a movie star look!  She didn't wear it out tonight as it was raining, and she didn't want to get it wet. We had a simple dinner in a cafe called En Cafe as honestly, we are still quite full from breakfast!

Here we are in Belgium!  But before I start my post, firstly an apology to Annika and Maarten for mis-spelling their names, and thank you to Joran for correcting me!
I am a few days behind as we have been so busy.  When I left you last we had spent the afternoon at the Rijksmuseum and arrived back at Mijdrecht for dinner.  While we were waiting for everyone to arrive I showed Anneke photos of Mum's 70th birthday which led to me showing her old photos I'd scanned for Mum's album - it turned out we had photos she'd never seen, including ones of her Oma and Opa Werner which bought back lots of happy memories for her.  (I transferred them onto a disc for her before we left).
Nouschka had arranged catering and there was LOTS of delicious food, but what I enjoyed most about the evening was spending time with the family.  I had met Casper, Dennis and Nouschka back in 1986 and while it was fun to met my Dutch family, I don't think we really connected -  maybe because we were all young and focused on ourselves!  So perhaps its due to our (advanced) age, but this time, I really felt as if I was spending time with my brothers and sister - it felt very special.  We shared stories, ate, drank, laughed (Dennis has the same sense of humour as Michael so I found him very funny!) - it was just a wonderful night.  Dennis's son Joran and Casper's eldest daughter, the lovely Vivian, were also with us.  We so appreciated them all taking time from their busy lives to be with us :-) I really, really hope they come and visit us in Australia so we can repay their hospitality and spend more time with them all!!
Joran, Maarten and Annika had introduced Bella and Liam to the game Kees Board so the night could not finish without a few rounds.  I filled in for Vivian when she went to answer a call.  The cards are all in Dutch but Bella assures me that she knows all the rules so we don't need any translation if we buy a set ourselves!
The next morning we were up early to get to the Van Gogh Museum.  Again, Casper was our companion and guide - it was wonderful to have his help and company!  It was a very wet and windy morning. We made it into Amsterdam before 9.30am and as a bonus street parking is free on Sundays, so we were very happy to find a spot.  Even happier to find there was no queue at the Van Gogh museum!!  We decided to spend 5 euros each on multi media tour - well worth it!  We all loved the museum which had so many gorgeous Van Gogh paintings and Liam was especially inspired.  We spent three happy hours there.  The crowd was growing while we were there, but seeing the huge line to get in as we left vindicated our decision to make an early start.  Greg vowed we would continue to do this for the rest of our holiday!  Bella just groaned!
Leaving the museum the sun came out (Liam said it was because we'd been singing "Here comes the sun that morning!") - how lucky! After lunch at the Hansel and Gretel cafe (courtesy of Casper) we joined a canal boat cruise of Amsterdam.  Greg enjoyed it so much he had a little nap!!  We won't let him live that one down for a while!  The rest of us enjoyed seeing the city from the water, my only disappointment was that I couldn't sit outside to take photos and the windows were spotted with  the morning's rain... so I'll have to see if any of my photos were OK.
On our way home Dennis rang to say that he'd cooked dinner and was waiting for us!  Well, that was a surprise, he'd told me he never cooked!  We turned up to see the table beautifully set with wine glasses and candles... and a huge, huge amount of chinese food!  Casper was laughing and saying who over caters the most, Dennis or Nouschka.  I told him it was definitely a Dutch trait as my mum has always been guilty of over-catering!  We were thrilled to have Joran and Maarten join us too.  Again, it was a lovely evening.
With Joran and Maarten there OF COURSE we had to have another Kees Board battle.  Liam and Maarten won two rounds and then I partnered with Maarten and let Bell and Joran have a win :-)
So today we left a very windy Mijdrecht to head toward Rotterdam and then Belgium (sounds so incredibly exotic saying that

