We arrived safely and with all flights on time into Milwaukee Thursday at about 4 pm. We are very glad to be sleeping in our own bed in our own house, but had a wonderful three weeks of seeing and enjoying and relaxing in beautiful places.
Now to attend the gardens and house before we head out again in early June for Colorado!
Thanks for keeping us company on our travels.
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Koln and its beautiful cathedral
Sunday morning, we sadly said goodbye to Harlingen, Netherlands and drove to Koln, Germany where we checked into the Hyatt Regency with a great room overlooking the Rhine, the Hohenzollern Bridge, and, across river, the magnificent Koln Cathedral. In the morning, we walked across the bridge and found a great little café for coffee and breakfast after which we circled the cathedral and took many pictures. It is impossible to take a complete photo of the entire cathedral with our cameras and the vantage points from which we were shooting. We will have to keep the big picture in our brains!! It is spectacular!!
After the cathedral, we walked around the old town part of Koln near the Dom (cathedral), had another delicious coffee and went back to go inside the church. The outside is so beautiful and intricate that we can't imagine mortal men with hand craftsmanship building such a structure. The inside is equally impressive. It is one of the most exquisite cathedrals that we have seen.
The afternoon had us on the road to Rudesheim where we planned to stay for three nights before heading for the Frankfurt airport early Thursday morning to travel home. We love this little German village on the Rhine though it is a very busy town with lots of traffic due to the closure of the main road along the river. The road is closed because they are constructing a bike path and apparently found some old WWII bombs when the construction commenced.
We checked into the Rudesheimer Hof Hotel and scored a nice room on the top floor. It is a quirky typically European hotel, but very nice and very clean. They do have a lift and we appreciated that. The first night was very noisy, and, on the second night, we requested a fan to keep the air moving and closed the window. That made all the difference!!
The food at the hotel is excellent. We've enjoyed everything that we've had. The liver cooked in wine is superb. The included breakfast ample and very good.
On Tuesday, we took an all day Rhine River cruise and traveled from Rudesheim to Koblenz and back. The views of the countryside by the river are lovely and the many castles are magical. We enjoyed Rhine wine on the Rhine!! We got back to our hotel a little after 8 p.m., had a light dinner and went to bed.
Wednesday is a laid back day. We have spent it walking the town of Rudesheim, doing a little shopping, a little eating and lots of people watching. Wayne enjoyed trying and liking Rudesheimer Coffee made with a famous local brandy and rather like an Irish coffee. The café owner instructed Wayne not to stir the coffee, but to drink it sipping it through the whipped cream and chocolate on the top, using the spoon to scoop up the remaining cream and chocolate after all the coffee is gone. He started to stir and the owner rushed over saying "NO, no, wait until the coffee is gone!"
Currently, we are sitting in the beer garden at the hotel, where we have the entire place to ourselves, enjoying a quiet time by the fountain. Wayne is reading and I'm blogging!!
Tomorrow we have to be in the car and driving away by 7:30 am to get to Frankfurt for our 10:45 am flight. We arrive back in Milwaukee around 4:30 pm and are ready to be HOME!!
After the cathedral, we walked around the old town part of Koln near the Dom (cathedral), had another delicious coffee and went back to go inside the church. The outside is so beautiful and intricate that we can't imagine mortal men with hand craftsmanship building such a structure. The inside is equally impressive. It is one of the most exquisite cathedrals that we have seen.
The afternoon had us on the road to Rudesheim where we planned to stay for three nights before heading for the Frankfurt airport early Thursday morning to travel home. We love this little German village on the Rhine though it is a very busy town with lots of traffic due to the closure of the main road along the river. The road is closed because they are constructing a bike path and apparently found some old WWII bombs when the construction commenced.
We checked into the Rudesheimer Hof Hotel and scored a nice room on the top floor. It is a quirky typically European hotel, but very nice and very clean. They do have a lift and we appreciated that. The first night was very noisy, and, on the second night, we requested a fan to keep the air moving and closed the window. That made all the difference!!
The food at the hotel is excellent. We've enjoyed everything that we've had. The liver cooked in wine is superb. The included breakfast ample and very good.
On Tuesday, we took an all day Rhine River cruise and traveled from Rudesheim to Koblenz and back. The views of the countryside by the river are lovely and the many castles are magical. We enjoyed Rhine wine on the Rhine!! We got back to our hotel a little after 8 p.m., had a light dinner and went to bed.
Wednesday is a laid back day. We have spent it walking the town of Rudesheim, doing a little shopping, a little eating and lots of people watching. Wayne enjoyed trying and liking Rudesheimer Coffee made with a famous local brandy and rather like an Irish coffee. The café owner instructed Wayne not to stir the coffee, but to drink it sipping it through the whipped cream and chocolate on the top, using the spoon to scoop up the remaining cream and chocolate after all the coffee is gone. He started to stir and the owner rushed over saying "NO, no, wait until the coffee is gone!"
