Well, here we are off and running on another tour and our first stop has us in the city of Bruges, Belgium on the “Pre-Cruise” leg of our European Tour 2017.
I am so looking forward to the next 4 weeks !? It has been a hectic few months work getting to this point so I am ready to “relax” – well my version anyway – on another great tour and put together a new chapter of wonderful memories ✈?⛴?????
Our early morning flight arrival gave us plenty of sight-seeing time today – and a drive through 2 countries ! The flight to Amsterdam on Singapore Airlines was very good. Both legs on time and the food was pretty good I thought.
Arrival at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol was also fairly easy although we had a bit of a wait at immigration and then when we pulled our bags off the carousel, we found one had been split and busted open at the top – so there will need to be a little shopping fairly soon to replace it before we get too far.
Car pickup was also smooth. We have a Suzuki Vitara Sport for this part of our tour. Getting the Gopro and so on organised is now a streamlined process?so we were soon up and running and setting off on another tour !
Although the “arrival information” on the plane indicated “Clear and 15 degrees” for Amsterdam, we arrived in “Cloud and Drizzle and more like 12 degrees”. Undeterred, we decided to stick to our plans so our first destination was the famous Keukenhof garden in Lisse. And luckily for us, we are here at the peak time with the garden only open for about 8 weeks of the year (late March to late May).
The history of Keukenhof, (the name means “kitchen garden”), goes back to the 15th century. Countess Jacqueline of Bavaria, Jacoba van Beieren (1401-1436) gathered fruit and vegetables from the woods and dunes for the kitchen of Teylingen Castle. Keukenhof Castle was built in 1641, and the estate grew to an area of over 200 hectares. Landscape architects Jan David Zocher and his son Louis Paul Zocher, who also designed Amsterdam’s Vondelpark, redesigned the castle gardens in 1857. That design, in the English landscape style, still forms the basis of Keukenhof.
In 1949 a group of 20 flower bulb exporters came up with a plan to use the estate for a permanent exhibition of spring-flowering bulbs, signaling the birth of Keukenhof as a spring park. The park opened its gates to the public in 1950 and was an instant success, with 236,000 visitors in the first year alone. Over the years Keukenhof has grown into a world-famous attraction. In 2017 the 68th edition of Keukenhof is taking place, with the “Golden Age” as its theme.
Photographs just don’t do a place like this justice and as Adrienne said, we really needed “Smell-o-vision” to take in the beautiful aromas from all the varieties of flowers.
We had arrived fairly early having headed to the Garden straight from the airport and, although it was busy, got a chance to walk around without too many people around. Luckily also, the drizzle stopped after a while and it tried very hard to fine up a little. But with the crowds streaming in and life and limb at risk from the ever increasing number of selfie-sticks being wielded around, we decided to head on toward Bruges late in the morning. And after a quick snack and drink, we were on our way. We decided to keep to the “Flower Route” of the Netherlands for our path into Belgium, as it would be the quickest option, heading toward the Hague then skirting Rotterdam on our way to Bruges along the A29. A lot of the flower fields have already been “headed” so not many to see in the fields.
We arrived in Bruges about 2.15pm. Our room was ready so after dropping our bags and having a quick coffee to perk us up, we were off on Adrienne’s “Walking Tour of Bruges”. Being a public holiday in Belgium, the crowds were taking advantage and as we arrived at the “Markt Square” we were met with big numbers of people and the little flags of the walking tour leaders here, there and everywhere ! We managed to dodge around them and take in the many sights. Many of the buildings have been here for centuries – the Bell Tower (Belfort) has stood over the Markt since 1300, City Hall (Stadhuis) was built around 1400 and the Basilica of the Holy Blood was built around 1150. And of course the canals of Bruges – the town was sometimes called the “Venice of the North” – pop up everywhere, many lined with the old houses or in a lot of cases the houses built over them.
As we came to the end of our little walking tour, it started to drizzle again so we made our way back to the hotel. I think we were both flagging a bit so more coffee, a bit of blogging and an early dinner – at the jazz bar in the hotel will likely see us out for our first day. It’s been a nice start !
Today’s “Tour Trivia” – The ‘Halve Maan’ (Half Moon) is an authentic and historic brewery in the centre of Bruges. This ‘home’ brewery is a family business with a tradition stretching back through six generations to 1856. This is where the Bruges city beer – the ‘Brugse Zot’ – is brewed – a strong-tasting, high-fermentation beer based on malt, hops and special yeast. In 2016 a unique underground beer pipeline, some 3 km long, was laid from the brewery in the city centre to the bottling plant in the suburbs.
