Blogs from Netherlands, Europe - page 4

Neatly put Netherlands. - Piprey on wheels One of the nicest things we can do in life is to visit an old friend. Easy Travel to Netherlands via Germany I planned a trip from London to Herkenbosch (small village in Limburg, Netherlands on the border of Germany) via Dusseldorf. When I started to pack, I realised that my basic fare allowed only one bag. So it was tossing everything into a single large handbag (Not the best way to impress people but I was visiting an old friend).I took local bus with the usual morning panic for Eurowings boarding from London Heathrow to Dusseldorf. No fuss. Reaching Dusseldorf, I thought my connecting bus from Dusseldorf to Roermond was 11.30 instead of 11.50. This meant that I missed buying those appetizing large, brown, lovely pretzels in Dusseldorf ... read more

1. Mombasa I began what felt like the longest day of my life (no night sleeps, but several naps) in Mombasa, Kenya. It was 4am on Wednesday and I'd had less than 4 hours of sleep because--well, you know how it is when you're about to travel. The last day in town is always the busiest, and then I'm a last-minute packer anyways, so I was up until midnight packing. Thought I'd sleep, but noisy neighbors and late-night drunks had other ideas. My tuk-tuk was there at 4:30 to take me to the bus station. There I boarded a Tawakal bus to Dar Es Salaam. Slept a bit on the bus and arrived in Dar around 6pm. I'm skipping a lot there. The bus ride from Dar was far from uneventful. After sleeping most of the ... read more

And so it begins....with a wild ride to JFK by kamikaze driver. Had my eyes shut all the way and shivered under the air conditioning. Exited the car and....you guessed it..... managed to fall flat on my back. Hopefully I got that out of the way. I was trying to wrestle the suitcase, carryon, handbag, jacket and cane. Did I ask for help? Once on the ground I gathered myself, asked for my wheelchair, checked in and headed to the gate. My wheelchair driver did not take me to the TSA pre check at first and the checkin line was very, very long. My advice is to get TSA Precheck or plan for three hours to check in. Once on the right line I breezed through, enjoyed my security massage and settled down in the lounge. ... read more

This morning I was up early to catch the morning light. It was a soft pale blue fading into a pastel pink. Two guys were craning a long timber boat onto the slipway opposite us, and pretty soon were scraping and power cleaning the hull before lowering it back into its mooring. An hour later and the lake was glistening. The water mirrors the shoreline, as large black birds glide across the sky, occasionally swooping downwards towards the water. The only sound is the young T-shirt clad workman getting an early start across the lake, and the hum of our refrigerator. Looking around our compact house, I’ve noticed subtle differences between the lights and furniture compared to home, and while we all might go to IKEA, and like their products or not, here we are virtually ... read more

Today we are driving to the land of channels and dykes, The Netherlands. I buried my head in some online courses and podcasts on the way here, as until you get close to the Netherlands , it’s all pretty much the same as what we’ve seen in France. The drive took 4 hours, including a toilet/ snacks break at a Service Station. The system with the toilets is practical. You pay 80 cents at a turnstile , receive a receipt and the green light, and when you return to the shop, your receipt is a discount card for any purchases. No pulling in for a Free-Wee; its a pretty fair system. The landscape is covered with corn crops, and the usual low lying green salad crops, but extensive glass houses are also prevalent due to the ... read more