Art Talk: TRAIN TRAVEL

DISCLAIMER....A LOT OF PHOTOS BUT I COULD NOT HELP IT...SO BEAUTIFUL!
We decided to take a little train trip with Rob and Sharon and went off to Haarlem which is the sweetest town with the oldest and best museum. The museum is dedicated to scientific equipment and all of the pieces are wood, brass and metal...beautiful. They also have lots of bones, skulls and fossils. Arnt also got to eat his beloved poffertjges which are basically pancakes in little balls...see pics below...with strawberries and whipped cream.
Then off to Rotterdam where we hooked up with an artist that I had been introduced to over the internet and we went to his studio. Maritime museum, Modern Museum with a Chuck Close show and World museum with a textile show. Also went to the Architecture Museum which also included a visit to a completely restored art deco house. Lots of cafe's for food and drink.
Next was Antwerp which has the most amazing church ever...there was a special show of Ruebens paintings and his contemporaries. They had been painted for this church and finally brought back after being thrown out for a while as too provocative. Huge paintings! Also the wood carving in that church is out of hand...almost lifesize statures of saints, pulpits and naves. There were also other silver sculptures and hand done brocaded banners. Gravestones in the floor throughout. The modern museum on the water is brand new with classical to modern art and a fantastic building. Great restaurants around the square surrounding the church. Also went out to see some local jazz which was in another great building with a good band.
Finally Brugge which is a very old city with canals, bridges, fab buildings, horse drawn carriages and wonderful churches. The place we stayed was an old estate house with only 8 rooms and a wonderful garden to rest in after walking around all day. It is right beside a park which has a small castle and wonderful trees. We saw this city by boat on a short canal cruise and also rented bikes. Of course we loaded up on chocolate and headed off to the train for the ride back to Amsterdam.
The day after we got back the boys flew to Ireland for 10 days of fly fishing....that is a story in itself and Sharon and I got to know more of Amsterdam and a few more art galleries (Flemish classical, contemporary and art students) and museums (tattoo and photography). Also a bit of shopping...well they did leave us alone after all...what is a girl to do!