De Lux

So, after Wassenaar we headed south. Paused in Maastricht to have some lunch and to meet up with friend Michael.

Then to Luxembourg. We spent the night in a funny little aire in the far south. Perched above the railway line on the outskirts of Dudelange, we got the last spot at 8pm. I've never been to Luxembourg before, so it was a first. Upon entering the world's only Duchy the first thing I saw was...Ikea. Hmm, not exactly a sight to gladden the eye (well, not my eye). Next stop, petrol and what a pleasure that was. Coming in at 0.896 centimes per litre I filled up for less than €45. And wow, Luxembourg is clean. I was only thinking, 'Its as clean as Switzerland' then found its called 'Little Switzerland'. Ahem.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourg

More details there...such as there are less that 600,000 Luxembourgians (Luxbourgese? Luxois? Luxian?) and the Duchy was first recognised in the 1300s.

Betty and I had a small exploration:

Free library.

International steps.

Luxembourg is pretty small...you can head to  France or 'other directions'..

And they take care of everything...the children's play area is eco friendly..

Even the bins are hidden behind hand woven screens. 

The church is cleaned outside.

The town hall is pristine.

There are sculptures everywhere.

And, again, the petrol is cheap. Yay!

Wassenaar.

Spent a few days by the sea in Holland with family. Wassenaar has a place which is like Centre Parcs but with a fair ground and swimming pool (slides, lazy river etc). Sounded like my idea of hell* but it was actually great fun!

Wassenaar, the town, is small and pretty pretty.

We had a great time and one day hired bikes to cycle the 10kms to De Haag (and the 10kms back). 

It only took me four days to realise De Haag was actually The Hague.. which dawned as we were hurtling past the International Court of Justice. Slobodan Milosevitch.  

Typical Dutch bikes are a total revelation..more like your 'shopper' style than anything else and with a definite eye for function over comfort. They have no gears and the lock is inbuilt (took 10 minutes to work that one out). They are, however, perfect for town dwelling and once we'd got over the bone shakingingness we were away!

Later that day we had a bbq. Which was followed by a demonstration of dabbing. 

All good. 

*full of kids

Gouda.

Arrived in Gouda to a brilliantly large and free car park close to the centre of town. The only difficulty I had was driving round in circles to find it.

That done I decided to explore the town. Pretty, quiet, sleepy Gouda. It basically (I think) a concentric circle of streets and canals rippling from the town hall.

Town Hall. 

It is I who lean, not the hall. 

This isn't Pisa.

Erasmus, famous (ish) son (sort of) of Gouda.

The town hall is opposite the Gouda Museum, where you can researcg the history of its most well known local produce but you cannot buy. Most of the shops were actually closed, which is a shame as I might have been prompted to kit myself out a la Gouda Girl..

As it was I just had a mooch. 

Saw the greenest  canal in Holland. 

Yes, its actually a canal..with ducks and a boat on it. Look carefully at the boat and you will see...more cheese! 

Had a Gouda toastie.

Saw a guitar made of parquet flooring.

Ate ice cream.

Laughed at the local signage. 

I'm SO easily pleased.

Its actually a really lovely place. The streets are narrow, like York. The houses thin (Amsterdam). 

Two Netherlands facts you probably know:

1. Houses were built on the smallest possible plot of land due to then being taxed on square footage of ground beneath. 

2. The Dutch are the tallest race on Earth. 

It shows! 

You should see the height of their bicycles. 

And finally.....

Near the carpark (at Plein Amerika) there is a cafe. Above the cafe there is this marvellous sculputure of some fella. It's not solid so when you look at it you can see the clouds behind. Just awesome!

Passing cloud, different pic!