Spain, The Netherlands, Belgium

Eurotrip - Spain, The Netherlands, Belgium - Feb 22 - Mar 14, 2023

We flew from Vancouver to Amsterdam with two stops, in Kelowna and Calgary. From Amsterdam Schiphol Airport we took the train to our friends in Vught. After one-day jet lag recovery we were ready to start our first ever Spanish adventure.

4 Days in Madrid: Perfect itinerary to discover the city

Getting from the airport to downtown.

We arrived in Madrid by flying with Ryan Air from Eindhoven. To get to our hotel we took the Metro train. To use any type of transportation in Madrid you need to buy first a Multi Public Transport Card which cost 2.5 Euro and load it with your preferred tickets. If two persons are travelling, both tickets can be loaded on the same Transport Card. We took line 8 to Nuevos Ministerios station and then transferred to line 10 which took us to Plaza de Espana and from there we only had to walk 600 meters to our hotel. The cost of a ticket is 5 Euro which includes the 3 Euro airport charge. We could have also used Line 203 Aerobus which connects the airport to the city center for the same price and has a 24-hour schedule.

Best attractions in Madrid

We like to visit all our destinations by foot, this way we learn the cities and might discover nice spots that are not so popular. Our plans always include, first determining the location of each attraction and grouping them by area and then assigning them by day also taking into consideration the opening hours of each and the day when they are closed.

We did the same in Madrid where was even easier as most popular attractions are centrally located. With plenty of excellent art museums, large parks, numerous landmarks and a rich culture and architecture. Madrid is a beautiful capital and perhaps the most visited city in Spain.

Day 1 in Madrid

We had tickets bought in advance while in Canada, to visit Royal Palace at 10:00 am. Before that our itinerary included other attractions located along the way.

Plaza Mayor is a major public square of historical buildings in Madrid, surrounded by arcades which are homes to bars, restaurants, souvenir shops and outdoor seating areas. It is used for seasonal markets, public events and as a popular stop for locals and tourists. Some of the most buildings in the plaza are Casa de la Panaderia with its façade decorated with mythological figures frescos and on the opposite side, Casa de la Carniceria, a red building used to store the meat in the old times. In the morning the square was almost empty, it felt like we had it for ourselves but when we returned late in the afternoon it was alive with locals, tourists, street artists and performers.

On our way to the Palace we passed by Plaza de la Villa and took few pictures of Casa de Cisneros, an historical mansion built by Cardinal Cisneros’ nephew in 1537, currently closed to the public.

Royal Palace of Madrid in the past housed the Kings of Spain from Charles III to Alfonso XIII. Now is the official residence of the Spanish royal family and is used for ceremonial events. We arrived at the Palace’s gate before 10 am and there were already lots of people waiting in line. The entrance is organized in two lines, one for people that have tickets and another line for those who need to buy.

Taking pictures is not allowed in any of the rooms, only at the entrance staircase and the hallways. But being the largest royal palace in Europe, during your visit you can see amazing paintings, tapestries, the royal crown and jewelry, collections of clocks and even a very rare collection of Stradivarius string instruments, unique in the world. Tickets cost 12 Euro per person and you can easily spend 1-2 hours inside.

Almudena Cathedral is situated just across from the Royal Palace and the entry is free. The Cathedral was consecrated by Pope John Paul II and is the first cathedral to be consecrated outside of Rome.

Around the corner and below the Cathedral you can visit the Crypt. With over 400 impressive columns is the largest in Spain. We wanted to visit it but was closed and would have disrupted our schedule to wait for it to open in the afternoon.

Mirador de la Cornisa observation deck is a terrace situated between the Royal Palace and Almudena Cathedral. Free to enter the place offers nice views of the Campo del Moro Park and Gardens.

 

Beside the Royal Palace we took a break on a bench in the Sabatini Garden. With a large pond surrounded by fountains, trees and white marble sculptures the Gardens are one of the best in Madrid. Next we strolled through Plaza de Oriente and Plaza de Espana, two very popular tourist destinations. In Plaza de Espana we did what all tourists do, posed for pictures with the monument to the Spanish novelist, Miquel de Cervantes. The monument includes a statue of Cervantes overlooking bronze sculptures of the famous Don Quijote and Sancho Panza.

