View from our hotel in Belize City

January 19 - Belize Arrival

After a very early morning flight from LAX to Houston, we boarded a direct flight to Belize. Another two hours in the air and we were touching down on the wet tarmac of Belize City International airport.

Stepping out of the plane into Belize air, the humidity didn’t feel too harsh. After winding our way through customs, we hailed a taxi, who took us downtown to our somewhat ramshackle yet comfortable hotel overlooking the Belize River. The rest of what we saw of the town had the same shanty-town character.

After getting settled into our rooms, we sat on Adirondack chairs on the hotel porch. There wasn’t much river boat traffic to see, but the Belize beer, Belikin, tasted mighty good in the warm weather. Dinner was next door at the Marlin Restaurant, where we had grouper, rice and beans and another Belikin to help down it all.  

Little girl in front of us in bus

Jan 20 - Bus Trip to San Ignacio

We got up reasonably early and had breakfast next door at the Marlin (eggs and white bread toasted - my cholesterol will be going through the roof this trip. How effective is rum as a statin anyway?). We checked out and got a taxi to the bus station.

Maybe it was because it was Saturday, but when we arrived at the bus station things seemed orderly, low keyed and not very busy. We walked right up to our bus (an old converted U.S. school bus) and found some seats. As soon as the bus got moving, the driver kicked up the volume of the reggae music, making it virtually impossible to communicate. We were grooving’ mahn!

About two and a half hours later, after making dozens of stops and driving through a number of villages, we pulled into San Ignacio. The bus driver dropped us off near our hotel, but it was still a tough last few hundred yards because Cahal Pech Resort is at the top of the hill!

View
of San Ignacio from our hotel - Cahal Pech

After settling into to our room, we took a walk back into town and checked out the local Saturday market. It was a very typical Central American/Caribbean style open market with booths selling houseware items, clothes, fruits and vegetables. We bought papayas, bananas and a fake pair of Crocks.

Jan 21, 2012 - San Ignacio

We had a short excursion into town and its vicinity today, but our main attraction was a visit to the Cahal Pech ruins. Located just a few steps away from our hotel, we were pleasantly surprised with the experience in spite of it not being a major Mayan site.

Cahal Pech dates back to when Mayans began to occupy the site sometime between 1200 to 1000 B.C. In its peak, it probably had upwards of 20,000 people living in the surrounding area with as many as 34 structures. Although we were able to see a number of them, it was pretty obvious that many still remain to be dug out from the surrounding mounds of dirt.

 

January 22 - Caracol Mayan Site

We were picked up early in the morning by our driver, Eddie. We were soon headed out of town as Eddie explained to us what we would be doing and seeing during the day. The road started out paved, but after some driving gave way to dirt roads, lined with enormous  holes, keeping our speed limit down to about 30mph. Eddie tried to avoid pot holes, but their sheer volume made the attempt a futile one. About two hours of relentless bumps through jungle terrain, we arrived at Caracol.   

Mayans lived in this area as far back as 1200 B.C., a time known as the Early Classic Mayan period (the others being Classic and Late Classic). Eddie took us through the back area first, and was very knowledgeable of the vegetation surrounding the ruins. He showed us a local tree, the Ceiba, that grows very high. It’s like our Cottonwood tree. He showed us a palm that had leaves that looked like a fish tail, often used in roofing. 

Eventually, we made it to a secondary set of structures that were pretty impressive. There were four structures built around a rectangular field, the tallest being around 50-70 feet. Built of limestone blocks, each had lots of different chambers, rooms and tombs. When you stop and think about how much work went into these buildings, it’s quite amazing how it was all accomplished without the aid of mechanization and computers. 

Perhaps as amazing and labor intensive, however, is how these ruins were discovered and meticulously excavated. Most of the structures were underneath  mounds of dirt and jungle vegetation when they were found. They required lots of careful digging, and often, reconstruction.    

The main structures we eventually came to were even more impressive. Taller and bigger than the first ones we saw, we climbed to the very top and had a grand view of the surrounding area. Only the elites and priests were allowed up here. There were residential rooms, altars, terraces and tombs.

While we walked, Eddie also imparted on us the history of the Mayans who lived here and how they traded, communicated and battled with other settlements such as Tikal, the large Mayan settlement in what is now Guatemala.

