Hi All, Thank you for stopping by and checking to see the Binder’s are up to.
Over the last two days we have explored all over Essen. Spending a significant amount of time at the FISU Summer World University Games. If you are like me, you are like what the heck is that…it’s kinda like the Olympics for college kids around the world…here’s what their website says:
The FISU Summer World University Games are staged every two years in a different city. This celebration of international university sports and culture draws many thousands of student-athletes together to compete, making it among the world’s largest and most prestigious multi-sport events.
We watched a lot of sports we have never seen before (judo, table tennis, and gymnastics among others).
We ate at a pub that Jessica and Nils recommended
And are finishing off our time here with spaghetti ice cream.
Hi All, Thank you for stopping by and checking to see the Binder’s are up to.
After our first night at the apartment, we headed out to the market for some supplies.
After some lunch we decided to go check out a place Jessica and Nils told us about. It is called Zollverein UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is an old coal mining complex that has been converted into several tourist attractions.
View from the top
We made it back to the apartment and ate at a nice restaurant nearby. Then, we took it easy and watched tv given we did a lot this past week.
Hi All, Thank you for stopping by and checking to see the Binder’s are up to.
After our waffle breakfast, we spent the morning walking around Bruges and enjoying how pretty it is.
Of course, there were some shenanigans along the way.
We saw a whole family of swans getting ready for a nap, which was quite adorable.
After one last stop at Chocolatier Dumon, it was time to continue our journey, next up we are headed to Essen, Germany. We are excited to see Nils, Jessica and Matilda’s home that they have graciously opened up to us so we can explore their town for a few days.
Hi All, Thank you for stopping by and checking to see the Binder’s are up to.
We tested multiple of both to see if we could find that answer today. We started our day with waffles, naturally.
Then we walked around the town some more to enjoy the beautiful architecture and scenery.
Had to take in some original wind mills too, of course. Zoom in and notice little David in the foreground. It was supposed to be open, but apparently was not.
We took a chocolate tour to learn about the history of chocolate- from the bitter drink drank by Aztecs to the introduction of sugar and industrial manufacturing of chocolate introduced by Europeans.
We then went to the Church of Our Lady, mostly to see the Michelangelo statue, Madonna and Child.
After taking a short break it was time to climb to the top of Belfort tower.
Here’s the view from the top, and we stayed to watch/listen to the bells ring. Then time to climb back down all 366 stairs. We stayed at the top to hear the bells, but it began to rain.
Then we finished our evening off with- you guessed it- waffles- but topped with ice cream- so they were in dessert form.
Hi All, Thank you for stopping by and checking to see the Binder’s are up to.
After spending three days in Amsterdam, we feel like it worked out our flight was switched. Giving that city only one day would not have been enough. In summary, I would say the canals are the best part, Van Gogh was the highlight of the art, and the chocolate and fries were overrated.
We set an alarm to ensure we would not sleep past 8 am today. It worked, we all begrudgingly got up and got moving when the alarm went off.
Then off to train to our next destination, Bruges. Unfortunately the car that picked us up to drive us to the station was in no hurry and the train station was under construction so we had to walk a whole city block to the other entrance because the one we were dropped at was not open…after rushing…we got to the platform just in time to watch the train doors close and the train take off…15 seconds too late…good thing that train runs every hour- so we just had to waste an hour- then we were on our way.
We arrived in Bruges early afternoon, dropped our luggage at our hotel, Hotel Casselbergh, fun fact our hotel is a former royal residence, information from their website; Between 1656 and 1659, Bruges quietly became a royal city. King Charles II of England, Scotland, and Ireland held court in House Casselbergh, accompanied by his brothers: James, Duke of York, and Henry, Duke of Gloucester.
Enough about that. We dropped our luggage off at our hotel and headed out to explore, and Bruges did not disappoint!!
See the small gothic looking building in the corner? It is the Basilica of the Holy Blood and in it contains a relic believed to be a vile containing the blood of Jesus Christ that was brought back during the Crusades. It is kept in here and only brought out 40 days after Easter when there is a procession through the town. The church was small but beautiful. David and Matthew got a little too grumpy, so they had to go to jail.
No first day in Belgium would be complete if we didn’t try waffles on a stick, waffles with ice cream, and an assortment of chocolates…
We spent about two hours walking around town. There were public water fountains where you could refill your water bottle. The kids would not drink the water fearing who may drink from them. That was a fun conversation during our entire walk. We spent the evening sitting on a bench people watching and listening to the bell tower every 15 minutes. The kids were able to pet a bunch of dogs. While we had a minor hiccup to start off the day, everything worked out in Bruges.
