We spent 8 days here and it was COLD but we had a lovely social time with familiar faces. It was fantastic to have wheels to get out about.

We based ourselves in the area of Putten for the first 4 days.

The day after we arrived BK made a beeline for an aquarium shop! I know! Who on earth does that?

That afternoon we were invited by some friends to a pancake house. It was Hansel and Gretel themed. It was too cold to play outside but the children had a lovely time playing inside. The building was very interactive. Almost to a Halloween type style actually.

The following day was church – songs in English, message in Dutch but we had earphones with a translator doing really well to keep up! Then lunch and a lazy afternoon with the same friends.

The following day I expected to go into Amsterdam but I couldn’t secure tickets to the Anne Frank museum/house. BK and I went in 2007 and we felt the kids were old enough to go this trip but it wasn’t to be. So we skipped Amsterdam, we had explored it well 5 years ago so went to see the old town of Amersfoort instead. I had forgotten how beautiful old towns can be. We enjoyed warming up in a cafe with hot chocolate and apple cake. Our waitress was very interested that we were from New Zealand as her boyfriend is half kiwi and his Dad lives in Auckland – such a small world.

Then it was back to our Airbnb to pack and move south to the province of Zeeland. A friend came in from London with her 4 year old to stay with us. The Airbnb was a bit of a disappointment, not quite as advertised and not all beds were made up. This made for a pretty grumpy me!

We had a couple of big days. One day we missioned into Belgium to the old town of Bruges. Bruges is known for 2 things. Beer and chocolate! 

We arrived early and just wondered the streets. It. Was. Beautiful. Then the bus loads of tourists arrived. They always busy things up! 

The smell of Belgium waffles and chocolate filled the air. Yum! Once we’d seen the sights, we left BK with CK to do a brewery tour. Bruges has 3.2km pipe underground full of beer!! The brewery wanted to keep brewing on the old town site but as the business was growing they wanted to bottle on the outskirts of town….so came up with a creative way to get the beer out there! It would be interesting to taste the beer before it goes in the pipe and after. Apparently they’re very careful about this but surely it tastes different!! 

The following day we rested while it rained all day – RK and I stayed in our jarmies all day! Glorious!

Then it was off to see the tulips. This whole 15 week trip has planned around seeing the tulips! They’re only active for about 6 – 8 weeks, we’re already 2 weeks into the season. It was an early and cold start! The Keukenhof gardens are vast and beautiful. Not all tulips were out, in another 2 weeks it would be quite the sight I think? But a lovely morning was had wondering the gardens. Lots of information to be learnt. I wanted to get DJI up to take some shots of the fields for you all but I just didn’t come across any to capture! I thought they’d be everywhere and easy to find. They weren’t. So disappointing.

We finished off the day in The Hauge. We met a colleague of BK’s. She was lovely and walked us round a few sights.

The budget took quite the wholloping as we set up phone SIM card’s and did a few expensive things. I hope to streamline a bit from now on! 

We’ve adjusted to the time zone, jet lag only lasted a few days which I’m thankful for. 

As I write this I’m sitting on a plane heading to our next country. I’m looking forward to the warmth. I struggled with the cold! I’m glad I brought my hat. I’ve worn it every time I’ve been outside. 

Till next time,

Claire