 

Temple of Debod is 10 minutes walk from Plaza de Espana. Originally from Nubia, southern Egypt, the ancient temple was gifted by Egyptian government for the help in restoring the Abu Simbel temples. The entrance to the temple is free but number of visitors at a time and the time to spend inside is limited. There was a huge line so we did not go inside.

 

From the temple we walked down through the amazing rose garden in Parque del Oeste on our way to visit Ermita de San Antoniode la Florida. The royal chapel is known for its ceiling and dome frescoes painted by Francisco Goya and it also houses Goya tomb. Pictures inside the chapel were not allowed.

 

Day 2 in Madrid

On our schedule was a visit to Reina Sofia Museum and we had tickets for 10 am. We are early risers so usually around 8 in the morning we were already in the street. We had a lot of amazing attractions to see on our way to the museum. We started with a walk on Gran Via which was close to our hotel. One of the most famous streets in Madrid, this impressive boulevard is lined up with retail shops, hotels, neo-baroque buildings, theatres and cinemas, being often called Madrid’s Broadway.

At the intersection with Calle Alcala we came across Plaza de Cibeles. In the center of the plaza lies Cibeles Fountain, a marble sculpture representing the goddess Cibele riding a chariot pulled by two lions. The fountain is an important symbol in Madrid and is used by the Real Madrid football club to celebrate its victories. Cibeles Palace is located in this plaza as well. Formerly known as Communication Palace, this impressive building with with facades is used now for cultural purpose and is also the Town Hall of Madrid.

Few hundred meters away on Calle de Alcala is Puerta de Alcala is a monumental arch made of granite and was designed by Francisco Sabatini as a royal gate to celebrate the arrival of the monarch in the city.

 Turning on Paseo del Prado, another important tree-lined boulevard known for the location of many museums, we passed by ApolloFountain and Fountain of Neptune. The latter is the spot where Atletico Madrid fans gather to celebrate their team victories.

Reina Sofia Museum is known for its impressive collections of modern and contemporary Spanish art. They include a high number of works by Dali and Pablo Picasso, including one of Picasso’s masterpieces, Guernica. A ticket costs 12 Euro and we had to book a day slot in advance to avoid the big lines we have seen even though we visited in off season. Like other museums in Madrid, no photos were allowed at some artworks.

 

From the museum we walked to El Retiro Park, one of the largest parks in Madrid. You can easily spend a couple of hours to half a day here. You could rent a rowboat and spend some time on the artificial lake or visit Crystal Palace, also known as the Glass Palace which was originally built as a greenhouse but now is owned by Reina Sofia Museum and used for its temporary exhibitions. On the edge of the lake the Monument to King Alfonso XII is situated, designed as an arcade of columns surrounded the Kings ‘statue. You could also visit Velazquez Palace, a free entry art gallery also owned by Reina Sofia Museum, walk the Alley of Statues, an area lined with statues of Spain’s monarchs or relax on a bench and enjoy the peace and beauty of the park.

 

On our way back to hotel we stopped at Mercado de San Miquel, a very popular covered local market located near Plaza Mayor and tried some tapas, Spanish appetizers.

 

 Day 3 in Madrid

Started our day with a stroll in Puerta del Sol, a famous and one of the busiest squares in Madrid. The place is known for its “kilometer 0”, the centre of a radial network of Spanish roads and also for the most famous symbol of Madrid, the bear eating fruits from a tree statue. 

 

 

 

 

From here we continued through the Literary Quarter, a neighborhood named after the great writers who walked its streets in the old times, Cervantes, Lope de Vega. Passed through Plaza de Santa Ana, another nice spot filled with cafes, tapa bars and terraces.

At 10 am we had tickets to Prado Museum. We purchased them online well in advance because it is required to book the date and the hour of your visit for some temporary exhibitions. The museum has 5 entrances but if you have pre booked tickets you will have to go to either Puerta de Velazquez or Puerta de los Jeronimo's entrances. Being a very popular museum there are always lines regardless if is not peak season and we did not want to spend too much time waiting in line. The national art museum has extensive collections of paintings by famous painters like Goya, El Greco, Rubens but also sculptures, decorative arts and more. The museum also hosts some of the most important works of Hieronymus Bosch, one of our favorite painters but the paintings were guarded closely by "no photos" enforcers. A ticket costs 15 Euro and you will need 2-3 hours to see it properly. Again, we strict "no photos" rule in most galleries

 

After visiting the museum, we walked to another corner of the downtown to see Puerta del Toledo, the most recently built of all the monumental gates in Madrid.

