June, 2024. We were all packed up, movers had shipped all of our stuff back to the states and we had exactly one week to squeeze in one FINAL trip before flying back to the states for good. After 5+ glorious years living overseas in Hungary and Belgium, our hearts were stuffed full of experiences. Our motto was “don’t take a single moment for granted,” so this was the last moment we had to harness. We were so lucky to have my parents, Nannie and Pappi, along for the trip, so we decided to visit places they had yet to explore in their wordly travels: The Netherlands! I knew they would fall in love just as we had before. I’m so glad we could return one last time to visit these Dutch gems (namely Amsterdam) – but also see a few new places that were on our bucket list. D and I love love LOVE traveling with our parents as they’re such positive, curious, joyful companions. In sharing these experiences, we are deeply enriched. So where did we go?

ITINERARY

(Click to jump to each day)

• Day 1: Mons Belgium to Utrecht, NL. Visit Castle de Haar, dinner on the road. Stay Doubletree Soestduinen.
• Day 2: Breakfast at hotel, Maria Cheese Farm, then Amsterdam to Volkshotel. Explore Albert Cuyp market, try Rudi’s Original Stroopwafels, dinner at Fou Fow Ramen, evening tour of Anne Frank House.
• Day 3: Breakfast with Private Canal Cruises (boat Singel 250), This is Holland experience, NEMO Museum (snacks), dinner at hotel, evening Heineken brewery tour (just adults).
• Day 4: Breakfast at hotel, downtown walk around (red light district, Damrak), visit Rijksmuseum, MOCO Museum/ARTIS Royal Zoo (split up), dinner reservations at Bussia.
• Day 5: Breakfast at hotel (visit with Air Force friends), drive to Zaanse Schans to explore windmills, check into Zuhause Juliandorp apartment then go to the beach for dinner at Paal 6.
• Day 6: Ferry to Texel island for the day, rent bikes and ride all around, enjoy stopping at cafes and bakeries and take in the scenery, stay second night in Juliandorp.
• Day 7: Juliandorp to Delft for Royal Delft tour. Then end the trip in Antwerp for the night.

Day 1: Castle de Haar

As we weren’t able to hit the highway until the afternoon, we decided to make only one stop on the first day, and it was at Kasteel de Haar, the largest castle in the Netherlands. This incredible palatial estate has a rich history we were eager to learn more about. We parked in the lot and went to the park to enjoy our picnic late lunch before entering the castle during our time slot. We saw swans and deer in the park! The large courtyard is quite welcoming with two little eateries and bathrooms. We noticed a wedding party was there as we were leaving!

The castle is called de Haar because it dates back to 1391 when the De Haar family owned it until 1440 when the last living de Haar family member died with no heirs. Although the property switched hands, was burned down and re-built in 1482, and eventually expanded in the 1600’s, it remained known as Castle de Haar. The castle continued to switch hands in various “bequeathed” circumstances and by 1887 the owner Étienne Gustave Frédéric, 3rd Baron van Zuylen van Nyevelt van de Haar (now that’s a mouthful!) married Baroness Hélène de Rothschild of the famous Rothschild family, and the castle began its modern day restoration thanks to the riches of the Rothschilds. The restoration took 20 years to complete and is what we see today. This new castle boasted the most modern electrical, heating and functional gadgets and even today still houses the country’s largest collection of copper pots.

As you can see, the castle has a traditional fortress feel with spires, ramparts, a drawbridge and even a moat! It was designed by Architect Pierre Cuypers (famous for his designs of the Rijksmuseum and the Central Station in Amsterdam). Inside, the grand foyer is reminiscent of an ornate Catholic church with its vaulted ceilings, open atrium feel and stained glass. But look closely – there are Stars of David on the balconies of the knight’s hall that are a nod to the Rothschild family. Today there is memorabilia everywhere making this castle a treasured museum honoring the lavish lifestyle of the Baron and Baroness. Today the castle is maintained by the Kasteel de Haar foundation as there are no longer heirs who are interested in its upkeep or use.

