It’s hard to believe we’ve been back from our trip to Europe for almost 4 weeks! I’ve finally got some photos for you- we took over 1000 photos! I promise you that I am posting fewer than that…
Our daughter studied at Oxford (which is about 1-2 hours from London) for a semester. When she finished up in April, my husband and I went over to pick her up and do a little driving around. Daughter is an Art History major, so lots of museums were on the itinerary, and we just love beautiful country side so we made to sure to fit in some extra time to just drive around and see the sights. And, of course, there was the FOOD…
We took the train from London to Paris and spent a couple of days there. Our first night, we went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower and saw the city lights:
From Paris, we drove through Belgium into the Netherlands. We visited Kinderdijk to see the windmills- we were actually there a couple of years ago, and liked it so much that we went back to show our daughter. It is soooo beautiful!
From there, we took a short drive to Amsterdam, where we spent a couple of nights. We visited the Van Gogh museum and enjoyed a long leisurely boat ride along the canals:
Since we were visiting Holland in April, we HAD to arrange a visit to the huge tulip gardens at Keukenhof (the gardens are only open 2 months out of the year, in April and May). We spent a day strolling through one beautiful garden after another, it was truly breathtaking:
After Keukenhof, we drove to Delft. This was probably our favorite spot of the entire trip. The architecture is charming and the people quite friendly. In fact, we found that almost everyone in the Netherlands speaks excellent English and are very welcoming of visitors. I highly recommend a visit to the Netherlands if you are considering a trip to Europe… The number of bikes is amazing- everyone bikes everywhere! You have to be very careful that you don’t step out into the bike lane, during the morning rush hour, it seemed hundreds of bikes just whizzed right by us!!
In Delft, we visited the Vermeer museum. Have you read the book or seen the movie Girl with a Pearl Earring? It takes place in Delft, the home of famous 17th century painter Johannes Vermeer. There is a charming Market Square- my husband and daughter climbed to the top of the church tower and got an incredible view of the city!
We also visited the world famous Delft Pottery factory. All of the pottery is painted by hand! The glaze is black until it is fired, where it turns blue. In the factory, there were rows and rows and stacks and stacks of intricately painted pottery waiting to be fired.
Daughter and I even signed up to paint our own pottery! They stenciled on a design for us, and then we painted it with the glaze. It’s all the same color- you just use less glaze and more water for light blue, and paint with more glaze for a darker blue. We painted our plates and left them at the factory. About a week after we got home, the fired and completed plates arrived at our door!
After a couple of days in Delft, it was time to take a scenic drive back down into Belgium. We stopped in Bruges- so charming! It looks like a fairy tale book!
All throughout our trip we had wonderful food:
And then we drove back to Paris, took a train back to London, flew home and collapsed!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little tour of Europe with me!
Those plates are such a wonderful treasure. I’d love to do that too. Your time away went so quickly!
Yes, and hard to believe we’ve been back for a whole month now :)
some amazing photos you have shared today. Wonder if you went to Blenheim palace when in Oxford, if you did I use to live in the second house you see on the right as you go through the gates so that wonderful lake was our view from the windows.
Hi Margaret! We actually went to Blenheim palace the last time we were there, about 5 years ago. Wow! You’re so lucky that you got to live in that area, so beautiful!
I am of Dutch heritage and would LOVE to see the Netherlands! Maybe after my husband and I retire…..
Thanks for sharing your great photos and experiences!
How nice that you loved our country, The Netherlands, so much. I live in Den Haag, close to all the places you visited. Next time try also Alkmaar, Leiden and Zwolle. When in Belgium, try Gent, just as beautifull as Brugge.
I love your webwritings, thank you.
What a wonderful time you had. Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos.
Wow! everything you did looks like so much fun. I love the architecture of the old buildings. You and your daughter did a great job on your delft plates and what a great memory to have of your trip.
We loved Bruges where we stayed a few years ago. Our B&B host shared that the children learn 4 languages in school in Belgium–Dutch, English, German and French! It was a wonderful, quaint town to visit before our next stop of Amsterdam–SO many bicycles! Beautiful countries though. We were there in the Fall and missed the tulips. There is nothing like European travel to open your mind.
What a wonderful trip thank you for sharing. I’m hoping one day to go to Holland
Next time you are in the Netherlands add the city of Maastricht to your list. Beautiful city, wonderful people and food. Close to Belgium and Germany. Has the mix of all three countries. I am glad you liked my country! Love your blog! Keep it up!
Thank you so much for the mini tour. I’d love to add it to our bucket list, its so beautiful but that list is so long now I doubt we’ll be able to complete it all…..but….we’re going to try.
What a wonderful memory with your daughter. We took a similar trip but actually did London and Paris by train. We had to go to Highclere Castle on our trip on Easter Sunday to just dream of the Downton Abbey life. It was amazing! We want to go back so bad! Our daughter wants to go to Oxford so bad for a semester in Chemical Engineering major. Your daughter must have been in heaven! What a great experience for her. Maybe someday I will be able to let her go and not cry. Enjoy your blog so much and all the creative things you do.
Thanks for sharing your trip.
I have cut out my first block of Maggie’s First Dance. or should I say three first blocks. I had picked out some fabric from my stash – not sure what I was going to use, but when I was putting the fabric together, I came up with three sets. I have some more cutting that I need to do for another quilt project, so I have not begun to stitch the blocks together. I will be sure to post pictures of the three versions that i am building. Thanks for the pattern for my first Block of the Month project.
Thanks for sharing your pictures. I am sure I will never be able to travel to those countries. It is a joy to see the beauty in your pictures.
I loved your mini tour. My late husband and I went there about 10 years ago. I loved it. So nice to see it again through your eyes.