Few hundred meters away is Royal Basilica of SaintFrancis the Great. The basilica was closed when we arrived so we waited in a nearby park adjacent to it for the afternoon opening hour which is 4 pm. It is renowned to have the largest dome in Spain the fourth biggest dome in Europe after Pantheon, St. Peter’s Basilica and the Florence cathedral. The interior has a stunning architecture and several marble and gold chapels are housing paintings by Spanish masters. Among them, Velazquez and Goya, the most famous being "Goya’s St. Bernadino of Sienna preaching to Alfonso V of Aragon".

 

Close to the Basilica there is an important market, Cebada Market. We returned to the hotel by walking on Calle de CavaBaja, a street with character lined with bars, tavernas and known for its best tapas in Madrid.

 

Day 4 in Madrid

In the morning we spent a couple of hours visiting Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum. The museum has an impressive art collection of paintings of old and modern masters, spanning from 13^th century to the 20^th century. The permanent collection includes masterpieces of Rembrandt, Degas, Van Gogh, Rubens, Picasso and more. We had also access to very interesting temporary collections like Lucian Freud and Bulgari. The ticket cost is 13 Euro and same like we the other big museums is better if you buy the tickets in advance to avoid the big lines. 

 

 

 

 

Next we walked to Lazaro Galdiano Museum. Housed in the former house of the entrepreneur Lazaro Galdiano, a two floors aristocratic mansion, the museum includes plenty of works of Spanish and Flemish masters like Velazquez, El Greco, Goya, Bosch. It is located farther away from the Madrid’s main tourist area meaning fewer crowds. The price of a ticket is 6 Euro.

An attraction we did not want to miss was Las Ventas Bullring, the largest bullfighting ring in Spain. The bullring has an imposing architecture and the Museo Taurino (Bullfighting Museum) located within is free to visit.

On our way back we admired Dali’s Dolmen sculpture in Salvador Dali Square and Julia, the 12 meters white head marble sculpture by Jaume Plensa, in Plaza Colon.

 

Beside Plaza Colon on Calle de Serano we visited National Library of Spain and the NationalArchaeological Museum as they share the same building. The Archeological Museums displays large antique collections and artifacts and objects from diggings to various archaeological sites, dated from prehistory to the 19^th century. With only 3 Euro a ticket and so much to offer, it is a great museum to visit.

 

 

 

 

To end our day on a good note we passed by Spain’s Good Luck Frog, frogs representing a symbolic fortune in many cultures around the world.

 

 

 

 

Malaga: Best things to do

We traveled from Madrid to Malaga by train. Spain has an excellent network of trains, Renfe, with connections between all major cities. Our tickets for the trip were purchased in advance, for the long-distance high speed train (it reached 270 km/h !), the ticket cost was 42.40 Euro for one person one way and the journey only took two and a half hours.

 

Always wanted to visit the south of Spain as we heard so much about it. We planned to use Malaga as a base and make few day trips to other destinations. Our hotel was centrally located and had breakfast included which helped saving time early in the morning to catch either the train or bus.

Malaga is a port city on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, situated on Costa del Sol, in the community of Andalusia. The best time to visit is in the spring or fall, to avoid the crowds, we visited beginning of spring and the temperatures were pleasant and had sunny days. With a rich culture, history, stunning beaches, Roman and Moorish ruins and plenty of sunshine, Malaga has a lot of offer and we wish we stayed longer.

Here are some of the attractions we enjoyed a lot and highly recommend:

Alcazaba of Malaga is an ancient Moorish fortification built in the 10^th century and located on Mount Gibralfaro as a strategic defence point of the city. With two enclosures, each surrounded by a wall fortified with towers and five gates to Taifa palace area, walking through this well preserved fortress gives you a feeling of going back in time. To visit you can use one of the two entrances, the main entrance on Calle Alcazabilla, close to the tourist info point and the back entrance from the lift, behind City Hall. A tickets costs 3.5 Euro but we purchased a combined ticket for Alcazaba and Gibralfaro and paid 5.5 Euro.

