Austrexit Trip 2017 - Volume Five

Alternative Title: Jo eats everything in Holland.

We are staying with Terry's cousin and were greeted with my favourite Dutch snack - Bugles! They're made from corn (I think) not unlike the texture of burger rings. You fill them with cheese from a tube and they are DELICIOUS!!!

The next day we headed to a place called Volendam. It's an old shopping village. We had a lovely lunch and the first of many poffertjes. 

Then, this happened. 

CHEESE!

For dinner on Thursday night we went to a place called Barn 47. The only way I can explain it is that it is kind of like a fancy Sizzler. It's all you can eat, but they cook everything fresh right in front of you. And they have a dessert bar, with soft serve ice cream and eleventy billion kinds of things to out on it. It was fabulous! And THEN when they brought the bill out, it came with mints. Just like Sizzler. I was in heaven!

Friday we had a sleep in. (Who am I kidding? We've had a sleep in every day!)

I had haselslag for breakfast. It's basically chocolate on bread. Yet another reason to love The Netherlands. 

We headed into The Hague so Terry could have a herring. It's raw, comes with onions and while I didn't have any, I suspect it is every bit as revolting as it looks and smells. 

Had the second poffertjes of the visit. These ones weren't as good, but my motto is 'any poffertjes are good poffertjes', so I coped. 

Then we went to Madurodam. It's a 1:20 scale model of Holland. Well, not alllll of Holland, but lots of page buildings within it. Very tacky and touristy and we loved it! 

Ate a very delicious stroopwafel, then home for a lovely pasta dinner and a quiet night in. 

Today is Saturday and Terry's cousin to us to Rotterdam. We had a delightful lunch at the Hotel New York, then a cruise around the port. It's MASSIVE!

Another day, more poffertjes! I now know enough Dutch to order them unassisted! 

Yummmmmmmmmmm! Tonight we are doing some washing and having an early night. Tomorrow we are seeing a heap of family and watching a flower parade on the canal. Hopefully with more poffertjes!

Austrexit Trip 2017 - Volume Four

On Wednesday we left Austria early and travelled through Liechtenstein, Switzerland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and finally into The Netherlands! It turned out to be more than ten hours, but it was an AMAZING day that I'm pretty sure I will remember for my entire life. We saw a lot of stuff! And now we really want to go back and see more of those countries, especially Switzerland. 

Austria!

Liechtenstein!

Switzerland!

France!

Germany!

Luxembourg!

Belgium!

And finally... The Netherlands!

Austrexit Trip 2017 - Volume Three

When planning the trip, we initially looked at a train from Germany to The Netherlands. It was pretty expensive, and if we paid a little bit more, we could hire a car. So this is what we did. Then we decided we would go the 'long' way via France, Luxembourg and Belgium. Five countries in one day! For someone from Australia, that seems impossible. I then spent some time on google maps and realised that we could actually do EIGHT countries in one day. Never one to shy way from a challenge, we decided we would go for it. It meant that on Tuesday we would drive from Dusseldorf down to Austria, to position ourselves ready to drive for 10 or so hours the next day...

We stopped at Maulbronn Monastery to see a friend that Terry hadn't seen for 14 years. The monastery is about 1000 years old. No biggie. 

Austrexit Trip 2017 - Volume Two

On Monday we rode the Hop On Hop Off Bus around Dusseldorf! We love those buses and will happily go on one wherever we are. We did one complete lap and then hopped off to have a schnitzel for lunch. Included in the tour was a cruise on the Rhine, so we did that too. A quick visit to the cathedral with the crooked spire. Legend has it that it will straighten itself when a true virgin gets married there, but obviously that hasn't happened yet! After that we went up the Rhine Tower which is very tall and has a great view of the city and surrounding area. Then it was back to Kirsten and Marc's for dinner before a packing up our bags in preparation to pick up our hire car for the next week.