European Escapade Page 3 of 12

	Mice or rats seemed to have some special significance to the city of Bruges and this street vendor had a wide variety of stuffed models for sale.		Another item which caught our attention were the three live GOATS on display by this street vendor. (Just what we'd like to take back to the bus!)
	As we left Bruges and drove towards Brussels, Belgium, we passed the site of the 1935 World's Fair held in Belgium. This unique display is from that historic event...		...as well as this interesting building with its surrounding water, fountain, and floweres.
	We entered BRUSSELS [SEE MAP], the capital of Belgium, in late afternoon, so we did not have good daylight for taking photos. However, we were able to get some shots of...		...the many speciality Belgium Waffle shops which catered to the tourists walking along the street.
	These delicious little 'taste treats' just had to have been loaded with calories! (But, when on vacation, who is counting?)		We were surprised to see these wooden, hand-painted MATRYOSHKA dolls from Russia (depicting Belgian scenes) available for sale in several stores.
	Because of our late arrival in Brussels, many of the local stores were already closed and we could not actually see these particular souvenirs.		This historic building in the center of Brussels was quite impressive...
	...and photogenic even in the quickly-fading light of day!		This narrow street led to many, MANY local open-air restaurants where we could try a wide variety of Belgium delicacies.
	Steve, of course, opted to have ESCARGOT as part of an excellent meal.		Lena chose to have a more 'traditional' pork (or veal) chop.
	After our restaurant experience, we had only a brief amount of time to quickly inspect some of the paintings by local artists.		Rubbing this bronze wall plaque is supposed to bring one good luck!
	We next traveled from Brussels to AMSTERDAM [SEE MAP], Holland where we first toured a huge DIAMOND-POLISHING FACTORY.		We were given an opportunity to select and buy any size diamond for about 30% off regular prices...what a DEAL! Lena, however, could not resist checking out the stones in the tray.
	At this same factory's showroom, they also had a nice selection of the blue and white Holland China (which is similar in color to the Russian "GEL" china).		We next visited a local CHEESE FACTORY in Amsterdam where...
	...we were given a demonstration as to how cheese is made. (More importantly, we were also able to SAMPLE a wide variety of cheeses from the Netherlands!)		Next, we saw how the DUTCH WOODEN SHOES are made by one of the few remaining men who still make the shoes entirely by hand.
	While the demonstration was excellent and the selection of shoes available to buy was extensive, Lena did not think they would be too practical in San Diego. Steve was impressed with the wide variety of SHOE SIZES and COLORS...		... they had available for sale. These samples were 'machine made' rather than 'hand made,' but the prices were still close to $100 US. ('Hand Made' shoes tailored to a specific person cost several hundred dollars.)
	It was unfortunate that our visit to the very colorful and picturesque fishing village of Volendam (near Amsterdam) was ruined by heavy rains while we were there.		The many tourist shops featured a wide selection of Holland's china and other souvenir merchandise. Lena was impressed with this china COW...
	...while Steve was more attracted to this rather interesting and novel design for a SALT SHAKER! (We bought it for one of our single friends who will probably be interested in its features.) <grin>		Volendam's buildings have a very unique architecture and style that would have been much more impressive if we could have gotten these photos on a clear, sunny day.
	Steve decided to buy this musical windmill as a souvenir of the Neverlands since it goes perfectly with the rest of our blue and white Russian GEL china.		This is the fishing part of Volendam which also...unfortunately...appears somewhat less than impressive when photographed in the rain.