Netherlands Tulip Parade 2013

BURSTS of color are filling our home from all the beautiful tulips I found at the local garden shop!  Its definitely getting us geared up for our up coming trip to.......... Noordwijk, Netherlands!  April 20, 2013 this town will be filled with luxury vehicles & floats artistically designed with gorgeous TULIPS.  Since moving to Germany in 2005 I have heard nothing but great reviews about this free parade & am absolutely estatic to get the opportunity to finally see it!  

Also on the itinerary we will finally be seeing the Windmills in Kinderdijk & The Zaanse Schans and of course re-visiting the Clara Maria Cheese & Clog Farm. For those of you who are not aware there is a bit of a romantic love story behind the Clara Maria.  There was an american girl who fell in love with one of the sons of the Clara Maria, stayed in Holland working on the farm & ended up marrying her soul mate :o) If you are lucky enough you too will get a chance to meet this lovely couple! The husband demonstrates clog making and even asks for volunteers! If you ever had a carpe diem moment, this would be it!!!! Once your done creating a clog...that clog is yours to take HOME!!!  His lovely wife will then take you to the cheese room & give you the IN's & OUT's of how Cheese is well...made.

Last year I went with friends on the RTT bus tour out of Ramstein AFB which included breakfast, clog and cheese tour plus entry into the Keukenhoff.  It was around 99euros & well worth it! The breakfast allowed us to  sample every cheese sold there {definitely made it easier to decide which to buy} along with enjoying a typical Netherlands breakfast.  

Now of course no trip is ever complete with out a bit of antique & second hand store shopping!  Can't wait to see what we find.  I would love to get a few books, maybe some furniture or dishes to add to my "delft" inspired area in our home.  

So finding yourself wondering what your going to do this weekend? Why not take a drive up to the Tulip Parade.

Below are pictures from last year.....Be sure to check back for pictures of the parade & more...

Thanks for following my Blog

Beverly 

Tulip festival arch way

Here is the gentleman I was talking to you about with the romantic love story at Clara Maria

breakfast

Cheese Anyone?

Having a bit of fun with the wooden clogs :o) 

My beautiful friend Miranda & I with our tickets to the tulip festival

I did a bit of shopping..lol

Clogs of every liking

Thanks for following my whirlwind trip to Holland in 2012....Soon to follow next week will be of us experiencing the  PARADE!!!!



*All photos were taken & are property of Beverly Camp & BJ CAMP ENTERPRISES LLC.  

STONEHENGE

North of Salisbury nestled in the hills stands STONEHENGE.  Its definitely a rush to see such a sight and pictures just don't do it justice.  There is not a train station at Stonehenge but don't worry you can catch a train from most places to Salisbury and then either grab a taxi or bus tour.  You are welcome to bring a sack lunch or choose to grab something at their cafe & drink stand.  I would recommend during nice weather to bring a blanket for a romantic picnic lunch on location.  Or with your family and friends this is still a great chance to relax and mull over  theories as to how Stonehenge was built.  An audio comes with your ticket which is where we learned of the top theories concerning why Stonehenge was built, by whom and how.  Justin and I drove with our family so we were able to make stops along the way to maximize our travel day.  After all when it comes to traveling its all business. LOL Meaning we like to get up early and spend the whole day exploring as much as we can.  Stonehenge should only take you about an hour to see it all as you follow along with the audio guide.  Depending on how many pictures you want to take and how long you want to just enjoy the over all beauty be sure to factor that into your schedule.  Remember if your visiting in June or October you can catch the winter or summer solstice. We have only visited in January and August so have not had the opportunity to see it first hand but from the photos in the shop they sell its something you won't want to miss.    

We are getting close!!!!! 

The cold has turned me crazzzzzzy! lol

Justin at Stonehenge...bucket list check!

STONEHENGE IN ALL ITS GLORY

The monkey hat appears again!  Bawhahah...what can I say ...I love the monkey hat :o)

Thanks so much for following my Blog & be sure to check back in!!!  

