Mar 15 2026

Our Third Transatlantic Princess Cruise

The Sun Princess in full Glory

We were very much looking forward to catching up with our Canadian friends Darcy and Caralee, whom we had befriended on our 2025 transatlantic Princess cruise to Southampton, England and who upon learning that we had booked this cruise, excitedly booked the same one with a 5 day after cruise extension in Spain’s resort town of Pineda de Mar, north of Barcelona. Our friends live near Vancouver, Canada, so we’re talking half way around the world travel. That is what we call friendship!

Our reasons for once again taking a transatlantic cruise came down to more luggage availability, less effect of jetlag, 14 days of luxury treatment and rest, and…the refund for the return part of the original airline tickets we had bought last April when we flew from Amsterdam to Nashville, pretty much paid for the cruise. With all the horror stories about air traffic control, TSA not being paid and more of the same, we decided a cruise would suit us better.

Our Canadian friends Darcy and Caralee

The Sun Princess

Following is our reasoning why in future. we prefer to book royal class ships like the Regal Princess over sphere class ships like the Sun Princess or the Sky Princess..

The Sun Princess (launched in 2024) is the lead ship of the new Sphere-class, representing the largest and first LNG-powered vessel in their fleet. It features a 21-deck design focusing on expansive views and modern, sustainable technology. It carries 177,882 Gross Tonnes over a length of 1,133 ft. and a capacity to accommodate 4,300 guests served by a crew of 1,600.

First and foremost, the entire crew was marvelous. Superior to any other cruise we’ve done. Unfortunately the ship’s layout has a number of “design” shortcomings, many loyal passenger don’t particularly like. During the following we will touch upon them. 

It took us a couple of days to adjust to the ship’s entirely different floorpan. We were used to the familiar naming of Lido deck etc. instead of the boring numbering system all the way up to the 21st deck. Of course this could have something to do with the AI driven elevator system.

No more library, no Churchill, much smaller gym, now located midship, more attention to exterior spacing with sun decks and a long list of eateries. The Eatery on deck 9 is a confusing directional buffet where guests bumb into each other using both directions. Quite irritating. After a couple of time trying we decided to mostly dine in the Soleil Dining room or the Americana Diner which served excellent chef inspired dishes.

The elevators are now computerized with a form of artificial Intelligence, which means you press the floor you want to go to outside in the elevator hall and the screen will let you now which elevator will take you there. Strange in the beginning, but you quickly adjust and it eliminates standing on side of the hallway and having an elevator arrive on the opposite side, with you having to run to it to make it, yelling: “Please hold the door,” or people inside of the elevator yelling “Can someone push 10 for me.”

the Sphere rooms with extended balconies

Our stateroom was in the sphere on deck 10, just to the front of midship which means that we had a slightly expanded balcony with more seating space on the Starboardside, (not enough for a lounge chair however) with the sun coming in beautifully every day of our trip over. Note: if you like to get a suntan on your way over to Europe, you need a stateroom on the Starboardside, from the 10th floor up, with a balcony. Anywhere else you will mostly experience shadows.

It also means on deck 10, we have just a short distance to many of the eateries just one or two decks below us. 

The entire floorpan of the ship is totally different from previous Princess ships we sailed on. The feel is much smaller, kind of cut up, although the entire ship is one of the biggest on the 7 oceans. Time will tell what we like and won’t like, I guess. Right now it feels much more like a commercial enterprise than a welcoming resort on the ocean. Even the entertainment venues have severe limitations

The Dome on the Sun Princess

The only time we visited the famous “Dome”, promoted as the quiet, introspective place aboard the ship was during the Captain’s Welcome for Elite, Platinum and Sanctuary Guests. Ironically during this one glass presentation the Captain, a jolly, friendly Italian from Messina, Sicily with a 27 year work record for the company, showed an audio visual presentation of the growth of Princess Cruises since its founding in 1965. I couldn’t help but silently admire those first early years’ small ships where you knew most of your co-passengers and there was a certain grandeur implanted into the design.

Today’s ships seems to all suffer from a Disney Dream design abundance. Yes we had been upgraded to a Sphere Cabin, which still could not accommodate a lounge chair to enjoy the sun away from the overloaded pools. During In-port maintenance exercises most of the  hassle happened for starboard cabins and the smoking decks, as they are typically held on that side of the ship. On the positive: the check in and check out procedures on deck 6 are much more spacious and therefore much better streamlined than on other ships, which helps greatly disembarking and returning at Port of Calls.

The nicest thing about this crossing were the eight days on the Atlantic Ocean before we would hit Santa Cruz on the Canary Island of Tenerife for our first port of call. We were enjoying the Sea Days so much that this first Port of Call was totally neglected. But its significance was that we had finally exchanged the USA for a retirement of adventure travel and charity contributions across the pond.

