In April, 2025 Grace and I went for a three-week trip to Belgium and Netherlands. We rented Airbnbs in three cities (Bruges, Utrecht and Haarlem) for about a week each. For the last week in Haarlem we rented a car, which enabled us to explore some of the Dutch countryside. Grace’s main target was the tulips while mine was the beer.
Bruges
Both of us had been to Bruges before and had pleasant memories of the picturesque city. However, this time there were disappointing aspects: the beautiful central square Grote Markt had a hideous amusement park dominating much of the formerly quaint square and the busloads of tour groups did not add to the city’s charm.
The Belfry in Bruges. I to avoid including the amusement rides on the right.
Panorama of the Grote Markt taken over by an amusement park!
The tower of our Airbnb
Zonnekemeers Gate
The Beguinhof with daffodils
Sunrise over the rooftops of Bruges
City Hall
The famous Michelangelo marble statue known as the “Madonna of Bruges” in the Church of Our Lady. This is one of the two works featured in the “Monuments Men” story (see below)
Church of Our Lady from the canal ride
From the canal ride
Jan van Eykeplein from the canal
Denizen along the canal
The horse-drawn carriages are popular conveyances
Chimney decoration marking an architect’s house
Canal view in Bruges in the blue hour
Ghent
We met up with our good friends Philip and Christa in Ghent, approximately half-way between their residence in Leuven and Bruges. Aside from sharing two meals with our friends, the highlight of the day in Ghent was to see the famous altarpiece The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb.
View from the Belfry in Ghent of the square and St. Bavos Cathedral.
The altarpiece of the St. Bavos Cathedral in Ghent is a large, complex and famous masterpiece of 15th century Belgian art by Hubert and Jan van Eyck completed in 1432. It consists of 12 interior panels (shown below) and 5 back panels which are seen from behind or when the panels are closed. The altarpiece is considered to be one of the most well-known and important artworks in the world. It has been described as the first major oil painting. As such, it also has the dubious distinction of being the art work most stolen in world history and has had a fascinating history. It is one of the featured art works, along with the Madonna of Bruges (see above) in the Monuments Men saga.
In 1934 two of the panels were stolen though one was returned by the unknown thief. The remaining panel “The Just Judges” (lower left of the bottom row) has never been recovered and has been replaced by a copy. The present location of the original has been a mystery with many different claims. One of the more intriguing claims is that the panel is buried at a specific point in Ghent based on words scribbled on the last of a series of ransom notes found after the death of a local.
The Ghent Altarpiece or Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (Lam Got).
Posing in front of the St. Bavos Cathedral
Carillon drum in the Bekfry Tower in Ghent
Utrecht
Utrecht is a charming university town that has an unusual canal system. The canals have two levels: a lower water level and an upper one at street level. In the olden days, the structures at the canal level were warehouses for storing the merchandise shipped on the canal. But now, the only thing on the canal are tourists so the warehouses have largely been converted to cafes.
By far our favorite Airbnb on this trip was the one in Utrecht because it was right on the canal and at water level. On the nice days we could sit in our living room and watch the kayakers and boats go by. Unfortunately the weather was on the cool side.
The view out of the front door of our Airbnb. Note the small incline across the canal, which functions as a ladder (see below).
The alleyway to our Airbnb, just wide enough for a bike.
Our Airbnb is the yellow house.
Dom Tower of Utrecht
Scenic bridge
Domplein of St. Martin’s Cathedral from the Dom Tower n Utrecht. The open area between the Cathedral and Tower previously had the nave of the church, which was destroyed in a tornado in 1674 and never rebuilt.
Dom Tower in Utrecht from the canal
A ladder for ducklings. When young, the ducklings are not able to fly up from the water onto the ledge so the Dutch have provided ladders.
In this area near downtown most of the canal level houses have been converted to cafes, which are crowded with people when the weather is nice.
Leiden
From Utrecht we took a day-trip to Leiden using the very convenient train system. We visited the University museum and the Botanical Garden. The Garden is famous because it is here that the tulip was introduced to the Netherlands from Turkey in the 1500s by Carolus Clusius, who was the first prefect of the University of Leiden Botanical Garden. He is credited with laying the foundation of the tulip industry in Holland.
There is an impressive collection of carniverous plants in the Botanical Garden.
