European Getaway: Zaanse Schans and Bruges

We awoke bright and early on Saturday morning, packed our stuff, and headed downstairs for a free breakfast we were promised.  This "breakfast" ended up being an assortment of breads (that we could have toasted) and an assortment of spreads.  I did help myself to plenty of juice and cappuccinos though, and toast with peanut butter is always tasty.

We jumped on the coach and drove for thirty minutes.  This is what we saw the entire way there.  Hello Holland.

 Eventually we reached the small town of Zaanse Schans.

Erika and I were immediatley taken with how cute it was.

There were windmills everywhere, and lots of canals.

We were ushered into a shop where we got a live demonstration of how they make their famous wooden clogs.

I learned that the wood they use (poplar) is soaked when they start the carving.

They used to do this all by hand, but now they use a couple of "copy machines" that takes one already finished clog and uses it to shape another.

They wear clogs because they are quite strong (think steel-toed-boot), they are waterproof, light-weight, warm, and comfortable (they wear them with thick woolen socks).

After the demonstration, we were allowed to try some on.

I really wanted to buy some, but they would be a pain to pack, and I don't know what I would do with them once I got home, since I am no trend-setter.

After the clog demonstration, we were taken to another building and given a cheese-making demonstration.

After this was over, we were allowed to sample every single cheese they made.

They were all delicious, I have never tasted cheese like that.  I wish I could have bought them all.

We were given a bit of free time after to explore the town.

Of course we took lots of pictures.

Before we knew it, it was time to get back on the coach.
Our guide put on Iron Man 2 for us as we started our drive to Bruges.

Bruges is in Belgium and was about 3.5 hours away from where we were.

Our guide told us that Bruges was his favorite, and that it is a protected medieval city (meaning nothing can be torn down, and there are strict rules in what can and can't be opened there...no McDonalds in Bruges).

The streets are so narrow that our coach had to park ten minutes out of town and we had to walk in.

There are some cars in the streets of Bruges, but there are also a lot of horses.

We were given a lot of free time to see the beautiful buildings.

And we treated ourselves to a Belgian waffle.

Mine had powdered sugar, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream.

It was amazing, not like our waffles at home, but more like a waffle and a funnel cake had a baby...but not fried.

 

We bought some delicious Belgian chocolates and shopped for our usual souvenirs.

We took more pictures...

...before we were rounded up by our tour guide and put back on the coach.

 

Thankfully we were only a few hours away from the Eurotunnel, our guide put on Knight and Day and when it was over, we were under the ocean, our ears popping, and heading back towards England.

We arrived at customs, easily went through the check, and watched Evan Almighty until we were dropped off at Gatwick airport.  At Gatwick we caught a train (though due to delays and the late hour,  it was super stressful) and managed to make it back to Victoria Station in time to catch the last tube home.