Hi All, Thank you for stopping by and checking to see the Binder’s are up to.
Today was a day filled with art!! We went to the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum and spent most of the day filling our eyes and brains with Rembrandt, Van Gogh and I think there was even a Monet tucked in there somewhere.
We planned on getting to the Rijksmuseum at 9am, but the kids had other plans. They slept thirteen hours until 10:30 am in the morning. So, we quickly dropped our luggage at Kimpton DeWitt (we liked Pulitzer hotel better) and headed to the museum.
We bought tickets and then went straight to the cafe there for breakfast (or I guess lunch). David Sr got beef balls, which were deep fried beef mush balls. Matthew did…not like them. Heather got a cheese sandwich. Matthew did…not like it. He stuck to the waffle on a stick and muffin.
We spent two hours there looking at some of the best paintings by Dutch artists. The kids enjoyed it just slightly less than David Sr (which was a low bar).
The highlight of the day was the Van Gogh museum. We saw 200 paintings of his, including many we had seen before (the potato eaters, sunflowers, self-portraits, and bedroom in Arles). We had a Van Gogh book we would show to the kids when they were small, so it was neat to see them in person.
We caught a tram back to the new hotel – this was the kids’ second experience on public transportation (the first was yesterday). We made it back to the hotel for the happy hour. Keeping with our culinary journey around Amsterdam, we ate at an Italian restaurant where David had pasta and Matthew had a pizza, which were significantly better than the beef mush balls.
We are taking it easy this evening hoping the kids will wake up before 10am, so we can get to Bruges earlier tomorrow.
They are in the process of a restoration project on the Rembrandt…so was a little hard to get a good photo. Fun fact, this is actually a painting and not carved out of marble as it looks. Impressive library, we had to dash in and out so we could adhere to the silence rule, it was a close call- but we made it. This was Van Gogh’s last work, and is unfinished, it was still on his easel when he passed away, it is tree roots.
Hi All, Thank you for stopping by and checking to see the Binder’s are up to.
After an exhausting first day in Amsterdam we all slept in for our first morning (Matthew won, sleeping 13 hours). After a full night’s rest, we got ready and had some traditional Dutch pancakes for breakfast. Turns out they are not as good as American pancakes (and Flemish fries are fine but not that special).
After breakfast, we went to the Dutch Resistance museum, which talked about numerous individuals’ stories during WWII. Shockingly, the kids seemed to enjoy it and did not complain.
Then we went to Artis, the local zoo. We enjoyed the planetarium show. When you are all exhausted, don’t watch a show in the dark. We all almost fell asleep. We stopped by the chicken house where they raise chickens. We even saw a baby chick that hatched that very day. I know what you’re thinking – chickens seem like an odd animal at the zoo. The guy finished explaining the process by noting the chickens are fed to the other animals at the zoo…. At least the chicks were really cute.
After the zoo we rode the tram back to the city center and ate dinner at a place called Bistro Amsterdam where David and I got traditional stampots. The kids also have been trying the local cuisine and loving it (cheeseburgers and fries – see earlier comment on fries).
After dinner, we finished our evening with a boat ride in the canals, because no trip to Amsterdam would be complete without a boat ride in the canals.
Hi All, Thank you for stopping by and checking to see the Binder’s are up to.
Well, our journey started off a little rough. Our first flight was delayed and delayed and delayed until we were going to miss our connecting flight to Frankfurt all together. So, instead of flying out a day later, we decided to fly to the Venice of Europe, Amsterdam, where the only mode of transportation besides roads, bridges, walking paths and bike lanes are canals. So, we hastily booked two nights at a hotel (not the one we originally booked), and neither arguments over the window seat or a baby directly behind us crying for the entire flight was going to stop us from making it to the city that has only two out of three when it comes to sex, drugs, and rock n roll.
Our first day in Amsterdam we toured the Royal Palace, which was built in the 1600s during the city’s heyday. This was really a town hall building that was later used by Napoleon’s brother as a home and is still one of the four homes of the current king.
After grabbing a quick bite to eat from a grocery store, we took a walking tour around the west side of the city (thanks Rick Steves)and saw so many beautiful canals and houseboats. We also walked by the Anne Frank house, which is down the street from our hotel and is always busy. The day would not be complete without buying some tulip bulbs, some Dutch frites (French fries with mayo) and chocolate (shopping quickly before David touched any of the other chocolates). We were exhausted but had a great first day!
Binder Family Travel Adventures 