 

 

 

 

Castillo de Gibralfaro sits on top of the hill and getting there will require a stop or two to catch your breath. The castle was built in 929 AD by the Caliph of Cordoba on a former Phoenician enclosure and lighthouse. Inside the fortress you can see buildings and courtyards similar to Alhambra and you can also walk all the way on the remaining parapets that offer good views of the city.

 

Roman Theatre of Malaga is located at the base of Alcazaba fortress and is considered the oldest monument in Malaga, being built by Augustus, the first roman emperor. The theatre is free to visit.

Plaza de la Constitucion is considered the heart of the city. With palm trees surrounding Genova Fountain and lined with orange trees, small cafes and shops, this Plaza is the most popular public squares in Malaga.

You can walk through Malaga endlessly and keep discovering nice attractions and things to see. Malaga Cathedral and the Church of Santiago are beautiful places of worship with stunning architecture not to be missed. The city has a beautiful promenade, Palmeral de las Sorpresas (Palm Grove of Surprises), designed with a contemporary pattern of palm trees and lined with restaurants, fountains, palm trees and places to sit and enjoy the views. Alongside the promenade is Malaga Park, designed as a Mediterranean botanical garden full of life, with lots of colourful parrots wondering from tree to tree and little fountains surrounded by exotic flowers and shrubs. 

 

Close to the Malaga Park next to Tourist Information Center, in Plaza Marina, we passed by El Cenachero or the Fish Vendor bronze statue, a monument to the fishmongers of Malaga, one of the city’s oldest trades and considered a symbol of Malaga.

A short walk away from the park you can see one of Spain oldest lighthouses, La Farola de Malaga and meters from it you can step on the beach. It was our first time on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

The best way to visit Malaga is by walking, all main attractions being spread at close distances to city’s downtown. You can stroll on Calle Larios, a large pedestrian shopping street or the many narrow downtown streets, full of boutiques, restaurants, souvenir shops and nicely decorated with flowerpots. Or you can visit museums, go shopping or stop to taste the famous Spanish churros. Visiting Malaga provided us with lots of unforgettable memories.

 

 

Day trip to Benalmadena

To get to Benalmadena from Malaga is very easy. We took Malaga – Fuengirola Renfe local commuter train and stopped in Benalmadena – Arroyo de la Miel train station. Benalmadena is only 24 km away from Malaga so it was a 30 minutes’ journey and the trains run every 20 minutes. One-way ticket costs only 1.80 Euro per person and you can purchase it at ticket offices or at self service machines.

First thing on our itinerary was taking the gondola up to Mount Calamorro but the opening hour was 11 am. So we headed to Paloma Park which was about 1 km walking from the train station. The park has walking paths, an artificial pond, an impressive cactus garden and you can also enjoy some wildlife roaming through the park like rabbits, green parrots, ducks, chickens.

From the park we walked back towards Teleferico Benalmadena which is very close to the train station. The ticket price was 18.90 Euro for a return ticket. To get to Mount Calamorro is a 3 km, 15 minutes’ journey with the cable car that offers spectacular panoramic views of the city and each car is equipped with an audio guide giving information about what you are seeing on your way up or down. Mount Calamorro is located at an altitude of almost 800 meters. There are hiking trails leading to various viewpoints and to the summit where you can enjoy wonderful views of Costa del Sol, Sierra Nevada Mountains and on clear days even Gibraltar.

The main goal of our day trip was to walk the promenade along the coastline from Benalmadena to Torremolinos and take the train back to Malaga from there. So after getting back to the city we walked to the beach side and started our stroll with a visit to Bil Bil Castle built in the Moorish architectural style and free to visit.

From here to Torremolinos was an 8 km walk on the promenade as we decided to take the train back from Los Alamos train station rather than Torremolinos station. It was one of the nicest walk we had ever. The promenade is lined up with beaches, palm trees, bars, restaurants, shops and busy with people walking, riding bikes or just resting on benches or on the beach.

In Torremolinos we visited Casa de los Navajas, built by Navajas family as a residence but acquired in 2000 by the Torremolinos City Council. Now is open to the public every day and is free.