when you are an Aussie!).  We rang Wendy for her birthday.  Greg was distracted by us singing Happy Birthday and went to the left side of the road!!  Agh!  There was a momentary lapse as I said "Oh crap" and Bella said "My god Dad!" - but he quickly veered right away from the oncoming car and all was well!! It was so windy we noticed all the bike riders were opting to push their bikes rather than ride, we felt sorry for them.  We had to take two detours due to trees having fallen down and blocking the road (a challenge for our GPS!) - however we safely made our way to Rotterdam and took the kids to see the shop/home Mum was born and grew up in.  It was still windy but the sun came out!  We enjoy every moment of sunshine!  We were only about thirty minutes out of Rotterdam when the traffic just... stopped.  Four lanes of traffic!  We sat for a while with the engine idling. Then we turned the car off.  Greg took the opportunity to have a nap.  I read the kids some info about Belgium.  We had a car picnic!  (Luckily we'd stopped at the supermarket and bought some food for lunch!).  We watched the rain on the sun roof.  Did I tell you that our Peugeot has a sun roof??  I found it by accident playing with the buttons in the car!  It's so flash!  Anyway... an hour later... we were still on the freeway with hundreds of other people.  Eventually, we started off again, and in no time at all the traffic had evened out and although we passed two small accidents, it was hard to tell which one had caused all the drama!
So now we are in Bruges, staying in a B&B in the centre of the city.  It's a lovely old building and our room has a mezzanine floor.  Bella and Liam are upstairs and I'm glad its them, as the roof above their bed is less then 2 metres!!

Amsterdam with friends and family

I was delighted to hear that my friend Lise Brake was also in Holland.  What a co-incidence!  We made an arrangement to meet up - us driving from Mildam and Lise and Chris from Amsterdam, to meet at Zaanse Schans.  I programmed the GPS and we set off!  It took us a bit longer than we anticipated and we missed the agreed meeting time - Lise and Chris didn't have their mobile with them so we were operating on the old fashioned system of arranging a time and place :-)  The day was overcast and drizzly and while Zaanse Schans is very, very touristy we still enjoyed looking around.  And - we managed to find Lise and Chris!  We enjoyed a pancake lunch with them (cheese and bacon was the pancake of choice) and it was lovely to spend time with them.

We then set the GPS (I'm getting pretty good at it now and Greg's driving is improving!) for Mijdrecht, the home of my mum's cousin Anneke.  She has the welcome sign out for us!  We re-met Anneke's daughter Noushka and son Denis, his wife Ank, children Joran and Anneke, and Anneke's boyfriend Martin.  Anneke senior took us all out for dinner at a local restaurant.  Bella sparkled in the company of other teenagers!

 Today was another sunny day.  We seem to alternate between sunshine one day and rain the next in Holland, but we really appreciate any day with blue skies - we know they are few and far between!  After a leisurely breakfast (with an enourmous range to chose from, Nouscha kindly went shopping and stocked Anneke's fridge for us!) we drove into Amsterdam with Casper as our guide, to visit the Rijksmuseum - which has just nearly re-opened.  Parking was 26 euro but Casper thought it would be cheaper than train and metro tickets!  We had to line up for 45 minutes to get in, but it was worth it - a beautiful museum and lots of gorgeous art to enjoy. 

Sunshine in Holland!

Three of Casper's children had joined us the night before: Bas who is 11, Noa who is 9 and Sven who is 7.  Only Bas speaks a little English (all picked up from watching TV which is pretty impressive) but he loves computers so he bonded with Liam immediately.  This morning they all seemed to be having a fun time together.
Casper told us we were extremely lucky to have an Autumn day like today in Holland.  It was just glorious - blue skies and mild temperatures.  We know we have to cherish everyday we have like this while we are travelling!  After a leisurely breakfast we decided to go to Giethoorn which is an extremely picturesque village in the north set among canals.  We went on a canal boat ride (skippered by Casper - he said it was as challenging for him as we had found driving on the right, so we were very understanding if we veered a little in the wrong direction!) and then had lunch in bright sunshine on the canal front (Greg was worried he'd get sunburnt!) before going to visit the Rock shop.  It turned out the Rock shop had a museum - Greg said it had some of the best samples he'd ever seen and as most of you know, Greg is a rock connoisseur!  The was a special deal for the kids, where they could do a quiz, pan for gold, and crack open a rock to see if it had anything inside, for 6.50 euro each.  The kids just loved it, especially panning for gold (and that included the bigger kid in our group!).
Driving today I discovered we had a sun roof!  Actually Greg was driving - I just had to remind him to keep right, but not too far right!  The car is either quite wide or the roads are very narrow or it's a bit of both - but we are both finding it's easy to hit the curb!
I had to include a photo of Bella with her clog slippers, just 15 euro and able to fold down very flat (as we all know, space is at a premium in our back packs!).