Beverly

Windsor....A day with Family

Hiya!  Justin and I spent the day with family in beautiful Windsor a few months ago and loved it!  Windsor Castle is obviously a highlight and is said to be the preferred weekend getaway for HRH.  Dating back from the 11th century its impressive the beautiful condition the castle remains in.  We started the day by train with a short 50minutes from our families home.  If you are coming from the London area its about 40minutes by car & probably less by train. We enjoyed our sack lunch & photo ops outside the castle & then began our self guided audio tour.  My favorite is the detailed hand made dollhouse! There is a lot of ground to cover and opportunities for photos, though the price with everything open will run you around £17.75 per person it's definitely a MUST see.

For those looking for shopping: Cath Kidston, Cocoa Bean, H&M, antique shops and CrabTree & Evelyn are just a few of my favorite stores you will come across .  The train station also has and outdoor mall with options for any type of shopper.  

Amongst all the shopping my lovely sister in law Jo noticed a peculiar "crooked"building....ironically known as The Crooked House.  Guess where we all decided to have tea time!  The stairs squeeked, the inside was small but it was absolutely lovely!!!   Great service& Food and an adorable ambiance.  

Below are photos of our day with family in Windsor, United Kingdom.

Mall attached to the train station

Um, I'm in LOVE with the dog pillows

LOVE THE CRYSTAL 

Want a Royal Momento? Check out the store inside Windsor Castle

Justin IS taller than the guard 

Time to shop

Breath taking view of Windsor 

Windsor Castle

It's quarky..its crooked...Its TEA TIME

tea & cake

Shopping around ever corner

Thank you so much for following my Blog & Be sure to check back in on our trip to Holland, Netherlands Tulip Festival......Happy Traveling!!!!!

Beverly 

London of Love

Celebrating 10 years of marriage in London , England 

London , England has probably been the city we have visited the most in our 8 years living overseas.  For one we have family that live outside of the city and for two each time we visit this wonderful city it feels like we are seeing it for the first time.  There is so much to do and certainly something for everyone.  

So for this trip we started with a...........6am flight into Birmingham , England 2 1/2 hours by train to London Paddington and 7 minute tube ride to Victoria....the end.  Ahh......just kidding! I literally ran dragging my luggage and my husband out of the station to gawk at the HUGE sign right outside of the station.  I couldn't believe it I was hours away from being inside the Apollo Victoria theater.  After about 10minutes Justin was finally able to pry me away so we could search for our hotel.  At check in we were upgraded rooms for "free" and told that every evening from 4-6pm they offered local free wine, cheese, meat, bread and jelly tasting for all guests.  Talk about a great start to an exciting day. 

 We dropped our bags off and headed out on foot to explore the famous Portobello Road.  It as neat to see but honestly not our kind of place.  Don't get me wrong Justin and I LOVE antiques and finding great deals but these were antique shops that know tourists come from all over and the prices show.  We are more of the rummage at a yard sale, thrift store or hole in the wall little shop to find practically priced treasurers.  Now, I have heard that on the weekends Portobello Road has a different type of atmosphere but for during the week our experience is definitely something to keep in mind.  My friend Miranda is Sicilian and while walking on Portobello Road we saw this super cute "authentic sicilian pizza shop" so we had to stop.  We shot a few pictures and grabbed a pizza to go. 

Inside the Sicilian Pizzeria on Portobello Road

The car inside the window is what grabbed our attention!  

 Throughout the day we  came upon several hole in the wall shops, an open air flea market where we found an old clock, a super neat mason stamp and a few other odds and ends.  We also stumbled upon a very posh store called Fortnum & Masons....did I mention my now favorite store in London! They have everything, teas, linens, groceries, dishes, home decor, chandeliers and oh ya today they were having an in house expo where they offered free tasting of EVERYTHING!!!!!!!  We got to the "kitchen area" and were sat down for free tea and given 3 different desserts of our choosing.  All prepared by master pastery chefs all in return for get this....OUR opinions of which desserts we liked the best.  This eventually will be a place where they will offer cooking classes and sell drinks and desserts but we can now say that we played a role in helping Fortnum & Masons choose desserts to sell throughout the year.  Pssst...the Victoria Sponge Cake is AWESOME!!!!   

My favorite Victoria Sponge Cake & Earl Grey tea...delicious!

