The low countries were calling me. I wanted to tour the Benelux region - Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Canals! Chocolate! Waffles! Beer! (OK, there was a lot of eating I needed to do in Belgium). My wife asked, why not go into Germany - it's right next door - and see the Rhine and its wine region. Why not indeed?
Jump to:
We spent a week in Belgium - Brussels and Bruges. Then a week in Germany - Sankt Goar and Bacharach on the Rhine. Then a week in the Netherlands - Delft and Amsterdam.
Photographing Belgium
Belgium was fantastic, and I'm not just saying that because I love Belgian beer. (But I do - give me an Abbey ale and I'm a happy man.)
We spent time in Brussels and Bruges; I loved the mix of architectures surrounding the stone square of the Grand Place at the center of Brussels. (And the comic book murals - Brussels is the home of Tintin, and they love their comic books even more than I do.)
Bruges was even better, and more my speed. It is a cute, smaller town with canals everywhere, with a quaint central stone square, the Markt. (Bruges was once the economic center of Northern Europe, and the canals made it convenient to move goods around town. A failed revolution against the Habsburg Empire and the Zwin channel silting up ended Bruges's golden era in the 1500s)
The best part of Bruges (other than the beer) was the Rosary Quay, the Rozenhoedkaai, with its reflection of the buildings and the Belfort (the town belfry). It's a gorgeous view, and there's a reason it's on the cover of every guidebook to Belgium.
Photographing the Romantic Rhine
Our stay in Germany was more rural, along the banks of the Rhine river in Sankt Goar and Bacharach. I loved relaxing by the river and watching the barges float by, having some fantastic German food, beer, and wine (the Rhine is one of Germany's prime Riesling growing areas, with all the terraced vineyards on the cliffs along the river.)
Castles, Castles, Castles!
We stayed in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, a stretch of the river that is a UNESCO world heritage site due to all the historic castles. We went on an afternoon river cruise of the Middle Rhine, with its cliffs, terraced vineyards, cute cities, and castles. I was a Dungeons and Dragons nerd when I was a kid, and have read Fantasy novels all my life, so I got a thrill every time I looked up from the river and saw a new castle. (The Rhine was the highway of Northern Europe during the Middle Ages. The castles of Robber Barons line the river, each one waiting to tax any boats passing by.)
Netherlands Photos - Delft and Amsterdam
Our last stop was the Netherlands, where we stayed in the city of Delft, and Amsterdam. Delft was a cute, smaller, university town, full of canals and the home of Royal Delft, maker of Delftware, the famous Delft Blue pottery. Amsterdam was a bustling city, also full of canals, and with some of the best museums I've ever been to. (As a food photographer, seeing the original food still-life paintings of the Dutch masters at the Rijksmuseum was a bucket list stop, and the Van Gogh museum was humbling.) Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get out into the countryside to see the Dutch tulip fields…and I was there in the wrong season…but, someday I'll be back for that.
Travel Camera and Gear
My travel setup: a Sony A7CR was my camera body - I love the compact size and the 61 megapixel sensor. The compact Sony 40/2.8 was my walking-around lens, for days that were sightseeing. A Sony 20-70/4 was my general purpose lens when I went out with Photography as my main goal. (I love having 20mm on the wide end - it makes a big difference from the typical 24mm, and I don't feel the need for a wider lens, like my 16-35/4). And, I brought my Sony 70-200/4 for a compact zoom when I needed some reach, like shooting the castles across the Rhine. I packed all of that in the medium side loader of the new Shimoda Side Street 28L, with my laptop and other personal electronics squeezed into the roll-top. A Peak Design travel tripod went in my luggage, and I was ready for the trip. This was a great, compact travel setup, and I'm looking forward to using it in the future.
Thanks for reading!
Leave a Reply