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 Fog gently draped its tendrils over the ancient royal stone, drifted through the bare trees and blanketed the hillsides below Windsor Castle, making the castle fortress moody, dark, silent and closed in on itself. this is just what I would have pictured in my minds eye if asked what a typical foggy English day would look like and I wanted to share this misty beauty in a photo-journey. Hope you enjoy!                What to do when you are given travel lemons? Well…. As we all have heard…. Make travel lemonade! When I arrived at the Musee Rodin, located in the Faubourg Saint-Germain (7th arrondissement) in the center of Paris, near Les Invalides, it was raining with intermittent blasts of stormy downpour. Not exactly prime weather for touring! But it was still a wonderful experience.  Compounding my discomfort and disappointment, I found that the museum housed in the Hotel Biron, a stately mansion in which from 1905, Rodin had his studio and the storage rooms for his sculpture, was closed for renovation. The Hotel Biron was completed in 1732 by architect Jean Aubert for a wig-maker who had made a fortune in currency speculation. The house then was sold to the Duchesse du Maine in 1737 and finally passed on to the Marechal de Biron in 1753.  The house passed from private hands in 1793 when Duc de Biron's heir, Armand Louis de Gontaut, Duc de Lauzun, was guillotined during the French Revolution. The house was then used for a number of state functions and for a time even used as a Catholic school for young women. In 1905, the grand mansion was sub-divided into lodgings and Rodin rented several of the rooms. He also enjoyed entertaining in the fabulous but overgrown gardens.   Site plan from Blondel's Architecture françoise (1752) Fortunately, I was, at least, able to take in the graceful façade and wander the rain soaked gardens to find wonderful sculptures adorning the winter-stark paths.      After strolling through the gardens, one can enter the temporary exhibition area. To be perfectly honest, I had really looked forward to exploring the lovely “house-museum”, but the temporary exhibition which highlighted Rodin’s artistic process, turned out to be fascinating. The exhibition is called Rodin: The Laboratory of Creation and will be open until September 27th, 2015.  The museum website tells you, “These pieces illustrate the advance of the sculptor’s extraordinary career. Visitors will be drawn into the heart of the creative process; by observing, they will gain insight into Rodin’s formal thinking ─ the paths he followed, the hesitations he experienced and the flashes of brilliance that lit his way.” It delivers on its promise many times over. Learning about the creative process of Rodin allows you to view his work in a whole new light!   The exhibit displays numerous preparatory works, studies and sketches in clay, maquettes and plaster models that were used to make the series of casts which were reworked until the final version of a work was created.       Rodin gave body parts such as heads, hands, arms and feet individual attention and then incorporated them into the final figure.   The collection is supplemented with photographs taken in Rodin’s studios.    In 1909, Rodin, at the height of his fame, began to promote the idea that the Hôtel Biron should become a museum of his work. He made a bequest of his property, his archives and the contents of his studio at the time of his death, and the French government accepted in 1916. The museum opened in 1919. The Musee Rodin is beautiful, it’s collection and interpretation is fascinating and it is well worth a visit even during this time of renovation!   There are places that are special to each of us. Places that are rooted deep in our hearts and remain brilliant in our minds over the years. Places that delight us every time we go back. For me, this place is The Huntington Library, Art Gallery and Botanical Gardens. First visited as a fifteen-year-old teenager, when entry was still free and to which I have returned many times over the decades since.    The Huntington was founded in 1919 by Henry E. Huntington, an immensely successful businessman who built a financial empire including railroad companies, utilities, and real estate holdings in Southern California. After amassing his fantastic wealth, Henry Huntington wanted to establish a legacy in the style of the great philanthropists of the East Coast such as the institutions established by Henry Clay Frick and J. Pierpont Morgan, whose fine collections were made available for scholars and displayed to the general public.  But Henry’s dream was to be based in his beloved West Coast. From the time of his first visit to the San Gabriel Valley in the 1890’s, he expressed his delight in the area saying, “All that was necessary to capture me was my first visit to, and study of, Southern California.” He later wrote, “You come here and you are conquered….” Regarding his belief in his ambition to build his great library, gallery and botanical garden, he is quoted as stating “The Huntington Library is not for a day only. If we envision the future, I believe the Pacific Coast will one day be the center of culture extending around the world.” His words turned out to be greatly prophetic.  