Mea Culpa. Owed you folks a little post-script and am scribbling it off now because I am about to post another plea for last-minute info!! Such is my life.

-Royal Windsor Hotel in Brussels was great -- perfect location just off Grand Place.
-dinner on Boucher St. -- miss-able
-loved Leopold Park -- little museum nearby of Antoine Wiertz, horrificly dark but wonderful.
-enjoyed Ghent -- sat by mistake in 1st class car - highlight - St. Bavo - alterpiece
- Favourite restaurants in Brussls - Armand & Ko, and Belga Queen!
-Thoroughly enjoyed Museum of Musical Instruments.
-Brugge was magical -- "penthouse" at Hotel Bryghia afforded great views and was very comfortable, altho there was an unpleasant odour in bathroom. Owner later came to our rescue when we had to backtrack to pick up passports that we left in the safe!!!!!!
-Loved Amsterdam -- Thank you to poster who recommended Hotel Fita!! Great location across from Van Gogh..quiet little street. Unfortunately the owners were away and there was some discontent among those of us who were left a little bit to fend on our own.
-enjoyed canal tour, but not as much as the one in Brugge. Loved Rembrandt house, Rijkmuseum, Ann Frank Home.
-took train to Haarlem and LOVED our bikeride to the sea!!
-train also to The Hague and could have stayed forever at Mauritshaus - my girl with pearl earring. Bought a pair of pearl earrings for my daughter. very special.

Thank you all!! Next stop..Vienna in two weeks!!!

Missing spellcheck....

I recommended the Fita -- glad you liked it. :-) Incidentally, even when the owners are there, they're very hands-off. No one is posted at the front desk, for example, you have to call if you need something. I found that odd but I liked the place so much it wouldn't stop me from staying there again. Just being a block from the Van Gogh Museum made it awesome for me.

Thanks Deja !!

The location of the Fita really is fabulous and I loved our room. I was intrigued by comments in the guest book about the friendliness of the owners. A comment left while we were there was "this place is badly in need of some grown-up supervision!!" The staff were very nice but young and a little scattered. Upon arrival we were told to get off a tram stop that didn't exist, , asked them to book us on the shuttle to the airport for depature--didn't happen and we really scrambled to get there by taxi. There was a fair bit of frustration among those us staying there. But none of that would change my mind about staying there again --highly recommend the Fita!! tnx

bkmkg

I think things run much more smoothly when the owners are there--even though you do have to track them down because the desk is unmanned most of the day. Loes comes to the breakfast room and chats with the guests, and was helpful in offering for me to come down for breakfast a half hour early on my checkout day, so I could still have a good breakfast before leaving for the train. Hans (her husband) is supposedly a character, but I didn't see him during my visit.

what does bkmkg mean?

bkmkg means bookmarking. This is a compliment that there is something in the thread that the visitor wants to find easily again. You can see all the threads that you posted to by clicking your name link at the top after signing in.

I'm sorry I didn't see your post before your trip. I have lived in Haarlem and know it well. For your bike ride to the sea I hope you were able to find the bike path that wanders out by itself through the dunes. The other two routes run alongside the two roads.

Oh good. I thought maybe it meant bookmaking and that someone was taking bets on something....perhaps on the odds that I'd be posting some last minute frantic request for help again. And that is about to happen as I find out with little notice, that we are flying to Vienna next Friday!

Thanks for the info Hopscotch- I too wish I'd known about the path through the dunes, but at the time, we thought the route we were on was pretty much perfect! Lucky you to have lived in such a charming spot.