Welcome

Back in February, while laid in bed discussing the future, planning for the coming months, and Charlotte’s visit back to the UK for summer, Chris turned and said “Let’s go”. I quickly jumped on this and told asked Mum and Dad if they would be okay with 2 more visitors, to a resounding “YES!” Plans were made. Passports were ordered. Suitcases were packed. Finally, at the end of May, the day came that Chris got on his first flight since 8th Grade (and first international flight), and we set off for London.

We arrived in London on Saturday lunchtime, after a very comfortable flight. Saturday afternoon was spent wandering the streets around Abbey Road and St John’s Wood, with a bite of dinner at Maroush at Crocker’s Folly, a beautiful Victorian public house with amazing Lebanese food. With full bellies, and sleepy eyes, we headed back to the hotel to sleep off the jet lag, that had taken a firm grip on us by this point.

Sunday morning greeted us with a cup of coffee and off we went to one of my favorite places in London, Royal Botanical Gardens Kew. While London has many parks and gardens of various sizes, Kew is more than just another garden. – it’s a plant lovers paradise and an amazing piece of history. This World Heritage Site was in full bloom, and full of life – from the 170 varieties of roses in the rose garden to the friendly fox hanging around the Orangerie Cafe. We spent several hours wandering the paths and buildings of the gardens, including Kew Palace and, naturally, took our Charlotte to visit Queen Charlotte’s Cottage.

The next day, we headed in to Central London, starting at Camden Market. Chris and Charlotte wanted to hit the flagship Doc Martins store and I wanted to have a poke around an old haunt from a mis-spent youth. After that, we had a change of pace from grunge to classical, and headed to Covent Garden. Finally, we headed to Harrods for a quick poke around the food court before heading back to the hotel for an early night.

Tuesday was spent mostly traveling. We left London behind us (having barely scratched the surface), and sped down the motorway (sort of…it was the M25 after all) to Le Shuttle. 35 minutes under the English Channel and we popped out in France and quickly found ourselves in the beautiful city of Brugge (or Bruges, depending on whether you prefer the French or the Flemish spelling). Growing up, I always saw this as a romantic city, as it was the place my parents’ spent their honeymoon. We checked into the same hotel that they had stayed in over 40 years ago, with a box of Belgian chocolates waiting on the bed, before venturing out into the city to find some dinner. A quiet little bistro off the square provided a delicious dinner of some traditional Belgian cuisine. After dinner, Chris and I went off, hand in hand into the sunset (cameras in the other hands) to explore the city, venturing down main roads and small hidden alleys, and make some romantic memories of our own. The next morning, before leaving, we took a few minutes to explore the market, and of course, hit a couple of my favorite chocolate shops!

While we would have loved to spend more time exploring the squares and side streets of Brugge, we had to leave in a hurry (with plans to make it more of a stop on the next visit), as there was somewhere more magical calling us…. Efteling! Anyone who knows me will have, at some point, had to stop me talking about this place! For those of you that don’t know, Efteling (a World of Wonders) was opened in 1952 as a fairytale and fantasy themed nature park. Over the years, Efteling has grown into a full size theme-park that has kept the fantasy theme to all there attractions. The fairytale forest still exists to this day, while rollercoasters roar for the younger generations on the other side of the park. There is something for everyone. The weather didn’t exactly cooperate for this part of the holiday but even the rain and hail didn’t put a damper on this place. I was so excited I finally got to share my favorite place in the world with Chris, and 3 days did not feel like enough.

After reluctantly leaving Efteling, we had most of Saturday to kill before we had to catch the overnight ferry back to the UK (Rotterdam to Hull), so we headed to explore Delft. Known for its iconic blue and white pottery, and being the birthplace of Johannes Vermeer, Delft has a lot to offer. While it can get a little touristy on the main square, a short walk of the many side streets can provide some more authentic experiences. An antique and a regular market were going on throughout the town so we had a little wander browsing some antiques, (and some less than antiques). One of the local churches was open to the public, so we ran in to escape yet more rain, and appreciate some of the beautiful art. And of course, one more chocolate shop had to be explored before we left the Netherlands.

To be continued….