Currently, we are sitting in the beer garden at the hotel, where we have the entire place to ourselves, enjoying a quiet time by the fountain. Wayne is reading and I'm blogging!!
Tomorrow we have to be in the car and driving away by 7:30 am to get to Frankfurt for our 10:45 am flight. We arrive back in Milwaukee around 4:30 pm and are ready to be HOME!!
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Last day in Harlingen and off to Kohn (Cologne)
Saturday was our last full day in the Harlingen area, and we decided that we would take a ferry to one of the Frisian Islands that are part of the Netherlands. We chose Vleiland, pronounced "Frieland", since it is one of the smaller islands and easily walkable in the port and the village. The trip over was interesting and took about one and a half hours. The crowds were enormous, boarding to go over, and the ferry was quite full. Most had tons of luggage and were planning on staying for some days, since it was a holiday weekend. There were kids, dogs, moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas... What a crowd. The little town was cute, but we covered it in about an hour. Everyone there gets around by bicycle...they were everywhere and the bike paths are prevalent. If we were to go there again, we would hone our biking skills and venture further out on the trails.
We returned to Harlingen on the 5 p.m. ferry and actually wished that we could have left on an earlier ferry. Not that much to do or see to take an entire day. Fortunately, it was a nice day and not too cold and we did a lot of walking about and enjoying the fresh sea air.
Sunday morning we said goodbye to Harlingen, and were a little sad to do so. We will make it a regular stop on any European adventures!! We love the little place and the Hotel Zeezicht.
Our first stop on our way to Koln (Cologne, Germany) was the Kroller-Muller Museum near the Apeldoorn area, which hLearn More
ouses the largest collection of Van Gogh work outside the museum in Amsterdam. It's located in the woods on a very large and beautiful property that used to be a hunting preserve for a wealthy family. We enjoyed the Van Gogh works and some of those by other artists.
The "park" is extensive and diverse and was donated to the Netherlands. It is another bicycle haven and provides 1,500 bicycles for the use of visitors at no cost. There are miles of bike paths and is, indeed, a lovely place to visit even if one isn't interested in the museum. We saw a little fox crossing in front of our car and rather casually sniffing along in the grass and bushes for something that he was on the trail after.
Another humorous thing was a warning sign that said "Wildrooster." We were fairly certain that it was not warning us about crazed farm fowl and found out later that it means "cattle guard." Hilarious for a time.
The rain began as we left the property and continued heavily all the way to Koln. We checked into the Hyatt Hotel, and our room has a view of the Rhine River and the Koln Cathedral across the river. Tomorrow morning, if the weather is nice as is forecast, we will walk across the bridge and visit the old town and the cathedral. It should be a wonderful experience!!!
A few miscellaneous comments....we have continued to see swans everywhere in canals, fields, in lakes. They are so graceful and lovely and it's amazing to see them in the wild.
We find it interesting to have to stop on the highway to wait for a drawbridge to rise and allow a boat through as it travels a canal. This happens on small and large highways.
And as we returned to Germany, the tulip fields of the Netherlands were replaced by the bright yellow rapeseed fields.
Until tomorrow......
We returned to Harlingen on the 5 p.m. ferry and actually wished that we could have left on an earlier ferry. Not that much to do or see to take an entire day. Fortunately, it was a nice day and not too cold and we did a lot of walking about and enjoying the fresh sea air.
Sunday morning we said goodbye to Harlingen, and were a little sad to do so. We will make it a regular stop on any European adventures!! We love the little place and the Hotel Zeezicht.
Our first stop on our way to Koln (Cologne, Germany) was the Kroller-Muller Museum near the Apeldoorn area, which hLearn More
ouses the largest collection of Van Gogh work outside the museum in Amsterdam. It's located in the woods on a very large and beautiful property that used to be a hunting preserve for a wealthy family. We enjoyed the Van Gogh works and some of those by other artists.
The "park" is extensive and diverse and was donated to the Netherlands. It is another bicycle haven and provides 1,500 bicycles for the use of visitors at no cost. There are miles of bike paths and is, indeed, a lovely place to visit even if one isn't interested in the museum. We saw a little fox crossing in front of our car and rather casually sniffing along in the grass and bushes for something that he was on the trail after.
Another humorous thing was a warning sign that said "Wildrooster." We were fairly certain that it was not warning us about crazed farm fowl and found out later that it means "cattle guard." Hilarious for a time.
The rain began as we left the property and continued heavily all the way to Koln. We checked into the Hyatt Hotel, and our room has a view of the Rhine River and the Koln Cathedral across the river. Tomorrow morning, if the weather is nice as is forecast, we will walk across the bridge and visit the old town and the cathedral. It should be a wonderful experience!!!
A few miscellaneous comments....we have continued to see swans everywhere in canals, fields, in lakes. They are so graceful and lovely and it's amazing to see them in the wild.
