Knokke - The European Shoppers Paradise

The Lippenslaan is the main street starting at the square outside the old Grand Hotel and ending in the center of the town. It has virtually every exclusive brand name you can imagine, and it was there that I happened across Davidoff's Cigar Shop and was able, at last, to purchase a reasonably priced Cuban cigar to enjoy over dinner.

Almost opposite Davidoff's was the most mouth watering fine food shop, I hesitate to call it a deli! The quality of the food was matched only by the beautiful display of fine foods in table ready condition. The Belgians certainly know how to eat.

Another store was dedicated entirely to Rin Tin Tim memorabilia. The car with Rin Tin Tin and Snowy carried no price tag, and as the saying goes, if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it!

The Grand Hotel Motke - Knokke

Many of our most memorable childhood Knooke holidays were spent at The Motke, as we called it, or De Grand Hotel Motke as it was actually named.

It was here that our slightly mad au pair girl took us singing in the rain barefoot, and had us all watch while she donated blood at the Red Cross caravan. She also exposed us to indoor barbecue cooking, her version of Fondue!

All the while our parents sat enjoying coffee at one of Knokke's fashionable cafes in blissful ignorance. Memorable stuff indeed.

The Grand Hotel Motke was right on the promenade, above an amusement arcade and a stone's throw from the place where kids could rent pedal powered go-karts, bicycles, and virtually any type of pedal powered multi wheeled equipment. Sadly the old Grand Hotel was demolished and rebuilt, and the amusement arcade has gone. However, you can still rent virtually any type of pedal powered multi wheeled equipment.

Day Trip to Knokke Heist - Belgium

We went to the Carlton Hotel for coffee. It's a magnificent old hotel that hasn't so much been restored but maintained. The interior looks as original as it's 1910 origins. The covered patio area is a cafe where I actually managed to get a Cafe Americano that was (almost) as good as Starbucks.

Despite it being December, and with a stiff wind blowing from the North Sea making it decidedly uncomfortably cold, the cafe, indeed the whole town, was bristling with visitors.

Leaving Eindhoven ...

We're leaving Eindhoven for a couple of days to spend the weekend in Zeeland, a seaside resort about 90 miles to the east of Eindhoven.

From Zeeland, it's a relatively short drive across the border to Belgium and to Knokke, another seaside resort where we enjoyed many happy times. I haven't been there since I was a child, and hope to re-visit a few happy childhood memories there.

That's the good news. The bad news is that there's no internet access! No Internet, No Starbucks, I wonder how I will survive! Blog is unlikely to be updated until I return to Eindhoven on Monday. TTFN.