above - vintage postcard of Southern California - Wikimedia The heart of the Huntington galleries, library and gardens is the grand Beaux Arts mansion built by Henry and his wife Arabella as their place to “settle down”. It was nicknamed “Huntington’s Palace”. Construction began in 1909 using local architects Myron Hunt and Elmer Grey and was designed using an eclectic combination of Roman, Renaissance and Baroque elements. They also built a number of outbuildings such as a garage (now used as the Boone Gallery) and a bowling alley/billiards room (now used as the Rose Garden Tea Room).  above - vintage photo - Huntington Mansion 1915 - Wikimedia     Photo above by Carol Moreno, unauthorized use prohibited Arabella loved eighteenth century French décor and added her great influence to the interior design and furnishing of the home, but Henry also had firm influence as he directed that the interior walls be white except for the mahogany library and demanded that the home be “fire-proof” and have, “plenty of light”. Walking through the light-filled mansion, you can easily imagine the elegant privileged life lived in the fabulously decorated rooms.             In 1910, Henry began to focus his energy on collecting. Over the following decades, he purchased rare books, manuscripts and artwork, trying to measure up to the great libraries and galleries of Britain and Europe. Among the treasures in the collection are the Ellesmere manuscript of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, a Gutenberg Bible on vellum, and a world-class collection of the early editions of Shakespeare’s. In 1919 he commissioned Hunt and Grey to construct a great library building on his estate.   Photo above by Carol Moreno, unauthorized use prohibited   above 2 photos - The Ellesmere Chaucer 1400-1405 (The Canterbury Tales) by Geoffrey Chaucer   above and below - The Gutenberg Bible -Mainz Germany c. 1455   Above - First Folio edition of Shakespeare’s collected plays, published in 1623, With Arabella (already a respected art collector herself and collector of many of the Renaissance pieces) guiding him, Henry also invested heavily in art and after the devastation of WWI, when aristocratic British and Europeans needed to sell their artwork to survive, he was able to purchase a number of great paintings, sculptures and decorative arts. The European collection spans the 15th through the 20th centuries. After Arabella’s death, Henry expanded the eighteenth-century French collection in her honor.  Madonna and Child With St. John by Francesco Granacci, 16th century  Above -Portrait of a Young Man by Domenico Ghirlandaio - c. 1490   Above - Madame de Vermenoux - 1777 by Jean-Antoine Houdon  Above - Mademoiselle de Migieu as Diana by Jean-Marc Nattier  Above - The Kiss of Innocence, or, The Swing by Marguerite Gerard, c. 1787-1788 Indulging his love of all things British, Henry collected a number of eighteenth-century English masterpieces.  Above - Teucer by Sir William Hamo Thornycroft c. 1881-1904  Above - Sir George Lyttelton, Bart., later Baron Lyttelton, with Lt. Col. Richard Lyttelton, later Gen. Sir Richard Lyttelton, K.B., and Rachel (Russell), Duchess of Bridgwater by Arthur Devis, 1748  Above - Vase Manufactured by the Royal Porcelain Company, Worcester, England c. 1830-1840  Above - The Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough, c. 1770  Above - Pinkie by Thomas Lawrence c. 1794  Above - Head of a Young Girl by John Gibson, c. 1820 The American Art Collection, located in the Virginia Steele Scott Gallery, most of which was obtained after Henry Huntington’s death, spans the late seventeenth century to the 1980’s     George Washington by Gilbert Stuart 1797  Above - The Western Brothers by John Singleton Copely, 1783   Above - The Fisher Boy by Hiram Powers, c. 1850  The Inner Studio by William Merritt Chase, 1882 The estate acres, which were originally cultivated with crops such as citrus, peaches and nuts and avocados, were planted with gardens under the direction of landscape architect William Hertrich. The gardens that date back to Huntington’s time at the estate include the North Vista Lawn, Camellia Collection, Desert Garden, Japanese Garden, Rose Garden, Lily Ponds and Palm Garden. Unfortunately, our latest visit was in January and the Rose Garden was for the most part pruned and bare. But my favorites, the Camillias, were doing their best to bloom!      Photo above by Carol Moreno, unauthorized use prohibited               Photo above by Carol Moreno, unauthorized use prohibited Many other types of gardens have been added over the decades not the least of which are a Grand Conservatory dedicated to botanical science and a Chinese Garden.   Photo above by Carol Moreno, unauthorized use prohibited  Above photo by Carol Moreno, unauthorized use prohibited  Photo above by Carol Moreno, unauthorized use prohibited    Henry E. Huntington died in 1927 while Arabella had predeceased him by three years. Both are buried in the mausoleum on the property, designed by John Russell Pope, who later designed the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.   Photo above by Carol Moreno, unauthorized use prohibited   photo above courtesy of Huntington.org I remain eternally grateful for the Henry and Arabella Huntington’s philanthropic vision of a great art gallery, library and botanical garden which has given us The Huntington Library, Art Museum & Gardens, a great gift of beauty and peace to enjoy throughout the generations.   