Visiting Doctor Strabismus (whom God preserve)

[shewhomust]

We have booked a holiday. It's not a particularly long or exotic trip, but I'm pleased about it - and it's quite soon! We are taking a couple of weeks in April to visit the borders of Belgium and Germany: a combination of places we've never been and wanted to, and places we've enjoyed and wanted to revisit, plus a wild card.

The plan is to take the ferry (in a couple of weeks time) from Hull to Zeebrugge, pay a quick visit to Bruges and then spend a few days in Ghent. Then a detour down to Bouillon, to admire the castle (as recommended by jemck), and into Germany to visit Trier, with time to wander the Moselle valley if we are so inclined, and Aachen. The wild card is Utrecht, chosen because it looks interesting and because it is well on the way to the ferry post of Amsterdam, from which we can take an overnight ferry all the way back to Newcastle. It's all booked up, so we've got to go!

Naturally, as soon as we have a holiday booked, two things happen: neither is a disaster, in fact both are agreeable things which will await our return or longer. Nonetheless, great timing. The first is that the BBC has announced that the new season of Doctor Who will start while we are out of the country; the other is that a leaflet fell out of the Guardian colour supplement advertising holidays in Atlantic Canada (this one, in particular), and it does look very tempting (they even put a picure of a puffin in the brochure, just for me). But there will be other years...

ETA: via the same issue of the Guardian, this time the Travel section, an article about walking the Fundy Footpath points to the website of the Atlantic Canada tourist board.

Comments

[helenraven.livejournal.com]

That sounds a nice trip. i particularly envy you the ferry trip and the days in Ghent. Have you picked out a place to stay in Ghent?

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

Ghent is somewhere we spent a day and have been meaning to go back ever since. We've picked a hotel via booking.com - the Belfort. I was charmed by the external view, which doesn't appear on their own website, so do a search to see why!

Getting the dates we wanted on the ferries was actually the hard part, but yes, weather permitting that should be fine!

[helenraven.livejournal.com]

The hotel looks great! I remember that you mentioned when I was planning my own trip to Ghent that you'd passed through the city and liked what you'd seen. There's a city card that I found good value, but then I am dogged in my museum visiting.

I know we had already discussed the woodcuts of Frank Brangwyn. I came across his work in the Arentshuis museum in Bruges, and I don't think you'd begrudge the 4 euros admission.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

... I am dogged in my museum visiting.

I had noticed this. Whereas we tend to wander around the streets admiring things - but it looks as if the city card would be useful for that, too.

And of course, it might rain...