Amsterdam, Brugges, and Bayeux

AMSTERDAM
We went on a canal tour of Amsterdam and then a bus tour. Right off the bat, Warner didn't like the guide because she said Al Gore was the hero of Europe. Amsterdam is a city of canals - a lot like Venice but where Venice is all on the water, they have filled in some of the canals and made roads. Getting into and out of the harbor is a maze of canals because it is all below sea level. I thought the canals were really pretty, but it wasn't our favorite place.

BRUGGES, BELGIUM
Brugges is like walking back in time. In the quiet of the morning you could almost hear the clop clop of the Knights horses on the cobbled streets. It is serenely beautiful. Brugges was spared destruction in both WW I and WW II so some of the building date back to the 1300's. It is dominated by a large cathedral in the middle of town where you can find Michael Angelo's statue "Mother and Child". Beautiful canals run everywhere with quaint bridges arching overhead. Brugges has to be one of our favorite spots on the trip. We just didn't want to leave. We found two wonderful shops and bought Belgium chocolate and Belgium lace.

BAYEUX, FRANCE
Can you imagine a piece of linen actually lasting a thousand years through all of the wars and without any special protection? Without it, we wouldn't know what it was like in 1066. It tells the tale of William the Conqueror taking the throne of England. Edward the Confessor gave the throne to William but Harold didn't acknowledge it. This led to the Battle of Hastings which is the subject of this very long tapestry. Historians gleaned information from it such as what they wore in 1066, their weapons, what animals they had, and what they ate. It was mostly kept in the cathedral in Bayeux all of these years but there have been a few times when people have used it for wagon covers and other things. I was totally impressed at how bright the colors still were and that the cloth was in such great shape. After visiting the tapestry, we walked up to the cathedral and then had a very French lunch and a really good restaurant.