Some Fun

Well, I have kept you in suspense long enough. Here is the castle we stayed in. It was pretty exciting. Musty, creaky, creepy, and full of character. It rained in the middle of the night and we had a nice puddle on the floor of the hallway.

 Real moat and everything
 Modern conveniences in the rooms, except for a working shower.
 Stone stairwell.
 Creepy paintings all throughout the castle.
 The grounds surrounding the castle were just a interesting. We are not sure why these trees were leaning.

 Pris found a bench to lounge on.
 This by the caretakers house.
 This is where the drawbridge used to be, right?
 I think we were afraid to stay in our rooms.
 The dining room was fancy!

 The view from our rooms.
 Huge master bed. We were watching a little American TV. It was finally in English.
 Pris was banished to sleep in the closet bedrooms.
 Breakfast we discovered Speculoos spread. AMAZING Stuff!
 We took the scenic route to the Haque. We discovered these tree lined canals early in our trip.
 We think they went all the way out to the ocean.
 Walking paths too.
 Really scenic.

 We found our first windmill. Then we found the mother load. 19 total in the same area.

 Canals everywhere.


 That evening we made it to the Hague. We went to the beach and had dinner for Priscilla's Birthday.

 The location was a lot better than the food. It made for a fun experience.

 The next day we made it to Amsterdam. More canals, but house boats too.

 It seemed like there was always a bike race going on.

More to come.

Our second two days on the Benelux tour were in Brussels and Brugge. Although it was rainy and windy in Brussels we found a lot of great places to eat and look at.

 We got to Brussels in the dark, but we woke up to this view out our Bed and Breakfast.

 We made the mistake of coming on a Monday. All museums are closed on Mondays, so we saw every Cathedral in the city.  This cathedral had a lot of amazing statues of different saints.
 Walking around we saw this. Dinner in the sky. ??? They would hoist up a table that is open and everyone is buckled in and wind and rain is all around. Three chefs were also strapped in and cooking for them. Weird.
 This is the Palace.
 These building were just outside the Grand Place.
 The Museum of Music and Instruments was just up the street. Cool building.
 The Grand Place is just off in the distance.
 The Grand place was amazing, but it would have been better on a warm sunny day.
 This is the City House.
 We warmed up with some hot chocolate and waffles. This is the after. You should of seen the before. Yummy. This place still wasn't as good as the 1 Euro place.

 This was restaurant alley. Each owner would sit outside and try to heckle you to come in and eat.
 This was Johanna's favorite place. The Mannequin Piss.
 Walking back home to the B&B we found this house.



It was a beautiful red building. It was lit up at night.
 Here is the view in the front from our 5 floor B&B house.

 This was the view from the loft. We ate in that night. Went the local grocery and pigged out on bread, cheese, fresh fruit, and soy pudding.

 The view out the back of the house.
 The happy campers. Kurt, Pris, Mandy, Joh, and Court. The Judsons were awesome. Great traveling partners.

 Pris playing with the wide angle lens.

The next morning we went to the Comic Strip Museum and learned all about Tintin.
Then we left and traveled over to the Brugge.

 The views were amazing from the beginning.

 We ate at a great Falafel, scworhma, and kehbab place with fresh pitas.
 The City center was story book and beautiful.

 Now I know why Josh painted this square. It is amazing.

 We could of hiked to the top of this,  366 steps. We used the euros to buy a boat tour.




 So Romantic!
 Johanna found a cookie shop. They were the most dry cookies I have ever had. She loved em.??
 Johanna was engaged in the boat tour.
 The oldest bridge in Brugge.
 The tour guide told us, that the number of steps on the roof showed how rich you were.


Just to keep you tuned in, here is your hook for the next post. WE slept here that night. Yep, you are right. It is a castle.  Be sure to watch for the next post to see the whole experience.