So, we began the journey with lunch in Vianden, Luxembourg - filling the car with the cheaper Luxembourg petrol (1.24euro per litre versus 1.43euro here in Belgium).
Fuelled we headed for Strasbourg.
After a night in a place best not written about we ate breakfast outdoors in an old Strasbourgian square near 'the' cathedral where our travelling companions, Mary Lou and Al, exchanged birthday gifts. A delicious moment that was...
And so we returned to Belgie only to be back out on the road within 24 hours ... The 150km drive to Amsterdam turned into a 200km trip due to a closed piece of highway and a road lacking signage. We travelled about 60km without any kind of reassuring 'Amsterdam' indicators ... ahhh like Belgium, it seems the Netherlands runs light when it comes to marking the way. We arrived at the hotel and caught the train into the city.
Eating a hotpot dinner and feeling beads of sweat trickling down my back on a Taiwanese hot and humid summer night comes to mind as I reflect on family, home and food. The one perennial meal that seems to resist explanation even as light bulbs condensate from the humidity and three cold showers are taken per day is the hotpot, firepot or the "Asian fondue". Though fondues and hotpots both relish in the concept of tabletop cooking, the wine and cheese version stops short at lactose intolerant Asia. 