The Catacombs which are located at the Place Denfert Rochereau are 20 meters below ground and as you wind your way down through the stone passages, you have the sense of descending deep into the underground.  photo above by Campola courtesy of Wikimedia Commons  As I walked slowly through the dim ossuary caverns deep beneath the Paris streets, where bones were artfully stacked as high as my head and skulls peered out at me with dark empty stares, one thought kept creeping into my mind. Who were these people? What kind of lives did they have? How did they die? Did their loved ones cry at their passing?  The ancient bones of citizens of Paris are located in what was originally a historic stone quarry left over from the building of the great capital. These underground workings supplied the huge quantities of stone required to build Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Louvre and city ramparts.    It seemed a little sacrilegious to be casually walking through this resting place, a few small groups joking, some taking selfies in front of a dead stranger’s bones, but I admit this didn’t stop me from joining the people who were slowly wandering through this bizarre collection. Fortunately, at the time of my visit at the beginning of January, I was mostly by myself.  The creation of the Catacombs began when the Cemetery of the Innocents (near Saint-Eustache, in the district of Halles) which had been in use for nearly ten centuries became a source of infection for all residents. It was the first great ancient Paris cemetery to be emptied.  Above Reproduction: Le cimetière des Saint-Innocents vers 1550 The transfer of the remains began after the blessing and consecration of the ossuary in April 7, 1786 and continued until 1788. The bones were always transferred at night and included a ceremony consisting of a procession of priests in robes who sang the burial service along the route taken by the huge wagons carrying remains. The ossuary now contains the remains of approximately six million Parisians, transferred there gradually between the late eighteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries as graveyards were being closed because of the risk they posed to public health.  Alone at intervals in the series of cavern rooms and tunnel turns gave me time to really appreciate the lonely atmosphere of the mass grave. I was able to imagine the huge wagons of bones which were each covered decorously by a black veil as they hauled the remains of the citizens of Paris.    The official website of the Catacombs indicates that “the bones from several graveyards and churches in Paris undoubtedly include the remains of many famous names from previous centuries including, amongst others, the writers François Rabelais (between 1483 and 1494 -1553), .... and Charles Perrault (1628 - 1703), the sculptor François Girardon (1628 - 1715), the painter Simon Vouet (I590 - 1649), the architects Salomon de Brosse (1571-1626), .... and also Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1646 - 1708). During the Revolution, people were buried directly in the Catacombs, including members of the Swiss Guard killed in the storming of the Tuileries palace on 10 August 1792 and victims of the massacres in September 1792. The remains of victims of the guillotine transferred there from their original burial pits include Lavoisier (1743 - 1794), ....Camille and Lucile Desmoulins (1760 - 1794 and 1771 - 1794), Danton (1759 - 1794) and Robespierre (1758 - 1794).” Who knows which of those skeleton heads might have been one of these notable historic figures!  From the time of their creation, the Catacombs have been a place “tourists” have wanted to visit including the Count of Artois, future Charles X, who descended into the ossuary in the company of his court ladies in 1787. Emperor Francois 1st of Austria viewed the bones in 1814 and Napoleon III entered the caverns in 1860 with his son. Visitors to Paris have been trekking down into the Catacombs ever since.  Eventually, the name “Catacombs” was given to this ossuary in reference to the Catacombs of Rome, originally the name given to an ancient cemetery near the Appian Way. I have to say….. The Catacombs of Paris is one of the most interesting places to visit in Paris and really makes you aware of the centuries of citizens who have lived, worked, played and loved and died in this beautiful city.   I eased into our travel year with a trip to London and Paris, with visits to Windsor, Bath, Stonehenge and Versailles, so I'm beginning our web publications for 2015 with a few photos from my favorite perspective. One of the best parts of visiting London and Paris is just looking up or out over the horizon. The beauty of these grand cities framed by the unique skies of the day or a room capped by soaring stained glass and painted ceilings is a memory that will stay with you forever. London             Windsor   Stonehenge   Bath     Paris                      Versailles     
We loved this “Random Act of Travel” to Alligator Adventure in Myrtle Beach South Carolina, where courageous little girls can hold baby alligators! 