Menu for the day

After a full sweet dessert & tea time we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our exhilarating evening which was to include my dream theater production and a romantic wine & cheese complimentary hotel snack in the restaurant area.  

A dream come true!!! 

Something has changed within me

Something is not the same

I'm through with playing by

The rules of someone else's game

Too late for second-guessing

Too late to go back to sleep

It's time to trust my instincts

Close my eyes

And leap...

(Lyrics from the song Defying gravity from the screen play WICKED)

WICKED is my all time favorite screen play and I was honoured to be in the 17th row from the very front of the stage on January 25,2013 with the love of my life for our 10 year anniversary.  These 10 lines above are beautifully written and I've come back to throughout the years.  For me when I've come to a cross roads I just simply have to think back to them...Close my eyes And leap.  If I fall, I've learned a hard lesson but at least I tried and have no regrets! Like this blog, I took a leap of faith that someone out there might enjoy to hear about our traveling adventures and possibly take away a tip or two for their on travels.  

As always, from the bottom of my heart I"d like to Thank You for following my blog and wish you a wonderfully blessed day!

Beverly

SURPRISE....we are in Belgium

Justin and I enjoying the Belgium Pub!  

Good Afternoon from Ghent , Belgium!  This morning when we woke up at 4am! Our intentions were to drive to Belgium to a fleamarket and come straight back.  Little did we know we would end up doing a 3 country tour in a day! Yup, that's generally how we travel.  I am very organized: lunches/snacks...gas station stops, mapquest directions incase gps fails, things to do in the city we are going on, things to see along the way and back home again. Hahaha....it's great to have a plan & then throw it out the window!

    Our first stop was Tongeren , Belgium.  Here every sunday of the year you will find an open air flea market with all styles of sellers.  If you have  keen eye and savvy negotiation skills this place will be your playground!  Today we walked away with paint, wax, wine barrel, dishes, beer & bar decor (the hubby is building his own in house bar) linens & my 10year anniversary ring gift!  At the fleamarket they have an indoor part with bathrooms and a small restaurant so we stopped for snacks & cappuccino and then headed back to the car.

     Our second stop was Brussels.  Today the weather has been quite chilly so most of our touring was from inside the car.  I do have to say it is quite a vast city!  Something maybe if a festival is going on we will come back to visit more in depth.  For now, we drove on to our favorite place in Belgium.......

Ghent, Belgium!  We have been here 3 times.  The first time I was super ill and spent the whole time inside the room of the Ibis hotel.  The 2nd time we got a chance to experience the incredible 10 day festival where Ghents shine! Bands perform right over the canals as everyone sings, dances and parties.   I love the cobblestone streets, the flemish influences & the staggering cafes all throughout the city.  My husband loves the BEER & the Gravensteen Castle!  Together we LOVE the sunday flea market!!!! What can we say we come from families of bargain shoppers & antique dealers...it's only natural that we acquired those same interests and now have them magnified as husband and wife.  You could easily call us a "junking powerhouse couple" LOL!!!! We love to buy, re-purpose/upcycle.  Today, we didn't end up reaching the city until around 3 so we missed the flea market but had plenty of time to check out the local specialty shops.  We got lost for hours in shops that ONLY sell things that are made and sold in Ghent.  A few worth mentioning were: A shop that sold  home made soap , a "frilly bakery" that created the most amazing cupcakes and an upbeat pub that filled in with college students just wanting to unwind and have a good time.  

Each time we visit Ghent there is always something new to see and it hasn't been spoiled by a bunch of tourists flooding in and causing prices to rise.  Its the perfect weekend getaway being only 40minutes from the ocean, the locals are super friendly and from our little village in Germany a 4hour drive tops! 

Below you will find pictures from our trip to Belguim! Thanks so much for following my blog and have a great day! 

                                                                        Beverly

Brussels , Belgium

Ghent , Belgium All home made products made at this bakery <3 

Local  selling Ghent specialty nuts 

Gravensteen Castle in Ghent , Belgium .  We love how its right in the city, not far away and it's a lot bigger than it looks in this picture.  Definitely a place worth visiting 

Our friends Shauna & Steven loving Ghent! 

Just one of many beautiful canals that run all throughout Ghent ,  Belgium