May 17, 2013 - Getting the home on wheels ready to go

This is our third day in Amsterdam and we have not yet had the chance to do any sightseeing. We've been busy getting our home on wheels ready to go. Our "home" is a 2007 Ford Rimor with roughly 68,000 kilometers or 41,000 miles on the odometer. The cab was built in Germany or England and the coach was built in Italy. Unfortunately, the vehicle manuals are in Italian and French. Who reads those darn things anyways!! Upon arrival in Amsterdam we met with the motorhome dealer who gave us a very thorough run down on all the features of the...

May 10, 2013 - Friday - our last day - Pancakes, Museum & Concert

We wanted to visit the tulip displays, but the weather was not cooperating with 60% chance of rain. So we headed out for a Dutch Pancake breakfast and a visit to the newly renovated Rijksmuseum. The pancakes were amazing and quite filling, but the wait to get into the museum was over 90 minutes long. We were surprised that photographs were allowed (other art museums we have visited do not allow photography). Here is a sampling of the paintings and other objects we saw in this newly opened (and very crowded) art exhibit. Realize that the...

May 9, 2013 - Dinner Cruise on Amsterdam Canal System

We had booked a dinner cruise on the Jewel Cruise lines for Thursday night. The boat left at 7:30PM and wound its way through the criss-crossed network of canals. It stopped to pick up the starter and salad, we wandered again and after that course, stopped again to pick up the main dish and dessert. The pictures show this wonderful experience. We were back at the hotel by 10:30.

May 8, 2013 - Amsterdam - Our first exploration

After a refreshing nap in our hotel room, we decided to see what was in the surrounding area. Amsterdam is a city cress-crossed with canals and our room looks right down on one of them. We walked from our hotel to a number of famous sights and when we arrived at the Anne Frank House, we witnessed a line that wound around the block. We had a wonderful dinner and slept well all night.

May 5, 2013 - Holland

We headed from Bruges up thru Belgium to Amsterdam for our next stop. Not a bad drive, big freeways all the way, the road system in Europe is amazing. We stopped off in a smallish city called Delft which is famous for it's hand painted pottery. You can only buy original Delft Pottery from the Delft shop, but you can't buy anything until you have done a tour of the factory so they can show you how it's made and how it is hand painted. Obviously the stuff is NOT cheap but we bought some anyway. From there it was a drive of an hour or so to...

May 2, 2013 - Amsterdam- a city we will never return to!

We got up on time and headed into Amsterdam. Instead of driving we took the train as we had been advised. The train was fast and efficient and we were in the centre of Amsterdam in 30 minutes. Daisy was very good on the train and got quite a lot of admiring looks although she was sure of getting on or off the train. We went into the information centre by the station but it was scrum so we got a map from a machine and with our trusted guide book we tried to find our way to the important sites around the city. The city was heaving not only...

Apr 24, 2013 - Return to Amsterdam

When we woke we were again rafted to another cruise ship in Amsterdam. We were not up so early today and when we went down for breakfast it seemed the rest of the passengers had got into the routine of early rising as the tables were empty and cleared. We had our breakfast and got ready and left for the canal boat ride with most of the other guests. We have done these several times, but it is still enjoyable to relax and watch the buildings go by. The ship's plan was for people to return to the ship for lunch, but we elected to stay in town...

Apr 14, 2013 - Another Day in Amsterdam

We woke to rain this morning and anticipated a wet day. We went across to the airport and had breakfast, bought our rail tickets and walked round the stores. We took photos of the I AMsterdam sign and returned to our room. We got our things together and went down to the railway station. The train soon came and we were on our way to Amsterdam. We caught a tram to the Hermitage Museum where the some of the Van Gogh exhibits have been temporarily displayed. We missed our stop, but the next one was not too far a walk back. Although it was still...

Apr 13, 2013 - A Day in Old Amsterdam

We were up fairly early, but took our time getting ready and going over to the airport for breakfast, We settled on a French deli and had yoghurt and an apple turnover. I went to check on some details of our return flight and bought train tickets to Amsterdam. We went back to the room and got our things together. It was cool and appeared to be threatening rain. We returned to the airport and got the train to Amsterdam Centraal Station. We bought tickets for an evening canal boat trip to see the bridges lit up, then went and bought tram...

Apr 12, 2013 - On to Amsterdam

We had a lazy morning, having breakfast, packing and talking with Nan. Graeme appeared briefly, upset that a meeting set for noon had been changed to 11:15 with little more than 30 minutes notice and he headed off to it. Lillias came in to say goodbye and wish us well. We had lunch, tidied up and Nan took us to Edinburgh Airport. We checked in with EasyJet. They have a new ticket and a new system which had enabled us to check in online and just deposit our bags, much like many other airlines, so we did not have the long line we have...

Mar 31, 2013 - Amsterdam, Netherlands

Nice flight - good food, complimentary drinks and nobody in the seat between us! We arrived in Amsterdam and were taken to the ship on a nice tour bus, unpacked in our room and headed upstairs for lunch. About 25 of us went with a tour guide on a walk into the city of Amsterdam. What a city! Lots of big old and interesting architecture...many of them leaning into the streets. Then it was into the Red Light District. I've never seen anything like quite like this. I knew we would see the girls in the window, but I thought they would be a few...

Mar 7, 2013 - A Romantic Trip to Amsterdam

Although I had been to Amsterdam before on a trip with friends, I was beyond excited to have the chance to get away for a romantic vacation with my boyfriend. This was actually our first trip out of the country together, which made me a little nervous. Thankfully, everything went off without major problems and we both loved having the chance to get closer to one another in a beautiful destination. I think part of the reason it was so successful is because I planned as much of the itinerary as I could in advance. I know that might not be...