Zeebrugge, Belgium

Zeebrugge translates to 'Bruges by the Sea' and was another new port for us.

We took a train to Bruges (Brugge in Dutch), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, because it is one of the best preserved European cities, and because of all its canals, it is sometimes known as The Venice of the North.

View from the train...

 
A fountain with horse heads on either side.

 
Note the double door near the water for small boat storage.

Espalier is the ancient technique of training woody plant growth by pruning and tying branches to a frame. This is typically done to fruit trees so that the fruit is easier to harvest and so the trees don't get too large.

 
There were four horsemen in this collection.

Wine delivery...

Iconic northern European architecture in the main square.

 
The Belfry of Bruges contains a carillon with 47 bells.

The City Hall was built in a late Gothic monumental-style between 1376 and 1421. It's distinctly different than the rest of the city's buildings.

Interesting balcony sculptures...

The city is surrounded by an earthen dike with water control gates that regulate the level of the canals. This is one of the gate houses where cars and other traffic can come and go into the city.

This is one windmill that was used to pump water in or out of the city's canal system.

From that windmill to the next one. On the right is a waterway that's outside the city and on the left is a roadway inside the city.

We walked along the dike and this is the next gate for getting into the city.

Benches supported by green dragons were placed along the dike.

We saw this control gate a little further along the dike.

 
Two views of a church.

And so we caught the train back to the port with about nine miles on the pedometer.

We would spend the next 2 days in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

We spent two days here in 2013 on the Voyage of the Vikings.

 
We were tired from all the ports in a row and the significant mileage we'd put on and we had colds, so uncharacteristically, we slept in and stayed on the ship the first day. These photos are from the ship.

The cruise ship terminal...

There was celebration that night starting with a fancy dinner in the Main Dining Room.

Later the celebration continued on the Lido pool deck. Yes, it was the 150th anniversary for HAL.

Extra tables and chairs were brought in along with lots of tulips.

A local band with a singer was brought in.

 
Here Gus Antorcha, HAL's new president (on the left) and Captain Frank cut the cake.
During the sea day after we left Amsterdam, Gus gave a presentation and with patience and humility answered questions for two and a half hours on the stage.

The next morning, we got an early start.

 
There were fake predator birds in this park, which were probably there to scare off the parrots.

From the tram: one of the iconic Amsterdam canals with its live-aboard barges.

We went to a park with beautiful spring flowers.

There were several red "action" sculptures in the park.

A wonderfully complex jungle gym.

 
A formal-style garden with boxwood hedges and an elaborate bee hotel.

One of the canals was being worked on. The remote control crane was mounted on a green beam that could slide along the canal.

Looking into the construction zone...

 
Even though the buildings are old, many of them house modern businesses.

Love the flowers and gardens on these houseboats.

From the ship, a long riverboat cruising these waters. It had been a relatively short day for us with only about six miles on the pedometer. The next day was a sea day and then we had many ports in a row again. The next stop was Copenhagen, Denmark.