The day ended with the return tour taking us to a large cave with a river running through it and then a swim in the Macal River. The road back seemed a little quicker but was at least as bumpy as on the way in. It was a long but interesting day. 

Today we're off to visit a cave site known as ATM (Actun Tuniichil Muknai). It's a jungle hike to get there, crossing rivers and then going into the cave, which is waist water high. Should be fun! 

Photo book of our 2011 Europe trip

I just finished creating a Shutterfly Photo Book of our 2011 Europe trip. In case you're interested to check it out, here's the URL.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbNXLVoycMLm&cid=SFLYOCWIDGET

Netherlands

Kinderdijk

June 22 - To the Netherlands

It was a relatively quick drive from Gent, Belgium to ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, a town in the south of the Netherlands. ‘s-Hertogenbosch lies in Braband, an area where my mom resided during part of WWII. The town has an old Gothic cathedral built in the 1500’s and a large and comfortable town square where we had lunch. Our hotel was just a little south, in the village of Oisterwijk, so after a brief visit we drove to our hotel and checked in.

Hotel De Leijhof

Hotel De Leijhof had stately setting with a lush green lawn, a beautiful fountain and rod iron gates - quite a majestic entrance. It turned out to be a very friendly, comfortable and convenient hotel. The village of Oisterwijk also was surprisingly nice, in that it a number of the shops and restaurants were by a park giving it a European “Mayberry“ affect.  

But for us ‘s-Hertogenbosch area only served as a quick stop on our way north. So after a big breakfast, we headed north to Elst, to visit with Ton and Marleen. With Google directions we got pretty close to their house, but in the end we succumbed to getting a little help from them. But we were pretty darn close.

Ton was standing in front of their house when we arrived and directed us in. After a short visit at their house, we walked to a restaurant at a nearby park. The restaurant was in an old, classic house. We started out in the veranda, but it became cold and rainy. So we opted for the warmth of the inside dining room where we had an exquisite lunch accompanied with a Spanish Tempranillo.  

Lunch with Marleen and Ton

We were soon on our way again - this time to meet up with Marteen and Maria. It was a greater challenge to find their house in Purmerand (just north of Amsterdam) because of all the irregular, narrow streets in their neighborhood. We knew we were within a stone’s throw from them, but we again had to resort to the phone to get the final directions. Maria ended up riding her bike to where we were - it was simpler than explaining it.

Though we had been to their new house, we had only seen it from the outside, after they had made an offer on it last year. We had an excellent reunion and that evening were treated to a delicious Indonesian dinner at their home. 

Village of Monnickendam

Marteen, Maria and Diane in Edam

Joyce (Small) and Sebastian (Large)

A van Gogh bridge?

A cart of Edam cheese

Nicely maintained wooden double ender

The next day we had a busy day touring the villages of Monnickendam and Edam (near the more touristy village of Volendam), had croquets for lunch, stopped by a second-hand store called the Kringloopwwinkel, where we bought three small hand-made Iranian carpets for the paltry sum of seven Euros each. Diane and I were elated. We then dropped in to see Marteen and Maria’s newest grandson, Kick, at Hanne’s home. 

Diane holding Kick

The following day was a busy one for Diane and I as we wanted to stop in Ede to check on my parent’s graves (which we did) before heading to Rotterdam to meet up with Meredith and Elliot. All went us planned.

The Dutch have an interesting way of dealing with graves - essentially, families rent a grave site in increments of ten years. If a plot is not renewed, the remains are dug up and placed in a common grave and the plot received a new “renter”. It makes a lot of sense when a space is at a premium. We paid the fees (about $1100) to keep mom, dad and oma where they are for another ten year period. Then Diane and I visited the grave, spruced it up a bit and took some photos. 

 

June 24 - Rotterdam

We arrived at Meredith’s in the late afternoon. Their apartment is located in the heart of Rotterdam. As Elliot was still at school (he’s pursuing an MBA degree at Erasmus University), Meredith gave us a tour of the neighborhood. The central market, the St. Lawrence Cathedral, bars, restaurants, the historic harbor area, the Maas River, the architecturally interesting cube apartment complex and much more is all within walking distance from Meredith‘s place. 