Sunset developing
An angry Sunset on the Atlantic
Smart angles or Confusing architecture
Caralee&TJ on the smoking deck
Not his best picture, says Han
Delicious Dessert Options

Jan 22 2026

Nashville offers more than just BBQ

In-N-Out Burger in Lebanon,TN

After completing our last season as managers at the Beaver Island Lodge, we were exactly back where we were 10 years ago when I wrote the story “Wide Open Spaces Ahead of Us”. Our first trip then was also to Nashville, where Han’s oldest friend in the US had moved to.  Sadly Ric passed away a couple of years ago, so now we visited Kay his widow in Brentwood TN, a suburb of Nashville, for almost a month in Dec/Jan of 2026. This is also our last trip south in our trusty Nissan Murano which we purchased exactly 10 years ago. And the end of this trip she goes to another dear friend, while we take a transatlantic cruise over to Europe for an extended stay. But first some travel impressions from this last north-south trip.

There are so many amazing restaurants near her home, that we did not have to venture far to experience something new and delicious.
These are just “a few of our favorite things”.

Continue reading

Jan 30 2026

We Think We Have Time

Thinking we have Time is possibly the biggest mistake we make in life. The decision to retire after 7 season was made and announced a year earlier, but with the reality of season 2025 at the Beaver Island Lodge coming to an end, the naked truth was also that we had to get rid once again of everything we had collected for and during our stay on Beaver Island, Michigan. Truth be told for us it was probably the third time in twenty years that we offloaded our entire households with the help of eBay, Garage sales, Facebook Marketplace and word of mouth. This time we had figured in what to leave with the kids as well. It’s kind of essential if the vagabond lifestyle of a global traveler is your choice. The feeling is equally bittersweet and liberating. And so is the fact that you’re leaving a place where you spend seven years of your life. The French poet Edmond Haraucourt left us with a beautiful expression for that emotion: “partir, c’est mourir un peu” – “leaving is a little bit dying”. It’s kind of how we feel, but seven years of “too cold for us” island life of Northern Lake Michigan wears on you even more so when you reach your senior years.

Our departure plans included celebrating Thanksgiving and Han’s birthday on the island at the Gregg Fellowship Center, which gave us a chance to say goodbye to a lot of islanders that we had come to know and appreciate over the years. And then the plan was to take the ferry over to the mainland the following Sunday, the last day of November. Well the snow, wind and freeze came early this winter season and on our departure day the blizzard from the north blew snow horizontally and the ferry was cancelled. The next day, Monday December 1st, we were on the ferry, but sadly none of our friends, employers or co-workers made it to the ferry dock to wave us off. Seven years of commitment becomes a relative emotion that way.

Beaver Island Ferry departing Charlevoix

Brian and Han playing favorite songs

Thinking back on the experiences of this nomadic couple, it’s not an uncommon behavior. Our Caribbean days were numbered in 2009 and when we left, we lost some friends whose friendship depended on close proximity rather than mutual appreciation. Leaving Amelia Island in 2016 created a similar situation and no doubt leaving Beaver Island will do this once again. Sad but true. It should not come as a surprise to either one of us, having left countries and cities of our youth and adolescence to find strangers on faraway shores who soon would turn into friends and sometimes even family.

Freedom is Fickle 

Freedom is often considered fickle because it is unstable, constantly shifting between being gained and lost through changing circumstances, choices, and external constraints. It is not a permanent state, but rather a, often, fleeting experience shaped by personal actions and environmental factors. Some people think that freedom can be found in having excess money, some people think that moving away from highly strained city life into an  unguarded wilderness is freedom. Some people think freedom is sailing the 7 oceans without a worry in the world. Living on the ocean gives you plenty to worry about. Living in Alaska or even Beaver Island trades freedom for nature’s random ire. Procrastination is an absolute No-No, that may cost you your life. Some people think that they can not live outside of the political freedom called democracy. In our travels we have learned that democracy would be great, if it could be achieved without destabilizing a country, society or civilization. It turns out that economic progress and a reasonable equality comes first. It also helps having a good amount of empathy for others when they need it.

 

After a week of winter pleasure with the kids and grandkids in Holland, Michigan, a blizzard once again threw us off one day and an exceptional 8 hour drive took us to Lexington, Kentucky, where we had rented a 2 bedroom AirBNB condo for two nights to spend with son Cody. From there the next stop was 5 nights on the Cumberland Plateau in Mississippi, where we left the best Airbnb cabin we ever stayed at, also a day late, again because of heavy snowfall. The last part of our 2025 travel was to see and stay for a while with longtime friend Kay in Brentwood, TN for the Christmas Holidays.

