Amsterdam is the largest city in The Netherlands and has a rich history as an industrial and economic leader. This shows in some of the unique ways the city has reinvented itself over the years. While there is much to see in this city, we toured the city in an afternoon knowing we were missing a lot. To get to the center of Amsterdam from our hotel, we would normally ride the train and be there in ten minutes. This…
Continue Reading “Discovering Amsterdam from Land and Canals”
One of the iconic symbols of The Netherlands is the windmill. Windmills have dotted the Dutch landscape for a long time. While visitors see them as a picturesque part of the landscape, The Dutch understand them to be a vital part of their history and development. They were used mainly to pump water out of low lying lands as the country sought to reclaim land for agriculture. This use allowed the country to become a major economic powerhouse a few…
Continue Reading “The Netherlands: Windmills, Cheese, and Clogs”
When we returned from our trip to the Keukenhof Gardens, The bus dropped us off at the Amsterdam train station. From there we decided to explore a little bit of Amsterdam since tomorrow we would visit the Dutch village of Zaanse Schans. Amsterdam was bustling with people. We weren’t sure if this was typical or just because it was vacation week for so many people. There seemed to be large groups of young people around. We saw some old buildings,…
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Tuesday it was time to leave Belgium and head to Amsterdam for the main purpose of our journey, seeing the famous Dutch tulips in the Keukenhof Gardens. However, first we had to get there. We traveled by train. We planned a route that was to have two transfers of trains. Of course things happen. As our first train headed towards Antwerp, it was delayed a few stops before Antwerp. We didn’t know why as we couldn’t understand the explanation. Then…
Continue Reading “Tulip Time at the Netherland’s Keukenhof Gardens”
The reason we decided to start our trip in Belgium was to visit the town of Bruges. Andrea had discovered interesting reviews of the town and decided it was a place to visit. The center of town has the distinction of being on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a medieval city. It has become a major tourist destination for Belgium. Bruges is only about a 30 minute train ride from Ghent. When we got on the train, it was…
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In 2020 my daughter Andrea and I had plans to visit the tulip fields of the Netherlands. We planned to go during her spring break from school. We had all our reservations made, but then COVID hit. Our plans flew out the window as we scrambled to at least get our money back. This year we finally made good on those plans from two years ago. However, we made some modifications by starting in Belgium. Our first stop was Ghent.…
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After our Interlude in Iceland, I asked my daughter Andrea to write a blog post about traveling with me. I thought my readers might be interested in a different perspective on my travels. She agreed so below is her post about our trip. The photos are also hers with a little editing from me. Enjoy. It had been over a year since I had added a stamp to my passport, and I was itching to get away. Iceland hadn’t been…
Continue Reading “Lessons Learned While Traveling With My Dad”
Saturday started out with a bit of a drizzle as we prepared to make our way back to Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik. When we entered Iceland, we didn’t stick around the capital as we had so much to see, but now we would head there for our last few hours in Iceland. As I was packing up, I kept hearing this loud sound from behind our cabin. I looked out the window and saw this fellow looking for food with his…
Continue Reading “Iceland Interlude: Returning to Reykjavik for Final Days”
Friday morning we decided not to push ourselves for an early start. We had a glacier tour scheduled for 3:30 in the afternoon, and we felt we had plenty of time to make it there. It was nice to relax and not feel in such a hurry in the morning. Trips like this, where there is so much to see and do, can become tiring. Once we got going we didn’t go too far at first. Just a few miles…
Continue Reading “Iceland Interlude: Glaciers by Land and Sea”
Thursday morning we woke to mostly cloudy skies, but we saw a few patches of blue sky so we had hope that maybe the day would not be all gray. Today we would be traveling east with a number of waterfalls on our list. We packed up our car and headed out. Before we got too far, we drove to the other side of the river from our cabin to see a waterfall. If you love waterfalls, then Iceland is…
Continue Reading “Iceland Interlude: Over, Under, and Behind Waterfalls.”
