After a few hours on a peaceful European countryside drive we reached the city of Bruges. For those that have never visited, Bruges is a tiny little Netherlands city often referred to as “the Venice of the Netherlands”. The city itself is comprised of old Flemish style buildings and little canals much like many of the cities in this part of the Netherlands. Being a Sunday most shops were closed and yet the streets were full of people, some tourist, some locals. The crisp morning air was only broken by the reverberation of the church bells hanging in several old cathedral style churches located throughout the city. With no itinerary we joined the others and began walking deeper into the city, stopping occasionally to window shop, look at the merchandise of a street vendor, or to gaze across one of the many canals.
After a quick lunch of chicken, pommes frites and a local beer we piled back into the car and started towards the Keukenhof. The plan was to drive near, but not into the park, in hopes of finding a cheaper, quieter place to stay. Staying away from the old fashioned map this trip we relied on our GPS to make navigating much easier.
Reaching the city we switched the GPS orientation from locating the city center to nearby hotels. Approaching the nearest one it was far from the local bed and breakfast we were hoping for. With fine dining and its own exotic animal farm, this hotel was closer to a 4 star hotel than someone’s couch. Back in the car we plugged in hotel number two in hopes of finding something closer to what we were looking for. Leaving the city the GPS took us back into the Dutch countryside. Turing down a one lane road the drive was beautiful. Trees arching high above the stream lined road, passing by lush green fields filled with giant rabbits and finely manicured horses. Taking the last turn we approached a 10 foot non-scalable fence equipped with an amazing gate and a armed guard. Probably not the small quaint hotel we were looking for but my mother got out to inquire anyways. It turns out this was not your ordinary hotel and rather we stumbled upon Willem-Alexander’s summer home. For those of you that do not know Willem-Alexander personally he happens to be the Prince of the Netherlands and the heir to the Dutch throne. Needless to say the guard did not invite us in for tea or offer us a room in the Princes absence. I am not sure how priceless is defined in the dictionary but someone should ask Webster if this counts.
"Europe" Pictures
Blake
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