When it feels good to be homesick...

Well the grand adventure to the continent is at an end. Since the last installment we made our way out of the land of the tulips by touring the Claus Windmill. Perhaps one of the most fascinating things about this windmill that is still operating to grind flour and mix all the goods and spices to make those marvelous “speculaas” cookies , is that it has been operated by the same family for 5 generations. What luck that one of them is Mormon and offered to enrich our travels when talking with them at church! Here's a pic of the missionaries enjoying the tour along with us.

So whimsical and fun!

It was impressive to see how the cogs and wheels of this 18^th century technology could still work and often by the same measures as it had before (note in the picture the hanging pig lard that is used grease rusty parts).

What made this place a dream was the shop below that sold all kinds of windmill ground mixes of cookies, breads and other Dutch delectables. 

Onward we went to Brussels where we ate our fill of chocolate and “moules et frites” at La Grande Place.

Then Bruges where we walked around some neat Mediterranean architecture and then got yelled at by the Belgian waffle lady for mixing up our order. Indeed, this was our token traveling experience where we ended up getting accused of being American. What a laugh! To be sure, there was still plenty of good times had by all and even a few inside jokes between Lori and I. You had to be there….

Then we headed south to Stuttgart where we stayed with a foreign exchange student that the Sweeneys hosted about 13 years ago. There were of course some great sites to see on foot around Stuttgart and more interesting adventures in Munich where we tried their unique white sausage (Weisswurst) in the Victorian Market and then took a walking tour of the city’s many sites. I was particularly taken in by the English Garden (larger than Central Park!) which was full of surprises, including nudity tolerance (why is it always fat, older men that take advantage of nudist parks/beaches?) 

and their surfing wave installed in the park’s wee river.

Still, the company and food was the most noteworthy part of the visit. Turns out nothing makes a better combination than a Serbian family who has learned the art of German cooking. Great culinary things happen when these worlds collide!

As the 10 day stint has come to an end I have been fighting the homesick feeling for several days now. I think it was offset by a handful of ribald young Brits who got onto the same canal cruise boat as us in Bruges. Most of them were on board while we were getting ready to leave when a straggler from their group arrived holding two 1 litre bottles of ale in each hand. One of the red-faced friends of his in the back shouted “Sorry mate but there is no beer allowed on the boat. The Belgian guy just told me.” The straggler looked down at the bottles and muttered “Well I wish you would have told me that before I bought this!” He shrugged then hopped on the boat, his hefty frame tilting the small boat back and forth while his friends all shouted and teased him from the back. It must have been their outspoken and distinctly British humour that got to me. It seemed so familiar after having that out of place feeling that is inevitable during any kind of travels. That event coupled with the fact that every time a German had to break down and talk me through a transaction in English they ended with a “cheers” (no doubt not knowing an American accent from a British one) made me increasingly homesick for Edinburgh.  Would you believe the heat and sun even overwhelmed at times and made me pine for the cool and moody weather from Scotland? Sure sign that it is time to head home…