Alkmaar
From Haarlem we drove to Alkmaar on Friday morning to see the historical and lively Cheese Market which has been held since the 1600s. Workers are dressed in traditional costumes and use the traditional implements to weigh, transport and sell the cheese. It is a lively and fun event to witness.
The women sell packets of cheese to the tourists.
The sea gulls are also interested in the action.
The color of the hats designate which cheese guild they belong to.
The Cheese Market has been going on for a long time!
Zaanse Schans
An old preserved town that is famous for its windmills. However, its popularity has detracted from its quaintness as the crowds of tourists have made it very commercial.
The traditional Dutch wooden clog
Madurodam
We drove to den Haag to visit Madurodam, the famous miniature displays of well-known sites in Holland.
Rijksmuseum depicted in Madurodam
The depiction of the Alkmaar Cheese Market in Madurodam
The Alkmaar Cheese Market
Olde windmills at Stompwijk
For photographic subjects in Holland, olde windmills were high on my list of targets. We had gone to Zaanse Schans expressly to see the windmills but that was like going to Disneyland to photograph Bambi in the wild. While the windmills were indeed old, it was just too commercial. We also saw a windmill or two in Haarlem and Leiden.
On the drive back to Haarlem from den Haag, though, Grace spotted 3 traditional olde windmills off in the distance as we were driving on the A4 Expressway. After a moment’s hesitation I decided to leave our GPS-directed path to try to find the windmills since it was near sunset and the light was good. However, we didn’t have any idea of exactly where we were or where the windmills were. After driving around rather aimlessly and without seeing any windmills, I was about to give up when Grace suggested using Google to help. So looking for “old windmills near me” struck gold! We managed to find what are called the Molendriegang (three windmills, duh!!) in a small town Stompwijk.
Koningsdag
The day we went to Madurodam happened to fall on a big Dutch holiday, Koningsdag, or the King’s Day. Everywhere there were decorations (orange!!) and in the evening wild parties. We decided to stop in the university town of Delft thinking it might be a bit quieter in a university town. But no, Delft was just as riotous as everywhere else.
Koningsdag in Delft
Aftermath the next morning in Haarlem
Noordoostpolder tulip fields
We drove from Haarlem north to the Afsluitdijk dike that spans the North Sea for 20 miles and connects to the Flevoland, the northeastern part of the country. Our friend Geke had recommended driving out here to see the tulip fields, which we had not seen near Haarlem.
The Afsluitdijk is a 32 km long dike that separates the Wadden Sea from the IJsselmeer in the Netherlands. Built largely by hand and completed in 1932, it is one of this country’s engineering highlights. The Afsluitdijk has been protecting the Netherlands from the sea for 90 years now.
Tulip Festival
Beginning in Emmeloord, we followed the route of the Tulip Festival which took us to the towns of Espel, Creil, ando Rutten, among others. There were places where the tulip blooms seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see.
De Adriaan Molen in Haarlem
Cathedral of St. Bavo, Haarlem
St. Jacob church in Haarlem. Note the sunstar in the tree
Texel
Geke’s brother Rint and his wife Tjit live and work on the island Texel north of Amsterdam. I had met him once in Madison when he came to visit Geke. We met on the ferry boat
On the ferry to Texel
Rint worked on the ferry so we had access to see the cockpit. This is the one at the rear of the ferry, so not in use in this leg. We also took a look at the one in front.
Rint and Tjit took us for a tour of the very impressive waterworks (dikes) of the island.
Texel lighthouse
Oosterend, Texel
Oosterend, Texel
Oosterend, Texel
Kuekenhof
On a trip to see tulips in the Netherlands, the famous Kuekenhof Garden is unmissable. I had never seen it but this was Grace’s third time. The weather was warm, it was pretty crowded. and the tulips were spectacular.
Amsterdam
On our final day we took the train from Haarlem to Amsterdam. Unfortunately, this simple trip was a bit of a hassle because they were fixing the track. We had to take a bus our of Haarlem, which took us to some transfer station where we boarded the train. This should be a simple 30 minute trip but it ended up taking an hour.
In Amsterdam our main goal was to visit the Rijksmuseum and to take a canal ride. We also had a bit of bad luck in that the Night Watch painting by Rembrandt, the jewel of the Rijksmuseum was being retouched, so the image was blocked by some fancy machinery.
One of many canals in Amsterdam
Amsterdam Centraal Station from the canal ride
Montelbaans Tower
Amsterdam canal scene