Monday 2 May
Drove to the European parliament buildings before we left Strasbourg. Couldn't find the way in (though they may have been closed for bank holiday) but had a nice walk and wander round.
Luxembourg
Found our hotel and put the car into a nearby carpark (no parking here we're virtually in the city centre!) Not sure of the parking costs but it will be A LOT!
Went for a recce into the centre as it was nice and sunny.
Tuesday 3 May
Luxembourg
Luxembourg is on two levels - high and low. We are staying on the upper level.
The cathedral (no 12) was closed as it looked like they had some sort of renovations/preparations going on inside. We couldn't get past the front door - though we tried 😁
The oldest church in Luxembourg.
Haute ville.
Grunde - the lower part of the city. We had a lovely walk - after we found our way down!
We weren't looking forward to the walk back up as it was quite steep. And we weren't anywhere near the 'glass sided panoramic views' glass elevator' which took you back up (though I wasn't keen on that anyway!).
But we followed some cyclists and random pedestrians and found a lift - a normal lift which also took bikes - and popped out at the top at a place we recognized! Very handy.
A lovely lunch - some local sausage for Mike and a cheeseburger for me. I was just fancying some chips - didn't get them.. 😔
Wednesday 4 May
Mike went to collect the car from the nearby car park. It was just over £40 for under 2 days of parking - expensive but not as much as we'd feared! We can't grumble though as we've mainly used street parking as we've travelled round - and it did mean that we were within a short walk of the city centre.
Vianden
A short hop here so we turned up on the hotel doorstep at just after 9am much to the bemusement of the staff.
Most check-ins are obviously afternoon but this one said any time between 8.30 and 11 am as it closed for the afternoon - and it suited us as it meant we could move the car from the expensive Luxembourg car park! I'd also had the times confirmed in an email.
Turned out not to be true but the staff got our room ready for 11am whilst we wandered off up the road for a leisurely breakfast.
Think hotels.com were about to get an earful 😁😂
Walked up to Vianden castle/chateau.
Lot of restoration done but very nice.
We could see the chair lift going down the steep side of the hill from higher up.
Nice to see but still not interested!. 😁😂
Meal in the hotel.
Thursday 5 May
Bit of free time today between stops so we went to the war museum at Bastogne en route to Liege. There was a fabulous exhibit on outside about the Berlin wall street artists.
Some great work.
When we got back to the car we found a strange note under the windshield.
Translated (thanks Google) it was saying - 'No opportunity makes a thief' and not to leave valuables in the car. But no room in the boot! - and it was mostly food, clothes and cool box on display.
Liege
On to Liege to find huge building work going on. Circled the area of the accommodation several times and eventually parked up to see how we could get near on foot. Paid for parking and were then told parking had been suspended for deliveries.
Off we went again. Parked where we'd been advised (and told it was free) but as no one seemed to know for certain we parked in a paid underground parking.
Time for a drink - we'd earned it!
Strange little flat with strange little verandah amongst the rooftops with a view of the citadel dome.
Friday 6 May
Liege
Read about the Friterie de Perron on TripAdvisor and realised it was just around the corner from us. So chips and burger for breakfast 😋🤣
Walked up the Montagne de Bueren steps - 374 of them!
Came down a different way - still lots of steps 😁
Cathedral (no 14)
Evening walk along the river to the train station.
Boulets a la Liegeoise - rabbit cannon balls with chips and salad. Chips twice today after none for months 😂
Saturday 7 May
Took the car out from another expensive car park and drove to Maastricht for breakfast.
Waffles for lunch.
Another parking nightmare in Antwerp - more roadworks/renovations in place with different one way systems which the sat nav didn't recognise.
Antwerp
Hotel is right by the main railway station. View from our window.
This railway station is known as the cathedral of railway stations - easy to see why.
Short evening walk.
Part of the cathedral was under scaffolding.
Lovely buildings in the main square - city hall and guildhall.
Statue of soldier, giant and severed hand.
It is said that the name Antwerp comes from this legend (contested by entomologists!) with similar words in Dutch and Flemish meaning hand throwing.
Sunday 8 May
Antwerp
Wander down past the cathedral to the river then a walk round.
The giant at the fortress.
The soldier at the fountain in the market square.
The severed hand - seemingly randomly placed on a busy shipping street!
Art museum with some Rubens and Munch (amongst others) lithographs - expensive for what it was- expected more!
Back out for a meal in the evening - walked a long way! Again 🙄
Monday 9 May
First stop for shopping and petrol then on to The Hague for a quick look round and lunch.
There was a Grunde Kirk/cathedral but it was closed (so I'm not counting it 😁) but some more lovely buildings.
Nice local beer for lunch and meat croquettes - a local speciality. Crab salad for Mike - a spicy one but lovely and fresh.
Lisse
Nice little flat overlooking a canal with loads of boats going past.
Walk to the windmill just down the road - a thatched windmill!
Finally drank the cocktails (from Luisa for mother's day!) which we've carried round for nearly six weeks. Very nice too.
Both really tired today 🥱 Early night.
Tuesday 10 May
Keukenhof
Followed the sat nav to the Keukenhof gardens but the first part took us along a cycle path. Thought we were getting some funny looks (and a bit of verbal which of course we didn't understand anyway) but thought they were wanting us to move the car further over so that they could get past more easily.
Tulips - all sorts of different shapes and sizes..
And more tulips.
Sitting on a hay bale eating chips whilst listening to a bit of live jazz.
Didn't drive down the bike lane coming back to the accommodation 😁
Bikes have become more frequent over the last few stops as the terrain has become flatter.
Here in Holland everyone seems to be on a bike from the young to the elderly and you have to look very carefully whether on foot or by car.
In the larger cities people also use electric scooters and bikes, plus the odd balance board - and they ride them very fast! Quite funny to see a man in a business suit shoot past you on a scooter!
They also have bikes with carriers on the front or the back for transporting goods or children - we've seen up to three children being transported in a sort of long bucket thing at the front!
Wednesday 11 May
First stop of the day was at Leiden. Breakfast on a boat - on the Rhine I think as it was one of the larger river tributaries rather than a canal and had commercial boats on it.
Then on to Delft. A beautiful place with lots of picturesque small canals.
Rotterdam
Found the hotel and put the car into its garage as it is full of all sorts now 🤣
Went for a short walk to look for bread. Bit of a trek and it seemed quite breezy and chilly.
Not sure what this mirrored building was but it looked very grand with its reflections.
Found the cathedral (we think!) but it was closed. Only a small one due to having had the top part bombed in the war.
Thursday 12 May
Today was a boat day at the Old Harbour. Really interesting.
New market building.
Cube houses - really interesting.
Lunch and a final waffle 😋
Then back to collect the car from the hotel and cover the last 30km of our journey on this side of the water to the Europort!
Straight through all the checks and on to the ferry. Very smooth.
Rotterdam to Hull ferry.
Friday 13 May
Off the ferry at 7am - once again all very smooth.
Home
So over the 40 day period we have... travelled 2,552 miles, slept in 21 different accommodations and seen at least 16 cathedrals!
Quite a trip..😁
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