Denmark - via Holland and Germany

After leaving Amsterdam we decided to travel along a huge dijk that reduced the coastline of Holland from hundreds of kilometres to tens. It is called the Afsluidijk and is 30 kilometres long and 90m wide. On one side is the sea and on the other fresh water.

On this map the thin red line at the top with a monument is the dijk. The darker grey areas are reclaimed land.

We stopped at the monument and took the following picture:

We are standing on bridge crossing the road. You can just seen the van parked. The view in the other direction is very similar.

We moved to a campsite in rural Holland (48ft below sea level), surrounded by forests, huge fields of grass (cut for turf) and ancient megaliths. There was also an inland beach.

Needless to say we saw lots of windmills.

From here we moved into Germany, stayed overnight and then drove into Denmark.

We are staying in a small fishing village called Bork Havn in West Jutland in Denmark. It is on the edge of a large fjord and is apparently where the Vikings sailed from.
This wooden jellyfish sits on the harbourside. Strangely it has cotton lace attached to it.

We visited a viking village. Many of the buildings and artifacts have been reproduced.

In the village hall there was a large embroidery - rather like the Bayeux tapestry.

They had clothes for children to try on - I am quite small ...

I had always thought they wore knitted hats, but having watched a video showing lots of crafts (unfortunately in Danish) I realised they only used one needle. I shall have to learn this technique.

As well as the embroidery and the 'knitting' the vikings also made felt.

I loved the carvings and have a wonderful collection of photographs.

Onwards to Copenhagen ...

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Here are some images from my wanderings around Amsterdam.
From top left: flower market; clog slippers; tulips
bridge; canal; the 'skinny bridge'
raw herring (yum); fancy doors; cheese

Obviously whilst here we had to visit the Rijks Museum. The building was lovely, all cleaned and restored and it did contain some beautiful work, however I think we have more impressive museums and galleries in Britain.

From top left: printed fabric by Chris Lebeau 1911 - 1915; concentration camp coat worn by Isabel Wachenheimer; paisley shawls
Saint Vitus 1500; charger 1750-75; Saint Ursula and her handmaidens 1323
small horse sculpture; ceramic plate with lovely bird; delftware flower holder

Of course we had to do all the 'tourist' things, riding on the trams, taking a canal ride, eating raw herring and smoked eel. We have had a lovely three days but it is time to move on ...

Antwerp, Belgium

On the way from Bruges to Amsterdam we called in to see Antwerp. It is one of the fashion centres of Europe and there was a fashion museum that I wanted to visit called the Mode Museum.

Antwerp is famous for the 'Antwerp Six'. The museum featured an exhibition by many designers who have been trained at this centre since the 1960s. Each designer had selected a garment to be displayed.

After this we went to a print museum called Museum Plantin-Moretus. There were examples of printed documents from the 15th century until the end of the 19th. Many were really beautiful. They also had a variety of printing presses, many of which still work.

I also saw more beautiful buildings - I really like the shapes of the roofs and all the windows.

Bruges, Belgium

This is a really beautiful place to visit. What do you think of when you think of Belgium - lace, chocolate, beer ?

There were so many lace and chocolate shops - I had the best hot chocolate ever. There were also many places selling beer, and such a variety. We even found gluten free beer so of course I had to try one. Not sure how the horse fits in but it was covered with bits of old jeans and I had to include it.

It goes without saying that there are many beautiful buildings, I became fascinated with all the different shapes of windows. As well as a gothic influence you can definitely see the Dutch one, by the way most people seem to speak Dutch and all the signs are in Dutch.

These are three things that have inspired me - the soldier looks really fed up. I like the layout of the altar painting and the floor mosaic would make a good applique or quilting pattern.

We saw an amazing exhibition 'Colour Full People' by an artist called Mieke Drossaert. As well as painted canvasses much of her work was printed onto fabric and made into wool and silk tapestries. They were wonderful.