Dave has been a fan of the works of Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher since college, when Escher paintings were sold as dorm room posters and many people displayed them in their rooms.
Therefore, we were delighted to discover that there was a museum devoted entirely to M.C. Escher’s life and work a few blocks from our apartment in The Hague. The museum lived up to its potential and was well worth our visit.
In The Hague, we stayed at 348 Suites, a building of apartments designed mainly for extended-stay business travelers. On the ground floor, there are two restaurants: Vapiano, an Italian restaurant where we ate pizza our first night, and Umami, an Asian fusion restaurant which came highly recommended by Tom, the friendly staff member who checked us in to our apartment.
There are several other restaurants in the square where 348 Suites is located, and we ate at two others during our stay.
One chilly, rainy evening, we chose to eat at Umami, which was mere steps from the entrance to 348 Suites. It was absolutely the most exquisite, memorable dinner of our trip.
We chose their Social Dining menu – a three-course dinner where we each picked two items from the menu for each course, which we shared. We opted for a wine pairing with each course. It came with dessert, as well. (more…)
During our stay in The Hague, our final destination for this European vacation, we took a day trip to nearby Rotterdam. Actually, the weather was nice in the morning. The rain didn’t come until the afternoon. But it made for a catchy, alliterative headline.
We were impressed! It’s a modern, beautiful city with lots of unique, eye-catching architecture. The train station is a good example.
For the last leg of our Northwest Europe adventure, we returned to the Netherlands and spent five nights in Den Haag (a.k.a. The Hague). From there, we took day trips to Leiden and Rotterdam.
In this post, we’ll share pictures from our day in Leiden.
While we were planning this trip, we considered which of the four most-visited cities in Belgium we would visit: Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp, and/or Ghent. We decided to visit Brussels and Bruges and spend three nights/two days in each.
But the trip from Bruges to our next destination, The Hague, was only three hours, and Antwerp was on the way, so we decided to split the train ride into two 90-minute segments and spend about five hours in Antwerp.
We had several options for places to visit, but most were similar to places we had already visited in other cities. So we decided to visit the Museum aan de Stroom, a history and culture museum located on the waterfront.
During our Fall 2025 trip to Northwest Europe, we spent three nights in Bruges, a small yet Instagram-famous town in northwest Belgium. And by the way, it may be spelled Bruges or Brugge, depending on the language, but it’s pronounced “broozh.”
We enjoyed our stay! It was charming and picturesque, with plenty to see and do (and eat and drink!). The downtown was predictably touristy, with its breweries, chocolatiers, restaurants, regal town square, and canals. But the residential neighborhood where we stayed and the ones we passed through were appealing and livable.
We took a half-hour canal boat tour, which is practically a must for visitors to Bruges. It is a great way to see the town. Our guide provided interesting commentary throughout the tour. (more…)
(We found plenty of beer and chocolate, though!)
After Luxembourg, we headed into Belgium, another country we were visiting for the first time. We stayed three nights in Brussels, and despite the rainy and overcast weather at times, we enjoyed exploring the city.
After Strasbourg, France, we spent a couple of nights in Luxembourg. It was one of three countries we visited for the first time on this trip, and we were curious to see what it was like.
Luxembourg City is modern and beautiful, with plenty of reminders of its past. It has some nice parks and scenic viewpoints. Here’s a photo from the Luxembourg Gardens.
After visiting Freiburg, Germany, we spent three days in Strasbourg, France.
Strasbourg is located in the northeast corner of France, in the Alsace region. It sits on the Rhine River, across from Germany. It’s home to the European Parliament, making it one of several de facto capitals of the European Union. It’s complicated. It is also the seat of several other European institutions. Strasbourg’s Wikipedia page attempts to explain the EU’s structure and gives a lot of interesting background on the city.
While it’s rich with history, today Strasbourg is an attractive, vibrant city. We thoroughly enjoyed it.
After Kassel, we traveled south to Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany’s southernmost and warmest city. It’s located on the southwestern edge of the Black Forest, which is the main reason we decided to visit. It’s a vibrant city that’s a charming mix of the old and the new.
Here are a few photos from around town.