Of special note, Hélène van Zuylen (formerly Rothschild) was disavowed by her mother for marrying the Roman Catholic van Zuylen. Interestingly enough, she was also a well documented lesbian, which would have enraged her mother even further. Her closest companion and discrete lover was a poet, Renée Vivien, who dedicated most of her writings to Hélène. Apparently it didn’t bother van Zuylen that his wife had a female lover. They lived a luxurious lifestyle, hosting lavish parties and inviting famous people to visit like Coco Chanel, Maria Callas, Roger Moore, Yves Saint Laurent and Brigitte Bardot.

There is no clear answer as to the value of this property but it’s clear to me after the visit that it is truly priceless. I’m always left awestruck by the sheer luxury of castles, but to imagine that this was a hopping place during WWI and part of WWII (until the Nazis stole valuable art and belongings) truly is mind boggling. The way it is set up today shows how the couple lived – truly wanting for nothing. Inside we learned about ghost stories and superstitions of the castle as well as little historic tidbits told by enthusiastic caretakers. This place is truly a must-visit! Apparently it’s a popular spot for wedding photos as well…

Castle de Haar info: Parking is €7.50 and tickets are € 19/adult and € 12,50/child, under age 4 is free. With castle tickets comes access to the grounds and gardens, and we had a picnic in the gardens overlooking the castle before taking our tour. Pets are allowed in the park but not in the castle. This is not a stroller friendly place (baby wearing is necessary) or wheelchair accessible castle throughout. When you get a ticket, you have a time slot and you must enter during that time slot. Bathrooms are in the courtyard as well as eateries.

That evening we checked into the Doubletree by Hilton Soestduinen which was a delightful surprise. It is located just outside of Utrecht (so we didn’t get to explore the city – next time!) in the countryside. We wish we could’ve stayed here longer! What a great spot with a pool, game rooms, beautiful layout and marvelous breakfast. It was truly a unique place that charmed us at totally reasonable rates! Bonus that it was pet friendly and had free parking.

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Day 2: Amsterdam

After a delicious breakfast at the hotel, we departed early and headed north. Our first stop was one we knew and loved: Clara Maria Clog & Cheese farm. We knew we wanted to stock up on some Gouda cheese and check out the clog making process once again. It was very special that the kids could go into the barn, see the new calves and feed the cows, too! We stocked up on a whole host of cool souvenirs and taste tested cheeses until we were blew in the face. Not dad, though…he had enough after one taste. When they asked him if he’d like to try another sample he said, “No thanks. I like my cheese with crackers and coke.” We all stopped dead in our tracks, doubled over with laughter at the absurdity of that response, and decided that had to be the quote of the trip. We still tease him about it today – he will never outlive that ridiculous comment!

The farm is just a hop skip to the city, so next we headed into Amsterdam to check into our hotel. Once again we were thrilled to find family friendly, affordable rooms at Volkshotel. This hotel is pet friendly, has parking, is close to the metro, has a beautiful rooftop breakfast (added charge but worth it), comfortable rooms, free rooftop hot tubs, and a great little cafe downstairs with game rooms for families. It was perfect for us! We all loved the quirky atmosphere too. It’s oh-so-Amsterdam!

After getting checked in, we headed straight into town on the metro. The stop was right outside our hotel and super easy to navigate. We went to Albert Cuypstrauss to the market where we grabbed mandatory stroopwafel at Rudi’s Original Stroopwafels (hands down the best and freshest ever), frozen drinks, shopped a little bit, the kids played at the park, and then we met up for dinner at Fou Fow Ramen. Always a treat!

We needed to eat before our allotted tour time at the Anne Frank House at 6:30. We arrived just in time to enter the famous, always sold-out, must-see historic treasure of Amsterdam.

