The Charming ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Duke’s Forest)

W got up early on Saturday, determined to take three trains in just under two hours to visit the Belgium city of Antwerp. At the train station, the nice lady at the ticket office told us there was a strike of railway workers in Belgium and there is no guarantee when, or even if we make it there or back:-) So we decided to change our destination to the historical town of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, which was only one 20 minute ride and definitely worth the visit. It has so much charm and history and none of the craziness of the tourists hotspots. It is busy and lively enough, but not overwhelming.

We arrived before 9am, and the City was just waking up, which allowed us to see the streets in the morning light with almost no people around. Later, some of those streets were covered with sidewalk cafes and enough people to make it barely passable. The vendors were setting up for the Saturday market and we wandered freely and took a drink from the medieval well in the middle of the square.

Our frist stop was the gorgeous Saint John’s Cathedral, there is just something about the old European churches. The attention to detail everywhere, the carefully picked material and decorations. In the morning light coming through the mosaic windows it felt extra special.

We really wanted to take the boat tour through the City’s canals, which are more interesting than Amsterdam ones if you ask me:-) But because it is not commercialized, it is run by one company designated by the historical society, it is also not advertised much and pretty hard to find:-) We did and were lucky to secure last five spots in a tour couple hours later. So we headed back to the square for lunch, it was much busier by now, but we found a nice spot outside with a view of flower stands and enjoyed the buzz of the market while eating a tasty lunch.

We had a lot more fun there, but I’ve been sitting on this draft for a few days now, so I will post about the rest of our day there in a separate entry:-)