This year’s trip from the north to the south was different than in the previous years, because we had decided that we would move to Europe for at least a couple of years, as the lifestyle over there matched our energy and beliefs much better, than what is currently unfolding in the USA. As a result of this decision, our visits to friends and family were anchored in a form of goodbye, filled with melancholy and promises to return as times change.

A week back to the Cumberland Plateau and then it was time to point the car south via a couple of Georgia stops and a week stay with son Drew and his wife Jessica, in Savannah, Georgia. We had an absolute blast of a time.

You served our travels well Murano. Now do the same for our friends!

Our time in the US was getting short and our 3rd transatlantic cruise was only weeks away when we visited our dear friends Jack and Sharon on Amelia Island. They live in the same oceanfront neighborhood we used to live when we had our B&B. When one night in 2012 their house burnt down in a lightning storm, we offered them a room in our B&B. We became fast friends, now already 14 years later. With their house as our homebase, we met with numerous friends from our years on Amelia Island and sold our last possession, our Nissan Murano, to a great friend, who used to work for us. On March 4 we rented a truck one way to Fort Lauderdale, where we took a room in the cruise ship popular Roadway Inn and boarded the Sun Princess on March 5. The US was going to be on our back burner for at least as long as MAGA was an accepted elective point of view in the country. Off to the European Shores and Cities.

Apr 12 2025

Early Spring in Holland

The only real Babi Pangang

Flying Ryan Air from Stansted, London to Eindhoven, Netherlands is a quick pleasure as long as you stick to their contracted requirements. Have your luggage in properly sized and weighted suitcases and you onboard backpacks according to your purchased plans and you’re fine. If not, you pay a good amount of extra money. We paid about $29 each for the one way trip.

Our travel plan was simple; land in Eindhoven, take the public bus to the train station and connect via Province of Limburg’s beautiful Roman capital city of Maastricht to the old medieval village of Valkenburg some 15 minutes away and check into the Dormio Wine Hotel directly across from the train station. It all worked out perfectly and we were having our favorite Dutch Indonesian dish of Babi Pangang at 7pm that night.

Valkenburg Train Station

Now Babi Pangang is a Chinese/Indonesian dish of roasted (Pangang) pork (Babi) with some goody Asian veggies thrown in for taste and frankly the only country that knows how to make it to perfection is the Netherlands.

The Dormio Hotel concept is a new one in Europe where private people can invest in a hotel acquisition company that buys condo projects throughout Europe. We were planning to stay a full week and they immediately upgraded us upon arrival to a larger and more luxuriously outfitted room. Very nice.

Valkenburg is a domestic tourism destination for the Netherlands, pretty much  in the same way as the Hamptons are for New York or Cornwall for London. The village is loaded with family hotels and restaurant and attractions such as castle ruins, sandstone caves, entertainment parks and much more. But for us it is also located right in the middle of family and friends. Medieval churches, Roman museums, tons of castles on rivers and lakes and the close by availability of the very reliable Dutch rail- and bus systems.

Valkenburg was the first European destination TJ ever stayed, as we did our first travel to Europe in 2016 and we choose Valkenburg for a week’s stay to fight the Jetlag before catching up with Han’s family. During the Christmas Season 2019, we once again visited Valkenburg as it features the magnificent Christmas Markets in the Caves.

Valkenburg aan de Geul
Valkenburg Walking path into town
Valkenburg stations street
Shopping Street Valkenburg
Valkenburg Restaurant Street
Valkenburg river decorations
Valkenburg hilltop castle ruins
Our friend in Jamaican t-shirt
Valkenburg busking musician
Valkenburg sidewalk cafés
Babi Pangang plate
Valkenburg schnitzel
Delicious bitterballen snack in Valkenburg
loempias Indonesian style
Baked loempia full with veggies
Limburgse vlaai delicacy dessert

Fifteen minutes by train west took us to the ancient Roman city of Maastricht, with its city walls, a couple  of thousand year old churches, tree shaded squares with bars and pubs, and cobblestoned medieval tiny roads opening up to majestic squares. It was one of Han’s major hangouts while growing up, playing in bands and going to school. It’s a lot like Amsterdam but on an even smaller scale. We walked the streets, shopped some souvenirs in fabulous stores and ate some scrumptious local delicacies on sidewalk cafés. Back on the train, we agreed that the Dormio hotel choice was perfect.

The next day we did the same but this time we took the train east to Heerlen, the former capital of the Dutch Coal mines, where Han was born. The city has modernized a lot since they closed the mines in 1968 says Han. Handsome shopping malls and modern airy stores stand next to old neighborhood bars and restaurants. The city originated as a Roman road intersection (Coriovallum) with resting place and saunas for the exhausted travelers. When accidentally discovering the exact spot of the roman thermal baths in the late 1960 during an excavation for a city flat development, the city stopped the development and built a museum over the thermal baths, which has now become a major attraction for the city.