There were a number of interesting animals to see at the park...... 
........but we focused in on the many different kinds of alligators that inhabit the watery enclosures. The variety of incredible alligators on exhibit include; American, African, Chinese, Caiman and even Albino alligators. Some enclosures housed literally piles of alligators! 
Crocodiles from South America, Southeast Asia and Australia were allso amazing to see. 
The huge crocodile Utan. Born in 1964, he is considered the largest crocodile on exhibit in the United States and is a hybrid breed between a salt-water and Siamese crocodile. He weighs 2000 lbs. and is 18 ft. in length and is an impressively huge reptile, in fact, he is so ferocious that he is housed behind 10 foot tall double fencing! (hence the crummy shot!) 
The weirdest looking crocs were the False Gharials. Their huge bodies taper up to long skinny noses and interlocking teeth! 
Bob is the sentimental favorite (if you can say that about an alligator!). She was born without a tail and her home is just across from the Park Animal Hospital. She most likely would not have survived in the wild. 
A live show introduces you to a turtle, a parrot and a small alligator up-close and personally. After the show, kids can hold an alligator and get their picture taken, so you can guess where we headed right after the show. Remember, we had an adventurous little girl with us who wanted to hold an alligator! 
Alligator Adventure is definitely worth a visit to learn all about alligators and crocodiles and the other animals in the park are fun to see too, don’t miss them! It’s a great family excursion though personally, all those alligators kind of creeped me out! 
 This “Random Act of Travel” was inspired by our desire to take on a whirlwind Las Vegas weekend in order to review some Las Vegas attraction favorites for our readers. The highlight of this trip to Vegas was a helicopter flight with Serenity Helicopters into the Grand Canyon for a sunset dinner! As you can imagine, this Grand Canyon excursion was, fun, exciting, and gorgeous. We chose the dinner tour which we knew would be a group flight/dinner in the Grand Canyon for us and up to two other couples. A large comfy van picked us up at the designated location across from our hotel and we met our fellow helicopter travelers. As it turned out, we had a young Russian couple from Canada and a mother and adult daughter from England as our travel companions and everyone promptly began to get to know each other. We were a friendly fun group of six including Jim and I and I remain a firm believer that if you have great traveling partners you can’t go wrong.  While the helicopter sat on the tarmac waiting, we were checked in at the small airport hanger/office, warned to use the toilet as there is not one at the canyon site and given our life vests. I know…. life vests in a desert? This puzzled us until, when settled into the helicopter, headphones donned, we watched the safety video, and were advised that since we would be traveling over rivers and reservoirs and we needed to be prepared for a water landing. It was amusing to imagine this as we looked out over the parched landscape. The safety video was soon pushed to the back of our minds as we took off up into the blue sky and soared over the desert toward the Grand Canyon and oh-yes....we definitely were flying over water. We were accompanied by a second helicopter carrying a group who were planning to have a champagne-toast in the canyon.        Everyone was glued to the fabulous view and exclaiming in awe at the beauty of the amazing desert topography as we made our way over Lake Mead, Boulder Dam and finally on to the Grand Canyon.      Our very capable pilot Matteo was in charge of taking us on this magical tour and not surprisingly, it was wonderful and he was engaging, informative and made us feel very safe during our trip. As he told us all about the area and its geology and history, we soaked up the awesome natural scenes below us.       We soared over the canyon and hovered and dipped next to its steep cliffs.       After this wonderful flight, we landed at our dinner site half-way down into the canyon, which was located on a small cliff plateau. As we jumped out of the helicopter, we saw a few tables with sun-umbrellas scattered across the scrub dotted space and soon our pilot/dinner host, had our table decorated with flowers and set for dining with a table cloth lovely linen napkins and wine glasses.       While all this set up was taking place, we took pictures of each other and the fabulous view of the cliffs rising above us and enjoyed the peaceful silence of the desert breeze while exploring the plateau and peering over the edge down into the steep canyon river bottom far below.      When we booked the trip with Serenity Helicopters, we were given three menu choices, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Beef Bourguignon and Vegetarian White Lasagna. We both chose the Beef Bourguignon and it was delicious! We were also given a choice of one drink including the choice of a soft-drink, wine, beer or champagne and I must say, drinking that glass of red wine while looking out at the majesty of the Grand Canyon made this lovely dinner even more perfect. Not surprisingly, Matteo also turned out to be a fabulous maître d’ for our sunset canyon dinner. A true man of many talents! We all swapped stories while eating dinner and too soon it was time to leave our stunning view to return to the city.    Fortunately for us, as we winged our way back, the brilliant sunset was waiting to highlight even more beautiful desert formations now purpled in deep shadow and gilded in golden light.          The Serenity Helicopter trip was wonderful and we would highly recommend this experience to everyone!
