Day 13 - Back to Belgium

A nice breakfast at the hotel before heading off to Belgium for our penultimate hotel in the excellently named Grobbendonk (which I think comes from two Germanic words meaning ditch and raised by of ground.) Before that though we filled the car with the World’s most expensive diesel. My mind has blocked out the price but I think I’ve doubled the value of the car. A detour in Eindhoven where we saw a church (closed, obviously) and an art gallery/shop which had pretty much identical things to the one in Amsterdam, so it must have been a chain. We didn’t like any of the stuff, luckily, because… prices. To the Belgium home and the best room of the trip. We had an ice cream; banana for me and drumroll chocolate for Jane. Dinner of meatballs (nice, but expensive) and a somewhat too large a beer (Paix Dieu). Watched the ‘Celebrity Traitors’ in bed.

Church. Eindhoven, Netherlands.

If you want to eat your vending machine bread inside a shipping container then Grobbendonk is the place for you.

Day 12 - Detmold

A couple of hours in the car and a bit of a divert and we arrived in Detmold (Germany) where Jane grew up from 11-19. Many memories for her. I had a cheese sandwich.

Jane outside number twenty. The block of flats she lived in.

Back to another couple of hours ofdriving to Recklinghausen for our final night of the trip in Germany. Tomorrow a night in Belgium, then France and home on Saturday.

A night walking round Recklinghausen. A pint and a burger in an Irish Bar (like the uncultured Heathens we continue to be.)

Back to the bar of the hotel for a Baileys and to write up the blog.

Day 11 - Driving and a Robot

Breakfast at the hotel before driving a couple of hours to our second Ikea. We went to a second one because we liked the towels we’d bought for Denmark and fancied some more. Also, who can have too many Ikea dish scrubbing brushes? Not a question for anyone who didn’t just buy another seven.

Dinner at the hotel (a burger, shut up). It was served by a robot. Well, a hostess trolley that moved long with a big digital smile on a screen. I wondered whether it was a gimmick but I did see it trundling down a long corridor later in the evening so perhaps it saves some time.

Day 10 - (not) Witches!

Another drive into Ribe. This time for “Hex”, the museum about witches (or, you know, mostly women murdered by maniacs.)

And a bonus church.

Day 9 - Glad Zoo

A day at the zoo.News, Capybaras, Taranatulas, etc. Jane fed some Alpacas (Llamas?) - well, until they started to get a bit “spitty”. You could walk up to the kanagaroos. I did. And, presumably, pat them. I did not.

Really I could have just left Jane in the rabbit enclosure all day.

Day 8 - Esbjerg

A thirty minute drive North to Esbjerg to go to the Kuntsmuseum. The theme, as far as I could tell, was abstract colour.

One room had a smell quiz (I’m looking at you Nana and her Christmas quiz). A series of white jars where you lifted the piece of card off the neck, sniffed and guessed. Who was going to guess; “Beaver’s glandular secretion for fur protection.”? (Also, would not recommend.)

Not part of the exhibition but I liked the shadows.

The port was quite pretty, for a port.

Then onto ‘Men at Sea’. Built in 1995 next to Sædding Beach by Svend Wiig Hansen to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the munipality.

Day 7 - Vikings!

It was much sunnier day and the Viking centre was less than fifteen minutes drive away. A lot to walk around and see, and we saw a falconry display (where the person doing it got hit - hard - in the face by the swooping falcon.)

Day 6 - A wet day in Ribe

A lay in then onto the local supermarket Netto to pack the fridge for the week.

In the afternoon we drove into the centre of Ribe (where we’re staying). It’s the oldest town in Denmark. Today, the wettest.

I tried to take some photos with the Rollieflex camera, but I’m not sure it went well.

Fun Fact: Ribe is twinned with Ely, Cambridgesghire.

Anders Bording (1619-1677) was born in Ribe and wrote;

“The cleaner the grain, the stffer the strain.
The clearer the sound, the harder the ore.
The fatter the milk, the sharper the cheese.”

— Anders Bording

Day 5 - On to Denmark

A short walk around Bremen. Picked up some cream for the horsefly bite on my hand.

A four hour drive North to Ribe in Denmark for our six-nighter house. It’ll be nice to not drive far for a while.

Day 4 - Bremen, Germany

The Danish house doesn’t come with linen (thought it does charge a city tax, a cleaning fee, for electicity and water) so we went to Ikea to pick up a few things.

A LONG drive to Bremen, Germany. We sampled the best of German culture by going to an Irish bar.

Early night because another quite long drive tomorrow, but then we’re in Denmark for six nights and don’t have to drive anywhere.

Day 3 - More Amsterdam

Back on the No. 5 Tram into Amsterdam. Passed Anne Frank.

A burger, again, of course (Jane has the “best tomato soup ever”). We sheltered in a church while it rained.

Picked up a few vegetables to add to dinner.

Westertoren (Western Tower) attached to the Westerkerk.

Inside the Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk.

Day 2 - Art, Cocktails and Walking

A lie in after the long day yesterday.

Breakfast in our room then a short walk to the tram. Tram 5 from Kronenburg to Museumplein.

We went into an antique shop awash with antique tiles, and going in search of a box to put holiday blog notebooks in. I saw a skull in the window that I quite fancied buying but figured out it would be too expensive. I asked, and it wasn’t for sale because it’s a real skull and they can’t sell such things.

A great coffee and chesse and pesto toastie at Cartel.

We walked round an art gallery/shop. Results were mixed.

Jane saw a man wearing THESE boots, so I asked to take a photo.

An afternoon walking around the Rijksmuseum. The Night Watch by Rembrandt, and self-portrait by van Gogh being the highlights.

Finished the day at the bar we went to last time we were here and had a ‘Yellow Brick Road Cocktail’ (as we did last time), and I had a cheerburger - obviously,

Day 1 - The long drive to Amsterdam

Up at 4:30am, and in the cat by 615am. Got to Calais by 11 or due, but due to roadworks on motorway we didn’t get the hotel until 5pm. Tired.

We went to the shop (that previously had a lot of cork Malbec. It did this time, but sadly not at the same price.)

Picked up a few staples. We were hungry, don’t know why I went to a stationery shop. Hiliarious joke for you.

Pasta, some alcohol (to toast being under 10k on the mortgage.) and an early night.

On the tram to walk around Amsterdam tomorrow.