Blogs from North Holland, Netherlands, Europe

Not having had children, I would think that flying must be similar to giving birth. You endure 30 hours of being a pretzel in every imaginable position to try to find comfort, there’s little sleep to be found, we wonder why we’re putting ourselves through this and noting not to do it again any time soon. And yet, the pain quickly fades once it’s all over and before you know it, you’re planning the next arrival. That’s how this journey felt. Garuda were good between Sydney and Jakarta with a new plane and most of it empty. They also provided complimentary lounge access in Jakarta for our 4hr stopover, which was most appreciated. We also discovered that you could enter for $11 if you don’t have complimentary access, which I think is more than reasonable. I’ve ... read more

Day 1: The journey: Tucson - Philadelphia - Amsterdam I joined my travel friends to celebrate New Year 2009. My journey began from Tucson; I drove to Phoenix on the Arizona Shuttle as early as 7:00 am. even though my flight was not scheduled to leave until 13:00 hrs. I really do not like waking up early since I'm a night person. Nonetheless I settled for the early morning shuttle since the later options would not suit my departure of 12:59 pm. MT. As we drove past Chandler towards Sky Harbor International Airport, my only worry was how cold it was going to be in Amsterdam. It had been five years since I actually traveled during winter to Europe. My friend Toon had kindly advised that I go shopping for warm clothing at a ski shop ... read more

Well we arrived in Amsterdam around 9.30am then had to wait ages for the shuttle as we as theyas aid we had too much luggage. What the We only had 1 bag each? A quick trip and we arrived at our b&b Flynt. The weather was quite different to Dubai and on came the jumpers,scarfs and coats. The boys found a shop next to our little hotel like aldi they came back with wine for €2 at the sound of a bargain lorraine and i went to check it out we couldnt believe it brie cheese for €1 back up to enjoy our munchies with the boys.We took a walk through Vondel park and stopped for coffee. We were lucky enough that Lynda from work had a friend in amsterdam who met us and became our ... read more

Amsterdam Famous for red lights, green leafy substances, canals, windmills, cheese, clogs and tulips. I had quite a few things to see in my short 3 nights in town. So to start with a bang I headed off on the pub crawl with the busabout gang. It was pretty much only busabout people on our pub crawl but we started heading off with our Irish guide to our first pub. We got a free wine/beer and the dancing and general frivolity began. I was ready for a groove so we got our free t-shirts and started to roll! I didn't take my camera so I have taken photos from friends who were there. I ducked out after the 2nd pub for something to eat with a guy I met in the pub. We ended up bipassing ... read more

Been in Holland for the last week. Rick and Marianne picked us up from Amsterdaam central station and took us to Edam. Yes it is a big cheese factory! We've managed to have coffee wherever we go although I have slipped in quite a few Heinikens and Amstels. Had a piss up party on Friday night with more of Leanne's cousins. They are all a lot older and 3 brothers gave us a great night. We've eaten smoked eel which amazingly was pretty good. Weather has been ok but pretty cold. Have been into central Amsterdam where Rick and I were allowed to go shopping in the red light area. (NOT!) Stayed with Angelique another cousin and yesterday had dinner at Loeks. Bastard hasn't changed, no grey hair and he will turn 50 next February. He ... read more