Leaving Denmark and arriving in Holland!

Yesterday Thomas and Marianne took us into the National Gallery of Denmark  which is an impressive art gallery with some really inspiring works spanning over 700 years.  We enjoyed a tasty Danish lunch at the cafe there before they drove us to the airport and we said "au revior" - we hope to see them both again soon!  We had a wonderful time in Denmark!
Copenhagen Airport is impressively big.  We were flying Norwegian Airlines which is a budget airline (but very comfortable, I'd happily fly them again).  The only drama was on check in - we had three bags at well under 20kg (11 or 12 kg each) and Greg's bag with 25 kg (yes, OK some of that weight is my toiletries - I'm not good at travelling light when it comes to toiletries!!).  It didn't matter that our combined weight was under 80kg - each bag had to be under 20kg!  Unfortunately two of our bags had already gone through so we had to cram some more stuff into Bella's bag which was already pretty full...and managed to get to 19.7kg and avoid paying some hefty fees for every extra kilo!  Then - probably because we were flying with a budge airline - we had to walk several kilometres to find our departure gate.  That was our bonus exercise for the day!!
We arrived into Schiphol on time and successfully met up with my cousin Casper.  What didn't work so well was calling the car company to arrange pick up of the car - neither number worked on my travel sim (they rang then it just hung up) and when Greg tried the pay phone and used our few euro coins, they all disappeared with no luck!!  We were so grateful that Casper was there to call them on his phone and work it all out - it turned out that the arrival time I'd advised, 1810, was recorded at 8.10pm so they weren't expecting us.  We didn't have to wait for long and then we collected our car.  It was big enough for our packs (just) and Greg bravely got into the drivers seat with Casper giving him directions (and the rest of us reminding him to stick to the right.  But not too far right!! Bella and I felt as if we were on the verge of hitting the side railings several times!).  He did well though, and we made it to Friesland safely.  The hardest thing is remembering that you can't over take on the right, even if the car in the middle lane is travelling too slowly.   It was after 9pm when we got to Casper's house.  He whipped up some dinner for us and then we fell into bed.
Today it was overcast and drizzly, but not too cold.  After a late Dutch breakfast (three kinds of sugar sprinkles!  The kids were in heaven!) we set off to explore Casper's village of Mildam.  Casper has a big house, he can fit us all in including his three youngest children!  It's a lovely village and Liam especially loved the forest, which was quite wild and overgrown due to a storm, which meant we had to do a bit of clambering over fallen trees - lots of fun!  
Greg had to do some work :-( so the kids and I set out with Casper to do some exploring of Friesland.  And I drove!  I hit the curb 5 times (apparently - I wasn't counting!) but managed not to hit any cars or bikers which was my main concern.  Casper kept me on the smaller roads which I appreciated - giving me some time to get my confidence up.  Bella saw a windmill in the distance and asked that we go and see it for a photo.  We took a few twists and turns but found it, and Casper and I posed for a photo just as it started to rain.  We ran back to the car, but the men working on the windmill invited us in - the windmill has been converted to be a gorgeous holiday house which can sleep 8 (for 1200.00 euros a week).  It would be a great holiday house - like living in a boat (as it overlooks water) and is very cosy inside!  

The joys of having a personal tour guide!

