Brouwerij De Koninck

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With the famous De Koninck Bolleke bottle

 

With Christina and Rafaël in Antwerp, Koen and I booked a tour of the newly renovated De Koninck Brewery. Of course if you’re in Belgium you need to taste the local cuisine which includes the famous Belgian beers. De Koninck is the biggest brewery in Antwerp – most known for the “Bolleke”, an amber beer named for the goblet shaped glass it’s served in, Triple d’Anvers, an Antwerp style Belgian triple, and Wild Jo, the brewery’s newest beer made with wild yeast.

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Scotland Day Six: Glasgow

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Empire Biscuit

 

Day Six was our last day in Scotland before heading back home. We started the day with a coffee and breakfast from Riverhill Coffee Bar. I finally tasted the Empire Biscuit – a cookie I had seen everywhere during the trip – and it was so delicious!

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Scotland Day One: Glasgow

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Bagpipes at George Square

 

For our May vacation, Koen and I headed to Scotland with our friends Chris and Hannah. Our main destination was the Isle of Islay, but to start and finish the trip we spent some time in Glasgow.

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London: Ottolenghi, Natural History Museum, The Hereford Arms, and The Harwood Arms

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Lunch at Ottolenghi in Notting Hill

 

Day Five was our last full day together in London. We started off with breakfast at The Butter Bakery in Notting Hill. The bakery is located across from our apartment, so it was an easy walk across the street for our hand pies and coffee.

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London: Portobello Market, Camden Market, Tate Modern, and The Painted Heron

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Freezing, but happy to have my red velvet whoopie pie!

 

One of the reasons we decided to stay in Notting Hill is because we love the movie Notting Hill. Do you remember the scene in the movie, that in order to show how much time has passed by, you see Hugh Grant walking through a market? Well that market is the Portobello Market and we visited it during Day Four, enjoying a big brunch and sweets.

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London: Notting Hill, The Ivy Chelsea Garden, Victoria and Albert Museum, Science Museum and St. John Restaurant

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Strolling through Notting Hill

 

To start our first real day together in London, we walked from Notting Hill through Hyde Park to get to Chelsea for the most delicious brunch at The Ivy Chelsea Garden.

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Florence: Italian Cooking Class, Ferragamo Museo and Gelato!

Cooking School Graduates!

Cooking School Graduates!

 

We wanted to plan something special for our last day in Florence – an Italian cooking class! We learned how to make two types of pasta (tagliatelle and ravioli), ragu, and tiramisu. The lesson started first at the San Lorenzo Market, where we received a lesson about the origins of Italian cooking a regional dishes. Waste not, want not! That’s the only way to explain the abundance of cow stomach sandwiches in Florence. The class was so much fun and of course we were able to enjoy the dishes we prepared with a red Chianti!

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Florence: Museo Galileo, Trattoria da Tito, and Basilica di Santa Croce

Aristotelian planetarium, Italian ca. 1600

Aristotelian planetarium, Italian ca. 1600

Day Six was a full day of sightseeing! With only two days left, we really needed to narrow down what we still wanted to do and make choices.

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Florence: Piazza del Duomo, Trattoria Sostanza, Boboli Gardens, St. Minias on the Mountain and Piazzale Michelangelo

Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower

Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower

Day Five Koen and I did a lot of walking and climbing. So sore the following days!

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Florence: Galleria dell’Accademia, All’Antico Vinaio, and Piazza della Repubblica

Mom and me with Michelangelo's David

Mom and me with Michelangelo’s David

Day Three was a Sunday – the first Sunday of November, sooo all the museums were free! After a bit of discussing, Koen, Tamar, my mom and I decided on Galleria dell’Accademia, most famous for housing Michelangelo’s David. We left early in the morning and luckily the line wasn’t too bad!

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