Watching Federer live at Wimbledon Center Court is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a tennis fan. I hit this bucket list item this July and still feel elated by the experience.
Our family of four arrived in Europe, on different flights from three US cities, a week before the Wimbledon tournament. We thoughtfully selected a few “easy” European cities near London to spare the week.
As empty-nesters, my husband and I are always happy that our children join us in our trip. The four of us visited the progressive Amsterdam as well as the beautiful Belgium cities of Ghent, Brussels and Bruges.
In Amsterdam, we visited the historic Ann Frank house on the first day. It is hard to not be wretched by what had happened to the family and the millions Jews during World World II. Have we treated similar racial persecution in the modern world with indifference? The museum is very well organized and there has been visible effort to keep the house intact for all these years. As if a way to lighten up our heart, there are tons of canal cruises just right outside of the museum. We did the canal cruise, tulip museum, cheese museum after before briefly strolled in the red light district.
On the second day in Amsterdam, each of us went different routes – my daughter went to the arts museum, my son rented a bike to get out of the city while their parents thoroughly enjoyed the tourist-favorite Van Gogh Museum – four people three itineraries on the same day. Is this the new definition of family travelling together?
On the third day, we took the Thalys train from Amsterdam to Ghent in Belgium. Going between countries in Europe is as simple as going between cities in the Bay Area.
Our airbnb in Ghent is a 15-minutes walk from the train station. It fit perfectly the description of a (better) home away from home. It is spacious, comfortable and beautiful, and we had the whole 3-story home with a fully equipped kitchen. The thoughtful host provided all kinds of tips from restaurant to bakeries to groceries. She lives right across the street, and we could not ask for a more accessible host. In the three days there, every morning I walked that few minutes to get freshly baked croissants and pastries, while watching the locals bike to school or work. I could almost reminisce what life could be like in the quiet town in the medieval times. A good breakfast gave us the perfect fuel for our day-trips with Ghent as our base.
We spent the next day in Brussels. Brussels is among the most beautiful European cities and a city of significance for the EU establishment.. The Garden of Mont Des Arts is spectacular and the Grand Place is impressive with so many eye-catching architecture buildings. I would have loved to just sit in a cafe at the Grand Place to appreciate the city but there are so many other cities worth visiting.
Next day, we took the train to Bruges, a medieval town that is every single bit worth visiting. We went up the 300+ staircase to the top of the Belfry Tower and truly appreciated the engineering work of the clock tower which informed the medieval inhabitants the time of the day and synchronized their schedule. Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice lunch at the fairy tale like Market Square, then visited Basilica of the Holy Blood. There could be so many photo-stops in Bruges, but I would remember very favorably the hour my children and I sipped hot chocolate together at the Old Chocolate House.
I enjoyed Amsterdam and Belgium cities, and would like to spend more time in these two countries. My husband and I are ready to move on to Wimbledon.
Also my own blog for the once-in-a-lifetime Wimbledon experience, and this blog for more of this 2019 trip.
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[…] travelled to five countries Netherland (Amsterdam), Belgium (Ghent, Brussels, Bruges), UK (Wimbledon, London), Portugal (Lisbon, Madeira) plus a few places in the US (Indian Wells, LA, […]