Yesterday Thomas and Marianne had the day off.  Thomas took us into Copenhagen and we could wander without any need to look at a map - having a personal tour guide makes life very easy!  It was drizzling but I was unconcerned with my new super dooper Danish umbrella.  I don't get tired of flicking it up and down, and admiring the superior mechanism.  These Danes really know how to make things that are stylish AND practical.  I didn't mention it before but even the $2 shops look classy and well laid out!  Greg & I visited the local $2 shop the other day when I was looking for a hat.  They had some there but I didn't like them.  I was taken by the ad for "Big Underpants for Women" - they were long johns but I really should have taken a photo of the sign!
So yesterday we wandered around the university area in Copenhagen.  Liam and Bella found a comic book shop (just like in Big Bang Theory!) and were suitably enthralled.  We came across the Round Tower (Rundetaarn) which I had heard had great views of Copenhagen from the top, so I encouraged everyone to join me in the climb.  It was mainly a winding pathway (going up fairly steeply) then a series of stairs.  But the views were worth it despite the rainy weather.  In fact the rain made the temperature quite mild!  I can imagine how gorgeous it would be on a sunny blue day.  
Marianne had been busy back at the house preparing a last night dinner for us.  When we came back it was decided that we should have a pre-dinner walk in the forest!  Very exciting!  The forest is in fact just 5 minutes drive from Roskilde, and it was beautiful.  The autumn leaves are so gorgeous.  And we saw some wild deer!  Marianne and Thomas said it was the first time they had seen the deer in the forest.  Liam stalked them and got some photos.  You do have to look closely as they are well camouflaged.  
Then it was back to the house for a very special meal that Marianne had prepared for us.  Firstly a salmon roulade with creme fraiche - it just melted in our mouths!  Then a roast loin of pork with crispy crackling, delicious roasted root vegetables and a salad.  Finally a chocolate mousse with caramelised pistachios on top.  Wow!  And to accompany it, champagne, white wine, red wine and dessert wine... it was a lovely night.  Thomas, Marianne, Savannah and Johannes have gone out of their way to make our stay in Denmark very special, and we have had a wonderful time!

How to eat Smorgsboard and other observations..

I was in a hurry last night so I didn't share my new knowledge on how to eat at a Danish smorgsboard!  Greg and I had no idea but now we are experts!  When we sat down there were two plates, a small one on top of a large one.  We immediately moved the small plate to the side, but Thomas and Marianne corrected us: the small plate is for the herring, which is always the first course!  You have a piece of dark bread with the herring, and there were three types: white, red and in a mustardy mayonnaise.  While we were all dishing up our herring Thomas poured us all a shot glass of icy cold snapps. I asked if it was to scull or to sip.  Thomas said men always sculled but women were allowed to sip, which immediately meant that I had no choice! Once everyone had their herring we had a toast, and scull!  Then we ate the herring.  The small plates are removed, you take a piece of white bread (which Marianne had baked that morning, a delicious sour dough type of bread) and have the shrimp, served with a white sauce (creme fraiche, shrimp liquid, lemon juice and salt) and lemons.  Another round of snapps, CHEERS, and another scull.  That snapps warms you up from the top of your toes! ( The shrimp incidentally were from Greenland, which is a part of Denmark - something I didn't know! It's also the world's largest island.  So now I've shared all my new information about Greenland!)
Then there was a choice of salami, ham, capsicum, pate (served with crispy bacon and finely chopped and fried mushrooms) with more white bread.  There was also egg, but apparently you have egg on dark bread.  Greg caused much hilarity by having salami and egg on white bread - this is something children might do if they were choosing toppings without looking, like a game!
Finally the cheese.  We had three delicious cheeses: a 3 year old Gouda, (or Good Ah as we Aussies would say), a Dutch sheeps cheese and an aged Tomme from France (which was meltingly delicious).  Another round of snapps!!  In between we had some yummy Danish beers.  The children had Danish Christmas beer, especially for kids - Liam loved it!
Oh - and that wasn't the end, as Marianne had also made cinnamon scrolls.  The kids had been given packs of scrolls at the train station (some sort of giveaway that we didn't understand!) and Thomas had told us there were inferior, but once we tried the home made ones we had to agree.  They melted on your tongue.  We were so full we didn't have dinner!
Talking of accents (a clumsy segue, but read above, it sort of works!) Savannah had the TV on and the previous Danish PM was being interviewed, defending the fact that he'd spent tax payer money on travel for him and his daughter (sounded sort of familiar!).  He now works for NATO in Korea and had bought some buddies with him as defenders.  One was an Australian.  He sounded dreadful!  So flat and toneless!  Bella and I asked Savannah if we sounded that bad, hoping she would say no - but she agreed we sounded exactly like the guy on TV. But as a consolation, she thought we sounded cute!
My final observation was at the football. I never realised that being a spectator would be so much work. There were about 16,000 spectators there, the vast majority sitting behind the goal all done out in their team colours.  They sang (a variety of songs) for the entire game, jumped up and down (a bit like African tribal dancers) and basically never sat down!  At the opposite end, was a small section fenced off for the opposition.  They were impressively noisy for such a small group - which got smaller by the minute, as they kept letting off flares and were arrested and carted off!