We find it interesting to have to stop on the highway to wait for a drawbridge to rise and allow a boat through as it travels a canal. This happens on small and large highways.
And as we returned to Germany, the tulip fields of the Netherlands were replaced by the bright yellow rapeseed fields.
Until tomorrow......
Friday, May 1, 2015
Cheese Market and other things Dutch
We are still in Harlingen, at least until Sunday morning, when we MUST be on our way! This morning we were joined (at the next table) by a magnificent, gigantic, beautiful, white Great Pyrenees dog (and his owners). What a beauty!
During breakfast, after reviewing maps and options and consulting with our hotel owner, Jenny, we set off for the traditional cheese market in Alkmaar. The market happens on Fridays and is carried out with great fanfare. Girls in traditional Dutch costumes are a pleasant sight and the vendors have all things Dutch. The 16th century Weigh House for weighing cheese is the tallest building in the town. The cheesemakers line up their big orange wheels of cheese in neat rows in the square. The cheese is sold off with great pomp and costumed cheese carriers run the giant wheels back and forth as they have for centuries on a "cheese-barrow", a kind of wooden stretcher with one carrier in front and one behind following precise rules and conduct for the cheese hauling. Quite a sight and fun to watch.
The crowds were very congested until the cheese market was done, around 1 p.m. We enjoyed looking at the boats on the canals in the town and all the interesting people, including a couple with three little fuzzy dogs in a baby stroller!
Driving to and from Alkmaar, we passed field after field of blooming tulips in every color imaginable. We can't get over being amazed at their beauty and the huge acreage devoted to producing tulip bulbs. We timed this trip just right!!!
There are also modern windmills everywhere and, with the constant wind in this part of the world, they probably make sense as an energy source. I still love the old-fashioned windmills used to pump water off the land.
Also interesting are the traditional Dutch farmhouses which appear to be huge, but then one realizes that they are not only the house for the family, but also about 3/4 of the building is the barn for the farm animals and probably hay and feed. All are so tidy and generally well maintained.
We had lunch in Alkmaar and enjoyed some excellent Espresso Macchiato Lattes. After we returned to our car, we drove on to a small, very quaint village by the name of Hindelooper. Cute and quaint with a very large marina and many canals.
We are amazed at the number of bicycles here. Everyone rides them including the grandmas and grandpas. The train station has a big bike parking lot as does the ferry station. Bikes are all over every little town and there are many nice bike paths. Riders have the right of way and ride with great skill and confidence. I'm sure they have been riding their whole lives.
After Hindelooper, it was time to return to Harlingen for dinner, which is when we decided to stay just one more day! Yeah! Tomorrow we will take a ferry to one of the outer islands.
During breakfast, after reviewing maps and options and consulting with our hotel owner, Jenny, we set off for the traditional cheese market in Alkmaar. The market happens on Fridays and is carried out with great fanfare. Girls in traditional Dutch costumes are a pleasant sight and the vendors have all things Dutch. The 16th century Weigh House for weighing cheese is the tallest building in the town. The cheesemakers line up their big orange wheels of cheese in neat rows in the square. The cheese is sold off with great pomp and costumed cheese carriers run the giant wheels back and forth as they have for centuries on a "cheese-barrow", a kind of wooden stretcher with one carrier in front and one behind following precise rules and conduct for the cheese hauling. Quite a sight and fun to watch.
The crowds were very congested until the cheese market was done, around 1 p.m. We enjoyed looking at the boats on the canals in the town and all the interesting people, including a couple with three little fuzzy dogs in a baby stroller!
Driving to and from Alkmaar, we passed field after field of blooming tulips in every color imaginable. We can't get over being amazed at their beauty and the huge acreage devoted to producing tulip bulbs. We timed this trip just right!!!
There are also modern windmills everywhere and, with the constant wind in this part of the world, they probably make sense as an energy source. I still love the old-fashioned windmills used to pump water off the land.
Also interesting are the traditional Dutch farmhouses which appear to be huge, but then one realizes that they are not only the house for the family, but also about 3/4 of the building is the barn for the farm animals and probably hay and feed. All are so tidy and generally well maintained.
We had lunch in Alkmaar and enjoyed some excellent Espresso Macchiato Lattes. After we returned to our car, we drove on to a small, very quaint village by the name of Hindelooper. Cute and quaint with a very large marina and many canals.
We are amazed at the number of bicycles here. Everyone rides them including the grandmas and grandpas. The train station has a big bike parking lot as does the ferry station. Bikes are all over every little town and there are many nice bike paths. Riders have the right of way and ride with great skill and confidence. I'm sure they have been riding their whole lives.
After Hindelooper, it was time to return to Harlingen for dinner, which is when we decided to stay just one more day! Yeah! Tomorrow we will take a ferry to one of the outer islands.
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