Holland and Belgium

At our last two ports of call on my recent cruise around the United Kingdom we visited Edam and the countryside of the Netherlands; and Brugge, Belgium. On the internet we discovered that there was a quilt shop in Brugge and it was not far from the center of town. The hours on the website said it would be open during our visit, as did the sign on the shop door. But just as in Belfast, we were disappointed.

Belgium is known for lace, but I think I’ll give that subject it’s own post next week. So… we had a wonderful non-fabric visit to these lovely countries that tended to focus on water and food rather than fiber. I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Our ship docked quite a ways from Amsterdam. We decided that since we’d been to a number of large cities, we’d take an excursion into the countryside of Holland. We drove past dikes and windmills, soaking up the interesting history of this area that was built on mostly water.

The scenery was lovely as we traveled to Edam ~ a city known for cheese!

We enjoyed the architecture along our walking tour and an ice cream treat in a local shop. Then we were taken to a location where they demonstrated the making of cheese.

The tasting room in the shop was delightful, and the history of making wooden shoes was very interesting.

As we exited the shop there was a huge wooden shoe. It was much bigger than the ones I tried on when Wendy and I were in the Netherlands is 2007.

It was a fun day. Then, the last day of our adventure took us to Brugge, and I think it was my favorite destination. There were canals

lined with beautiful homes and gardens.

And the town itself was filled with a variety of lovely shops. My German grandmother (and my mom too) were known for schaum torte ~ a crispy meringue delicacy we top with ice cream and strawberries. In Belgium we found a shop specializing in different flavors of meringues. They looked delicious.

We stopped for morning pastries at a small family run cafe. I indulged in the owner’s wife’s gingerbread cake, made from her grandmother’s recipe. It was amazing.

That afternoon at a cafe along the canal we had our final meal of fish and chips (the Europeans make it so well that we enjoyed it in many different countries on the trip). We were joined by a pair of beautiful swans.

After a visit to a farm market and more wandering, we couldn’t resist one final treat ~ Belgian waffles with ice cream and chocolate. The waffles were crisp on the outside and warm and soft inside. A wonderful finale!

And since we’re talking about food, I have one more photo to share. Our tour guide in Ireland passed around her own Irish Stew recipe. I haven’t tried it yet, but I love that I have it in her own handwriting (please let me know if you decide to try it).

All good things must come to an end. Goodbye from the Norwegian Sky, Marie and I (I’m not sure that’s proper grammar, but it rhymed 🤣)

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PS I had a lovely time teaching for a guild in Champagne, IL this past week. During my lecture I promised I’d share the links to 2 items I talked about in my lecture. Click here for the Bulls Eye Compass (ruler for drawing circles), and for the Yard Stick Compass click here.