Salvador Dali followed by the De Halve Maan brewery

Jane introduced me to Salvador Dali’s art today and said to me as we walked around the extensive exhibition in Brugge that I look confused. Me confused? Dali was obviously the confused one! Surprisingly we were told as we went in that we were allowed to take photos.

Here are a few photos of some of my favourite exhibits.

After Salvador Dali, we went off in search or lunch and walked a long way before eventually ending up for lunch at Caffé Da Noi where I had a waffle and beer and Jane had a meatball salad that was okay but kind of weird.

The De Halve Maan brewery is the only brewery within 30km of Brugge and has been in operation since 1856.There is a EUR 6 fee for a brewery tour, but this money is well spent, particularly when you get a free normal sized glass of beer at the end of the tour.

Andrew was the tour guide I had for the brewery tour and he was larger than life and gave a superb explanation of how the brewery operates and its history with lots of humour along the way.

The brewery tour does involve a lot of narrow steps up to the roof of the building where there are magnificent views.

The walk back down through the building however is so steep at times that people are encouraged to go down the steps backwards.

At the end of tour we got a complementary beer that went down well. I do like how beers in Belgium have their own glass.

Strange art (and other things) in Amsterdam

We decided to target a different part of Amsterdam today so headed off towards the South Eastern side of the city. We made our way to Dam square and then took the most direct route to get to Rembrandt’s house, through streets lined with cheap gift shops and takeaways.

We didn’t go into Rembrandt’s house but wandered through the tacky Waterlooplein Flea Market and then on to the Jewish Quarter where we walked around the vicinity of the Jewish Historical Museum and I finally got my camera out when we found this cute mosaic on the wall. I have no idea what it represents and after a quick search online I’m none-the-wiser.

On route to the Dutch Resistance Museum (Verzetsmuseum) we passed Wertheim Park

and then came across these strange sculptures overlooking the canal.

The Dutch Resistance Museum was very well setup and contained lots of information presented well about the everyday life of people in Amsterdam during the German occupation of World War II, and some exceptional stories about how the Dutch resisted the Nazis. Just outside the Museum we came across these tile sculptures strung as a window screen.

We had lunch just along the road from the Museum at Cafe Koojes. Jane enjoyed a Goats Cheese salad that had a large slice of goats cheese that had been lightly heated with a apple and basil syrup. I had heard that Croquettes were a food associated with the Netherlands so I decided to order a couple. I didn’t have high expectations and consequently my expectations were met… I won’t be rushing out to have them again any time soon.

We then took Tram 14 across town and disembarked out West beyond the Jordaan and proceeded to walk back towards the city centre. Before long Jane spotted this piece of art diving from the wall into the canal.

Wandering around the canals is lovely and we came across many house boats in one canal.

In the middle of the Jordaan, close to Anne Frank’s House, this sign on one of the benches along the canal made me chuckle.

Almost back to the start of our journey, we came across this smart car charging.