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A Tale of Two Cities

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  A Tale of Two Cities In full transparency, we did not visit the red light district of Amsterdam, else I would have titled this post A Sale of Two Titties. 😂 It's a little unfair to directly compare Amsterdam and Bruges as we walked much of Amsterdam but only the City Centre of Bruges. But here are some observations.  Amsterdam is an imperfect, slightly tartish, intriguing, beguiling, magnetic siren. Buildings and streets are not straight.   Some tipsy buildings are leaning or separating from their neighbours. Constant upgrades are required as the ground is so spongy.  Bicycles are Kings. They have or just take the right of way The population of the Netherlands is 18 million. Sixty percent of the population cycles daily. There are 23 million bicycles in the country. So many dedicated bicycle lanes, and brother beware, they zoom along not wanting to stop for pedestrians who cross those lanes. We all had some close calls. I was almost as daun...
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The Sacred, the Sweet and the Profane

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  The Sacred, The Sweet and the Profane We had a day and a half to sight see. Our hotel was very near to the Sint-Salvators Kathedraal and the Markt Square in Brugge (as the Belgians spell it). The Dutch call the citizens of the city Bruggelingen. As usual in these countries, the Centre Square is dominated by the  church, the old guild houses remain as housing and business offices and restaurants are plentiful.   Belgian chocolate shops are everywhere. One chocolatier in the city has been awarded a Michelin star. We didn't go looking as I'm sure the prices are out of my range. Some stores were packed with product, and samples too. 👌   I had two delicious evening meals. Spaghetti with sweet sausage, fennel, spinach and creme fraiche... and .... wait for it .... drum roll ..... ribs with a beer/Belgian chocolate sauce. What a treat! Better than raw herring for sure! We saw an amazing VR presentation at the Historium Brugge. It showed the city's 15th century impor...
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The Final Leg

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The Final Leg   Magnifique had gone through a lock before we boarded yesterday. I was hoping to go through it, although it would have been time-consuming and I was looking forward to another ride. Sad that it was our last one.  We meandered along the Kanaal Gent-Oostende most of the time, often on the path below the the dikes on the opposite side from the river. Riding on the dikes offers no shelter from the winds and the North Sea was not far away.  We chanced upon a castle in a pretty, quiet village. It had recently sold for the bargain of one million euros to the owner of a winery as a fixer upper. The 13 in our group contemplated splitting the cost or starting a Go Fund Me campaign to purchase it. But we decided the upkeep over time would be prohibitive.    A greenhouse strawberry operation had a roadside self-serve kiosk. I have rarely tasted strawberries so sweet.  Our lunch stop was at a cafe that has been in the family for 5 generations. The current...
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