This is a summary of my trip to the Netherlands and Belgium from 9/8/14 to 9/21/14. I stayed for 7 nights in Amsterdam and did day trips to various towns around the Netherlands. I loved Amsterdam and found it even more beautiful than Venice with all of its canals. The Ann Frank museum was very moving and I enjoyed the Van Gogh museum. Enjoyed day trips to Delft (china/pottery), Edam (cheese), Volendam (like a New England town), Haarlem (beach side town). Then spent around a week in Belgium. I really enjoyed Bruges. It’s a very medieval looking town and you feel like you’re suspended in time. l really enjoyed Ghent and Antwerp. I wasn’t a huge fan of Brussels but it was interesting to visit the headquarters of the European Union and the one picture shows the huge auditorium where they meet and vote. Another moving experience was taking a tour through Flanders Fields (WW I battlefields) and then ending with what’s called “The Last Post Ceremony” at the Menin Gate in the town of Ypers, Belgium. They stop the traffic for several hours at sunset and allow families of fallen heroes from the war to place a wreath under the gate. Very moving! I was flying standby coming home and had hoped to fly out of Brussels to come home but there were no seats so I had to take a train to Frankfurt to fly home. When I took the train from Brussels to Frankfurt, I had my backpack stolen! Luckily I only had dirty clothes and other stuff in there that wasn’t that important. But I did make it home safe via Frankfurt! Enjoy!!
The Wandering Italian 