Before going to the train station we stopped at a nice restaurant on the beach to try grilled sardines on a stick, a delicacy of Costa del Sol cuisine.

Day trip with best attractions in Granada

How to get from Malaga to Granada

If not driving there are two ways to get to Granada, either by Renfe train or by bus. Granada is 126 km from Malaga. Train tickets can be purchased from Malaga Maria Zambrano train station, the cost is about 37 Euro for a return ticket and the journey takes 1 hour and 10 minutes. We chose to go by ALSA bus because the buses had earlier departures than the train and we needed to arrive early in Granada to visit Alhambra. The cost for a return bus ticket was 24.42 Euro, even cheaper than the train and the journey is 1 hour and 45 minutes. ALSA bus tickets can be purchased from Malaga Bus Station, located on Paseo de los Tilos, across the street from the train station, either from the ticket office or from ALSA ticket machine.

The main attraction we wanted to visit in Granada was Alhambra. From the Granada bus station was a 4.5 km walk to Alhambra’s main entrance. From the city center starts to be an uphill walk of about 20 minutes. We had tickets purchased online before our trip to Europe to ensure we can visit on the date we wanted and choose the time slot we wanted. The ticket cost was 19.09 Euro per person for Alhambra General which is the complete visit and includes all the areas: Nasrid Palace, Partal, Alcazaba, Generalife and the Gardens. While there you can visit also Charles V Palace, Alhambra Museum and the Mosque Baths which have free entry. Once inside you can visit the attractions in any order and spend as much time as you want with the exception of Nasrid Palace which you must access it at the selected time, written on the ticket. Many times throughout the visit we had to present the tickets and the identification documents used when booking the tickets, in our case, the passports.

Once inside we started our visit with Generalife area, a group of two simple, undecorated buildings connected by Patio of the Irrigation Ditch. Here was where the kings of Granada spent their time when not conducting the royal affairs of the Palace.

Charles V Palace is a huge square building with a two levels circular courtyard built with columns all around. The building also houses Alhambra Museum on the ground floor and the Fine Arts Museum of Granada on the upper floor. For us, visiting Charles V Palace had a higher significance because one of our favourite artists, Loreena McKennitt, a famous Canadian Celtic singer-songwriter shoot her live album and DVD “Nights From the Alhambra”.

Alcazaba of Granada is one of the oldest parts of Alhambra. It was built by Mohamed I and was used as a royal residence by him and his son until the palaces were finished and used only as a military fortress after. This imposing fortification complex protected by layers of walls, has towers on each side and in the middle is what used to be a residential area. During the visit you can walk along the walls and in each of the towers and be rewarded with very nice views of Granada.

Visiting Nasrid Palaces requires planning ahead. You have to visit in your time slot or you will not be allowed to enter. We had to line up ahead of time and the access was given at the exact time on our tickets and of course you have to provide your identity documents again. Considered the most visited attraction in Alhambra, Nasrid Palaces are a complex of three palaces, Palace of Comares, Palace of the Lions and the Mexuar. The buildings have a Moorish style architecture and nicely decorated and carved walls and porticoes. Everything about the place is unique, the beautiful courtyards, the amazing fountains, the tiled walls or the symmetry of the rooms.

The entire visit took us about 4 hours. Next we walked to Mirador de San Nicolas, an 800 meters walk uphill from Plaza Nueva. Mirador de San Nicolas is one of the best viewpoints of Alhambra and Sierra Nevada mountains in the background. The square is always busy with locals, tourists, musicians and vendors.

Before heading back to the bus station we wandered Granada’s historic downtown, admired the Cathedral of Granada and walked the quaint narrow streets with hundreds to shops selling mainly Arab souvenirs in the Albaicin, Granada’s former Muslim quarter.

 

Day trip with best attractions in Ronda

You can get from Malaga to Ronda with the train or by bus. We chose to go by bus because the return train was too late. We went very early in the morning to the bus station but being Sunday all the ticket offices were closed. The only bus going to Ronda was Damas and their ticket office was closed on Sundays. We asked at the Information desk how to get tickets and were told we will have to buy them directly from the driver. Not being sure if the driver sells also return tickets, we waited for the bus to arrive and talked to the driver. He was able to sell us return tickets as well and they looked like a copy of the one way tickets and they were open tickets meaning we could return at any time we wanted. On our way back the driver exchanged those copies for one way tickets back to Malaga. It is a two hours trip and the cost of a return ticket is 21 Euro per person.

