TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Alkmaar is the cheese town of the Netherlands where the famous kaasmarkt [cheese market] is held every Friday mornings, 10AM to 12Noon, from the 1st half of May until the 1st half of September, every year. The kaasdragers [cheese carriers] in action by the Waagplein town square in Alkmaar. Those cheese rounds can be used as weapons, they are heavy! The cheese carriers carry not just the cheese but the kids too! The cheese market is an Alkmaar tradition since 1593 and is the prime tourist attraction of the city. About 100,000 tourists every year come to witness the cheese trading show in the Waagplein square. So last Friday, my last day of vacation freedom, I went - even though the weather was having a strike. It didn’t cooperate with my little travel plan. It was raining the whole day. In fact the rain never stopped... until today, lol! Autumn came too early. The cheese museum called Waaggebouw [Weigh house]; an old Dutch woman dressed in a traditional dress selling the small version...

Sunday, 13th of August, was my last jaunt of this Rhine-Mosel-Lux trip. The original plan was a trip to the Rhine and Mosel, but since my trail ends up in Trier and I will be passing through Luxemburg (also spelled as Luxembourg) on my way back to the Netherlands anyway, I might as well include the little country in my trip agenda. Anywho --- The highway I was driving on was sitting on top of a lushly mountainous valley that spans through the periphery of Germany and Luxemburg. I saw the immigration port of entry booth, now completely abandoned. Suddenly, car plates with the letter L dots the highways. Ah, I am near to the civilization of Luxemburg land. >>>Fast facts : Did you know that the European Schengen Treaty (freedom of EU citizens and residents to travel within the EU member countries) was executed in Luxemburg itself, in a small town called Schengen by the German and French triangular edge near the Mosel River in the south of the country? <<< Luxemburg is a...

Since the sun is out in the Mosel, Saturday seemed like it will be the best weather day so far for this holiday trip. I really hope so! I was looking forward to a nice, if not, perfect weekend wrap-up in Germany, before I proceed to my final stop-over, little Luxemburg. The snaky drive in Mosel: from Cochem to Traben-Trarbach to Bernkastel-Kues and then to Trier. The other foto is a breathtaking panoramic view of the Mosel by a river bend from the vineyard terraces that I found on the net. Foto credits to tyskaviner.se During the drive from Cochem to Traben-Trarbach, I immensely enjoyed (I am not exaggerating) the beautiful scenery... the river, the vineyard valleys and the pretty villages, they were all amazing. I also find the zigzagged stretch from Cochem down to Trier prettier than the Koblenz to Cochem route. I desperately wanted to stop by a river bend, climb up the vineyard valleys and take a picture of the panoramic curvilinear river junction, the vineyards hovering on t...