Change of plan ? A Great Idea!

Having been following the Olympics from afar we decided to get a piece of the action for ourselves! We re-booked the Eurotunnel earlier, change hotels from Kent to Canning Town, only 2 stops from the Olympic Park. We left Brussels at 10, got through the tunnel and to our hotel at 3, a quick dump of bags and off to Stratford.

We were first car on the top level, gives you an idea of the length of the trains!

We tried more out of hope than expectation to get any spare tickets for the ceremony but we did manage to get some tickets to watch it in the cinema right outside the park. We wandered round the shopping centre bumping into athletes of many countries at every turn, the biggest concentration of them was in the booze aisle of M&S with US women's sprinters asking 'old school' Russian coaches for photographs together!  So after a bite to eat off to the cinema - a great idea, it was a fantastic sight on the big screen, coupled with an audience cheering and clapping, we had a good time. We nicked out when The Who came on and caught the fireworks over stadium  - short but impressive. Jumped straight on the tube and were in our hotel 15 mins later, well worth the effort!

Brussels gets ready to Sprout

Our last full day on the continent saw us exploring Brussels (although I think we just scratched the surface). We headed for the Grand Place but got distracted by markets and chocolate shops. We finally got to the Grand Place as they were readying it for the carpet of flowers that starts next week. The square was like film backdrop, scale and detail of the buildings were so impressive. 
We then went to check out the 2 Brussels icons; the Mannikin Pis and the Atomium and had a trip round mini Europe and off to the Place Louise for all the posh shops (obviously!)

A great last day but lots still to see in the city.

Bruges - Cobbles, Canals & Chocolate

Does that count as alliteration?
Anyway, we jumped on the train to Bruges today, one of the places Maggie was most looking forward to on the whole trip. I think it didn't disappoint. The weather was great, sunny & warm but not oppressive. The town was really lovely, beautifully preserved with mile after mile of cobbled street and laced with canals. There was also a Chocolatier every 10 paces and after two and half weeks of keeping her purse firmly shut today was the day Hannah decided she was going to blow her holiday money on chocolate! Most of it went in the shop nearest the spot where our 'shadows' for this holiday - The Hairy Bikers made their chocolate cheesecake, with the topping looking suspiciously like the truffles 'atop' their cheesecake. As you will see Maggie couldn't resist either!

Flash Gordon's rocket cap was a bit skew whiff...

Fresh strawberries covered in Belgian chocolate? Oh go on then !

STOP PRESS - Hannah has just been spotted in the hotel room cross eyed with ecstasy at the taste of her first truffle...

The Windmill Detour and First Impressions of Brussels

After a lazy start we left Leiden and got on to the HGV motorway for Brussels (I can honestly say I've never seen so many lorries on one stretch of road, mile after mile, I thought the inside lane was a Freight railway line rather than a motorway!) Although it is the main motorway between Rotterdam and Antwerp so I shouldn't really be surprised. So a little detour to ease the journey was planned to take in another of the sights recommended by the Hairy Bikers - Kinderdijke; thirteen 15th century windmills preserved on one site - very impressive.

Then back into the car for 90 mins and off to Brussels. After we booked in we went for a look round we came across a nice little Tunisian restaurant, we had some very nice food which was finished off with some complimentary Baclava style sweets and fresh mint tea (and a pound of sugar in each glass!) We then went for a walk in the local park and saw this rather grand building, a good start to our final leg.

Pancake Tuesday & a Very Frank Wednesday

So, Amsterdam. busy, seedy and repetitive. As you can tell not our favourite place, however it it does have very good food and a story that lives with you forever; after breakfast where Louise and I filled up with pancakes we wandered along Prinsengraght to find......... The Pancake House and had a very nice meal in 'The best Pancake House in Amsterdam'

We realised that the Barnes favourite of open top bus trips wasn't going to cut it so we relented and went on the hop on hop off boat tour.

Then to the tragic but compelling story of Anne Frank. We booked a special English tour and got a lot of explanation of the circumstance to the story and the opportunity to ask a guide questions, the photo is from the 'extra bit' the tour doesn't allow photographs but I doubt anyone who has been there will forget the feeling of being in the those hidden rooms for the 5 or 10 minutes when Anne and her family lived there for 2 years and one month.

So a wander round the flower market and on to our hotel

A quick few hours in Leiden

We left Luxembourg this morning and drove the 250 miles to Leiden. We booked in to the hotel and went straight into town for a wander. A nice town which felt like a mini Amsterdam.

A Really Surprising City

So to Luxembourg, after arriving middle of the afternoon on Saturday we popped into the city and booked on the bus tour - a Barnes family favourite. Having got out bearings around the city we retired to our hotel to plan our day today. We had a walk into town from the European District where our hotel is, past the EU buildings and on to the huge number of fortifications that make up the city. The city seems to consists of 4 levels -
By the river, a quiet park, old town sort of place;

The next level is the huge number of fortifications that give the city the nickname of 'Gibraltar of the North' we had a wander over under and through them;

Then the pretty city with lovely buildings, litter and graffiti free;

and finally the new EU district on the escarpment overlooking the city (where our hotel is situated)

A really interesting city which has a lot more to recommend it than you might think. On to Leiden in The Netherlands tomorrow....