Smorgasboard and Football!

It was overcast today and much, much milder in temperature!  We went to Thomas's surgery in the morning and he kindly gave us a flu injection, protection against some of the winter germs we will be facing.  Then we went and toured Roskilde Cathedral, the burial place of all the kings and queens of Denmark.  It is quite spectacular and some of the tombs are amazing.  They are preparing the tomb for the current queen and her consort - I was wondering how she'd feel when it's completed - that's it, time to drop off the twig??  At least she knows she will be remembered!
While we were away Marianne was busy baking and preparing a delicious smorgasboard lunch.  Thomas's parents came too.  As requested Di I am posting pics for you!
Then onto the football which was great fun.  It would only have been better if we'd had a win!!

Sightseeing in Denmark

It's been a busy 24 hours for the touring Macs!  When we woke yesterday it was still overcast and drizzly and I wondered if the clouds had got the weather forecast of sunshine, but then suddenly it all cleared up and we set off to Copenhagen with blue skies.  However without the cloud cover the temperature suddenly seemed to have dropped a few degrees!
We attempted to follow the map to find the Neto Canal Tours but in the end, an impatient Bella asked a passerby for help and we found it!  As it's not tourist season the boats are every hour, not every half an hour, but given the challenges we had finding the location we decided it was best just to wait.  It was a chilly wait and I looked forward to the heated and covered boat - however as soon as we boarded it became clear that to get any decent photos I'd have to brave the elements outside, as the perspex windows were quite scratched.  Everyone agreed to sit outside with me, but halfway through Liam and then Bella decided that being warm was more important!  It was lovely to see Copenhagen from the water.  The Danish buildings, old and new, are so beautifully designed - it is a really elegant city.  When we left the boat I was so cold that we went straight to a shop for a hot chocolate - so hot it nearly burnt my mouth but warmed me up considerably inside!
That evening after another delicious dinner (we are loving all the food in Denmark!) Thomas, Marianne, Savannah and Johannes joined us to go back into Copenhagen to visit Tivoli, the famous amusement park right in the centre of the city.  (We all took care to wear lots of warm clothes after our experience during the day! I even bought a beanie and those who know me will know how much I hate squashing my hair.  However I couldn't stand my ears freezing anymore.   Even Bella sacrificed fashion for warmth!)  It is Halloween week at Tivoli and we kept thinking of how much our friend Terry would have loved the decorations, they were quite spectacular.  While the kids went on ride after ride (who cares about a little cold wind?) the adults promenaded around the grounds, enjoyed a drink (Glühwein for me!) then settled into a little tea shop which cleverly provides sheep skin covers for the chairs and your laps, meaning none of us felt like moving on - it was very cosy!  Tivoli closes at 11 so we left and caught the train back to Roskilde.
As it was Saturday Thomas and Marianne kindly took us on a day trip out to Kronborg Slot, the fabulous castle at Elsinore - famous for Macbeth!  What a spectacular castle it was, we found it quite fascinating.  We also had a dungeon tour which was in Danish, thank goodness for our wonderful Danish guides who could translate for us!  
Our final stop was the Lousiana Gallery of Modern Art - it was an amazing gallery with a new exhibition on the Arctic.  Whew!  A lot of serious touristing being done by the Macs.  We take our touring very seriously :-)