The Anne Frank House is the home where Anne, author of the renowned Holocaust autobiography “Diary of a Young Girl,” and her family hid from the Nazis for two years. From 1942-1944, Anne, her parents, her older sister and four family friends lived inside a tiny apartment known as the “secret annex” hidden behind a bookcase and located in the back of the building where Otto, Anne’s father, worked. Anne was 13 years old when she moved into that tiny apartment, and 15 when she and her family were arrested. Anne eventually died of illness in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after spending time in Auschwitz with her sister. Anne’s father Otto survived the war and spent his life memorializing his daughter through her diary and the lives of his family through the Anne Frank Stichting which sought to preserve the building where they were hidden for so long. After visiting, we were surprised actually by how much space there was in the annex. No photos are allowed inside, but the impression the museum and adjacent annex left on all of us was palpable. This is a must-experience spot in Amsterdam.

Anne Frank House info: Ticket reservations are a must – they sell out way ahead but are only available six weeks in advance. Mark your calendar! Adults are € 16, 10-17 year olds are € 7 and 0-9 year olds are only € 1. This is not a handicap accessible place, but there is a nice bookstore at the end and restrooms as well. There is no food allowed in the museum.

After that incredibly full day, we were happy to retire to our hotel where D and I went up on the roof to enjoy a sunset hot tub soak as the kids were falling asleep. Phew! What a day! To get a quick image of that sunset hot tub and more from our trip, check out this reel.

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Day 3: Amsterdam

Our second full day in Amsterdam started out fancy! We walked down along the canals to reach our chartered boat and breakfast tour with Luxury Canal Cruises. They took SUCH good care of us in the Saloon Boat Style.

It wasn’t a cheap experience, but we split it and were happy to splurge for this once in a lifetime tour. They took care of everything – we just showed up canal side and were whisked off on a long luxe tour through the best canals of the city. We stopped to pick up breakfast from a nearby restaurant where we went in quickly to use the restroom and our plates was waiting for us on the boat when we returned. Our guide answered questions and shared info as we passed significant spots. It was such a treat! If you can swing it, the experience was definitely a treat! I also would recommend doing this as an evening dinner cruise with adults. We have done a more budget-friendly group canal boat tour which is find in a pinch, but we found it very basic with an audio recording for a “guide” and 50 people squished together in uncomfortable seats. The private tour is the way to go!

After the delightful breakfast boat tour we walked over to the A’DAM lookout (something we would’ve done if we had more time) to This is Holland. Because we purchased a two day I AM Amsterdam pass*, this experience was included and we didn’t want to miss it. We didn’t really know what to expect and were very pleasantly surprised to find that it was every bit as fun and exciting as a Disney ride. It felt like you were flying all through the country! It was also informative as we learned a ton about the Netherlands. I am so glad we did it – although I am not sure I would’ve crossed the main canal just for this and paid for it separately. Since it was included in our pass, it was a no brainer. The photos that they took are hilarious and we still laugh about them today!

This is Holland info: € 23.50 per person (approx 1 hour). You can combine the ticket with the A’DAM lookout and swing for additional cost. For more info click here.

Note on I AM Amsterdam pass: This is a great option if you want to squeeze a lot into a short period of time. You can purchase 24 or 48 hour passes or even longer. Metro is covered as are tons of museums and experiences plus discounts at other places. I added it up and decided it was worth it if we were able to visit a certain amount of places. Definitely consider your optimum pace and goals when deciding if this is right for you!

From This is Holland we managed to screw up royally on the metro and ended up way outside city limits in some random fields when we were just trying to reach the Nemo Science Museum. HA! We figured things out and made it there eventually, but it was a moment we definitely had to laugh off. We were all pretty wiped by the time we made it to Nemo, but once again the tickets were free with our city pass so we were happy to enter and hang out while the kids ran around exploring. It was also a great place to grab a bite to eat and sit on the upper deck overlooking the city. We love Nemo! If you have kids, it’s an absolute must.

Nemo Science Museum Info: Get tickets online here. €17.50 age 4+ one full day entry. Visit the museum early (opens at 10am-5:30pm) and plan to have lunch there – bring a lunch and store it in the free lockers or enjoy something from the rooftop terrace. There are four floors of fun at the NEMO, and at 11AM they have a chain reaction demo in the atrium area that’s not to be missed. Our kids especially loved the science lab and our youngest did every single experiment there for over an hour! We could have easily spent 4-5 hours here but were happy with just a couple of hours in the afternoon for our return visit.

