All washed up

So we were driving along the beach at Scheveningen and I saw this big thing out there and said "Rob stop, what the heck is that?" So I got out of the car and this is what I found! Dad didn't come down - you know how he feels about sand.

I asked the biologists what happened. They said that when whales are close to dying their sonar can get scrambled and they beach........or this is a prank and a fake like the news reported that night. So what do YOU think? But I tell ya I was up close and it looked real to me and it smelled!

Brugges - a nunnery and a cathedral

We went trecking down the winding streets of Brugges looking for a cathedral that housed an original Michelangelo statue.

While in the church I listened to a group of African women, touring, who spontaneously broke out into  an awe -inspiring hymn. I wish I had had a tape recorder.

Here is the Madonna statue - a little blurry though.

So here is the nunnery...

This convent was so pastoral and peaceful it made me want to live here...

maybe cuz my favorite handmade chocolate store was right across the street. So where are all the nuns?

Oh wait here's a nun now

and she lives right here on "Holy Ghost street"

This charming fellow's job is to keep evil sprits away.

Now its back to Holland for the last few days.

Open Market

Half of the market is flowers, the other half is FOOD, all prepared, fresh and ready to eat. Just about anything you could want. We got some roasted potatoes and some sausage I think. By the time we walked around to another part of town and back everyone was packed up and gone. The mart is there only 1/2 day once a week on the town square. We hit it just right. I wish we had something like this back home. I really love how Europeans live. 

this is roasted chicken

 One big pile of fresh picked cherries

This was a demonstration of chocolate making at the chocolate museum.

Flower market in Brugges

These gorgeous flower bunches just speak for themselves.

Boy, if I lived there I would buy these fresh flowers daily.

Brugges

Though it was raining, we went on a buggy ride. I'm a sucker for that. The driver acts as a tour guide and THAT's how I was reeducated about chocolate and how to find the best. He also told us about a cathedral here with a michelangelo (sp?)statue. I'll add that later.

I swear, every angle. every corner was  picture perfect. Some new little surprise. You could walk for hours and never be bored.

This was a bit of a surprise to see wakeboard stuff. 

And then we saw the Brooklyn store

I thought I knew chocolate!

I didn't! 

Belgian chocolate is the best  in the world - it just is and I always thought Leonidas was the best of the best. But then in Brugges I found out that Leonidas is not the best because it is factory made! In all these little mom and pop chocolate shops the chocolates are hand made daily and usually right down in the basements of the shops.  I really have never tasted such bliss. Nothing compares, really nothing! 

We brought home several boxes - unless you were there at our house the first days after we got home, you didn't get nothin. It's an embarrassing fact that Rob and I ate these boxes up over the next two weeks. We couldn't help it. I will go back to Brugges just for the chocolate. We brought a box back for Andy - we left him little chocolate. 

Brugges is famous for its handmade lace. They sell a lot of bridal hankies. hmm I might have picked one up...

couple more quick photos of Gent