Be sure to click on the link above to learn more about how you can book this incredible experience!  As Christmas approaches, we are publishing this last article from our “Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg Road Trip”. We saved the story of our trip to Bastogne Barracks in Belgium, for this appropriate season of the year, since the tale of this strategic WWII command center and its important role in the victory of the “The Battle of the Bulge”, the largest land battle of WWII, began at Christmas time, December 19th, 1944.    On December 16th, the Germans launched their last major offensive of WWII in Western Europe. Taking advantage of the cold and the fog, the German artillery started the conflict by attacking the sparsely deployed American troops around Bastogne, Belgium. The Germans had engulfed the whole of the Ardennes region and the city of Bastogne sat at the center of the occupied region. The German army’s goal was to advance to Antwerp, to cut off the supply route and separate British from American troops, so Bastogne was a prize the Allies wanted to defend at all costs.  On December 19th, Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe, acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division arrived in Bastogne along with his division to mount a counter-attack. He established the Headquarters for the U.S. forces at the Sous-Lieutenant Heintz Barracks (now known as Bastogne Barracks).   After heavy fighting, the U.S. forces at Bastogne were surrounded and On December 22, German emissaries asked for the American surrender. These military barracks are now remembered in history for the place where the decisive strategic decisions were made leading to the turning point in the Battle of the Bulge. It was from this headquarters that the US Commander, General McAuliffe, issued the now famous reply of 'Nuts' to the German surrender ultimatum. Four days later, General George C. Patton broke the siege and three weeks later, the Americans had won the battle.   The Bastogne Barracks Museum is a Belgian National Army Museum and the free tour is guided by members of the Belgian National Army who are incredibly informative and dedicated to the preservation of the memories of this WWII battle. The tour is so interesting and there is so much to see that it can stretch out to 2 hours or more. The tour is worth every minute!  Outside, before you enter the barracks, archive photos are positioned around the site where the photos were actually taken way back in 1944. Examples of steel and concrete “caltrops” or “hedgehogs” which look like large burrs and were used to block the paths of tanks dot the paths and alleys.    The tour includes buildings which once housed the underground Command Center during the battle. The rooms depict scenes which have been reconstructed on the basis of veterans’ recollections and photos from the period. The rooms include communications rooms, first-aid surgery rooms, the mess (kitchen), officer’s quarters and command operations. Our guide, Bruno, took the time to enter the scenes and explain details regarding the use of many of the artifacts and weapons.            The exhibition rooms house hundreds of artifacts including artillery, small arms, radio and medical equipment, from the U.S. and other allied forces. Many of the artifacts in the museum are on loan from the personal collections of the Belgian National Army Museum personnel and some have been generously donated by WWII veterans, collectors and enthusiasts.            A walk to the other side of the barracks site brings you to two large hangers where they house and restore the excellent military vehicle collection. There are all types of tanks, mortars, jeeps, motorcycles, trucks and red-cross vans among the assemblage. This is the largest collection of war machines we had ever seen. The huge hangers also have WWII photos set up to help interpret how the vehicles would have been used during war and vignettes of maintenance operations provide a view into how difficult it would have been to service these vehicles in a war zone.                       One of the best parts of the museum is the room where photos of WWII veterans of the Battle of the Bulge are displayed. It’s so poignant to view the faces of those who fought during those freezing winter days to liberate Europe so many decades ago. Even though dwindling in numbers, these veterans continue to visit the museum. They are welcomed back warmly and have become close friends with the museum personnel.   The Bastogne Barracks Museum is one of the most interesting museums we have ever visited. Even if you are not a devotee of WWII history, there is so much to see, you might turn into one! Rue De La Roche,40 | 6600, Bastogne, Belgium Tel.+32 (0) 61.24.21.24
