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.…
Continue Reading “Ghent, Belgium: Staying on the Edge of a Canal”
During these last few years of COVID anxiety, National Parks have been more popular than ever as people try to avoid crowds and stay outside. Previously I have shared about the ones that I have been able to visit, and you can find those posts here. In March I shared about the lesser known National Historical Parks. Today I want to focus on another list of possible places to visit this summer, National Monuments. If you hear monument, you might…
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After our long hike to Dripping Springs and La Cueva in the morning, a cool siesta back at our Las Cruces hotel seemed quite appropriate. Later in the afternoon we headed out to visit the village of La Mesilla. We might not have known about it, but our neighbors had recently visited the area. When they heard we were coming to Las Cruces, they suggested we visit La Mesilla. It turned out to be a good recommendation. Coincidentally La Mesilla…
Continue Reading “From Las Cruces Back to El Paso: Journey’s End”
Monday morning dawned cold. I think it was colder in Las Cruces than it was back home in Seattle that day. However the sun was out, and it looked to be a beautiful day. After a nice breakfast at our hotel, we drove out to Dripping Springs Natural Area for a hike. Dripping Springs is in the Organ Mountains. The mountains are part of the Desert Peaks National Monument. President Obama established the monument in 2014 which includes five mountain…
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White Sands National Park is one of the newest National Parks in the US. Originally a National Monument, Congress changed it to a National Park is 2019. However, as we drove up to the park, some of the signs still said White Sands National Monument. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s start back at the beginning of Saturday. White Sands had been one of my prime destination for this trip. However, getting there turned out to be more…
Continue Reading “From Sunset to Winds at White Sands National Park”
