Last Day in Amsterdam, Onto Bruges, Belgium, October 10 & 11

 October 10 Last day in Amsterdam

      Today we woke up and had an absolutely scrumptious breakfast at the hotel which had been given to us as an apology for the room not being properly made up when we arrived. We both had omelets, large lattes, smoked salmon, brie and baguettes and juice! Wow. The restaurant chef had a long talk with Mark about Indonesia peanut sauce, too. 

   

 We tried to get tickets to the Van Gogh Museum, but it was sold out. Then, we tried to get a reservation at a restaurant recommended by Russell - 't zwanntje but it was also sold out. Instead, we got a reservation at The Seafood Bar near the Rijksmuseum for a late lunch. Waiting to find out what we'd be doing turned out to be fortunate because we had a brief, but heavy, downpour.

   By the time we were ready to go, the skies had cleared. So, we had another day of walking and gazing and being part of this interesting and beautiful city. Again, we walked over 4 miles today. Mark bought some daffodils that have a custom's stamp on them to get into the States. Our luggage is getting heavier!

     A few more facts about the canals and bridges: The 62 miles of canals average 3 meters in depth. There are over 1800 bridges in Amsterdam.

The three main canals (and we are on one of them- Prinsengracht) were built in the 17th Century.The river is the Amstel. Houses are built on piles and most of the city is below sea level. The city dredges for bicycles that have fallen/pushed into the canals and extract about 10,000 per year.

Vondel Park

    We went to lunch around 2 p.m., again walked through part of the Vondel Park where we heard and saw a carrion crow and saw a great blue heron. 

     Lunch was delicious, truly. Mark had a salmon dish with grilled leeks and potatoes which were green in color, so mixed with some vegetable, maybe green onions. Barbara had cod with mushrooms, peas and diced pumpkin. And, we shared grilled cauliflower. Everything was in a sauce, so...probably a LOT of calories in this particular lunch.

     

Reptiles behind us!

More walking and enjoying the ambiance. We may not have visited museums on this trip, but we feel we really enjoyed the pulse and atmosphere of the city.

October 11 In Bruges, Belgium!

      The hotel in Amsterdam called a taxi for us as we had an early morning bus to Bruges. The bus changed the schedule to half an hour later, so we had quite a chilly wait, but it was okay. There were an amazing number of Flix busses going here and there.

From the bus - fields surrounded by polders & windmill in distance

     This time the bus was a double decker and we had two front seats in the top. It was definitely more comfortable and newer than the bus to Luxembourg. The ride was about 4 hours. By the end, we had to admit that the toilet smell was evident. It was nice to drive by the fields of polders as we reminisced about leaving Scruffy at a kennel there in 1996 so we could travel to England.

Our double window is in the middle of this photo!

   We arrived just after noon in Bruges Train/Bus station which was bigger and busier than we had expected. But, it is a Friday and the start of a weekend and Bruges is a popular destination.

    We walked just over a kilometer to the amazing guest house that we booked. Artist David de Graef owns this mid-1500s medieval house on one of the canals. He rents two beautiful rooms. We are in the "Pasionaria" room on the 3rd floor at the top of the building. (More spiral stairs!) Words won't do the room justice, but it is very special and full of atmosphere. And, our view toward the Church of St. Mary is spectacular.

     David gave us a map and suggestions for walks and restaurants. First, we visited the Church of Our Lady which is beautiful and also features several huge murals, titled Creation painted by our host. It is progressive of the church to have commissioned them. The church also has a recently-discovered mural from 1370, one of the few of its kind. Most churches had painted walls in the time period, but few have been preserved.

David de Graef's work in the Church of Our Lady

Inside Church of our Lady

   

Traces of color from 1370 in Church of Our Lady

We walked around, trying to get our bearings and ate at a beer and spaghetti house, Bavet. We were really hungry by then, not having eaten breakfast and it was around 2:30. The restaurants that David suggested were closed and not reopening until dinner. Not only were we hungry, but it was also chilly - about 51 degrees.