There were lots of bicyclists roaming the city streets. Here, however, bicyclists have their own dedicated paths that run adjacent to city streets. All these people on bikes and yet none wear helmets. Men in their suits riding to the office, mothers with toddlers in backseats and front seats (or sometimes on cargo bikes called a Bakfiets - check them out here http://bakfiets.nl/eng/ 

A Bakfiets

On one of the evenings, we went out to dinner at a small Italian restaurant where one of Meredith’s neighbors is a chef. We had not expected any special treatment. But it soon became evident as we were served the antipasto, that this was not going to be your average meal. We were served a huge plate of tasty, sun dried tomatoes, olives, slices of roasted eggplant, pickled onions, several cheeses and Italian meats. After seeing how much food it was, we immediately asked them to cut back on the main courses we had ordered (which they obliged). It turned out to be a  splendid and delicious dinner and a wonderful evening. On the walk home, in spite of being pretty stuffed, we each managed to enjoy a scoop or two of ice cream at the local gelato hangout. 

This is just the antipasto 

There's more to eat?

We made some fun day trips while in Rotterdam. One was to the historical city of Delft, where the Delft blue porcelain originated and to the village of Kinderdijk. Although the weather was a bit wet, Delft was charming. With its canals, cathedrals, quaint bridges, a lively market and a picturesque town square, Delft is always a worthy visit. We sat in the town square, enjoying the scenery and had a cup of coffee - or was it a beer.

Delft canal

Meredith and Diane enjoying a fresh stroopwafel

Delft city hall

Kinderdijk is a short drive from Rotterdam. With its rows of quintessential Dutch  windmills along canals, we strolled passed them and took in the lovely scenery. It’s a popular tourist attraction, so we weren’t the only ones with that idea - lots of others walked and bicycled along the trail to enjoy the sights of the windmills.

Kinderdijk windmills

Meredith had made an appointment in Utrecht at a bridal store to try on some wedding gowns. So on one of the days, with her friend Anel, the four of us drove there. Utrecht turned out to be a very pleasant city. With a deep canal running through it, Utrecht has a comfortable feel to it with restaurants, museums, sidewalk cafes, bars and shops. The canals in Utrecht have a lower level right next to the water where there are bars and small, private weekend retreats right next to the water. It seemed pretty unique.

 

Lower part of Utrecht canal

Birds eye view of Utrecht from the cathedral tower

Being that it was a warm day, there were plenty of people making use of the canal by canoeing and kayaking on it. Others were taking canal cruises on larger boats that provided lunch while further on, some brave kids were jumping in the murky water from their inflatable rafts. 

After lunching on crokets, dark bread and aged cheese, we took a tour of St. Martin’s cathedral. Started as a small chapel in the 7th century, the building that stands today is of Gothic-design. There is a tall tower, the transept and the choir. In between the tower and the choir there’s a gap in the cathedral where a hurricane blew building apart. The only part open to us was the tower, which we proceeded to climb - all 465 steps of it. Great view from the top, though.

After a couple of more enjoyable days in Rotterdam with Meredith and Elliot, it was time for Diane and I to go home. Our flight was from Brussels. Since Meredith wanted to peruse through the second-hand market in Brussels for old keys, she and Anel accompanied us back to Brussels.

Only about a two hour drive, we dropped off the car and took the train into the city. We were at the Place du Jeu de Balle market in no time and soon were bargaining with a vendor for his stash of old keys. We were surprised to fin out that he wanted far more for his keys than an antique shop owner wanted down the street on Rue Blaes. So we headed back to the huge store and proceeded to buy his entire supply of old keys. The store, Stephantiek is the largest antique store I have seen. Check out the store at their web site - http://www.stefantiek.com/ 

Searching for the right keys

The four of us had lunch at a sidewalk café, near the Grand Place. Afterwards, we walked around the famous square while Meredith provided us with a few of its historical nuances. It was then time for Meredith and Anel to go to the train station and catch the train back to Rotterdam. Like we had done so many times before, we hugged each other tightly, this time parting in the middle of the Grand Place square in Brussels.

The Grand Place

With flight delays and route re-scheduling, the trip back home was a long one. But we got home safe and sound after a 27 hour trip. Another adventure had come to a close.