 As is almost always the case for Jim and me when we arrive in a new city, we find ourselves on that first tired morning drawn toward the peace and beauty of a cathedral or basilica. In Amsterdam, we found ourselves inside the 800 year old Oude Kerk (Old Church). The church is Amsterdam’s oldest building and oldest parish church, founded as a Catholic church around 1213 and consecrated in 1306 by the bishop of Utrecht and Saint Nicolas is its patron saint.  The original wooden church was replaced by the present Gothic structure in the 14th century. It grew from a modest single aisled church into the large basilica it is today and began life as a gathering place for traders and a refuge for the poor. This changed in 1578 after “The Alteration” when after the defeat of Spain during the Dutch Revolt; the church was taken over by the Calvinist Dutch Reformed Church. The homeless and traders were evicted in 1681 and the church was strictly used for Protestant services.     Sadly, during the Dutch Revolt, the church was looted and defaced on numerous occasions, and most of the church art and furnishings, were destroyed. Only the gilded paintings on the wooden ceiling, which were unreachable and some of the stained glass windows were spared. Even without all the original elaborate decoration, the vaulted space is impressive and serves its purpose creating a place of peace and spiritual contemplation.    One of the most decorative items in the Oude Kerk is the Great Organ created by Christian Vater which was installed in 1724. It has 4000 pipes and is one of three organs installed in the Kerk.   The stone floor is covered with gravestones. The church was built on a cemetery and local citizens continued to be buried on the site within the confines of the church until 1865. There are 2500 graves in the Oude Kerk, many of them are the graves of famous citizens, war heroes and important city officials.    My favorite part of the Oude Kerk, were the Misericords (mercy seats, leaning posts). These are small wooden shelves on the underside of a folding seat in the choir of a church, installed to provide a degree of comfort for a person who has to stand during long periods of prayer. These particular misericords were decorated with grotesques, parables, warnings against bad behavior and just plain funny carvings!      Rembrandt was a frequent visitor to the Oude Kerk; his children were all christened in the church and his wife Saskia is buried in the church. It is the only building in Amsterdam that remains in its original state since Rembrandt walked its aisles. I tried to take a moment to imagine what it might have been like to stand in this beautiful space way back in the days of the Dutch Renaissance. The Oude Kerk might be one of the best places in Amsterdam to experience such a feeling.   Outside the church, you notice that this holy place is smack in the middle of the red-light district of Amsterdam where prostitutes offer their services from behind windows. This is a situation which most visitors find rather ironic. Behind the church near the apse end, a small courtyard lined with a few small shops, restaurants and bars provides a shady place to sit and enjoy a quiet drink or snack. If you look carefully, you can find a bronze relief of a hand caressing a breast that was set in the cobblestone at night by an anonymous artist. In the center of the courtyard is a bronze statue named Belle honoring the prostitutes of the world. It was installed in 2007.    Amsterdam is a city of wonderful idiosyncrasies and the beautiful Oude Kerk with its surrounding square is one them.  Traditional Dutch Food Beside One of Amsterdam's Oldest Canals at Restaurant Haven van Texel11/18/2014  When we chose to have an early dinner at Haven van Texel in Amsterdam, we chose it for its amazing canal-side location with a view of two canals that are among the city’s oldest canals. It sits near the Zeedijk (sea dyke) which formed part of Amsterdam’s original fortifications in the 1300’s and the buildings that line the canals are some of the oldest in the city. It is a wonderful place to take in the beauty of historic Amsterdam. We watched the lively crowd enjoying the late afternoon, young people perched along the canal walls with legs hanging above the water, more prudent tourists peered over into the canal from the bicycle lined bridge, and groups of partying visitors cruised up and down the canal in boats of all sizes and shapes.         Like us, some sat at small outdoor café tables enjoying a cool drink, coffee or some of Haven van Texel’s wonderful food. If you want to taste traditional Dutch food, you must eat at this restaurant. We started with the seasonal Split Pea Soup which was deliciously thick with chunks of ham nestled on top. We then ordered what is called “Dutch Steak” which consisted of a thick filet, beautifully caramelized on the outside and tender inside, topped by a thick brown sauce and served with fat Pomme Frites and fresh salad. It was divine!    If you are looking for a yummy Dutch meal or just a beer while having a view of all the canal fun, you must stop by Restaurant Haven van Texel!
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