Blog posts written by Albert
Small German towns with half-timbered houses are certainly romantic places to visit. And Germany has an abundance of these. To English speakers, they look similar to ‘Tudor Style’ houses, where parts of the outside walls have wooden beams, but that is where the comparison stops. These “half-timbered” houses are very […]
When I lived in the Netherlands, I worked in Rotterdam for a while and saw these Cube Houses being built (circa 1985). I left the Netherlands before they were finished, so it was only fitting we went to check them out during this trip. What a spectacular project! The story […]
When you visit Europe you cannot help but notice the cobblestone streets, which you see everywhere – even in the new parts of the city. When I grew up in the Netherlands, I thought nothing of it, but now, with Linda, I am seeing Europe “through her eyes”. In other […]
We just had to do Bruges, that awesome (and world famous) Belgian town known for its historic center and placement on UNESCO’s world-heritage list. It did not disappoint. Our AirBnB is right on the edge of the old town center and nothing is more than a 10 minute walk from […]
Of all the things that The Netherlands is famous for, canals and windmills are perhaps the most known (tulips too, but that is not part of this blog post 😂). Most people take those two somewhat for granted, but there is a connection between the canals and waterways and windmills […]
One of the things the Netherlands is famous for is the Delft Blue porcelain stoneware – vases, tableware and many other beautifully crafted items. All feature the distinct “white and blue” designs that over the years has become the iconic look of this kind of stoneware. So we decided to […]
We rode the Jacobite Steam train when in Scotland. This train was made famous by the Harry Potter movies, where it was featured as “The Hogwarts Express”. In fact, the train was featured in TWO of the Harry Potter movies, the first, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (released in […]
Applecross is a small community on the far western shores of Scotland. It’s “claim to fame” is the road in and out. This road to Applecross takes you through some of the most desolate parts of Scotland, on one of those single-track roads I wrote of before. That would […]
A fine Scottish Whiskey On occasion, Linda and I both enjoy a glass of Single Malt Scotch Whiskey so we were determined to visit at least one distillery when in Scotland. A natural choice was the Dewar’s distillery as it was close to the AirBnB we were sharing with […]
The Isle of Skye has has been occupied in prehistoric times and was originally settled by the Gaelic-speaking Scots from Ireland during the first centuries BC. Norsemen ruled the island from the 9th to the 12th century. More “recent” history sees the island as the traditional homes of the Macleods […]