Everyone agreed we were pooped after a long day of boating, adventure, wandering and museums so we headed back to the hotel to wash up and rest up. The kids had dinner at the hotel with Nannie and Pappi, and D and I rode back into town (limitless metro with the city card!) to tour the Heineken Brewery! We had wanted to do this before, but it’s very strict and children are not allowed. I’m so glad we had a chance to do this and learn to appreciate Heineken beer even more! One thing I’d like to note about the Heineken experience is that it definitely felt like it was tailored to a young college crowd. The tour was well orchestrated with all kinds of lights and sounds and visuals, and everything was great until we reached the end of the tour where there was a rooftop bar (fairly cool) and a club-like bar where the floor was super sticky and gross and smelled like beer just like old trashy clubs. I wish they cleaned it but could tell it was a gathering place and people were definitely there to get drunk. We moved along pretty quickly and wanted to give a fair warning to the 40+ somethings crowd who might not dig the grungy college bar scene.

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Day 4: Amsterdam

After a delicious buffet breakfast at the rooftop of Volkshotel, we headed downtown to walk through some of the more famous streets, canals and districts. We made sure to see Damrak (large canal with tour boats and lines of colorful houses below), the Red Light District (always better to walk through during the morning if you have kids as it’s fairly tame and most of it will go right over their heads), Royal Place and Dam Square, pointing out silly shops and explaining to the kids, “this is what marijuana smells like.” Amsterdam is an educational place for sure!

Then it was time to make the most of our I Am Amsterdam city cards and hit up museums! We went straight to the Rijksmuseum together to check out the famous Rembrandts and Vermeers.

The Rijksmuseum is the largest art museum in the Netherlands with over 8,000 pieces of art and artifacts displayed of the 1 million stored in their collection. The collection started over 200 years ago but was housed at various places as it grew and grew. Then, in 1885 Pierre Cuypers built this incredible building to house the museum (along with another of his masterpieces, Castle de Haar). The works here celebrate art from the year 1200 to 2000, most notably the Dutch Golden Age of art.

The Rijksmuseum has an interactive audioguide with tiny screen to help guide you through the museum. There is a setting for kids as well to help keep them engaged. This is a much different art museum than the ones we have visited elsewhere. We found it difficult to navigate at times, but very open and airy and beautiful! Downstairs is a huge collection of wooden model ships that blew my mind, as well as a creatively displayed collection of old armaments and pottery. My favorite section, however, was the old library. We weren’t allowed to get close to the books but we could admire its grandeur from above! (See below.)

Rijksmuseum Info: Adult tickets for the museum are € 22.50, and age 18 and under are free. For more info and to purchase tickets, click here.

After finishing up at the Rijks, we split up because all of these places were included on our I Am Amsterdam pass, so we figured why not? Our youngest went with daddy to the Artis Royal Zoo and the rest of us headed over to the Moco museum by way of the food trucks to grab a bite to eat first. The Moco was a festival for the eyes! It’s such a unique place – I loved it! All the modern art that really pushed the norms and boundaries. I loved how it all made me think!

Moco is an independent museum that purports to host a wide range of proven inspiring modern, contemporary, and street art. There is also a Moco in Barcelona and one opening in August 2024 in London! Famous artists featured include Banksy, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, KAWS, Jeff Koons, Yayoi Kusama, Andy Warhol and Studio Irma among many others. I really loved the work by The Kid! One thing these works had in common is that they offered social and cultural commentary. It’s impossible to go here and not be wowed, moved or shocked!

Info on MOCO in Amsterdam: Tickets are €21 for adults and €16 for age 7-17. Youth 0-6 are free! Early or late in the day slots can receive up to a €5 discount so check online and be sure to enter at your time slot! This museum is housed in an old mansion and therefore has minimal bathrooms. There are three floors and it is not wheelchair accessible.

