Up early because today we will cover a lot of ground. Buffet breakfast at the hotel and then on the coach, heading north. We drive through a sizeable town, Larne, then a series of smaller, extremely picturesque towns. Most of them have "bally" (town), "glen" (valley), "lough" (lake), or "castle" in their names. The weather is very changeable. Violent blasts of rain alternate with brief sunny periods. The force of the wind may be felt inside the coach. We take a detour to visit Glenariff Forest Park. This beautiful 1185-hectare park has several mountains and two small rivers that cascade through narrow gorges on their way to the sea. The coach climbs to the summit of a mountain where there are great views of the surrounding landscape. Walking trails lead off in several directions. And there's ... read more

We're up at what the Irish call "half seven"; i.e., 7:30. Excellent buffet breakfast at the hotel, then on to the coach. (Tony is very insistent that we are riding on a coach, not a bus.) We met our driver, Darius, briefly yesterday. He's Polish and seems to enjoy our ability to carry out simple conversations in Polish. We head north, paralleling the Irish coast, although the sea is not often in sight. It's about 20ºC and overcast but the forecasted rain has happily not materialized. The Irish countryside is beautiful, a patchwork quilt of various shades of green that mark the boundaries between farms, crops, and mountainous areas. The rolling hills in the distance are reminiscent of the Gatineau. Stucco and brick houses predominant. Many of the homes boast lovingly planned and maintained gardens. Tony ... read more

Last day in Amsterdam and last day of this trip, as we leave tomorrow morning for home. Over breakfast, we decide what we want to do today. Violet is interested in a tulip museum and I was just reading about the area of Amsterdam known as Jordaan, close to the Anne Frank House. Serendipitously, that's where the tulip museum is, so that's our first destination for today. Alighting from the tram, we decide to explore Westerkerk, the huge church in the square near Anne Frank that we saw two days ago. To be truthful, I am lured in by beautiful organ music wafting out to the street. This is the largest Protestant church in the Netherlands, consecrated in 1631, and has the highest bell tower in the city. Inside it is very open and filled with ... read more

Up at 7 am, bags out at 7:30. We had said a lot of good-byes at the party last night, but over breakfast and while waiting in the lounge for our call, we chat with our fellow cruisers and exchange contact information. Truly a great bunch of people with whom we have been privileged to share the ship these past two weeks. We transfer from the ship at 9 am. Both boarding and disembarking are quick and easy on a river boat compared with the mammoth undertaking of loading and unloading passengers on big ocean cruise ships. Here you just walk down the gangway. We share our cab with an older couple whom we have not met before. They are going to a hotel near ours. Only about 30 minutes until we reach our hotel, the ... read more

We arrive in Cologne (Köln in German) around 8 am. It's beautiful day weatherwise. By 9, we are beginning a walking tour of the city. My guide is a young man named Chris who likes to keep us amused with odd little stories. Cologne (Köln in German) is one of the country's largest cities. For much of its existence it occupied the west bank of the Rhine only. In fact, during Roman times it was a bastion of civilization against the Germanic tribes on the opposing bank. The city now straddles both sides of the Rhine. Cologne was heavily damaged, in fact almost levelled, during WWII. Its famous centrepiece, the Cologne Cathedral, is so large that it was used by allied bomber crews as a key landmark. The cathedral itself sustained heavy damage but remained standing. ... read more