Bruges, Belgium

                                                                                     BRUGES, BELGIUM

How does one spell euphoria? C...h...o...c...o...l...a...t...e! Belgium Chocolate! And if you were to ask Sam, it would be B-e-l-g-i-u-m B-e-e-r-s! Chocolate and world famous beers in the midst of a mid-evil village paved with cobbles, architecturally quaint buildings, lazy canals, bicycle transportation, and friendly people makes for a very relaxing R&R! Bruges is located in Flanders---an A-HA moment for me as the words to a long-ago memorized poem crystallized in the reality of time and place! In Flanders Fields! I AM HERE ! Awesome and sobering feeling. In Flander's Fields is a WWI poem describing the terrible battle in Ypres in1915. Growing up, I got to go to the VFW with my grandmother. (She sometimes played the piano for them.) Always, on the counter was a red, white, and blue cardboard display of paper poppies. You could buy them for a dime or a quarter. When you removed the poppy, the cardboard slit the poppy sat in would hold the quarter. Ten years ago, when we went to Europe, we found the fields covered with poppies--and the light bulb came on as to why the Veterans would be selling paper poppies! Again, I was awed by the sacrifice of our forefathers when I stood in Flander's county and the resurrected poem came up from the depths of my memory! (Isn't it amazing what we can pull up from our memories...and we can't remember what we wore yesterday!)

 Sam and I took the train from Amsterdam through many tulip fields to Bruges. Our hotel was a family owned B&B full of antiques and nicely decorated. I was amazed at the number of bicycles in Bruges and Holland as well! We rented bikes one day and rode along the canal out of town to a nearby village called Damme. We rode past fishermen, fields dotted with cows, and windmills into this 16th century village paved with cobblestones. An old church yard holds an unusual sculpture. A couple of small outdoor restuarants, a bookstore, and a souvenir shop seemed to be all that were open.

Another day our walking tour took us into several grand old builidings-a courthouse, a church, a brewery and a monastery. We passed countless chocolatiers, waffle stands, and shops selling lace and pubs selling beer. One boasted over 400 kinds of beer! Each Belgium Beer has its own trademark glass it is served in. Some are quite interesting!

We enjoyed some of the towns sights via horse-drawn carriage and some via canal boats. The weather was perfect; a little cool, but with a jacket-nice! We ate good food, drank great coffee (each time it was served with a little piece of chocolate or a chocolate-clad cookie).Wednesdays is market day in the square in Bruges. The square was transformed by flowers, plants, veggie stalls and fruit vendors! Portable trailers sold meats and cheeses. We had a great time wandering up and down the aisles enjoying the aromas and beautiful colors! I did not realize it, but the french fry really originated in Belgium! They are served everywhere!!!
Our time in Bruges came to an end all too soon for me. This is one place I would love to go back to.

Kuykenhoff Gardens

Tulips! No, not the acronym associated with  theology, but the beautiful cupped petals above a slender stem. Single petalled, double, Rembrandt and botanical...and all in one place-- Kuykenhoff Gardens!  Those of you who know me know that flowers take me to  my "happy place!"  I tell you now,  I was in such a state of happy, I could not contain it! I walked into the garden to the tune of a caliopy playing jaunty music,  the smell of waffles wafting through the air,  and a beautiful display of  spring flowers of so many colors, an artist's palette could not hold them all! I got goosebumps, I felt tears welling up in my eyes, and I was speechless. I looked at Sam and I think he thought I was losing it! (Those of you about the same age as me probably realize that much of this intense emotion is due to "the change"! )   He looked bewildered, and then he realized HE HAD DONE GOOD! booking this vacation! 

The gardens are laid out in beautiful designs, using tulips donated by growers. All of the tulips are HAND PLANTED each year with a different theme. The theme is decided on depending on the bulbs they are given. We are talking millions of bulbs!  The gardens are only open 6 weeks out of the year. The rest of the time is spent preparing the beds, planting, growing and maintaining the grounds. There are ponds, waterways, a windmill, a children's play area, several green houses where they grow the fancy and botanical specimens. There are also food stall set up in a couple of areas...selling Belgium Waffles, Cotton Candy, and other food that is probably better for you--but you can see what I was going for! Ha.

We spent the day there-took the bus to the train station to go to Leiden and then took a bus out to the garden. Along the way, the fields were resplendent in their stripes of red, pink, orange and yellow tulips, and the pastel shades of the hyacinth-pink, purples, and whites.  From the air, it looks like a crazy quilt!
We had a few sprinkles, but we were prepared with umbrellas and jackets. The weather was cool-a nice reprieve to the heat of Cairo!  I took hundreds of photos and if you would like to see more pics, you can visit this link to my FB photo album.

You may see a little paper guy in some of our photos...He is Flat Stanley, an elementary school project one of my neighbor's nephews was working on. There is a story about a little boy who winds up being flattend by a bulletin board. The good thing about this accident is that now he is flat, and can go anywhere. We took him along on our trip--he has been all over the world with different people. If you  were to be his guardian, your responsibilities are to keep him safe, take photos of him in different places, and be the pen to his journaling. Then you send him and his photos and journal back to the child who entrusted him to complete strangers in his trip around the world! It was fun!