Benelux 2012!!

Just got back from a 22 day Benelux vacation (The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg)! Coming from 95 degree Naples weather I didn’t pack any long sleeves…come to find out that Benelux was in a “colder than usual” summer. I eventually broke down and bought a sweater, then it decided to rain off and on throughout the rest of the trip. I should have bought a rain jacket, but stuck it out with the sweater.

I visited many cities during my trip, the main ones being Rotterdam, Antwerp, Gent, Brugge, Brussels, Luxembourg City, and Amsterdam. I took some day trips also. I biked from Luxembourg City to Echternacht (a 46 km/5.5 hour bike ride through farms, countryside, and the woods of Mullerthal), I took a day to explore Den Haag and Delft, went to Haarlem for a while, and a day up to the northeast of the Netherlands to Groningen and Delfzijl (and enjoyed the North Sea and views of Germany across the sea). I saw 33 traditional windmills and too-many-to-count modern, white turbines. I went to a gazillion art museums where I saw lots of one of my favorite genres of art: 15th century Flemish paintings by the greats: Pieter Bruegel, Hans Memling, Hugo van der Goes, Hieronymus Bosch, Rogier van der Weyden, etc. My favorite treat I found was carmel stroop waffles from the grocery stores in the Netherlands…amazing. I found a beer called Gollem, lol.

It was a good vacation overall. The only downside to travelling solo is not always having something to do once the tourism closes for the night…it can get lonely. I did get to read a lot of books and met a couple nice people I will keep in contact with. I think it will take some time for this vacation to really seem like a real European vacation…without a 20 hour plane ride to and from doesn’t make it feel as grand…but I saved a lot of money! I know I don’t have a lot of detail in my report on Benelux, so leave and questions or comments below!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.