Blogs from Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands, Europe - page 3

This is our first river cruise – my mom was always a big fan – and we thought we would give this travel mode a chance. We’ve been on lots of cruises, mostly in the Caribbean, and a couple of bus tours of Spain, Portugal, and Italy, so this time we thought we would try to see how the river cruise compares. We looked around for cruise companies and decided Viking is probably the best, and a 15 day tour from Amsterdam to Budapest is probably a good representation. Viking is more “all-inclusive” than typical cruises, as it includes shipboard wi-fi, beer, wine, and soft drinks (but they’re only free with meals, if you want a drink in the lounge, there is a charge). The ships are small, with 95 staterooms and about 190 maximum guests. ... read more

Wow, writing a blog post for the first time in almost three years, feels a bit weird I must say...those African adventures of our last excursion seem a lifetime away, and the ability/means to freely wander this planet having been paused for this long has been an eye-opener for me, having taken for granted the ability to go anywhere I wanted whenever I pleased...the pause has given me the opportunity to reflect on previous travels in a different light, and to realize how fortunate it is to be able to resume travelling again going forward, whatever that will mean in the near future...it does however feel great to be thinking/planning again! This getaway started as all good adventures do: with wine and vinyl on a Friday evening! We are always keeping an eye on where our ... read more

What a fabulous start to Mark’s A-Z of Amsterdam tours - ‘ART & ARCHITECTURE’ Located between two gentle canals in the heart of the city, The Grand hotel boasts a rich history; from a 15th-century convent to royal lodgings, to the headquarters of the Admiralty to the City Hall of Amsterdam. Mark had received special permission to visit the beautiful Marriage Room, designed by artist Chris LeBeau, who completed the room in 1926. The Marriage Room was used, amongst others, to celebrate royal weddings. The wall paintings, with unique colour combinations symbolize the story of love. There was so much detail to absorb which was well explained by Mark. We also went into the Council Chamber with its wooden panels and wall paintings. H.R.H. Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands got married here in 1966, being a ... read more

Exploring Amsterdam at night. The canals look so pretty casting beautiful reflections with the lights and the full moon. The skating rink looked fun but a lot of people seemed to be chatting rather than skating. Another time we explored the top of the Jordaan district Our first stop was Muizenhuis - Maker and creator Karina since 2015 has been assisted by her four children, who all have their own role in the family business.Building the sets that are then photographed for the children’s books Sam & Julia. What a delightful shop and workshop. Next we entered the extra agent world of Dutch Designers Marcel Wanders & Casper Vissers who started Moooi in 2001, they promised each other to create a legendary brand. Today, after almost twenty years, Moooi is still inspiring and seducing the world ... read more

I am relaxing in our B&B with a coffee, while I start the blog. We have a couple of hours before we head off for our gay pub tour tonight, which should be a lot of fun (well, maybe it would have been, but the guide never showed up, more on that later). So, we had a bit of an issue with our covid test results (not what you think, we were both negative!). But the issue was with accessing our results. So, I’ll start at the beginning. As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, we did our covid test yesterday morning. They said they would email the results within 24 hours. So all day I’m obsessively checking email, waiting for the results. Finally, about 8:30 last night, I’m in the bathroom and Susan says her results ... read more