Europe Day 8: Brussels and Home via Amsterdam (Sunday July 13)

Taking advantage of high speed rail in Europe, we got on a train in Brussels the morning, caught our plane with lots of time to spare in Amsterdam, and were home in the evening Mount Vernon time.  Of course, we had the advantage of 9 time zones working in our favor.  Tired but glad to be home.

Highlights of the trip:

• Andre Rieu and Masstricht (actually that part of Holland in general).  It was what the trip was about, and exceeded our expectations.
• Reich and Van Gogh museums in Amsterdam.  I am not an art museum lover, but these were great!
• Early morning walk through Amsterdam.  Clean with lovely canals everywhere.
• Public transportation in general and ICE trains in particular.  Fast, efficient and easy to use.  The trains put us downtown and usually near our hotel.
• Koelsch beer on tap in Cologne.  Love it!
• Watching the World Cup with the Germans in Cologne.  And we arrived home to learn Germany had won the final game!

Low lights:

• The weather.  It rained a lot from the last day in Amsterdam and all of our stay in Cologne.  But it was fine for Maastricht and Andre Rieu.
• Hawkers on restaurant row in Brussels.  Kind of wrecked the experience.
• Walking later in the day in Amsterdam.  Too many tourists, too much traffic from cars, trucks, trams and bicycles.  Sidewalks were small and trucks and cars drove on them in really congested areas.  Bicycles seem to have rules of their own.  Go for a walk early in the morning; it's wonderful.

Europe Day 7: Vaals to Brussels via Aachen (Saturday July 12)

As I said in the last update, last night was very short before catching the train in Aachen for Brussels this morning.  Our hotel is a only a block from Grand Place, the main square, so the location could not be better.   They even gave us a free upgrade.  We arrived in time for a short nap before some sushi for lunch.  Yes, sushi.  We were all ready for Rue Des Bouchers, the restaurant row, but were disappointed to find it lined with eager waiters pushing their food.  It was like a carnival, fun to walk through and people watch, but not the culinary experience we were looking for. The whole Grand Place area was fun, but so crowded.  Dinner turned out great, and more local than lunch.

Tonight, hopefully, we'll get some sleep before what looks like an easy high speed train ride to Amsterdam and home tomorrow.

The trip is almost over.

A short nap after a very long night out.

Grand Place

Pick up your horse !?&@!

Mannekin Pis just off the square

And Dinner.

Europe Day 6: Maastricht and Andre Rieu (Friday July 11)

We had a pleasant day in Maastricht, followed by a wonderful concert in the evening.  The country side is beautiful, but if you get the chance, stay in Maastricht.  A beautiful little city, perfect for a short visit.  The concert was everything we expected, and more.  The weather was fine and we even got to hear Amira Willighagen, the young girl from "Holland's Got Talent".  If you haven't heard her sing, check this out:

http://youtu.be/qDqTBlKU4CE

We loved the whole thing, and the crowds were half the fun.  They love Andre!  It was the longest concert I think I have ever attended.  We got home at 2:00am and got 4 hours of sleep before catching the train to Brussels.  It's only an hour, and I'm currently working on the blog as we travel through beautiful country side.

Along the bus rout from Vaals to Maastricht (last picture is of an American cemetery along the way).

Local sights around Maastricht.

Original felting by one of the concert goers.

Can you spot the drone filming us?

In and around the concert.

Europe Day 5: Cologne to Maastricht via Aachen (Thursday July 10)

Today we traveled by rail from Cologne to Aachen, then a short ride by taxi to our hotel in Vaals, and then an exploratory excursion by taxi to Maastricht and back.  Our hotel in Vaals is the best so far, but it is a 30 minute taxi ride into Maastricht.  The drive to Maastricht is through lots of open and hilly countryside; quite picturesque and not unlike some of the beautiful countryside you might see in rural Pennsylvania.  Maastricht is a beautiful old European city, unspoiled by WWII.  You could stroll for hours through narrow cobblestone streets lined with high end shops and more restaurants than you can count.  The restaurants surrounding tomorrow night's concert site were packed.  Tonight you could get a seat, but tomorrow night was booked months ago.  They recommend reservations now for next year's Andre Rieu concert.   There are huge monitors set up for even the restaurant crowd.

Our hotel and view off our balcony in Vaals.

Picture greeting you in the men's room.

Another day, another beer.

The Dutch like their bicycles!

Maastricht streets and sights.

Europe Day 4: Cologne (Wednesday July 9)

Rained hard today, although it slowed enough for us to take the subway in to see "The Dom", or cathedral later this afternoon.  Pictures cannot convey how large it is.  It was one of the few structures in Cologne (Koeln) not destroyed in WWII.  We also walked out on a bridge over the Rhein to see an interesting display of padlocks.  See the pictures to understand.  Our last stop of the day was the Frueh pub for some more Koelsch and local cuisine.  (For those of you questioning my spelling, when you omit the umlaut, you add an e after the vowel.  That's what my translator says anyway.  As an example, the WEB address for Frueh is www.frueh.de).  By the way, I really like the Koelsch style of beer.

Tonight we may have to stay up and watch The Nederland/Argentina game.  Tomorrow we head for Maastricht.

It's bigger than it looks!

Quilt inspirations from The Dom

The Rhein is a big river, and this collection goes as far across as we could see.

Remains of a Roman road.

When in Germany, do as the Germans do!