Top things to do in Ronda

Ronda is a one of the most picturesque small towns in Andalusia, set on top of a rocky cliff. A gorge separates the old town from the new town with Puente Nuevo stone bridge connecting the two parts of the city.

Plaza de Toros Bullring and Museum was the first thing we visited after we arrived. Considered the oldest bullring in Spain built entirely of stone, it is part of the Royal School of Cavalry founded by king Phillip II of Spain and still being used as an equestrian training facility. Plaza de Torros no longer hosts bullfights with the exception of the Feria de Pedro Romana festival in September. Taurino Museum is included in the 9 Euro ticket price and displays many of the outfits and bullfighting costumes from the past and collections of weapons used during the wars in Spain.

Puente Nuevo or the New Bridge is Ronda’s main attraction bringing tourists from all over the world willing to have a picture taken on this almost 100-meter-high stunning bridge. One of the best way to see the bridge is to do El Tajo Gorge walk down in the valley.

To get there we walked first to Puerta de Almocabar, one of the city gates from 13^th century giving entry to the old town surrounded by the fortress walls. We continued on Calle de Prado all the way to Miradour de Viento and then on a stony path to the Arch of Christ and Walls of Albacara. From here you can have an amazing view of the bridge above, the canyon below and of the entire escarpment. After enjoying the views, we climbed down to parking lot close to the road which is another lookout point and from here we returned to the city on Calle de Prado. People who are not afraid of heights can also try Via Ferrata, a vertical and horizontal route along the rock wall.

Back in the city we walked along the edge of the cliff all the way to Paseo de los Ingleses (The English Walk) observation deck and enjoyed great views of the surrounding valley. Then we explored Ronda’s historical downtown, admired Basilica of Santa Maria la Mayor, Iglesia del Socorro and walked the famous Calle La Bola, the main pedestrian street. With a great history, numerous viewpoints, medieval walls and lots of attractions, spending a day in Ronda gave us a lot of joy and beautiful memories.

From Malaga we flew back to the Netherlands with Transavia, to Eindhoven airport. Flying in Europe with low-cost air carriers is easy and cheap, we paid only 65 Euro per person and the flight took less than an hour. Our Dutch friend picked us up at the airport.

A weekend in Maastricht

We went to Maastricht by car with our good friends who also graciously hosted us during our time in the Netherlands. Checked in first to Hotel Brull located in Mechelen, a small town in the Dutch province of Limburg. The hotel had large cozy rooms, a beautiful courtyard and a nice sitting area where we spent the evening. In the morning, after having the tasty buffet breakfast and our coffees and teas, we drove to Maastricht, which was 20 km away. 

The weather was rainy and cloudy so we started our tour with a visit to Bonnefanten Museum. This fine arts museum displays modern and contemporary art but also old Italian, Flemish and Dutch masters. The highlight for us was Rembrandt’s famous “The Standard Bearer”, a temporary exhibition on tour in Netherlands at the time of our visit.

After visiting the museum, we took a walk to discover the downtown. Maastricht is the capital of the province of Limburg in the south of Netherlands. It is a charming old town, with cobbled streets, medieval architecture and old churches full of history. St. John’s Church and Basilica de Saint Servatius located in Maastricht’s most famous square, Vrijthof Square, are a proof of that. This is also the square where the famous Dutch violinist and conductor Andre Rieu, performs its annual open-air concerts.

A must try while in Maastricht is “vlai” their famous freshly baked pie, sold in a variety of fruit fillings.

One of Maastricht’s biggest attractions lies underground. Fully satisfied and rested after our sweet treats we headed to the Caves of Maastricht, which are about 2 km walk from downtown. The fort is located on Mount Saint Peter and was built to defend the city from the French, above and underground. The Caves is an extensive system of tunnels and passages formed during many centuries by extracting the limestone, which was essential for construction of houses, churches, monasteries at the time.

The caves were also used in the World War II to store and hide from the Germans, valuable armaments and paintings, among them the famous Rembrandt’s painting “The Night Watch”. The caves can only be visited by guided tours with very knowledgeable guides who know their ways in the underground maze of dark tunnels. During the tour we stopped to see unique wall drawings, inscriptions and paintings and we were even able to go into the vault that was used as storage during the war. The tour was very informative and we learned a lot about the history of the place.