The Artis Royal Zoo was a hit with our 8 year old! She and daddy spent about 3 hours wandering around enjoying the exhibits. Artis is the fifth oldest zoo in the world and of course the oldest in Amsterdam, with a famous botanical garden motif and a built in aquarium, planetarium, micropia (like a museum of microbes) and arboretum! Fun (actually sad) fact: the last quagga in captivity died in 1883 in this zoo after being hunted into extinction just prior to that. Besides the reptiles, our little one really loved the sloths!

Between museums and dinner we wandered the streets grabbing a bubble tea and teaching dad how to use the public urinals (Amsterdam is so creative). These streets are so charming and unique – even with tired feet, they never get old! The ‘Dam doesn’t disappoint when it comes to tulips and bicycles. It’s also known for cheese of course (mostly Gouda), house boats, stroopwafels, poffertjes, clogs, legalized marijuana sold in “coffee shops,” legalized prostitution in the Red Light District, and generally chill, happy people. The food here is great, the locals are very friendly, and it’s a very safe city. I can’t wait to go back!

That evening we had dinner reservations at one of my favorite bakeries-slash-restaurants, Bussia! We had visited several times before on each of our previous trips to the city and I had always wanted to try dinner here (reservations required). It was absolutely fabulous! The location, the service, and the food was just divine. I also highly recommend returning during the day for the most amazing focaccia bread and a sun bun. Bussia for the win!

Check out that feast! The adults enjoyed the five course meal and the kids were happy ordering off the menu. We ended up getting an Uber home as we were all exhausted from a big day of walking and exploring topped with full, happy bellies and a few cocktails.

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Day 5: Zaanse Schans

Our last morning in Amsterdam was such a treat. We reconnected with Air Force friends we hadn’t seen since 2010! They had a full family now and we shared a beautiful buffet breakfast at our hotel rooftop with them. There is nothing quite like international assignments to bring people together! They’re in the UK and we were in Belgium and we met in Amsterdam. How about that!

Before leaving the city, I didn’t want to miss this moving National Slavery Monument located in Oosterpark. The Dutch have an incredibly sordid history around colonization and slavery and it could be argued that they are among the largest to fuel the slave trade. The amount of wealth accumulated due to slavery is astonishing, and the Netherlands is just beginning to reckon with its past. Here is more information about this monument and what the Dutch are doing for memory work: NiNsee.

After breakfast we made our way north of the city to Zaanse Schans. This famous landmark is known for its windmills and adorable village with a museum, workshops (clogs, barrel making and pewter), bakeries and mini museums. There are paths for walking and plenty of wildlife to admire. This place is meant to imitate the look of an 18th-19th century village. Inside the museum there is an interactive exhibit in Dutch chocolate making as well as traditional costumes and model windmills. This is an iconic place for sure, but I will say one visit was probably enough for us.

The canals with wooden houses and windmills are picturesque. This is a touristy spot for sure and costs to enter. It is included in the I Am Amsterdam card though!

We tasted various cheeses, did some shopping, watched clog makers, and had the most delicious cinnamon apple hand pies (they called beignets) and wandered the paths by the windmills. I also enjoyed learning about pewter making!

After a couple of hours visiting with the famous windmills, we drove all the way up the peninsula to Juliandorp to our air bnb apartment. This was a perfect place to stay knowing we would be doing a turn and burn to Texel island the next day via the ferry. That evening we went to the nearby Juliandorp beach for dinner at Paal 6 (get reservations). What a treat to enjoy seafood on the beach while the kids played in the sand!

Seeing the beach put everything in perspective. It’s easy to think of the Netherlands as a canal-happy flatland, but it actually has lots of beautiful beaches, too! We would be experiencing more of those the next day…

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Day 6: Texel

We awoke to catch the 9:30 ferry from Den Helder to ‘t Horntje on Texel Island. The ferry took about 20 minutes and was just lovely! We made the mistake of grabbing breakfast on the huge ferry and barely having time to eat it, so we stuffed most of it in our packs. We also made the mistake of missing the bus at the ferry terminal on Texel, not realizing it was 4km (2 ish miles) to the Vermeulen bike shop where we reserved our cycles. Whoops! We pivoted and called a cab company to bring us to the bike shop and that worked just fine for all of us, although next time I would recommend renting bikes right there at the ferry terminal at Rijwielverhuur Veerhaven Texel even if their ratings weren’t as high as Vermeulen. We absolutely loved our bike shop – they called us ahead of time once we made reservations to be sure we understood where they were located and help me pay. They also asked me questions about our bike choices and ended up changing the bike for my 77 year old dad to a recumbent trike so it was safer for him.

