Rough Itinerary for Europe Trip February 13 – 22

Friday, February 13.
Leave for Frankfurt, Germany
1:15 pm.

Saturday, February 14.
Arrive Frankfurt, Germany
10:50 am.
Get rental car
Go to Sven’s for couch surfing (stay for one night)
Visit Frankfurt

Go to Brewery

Sunday, February 15.
Leave for Amsterdam in the morning
Arrive around Noon.
Check into Durty Nelly’s Hostel (60 euros total)
http://www.xs4all.nl/~nellys/nellmain.htm
Museums:
Anne Frankhuis: The clear and haunting words of a young Jewish girl trying to survive and grow in unimaginable circumstances have moved millions since they were first published in the aftermath of World War II. It’s a melancholy but unforgettable experience to spend a reflective moment in Anne Frank’s stark hideout from Nazi terror.

Heineken International Brewing Company

Rent bike
Canals
De Wallen
Red Light District

Monday, February 16.
Amsterdam
Van Gogh Museum: The world’s largest collection of Vincent’s works is housed here — some 200 paintings and 500 drawings — ranging from Sunflowers to earless self-portraits. Here, you can trace this great, tragic painter’s artistic and psychological development.

Rijksmuseum: The State Museum houses some of Holland’s most important artworks: Rembrandt’s world-famous The Night Watch, four of Vermeer’s miniatures, and numerous pieces by Frans Hals. In all, this is one of the world’s most impressive Old Masters collections.

Tuesday, February 17.
Leave for Belgium-Brussels in the am
Stay at Christian for couch surfing

Kasteel Beersel This 13th-century castle just 8km (5 miles) south of Brussels, looks to be the ideal place for pulling up the drawbridge and settling in for a siege — and if the owners have had the foresight to amply stock the rustic Auberge Kasteel Beersel restaurant inside, the proceedings need not be too burdensome. This is a castle just like Disney makes them, with turrets, three towers, a drawbridge, a moat, and the spirits of all those who have, willingly or unwillingly, resided within its walls.

Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall; Both the inside and the outside of this magnificent Gothic work repay careful study. The sculptors who created its intricate exterior decoration had a sense of humor — or at any rate what passed for a sense of humor in the Middle Ages — as well as skill. And the interior is lavish enough even for the extravagant tastes of the imperial aldermen who ruled over the city from here.

Galeries Royales St-Hubert (St. Hubert Royal Galleries; One of Europe’s oldest “shopping malls,” the Italian neo-Renaissance style gallery with three connected wings opened in 1847, and is still a fine place to shop and to stroll through window-shopping.

Snap Up a Bargain at the Flea Market Each day from 7am to 2pm, the Marché-aux-Puces in place du Jeu-de-Balle offers everything from the weird to the wonderful at rock-bottom prices.

Visit the Comic-Strip Museum: Cast aside any thoughts of Superman and Batman. Belgian comic-strip art is an altogether more sophisticated product, though its most famous creation, Hergé’s Tintin, proves it can also be fun.

Wednesday, February 18.
Belgium-Bruges-the Chocolate City!

Thursday, February 19.
Belgium

Friday, February 20.
Leave for Frankfurt, Germany in the am
Stop by Charleroi
Just drive through…
Visit the Gervasi and Margotta families.
Drive through Luxembourg
Arrive Frankfurt, Germany
Stay with Annew for couchsurfing (two nights)

Saturday, February 21.
Frankfurt, Germany
Visit with Daisy
Stay with Annew

Sunday, February 22.
Leave for Arizona
11:40 am