We drove back to Vught in the afternoon ready to continue our travels to Utrecht the following day.

Day in Utrecht

We spent the following couple of days with another good friend who picked us up in Vught and had planned surprise activities for us. On our way there we stopped for a visit to Hoge Veluwe National Park. The park is the largest nature reserve in the country with forests, wildlife, walking and cycling trails. The rainy weather was not ideal for exploring the park but we spent a couple of hours visiting the museum located inside the park.

Kroller-Muller is a national art museum and sculpture garden which displays a big collection of paintings by master painters and the second-largest collection in the world of Van Gogh paintings. As a nice surprise, we were able to admire also two sculptures of the famous Romanian artist Brancusi, one being “The Beginning of the World” nicknamed “Brancusi’s egg”. The forest park surrounding the museum houses also one of the largest sculpture gardens in Europe, over 160 sculptures, some Rodin works among them.

In Utrecht we checked in at Bunk Hotel, which is a hybrid boutique budget hotel and a designed hostel. Housed in a converted church located in the heart of the city This trendy hotel with a hip restaurant and bar is housed in a converted church located in the heart of the city. Because the weather was windy and winter like and not being able to walk for too long outside, we used the afternoon time to check the indoors of some places.

Stopped by at Utrecht Central, which is the largest and busiest railway station in the Netherlands and has the largest bicycle parking station in the world. Strolled through Hoog Katharijne shopping mall to warm up and then went for dinner to Il Pozzo, a nice Italian restaurant alongside the canal. The following morning the weather was sunny and we were able to walk more through this medieval city and along the canals and see its beautiful St. Martin Cathedral. Unfortunately, one of the Utrecht main attractions, the Dom Tower, was under restoration and we could not visit.

Day visit to Den Hague

We drove from Utrecht to Den Hague with the intent to explore the downtown area and visit one or two of the city’s attractions. One that we really wanted to visit in Den Hague, after we found out about its existence, was Escher Museum. The museum is housed in Lange Voorhout Palace, a former royal residence on three levels and with many rooms decorated with stunning, unique crystal chandeliers designed by the artist Hans van Bentem. The museum features an impressive collection of prints, woodcuts and lithographs of M.C.Escher, one of the most famous graphic artist.

From here we walked about 2 km to Madurodam, a miniature park and a major tourist attraction of Den Hague, where we felt like in Jonathan Swift’s story when Gulliver travelled in Lilliput. The park has hundreds of scale models of bridges, windmills, canals and national landmarks from different places across the country.

Den Hague is the political capital of the Netherlands but also a cultural and diverse city with a busy downtown, museums, restaurants, historical buildings and high-end shopping stores. It has something for everyone and we really enjoyed our day exploring the city.

After returning to Vught we spent the evening watching our friend performing with his band, Rimpelrock, at a pub in town.

A Day in Belgium

The next morning, we were picked up by another good friend from Belgium and spent the last couple of days in company of lifetime friends and visiting the small towns of Lier and Turnhout.

Lier is a quaint medieval town in the province of Antwerp, in Belgium. In the centre of the town is the Market Square surrounded by Flemish buildings full of history. Most notable being the 14^th century Town Hall and the 13^th century St. James’s Chapel or the imposing Saint Gummarus Church. In walking distance from the centre we were able to admire the Zimmer Tower with its famous clock created by Louis Zimmer, an astronomer and clockmaker to the king of Belgium. This old clock displays a large dial in the centre showing the exact time, surrounded by other 12 dials showing other information like the solar cycle, the months, the seasons, the zodiac or the tides. In the pavilion next to the tower is Zimmer Museum but it was closed on Mondays.

A short distance on foot we wandered the streets of Begijnhof district, an UNESCO heritage site. This neighbourhood is made up of old, medieval houses from 13^th century and small cobbled lanes, among them, Hemdsmouwken street, the narrowest of all, being only 98 centimeters wide.

In Turnhout we strolled through the Grote Markt, the central square of the city. We spent little time here on an afternoon, but enough to appreciate St.Peter’s Church that dominates the square.