The landscape on Texel is fairly flat with just a few dune-like hills. The bike paths were paved for the most part and easy to follow with phone gps. We had previous experience biking on another nearby Dutch island, Terschelling (read all about it here) so we knew a bit of what to expect. Our plan was to hit up the main town within biking distance (Den Burg) and find bakeries, cafes and shops. We ended up making a full triangle between Den Hoorn, Den Burg and the beach.

We made our way to Den Burg and parked our bikes as we could tell right away this was a place we wanted to explore on foot. We found a delightful bakery cafe in Den Burg called Texelse Branding. It had amazing coffee and delicious breakfast and sandwiches. It’s such a cute place with indoor and outside seating. Check out these plates!

There were also lots of adorable shops and we spent over an hour wandering around the charming streets looking for souvenirs. My mom was in heaven! She also loves a good European apothecary. Go figure! Good thing our bicycles had baskets…

From there we continued onto the beach, finding parking nearby and allowing the girls to kick around in the super low tide sand. We had so much fun on those bikes! We were hoping the beach pavillion was open but apparently this restaurant is permanently closed. It’s too bad – it would be incredible beachfront dining!

On our way back to Den Hoorn and our little bike shop we managed to find a little cafe to stop and rest and have drinks. We only biked around 10 miles (we did double that easily on Terschelling) but we took our time and enjoyed the scenery, progressive eating, and family time! I just love the feeling on those islands. The energy is much more relaxed and laid back…it feels like a real vacation up in the Friesian Islands!

Info on bicycle rentals: Vermeulen Bikes or Rijwielverhuur Veerhaven Texel Expect to pay around €12.50 for an adult bicycle for one day, €9.50/children’s bike, or a specialty electric recumbent trike like my dad had, about €59. An electric bike goes for about €27. I’d say that’s worth it for a day of fun!

Ferry Info here. The most important thing to know is it’s super cheap to travel as pedestrians on the ferry – only €2.50 per person round trip! This includes a wheelchair, luggage AND pet! Children under 4 are free.

We returned our bikes and jumped in the cab again to make it back to the ferry by 5pm. We timed our day based on the ferry schedule as D had to get back to the mainland to catch a train from Juliandorp that evening to Belgium to check us out of the base back there – we were moving “home” to the states in just a couple of days! If we didn’t have such strict parameters we would’ve spent longer than 7 hours on the island but all in all it was a positively delightful day! No one wiped out on their bike (notice no one had helmets) and we all were better off having soaked in all that delicious island air. We were really lucky it didn’t rain on us (it started to sprinkle on our ferry back to Den Helder) and even luckier to have pizza ordered and waiting for us when we arrived back at the apartment. Score!

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Day 7: Delft

Technically we could wrap up this trip on day six, but we had one more bonus day to squeeze in a little more traditional Dutch exploring. On our way back south to Belgium we visited Delft. This adorable Dutch town is famous for the Royal Delft ceramic factory and museum. I had heard the museum was not to be missed, so we made it a priority.

Inside we first dined at the sweet little cafe. It has a small but tasty menu and everything is served on beautiful Royal Delftware!

Next, with audioguides in tow, we made our way through the museum that had several different areas including a historic interactive exhibit, rooms full of Delftware explaining the significance of each item, a warehouse full of tiles and a massive workshop where the actual ceramists and artists were cooking and painting these beautiful masterpieces. We learned that this style of pottery originated in 1600, evolved a bit over the first 100 years and has continued until today. These Royal Delft Blue pieces were heavily inspired by Chinese and Japanese ceramics of the 17th century, brought back to the Netherlands by the Dutch East India Company. Today Delftware is still considered among the most valuable and coveted by the wealthy and royalty.

