Christmas Markets | BruceWPeterson Photography

Our Route

I’ve gotten a lot of inquire about where we’ve been. This map may help. I think I’ve got it right. The Red Line is for cars and the Blue Line is for trains. Most were round trips, at least.

There were quite a few narrative threads I had hoped to follow but I have quite literally run out of time. I decided the best way to finish this voyage was to just show you some of my favorites and hope for the best.

Amsterdam, NL

Cologne Cathedral Cologne, Germany

Aachen Christmas Market Aachen, Germany

Aachen Cathedral Aachen, Germany

Cologne Christmas Market Cologne, Germany

Amsterdam, NL

Monchau, Germany

Our good buddy Sabine at Museum Ludwig Cologne, Germany

Monchau, Germany

Rotterdam, NL

Monchau Christmas Market Monchau, Germany

Liege Christmas Market, Liege, Belgium

Amsterdam,NL

Maastricht Central Station Maastricht, NL

The Afsluitdijk is a remarkable structure that has been protecting Holland from the sea for over 80 years. Built between 1927 and 1932 with over 5,000 workers, it is now an icon of the Netherlands’ constant struggle against water. In typical Dutch style solving all problems requires a creative approach. The 23 km long road that stretches across the dyke requires lighting, but not wanting to add to “light pollution” highly reflective surfaces that are activated by car lights and go dark after you pass have been added to the vertical structures.

Afsluitdijk

Maastricht Christmas Market Maastricht, NL

Maastricht, NL

Helpoort ca.1229 Maastricht, NL

Maastricht, NL

Maastricht Christmas Market Maastricht, NL

Valkenburg Caves Christmas Market Valkenburg, NL

Maastricht Christmas Market Maastricht, NL

The Grand Hall – The Hermitage Amsterdam, NL

Asian Tourists at the Cologne Cathedral Cologne, Germany

The Nights Watch at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, NL

Have fun out there.

There are certain experiences in life that no matter how much we desire and long for them they still invariably come up a little short. There is one such experience for Wendi that happens much too infrequently and when it does it’s so small that it leaves her craving more. If you haven’t guessed yet, it’s Ice Cubes. For some reason Europeans seem to have a bad attitude about these frozen little wonders that add so much joy to Wendi’s beverage experiences. If the given establishment even has them at all, which they frequently do not, they are parsed out as if they were recently unearthed hidden treasures. She is yet to see someone actually fill a glass with ice cubes. Wendi finds this particularly unnerving in that they still advertise the drink as “iced tea”. You see “iced” is the operative word here, it brings to mind a frosty glass filled to the brim with a “cold” thirst quenching beverage, not a warm glass half full with weak, cloudy and tepid green tea. Now I know you’re thinking that in a larger context this is a very minor annoyance, just a small bump in the road of life, but then you don’t travel with Wendi.