I was blown away by the life size Rembrandt replica hand painted by Delft artists as well as the room full of vases and flowers. They definitely have the niche market with tulip vases! So unique! Mom and I grabbed one of the smaller, more affordable versions for our home collection. Real Delftware does not come cheap!

The most expensive item on the Royal Delft website is a color version of the huge tulip pyramid vase (above and to the left) – ringing up at over €28,500! Below are photos of what the painting process looks like. Before the final firing of an item, the artist paints in layers ever so carefully, and the paint appears black on the white ceramic. Once fired it becomes bright blue. The symbol and signature is what makes a Royal Delft piece of pottery authentic.

Royal Delft Museum info: Tickets are €15 for adults, €9 for youth age 13-18, €7 for children age 7-12 and free under the age of 7. It took us about an hour to go through the museum and we spent around two hours there total eating, touring and shopping.

After the tour we headed into downtown Delft to see if we could find wooden tulips and Royal Delftware on sale. There were plenty of shops to choose from but nothing was quite what we were looking for. Still, the main square in Delft is marvelous! Don’t miss it if you’re in town!

From Delft it was only a 90 minute drive to Antwerp in Belgium. Let’s dive into this bonus border city!

Ok, ok, this city isn’t in the Netherlands…but it sure fits in with the Dutch motif! You can still get Dutch favorites like apple fritters and frites – and they’re more like the Dutch than Belgian frites here. Right on the border of Holland, Antwerp is one of the most historic and interesting cities in Belgium, probably second only to Bruges. I love Antwerp! I had friends who said it was skippable, but I’m so glad we didn’t listen. There is so much to love – the colorful buildings, great food, historic sites, interesting traditions and a city that embraces diversity. Like most cities in Belgium, there’s no shortage of chocolate (at the Chocolate Nation chocolate museum), frites, beer (the house beer of Anwerp is a reddish ale called De Koninck or bolleke), and waffles! My favorite thing to do here, though, is eat international fare. We didn’t have great options around where we lived in southern Belgium so it was always a treat to find Asian, Middle Eastern or Indian food.

Antwerp has so many gems but the piece de resistance is the Grote Markt where city hall and the guild houses frame the grand place with the iconic Brabo’s monument standing proud in the center of the square. I also love the waterfront with the Het Steen castle, the Cathedral of Our Lady with the Nello & Patrasche Statue (look up the story – its heartbreaking), the huge underground Voetgangerstunnel that crosses the River Schedlt, and the incomparable Antwerp Central train station. Also don’t forget about the Diamond district! Antwerp is well known for her diamonds as it is still the diamond capital of the world with over 1500 diamond firms located here. I will say though, the diamond district is nothing like I pictured. It’s actually reminiscent of the movie Uncut Gems with Adam Sandler. Haven’t seen it? Oof. Buckle up. It’s a tough one to watch but a window into an underground world that felt hauntingly familiar when we entered several shops in Antwerp!

I wanted to be sure my parents got to see all the best sights of Antwerp and learn a little bit along the way, so we did something we never do – jumped in a horse drawn carriage for a ride around the city! By this point in the trip their feet were toast so this was the best option. Funny enough, five years earlier we took a carriage ride together on their first trip to visit us in Vienna. Low and behold these carriage rides ended up book-ending our time in Europe with special visits from my parents. It felt serendipitous! It was so charming to see the sights along the old streets with famous buildings and landmarks pointed out by our driver. I plan to write a separate post all about Antwerp soon – there’s so much more to share!

After our trot through town we enjoyed dinner at Nani Sushi which Nannie absolutely loved (it was delicious!) and had a great experience at our comfortable booking.com apartments for the night. With full, happy hearts and tired feet we wrapped up our European adventure in style and in the best way I could imagine – together. We will never forget the Dutch memories made together in the Netherlands and beyond. Thanks for being such wonderful travel companions, Nannie & Pappi!

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