Heerlen kerkplein
Heerlen Café Brakke
A Selections of Macarons
Maastricht Macarons: a delight
Maastricht and the Maas river
Maastricht old city hall
A protected pedestrian walkway
At the first sign of a sunny day
Onze Lieve Vrouwen Church and the Vrijthof Square
Like old times and friends; a great lunch
Directions to Veuve Clicquot

Yet another day later we took the train east to go and see brother and sister-in-law Jos and Ria, where we stayed a week during our 2019/20 visit. They had sold their Carré Farm – Exhibition several years before and moved back to the small city where she was from and he studied. This time we could only go for an afternoon of catching up and dinner because they were going on vacation to Cyprus that week and we were flying back to the States later that week. Yet we had another great afternoon followed by an exquisite dinner of salmon and white asparagus and left in pure delight in the early evening. Kudos to chef Jos.

Brothers

A Sad Goodbye – Han’s older brother Eef had been severely ill for years, mostly home bound with very limited mobility and chance of improvement. A week before our arrival he had been moved to the general hospital in Heerlen and medical predictions were not good. With family we had agreed to visit him on Sunday afternoon and in line with the Limburg burgundic mentality a small party was organized. He enjoyed it and TJ gave him a little bunny as companion. A couple of days later, he crossed the rainbow in direct view of the Maternity Home (de Vroedvrouwen School) he was born in almost 77 years ago. RIP Eef, yours was a good life.

A Couple of days later we took the train to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and stayed at NH Hotel until our plane would depart for a return to the States.  This particular choice was made based on the transportation service that NH Hotels offered and a special rate they offered.. They had a 30 minute bus service from hotel to airport from where we took the train to Amsterdam Central Station, from where it is just a short walk to almost all attractions, museums and markets. In 2016 we ate Poffertjes at the flower market and TJ wanted to get them again if they were still open. They were and we enjoyed them again. A stroll up and down de Kalverstraat, where TJ fell in love with the exclusive Adidas store and added necessities to her favorite clothing collection. Across the Damrak, a short walk led us over the Walletjes and the Canals and our passion for Amsterdam’s particular sense of absolute freedom (XXX) was renewed. 

What's there not to love?
Central Station Amsterdam
Amsterdam Canals and Living on the water
Damrak and Vredes Paleis
Amsterdam's Claim to Fame
Damrak, a famous meeting monument during the 60s
Fields of FLowers on the Canals
The Flower Market
Surprise Attack on the Poffertjes
Staring down Kalverstraat
Public Pissoir
Cash and Window Shopping
Amsterdam Brown Café
Make it fit!
Small Spaces, Small Cars
Bicycle Decorations
Ludiek Amsterdam
Forgotten Glories at the Westertoren
Shortcut to another city part
Amsterdam's famous Logo

The next day, our last day in Europe on this trip was a planned visit to the Keukenhof; the Dutch National Flower Park. We had tried visiting 9 years earlier, but the season had already passed then. This time we came in earlier, together with a couple of hundred thousand other visitors. But the park in full bloom is truly amazing. Decades ago it a well designed garden with ponds, canals and a couple of windmills and park section with different types of tulips. Today it’s a full fledged display of several dozens of flower merchants from throughout the region displaying the scientific manifestations of what is possible these days in the creation of colors, shapes and sizes. Now there are many ways to visit, but the easy way is a bus that leaves from Schiphol Airport (Departure passage 233) near the airport entrance. The cost for bus and park entry is Eur 32 p/person and the trip takes about 30 minutes each way. Well worth a visit.

Keukenhof Main Entrance
Fields of Flowers
Inside the Park
Experimenting with colors
Experimenting with designs
Different experimentations
Design experimentations
Late blooming tulips
Park features
Bridges over Ponds
Subtle statues in the grass
Nostalgic Street Organ Music
A working windmill keeps the flowers watered

The next day we had a noon flight back with Delta to Nashville Tennessee, where we picked up our car and began yet another return trip to Beaver Island after a short visit with the kids and grandkids in Holland, Michigan.

We had contracted for one more Summer Season on Beaver Island, Michigan

Apr 01 2025

A Taste of London

The City of London from The Shard Office Building

 

The train from Southampton dropped us off at Victoria Station in London’s City of Westminster district. We had figured out that a 15 minute walk down Belgrave Rd would bring us to our hotel on Warwick Way. And it did, even with large suitcases down the sidewalk. But before we decided to check in, we needed a coffee and a cigarette. And the sunny outside café the Marquis of Westminster Pub and Restaurant on the corner of Warwick Way and Belgrave was the perfect place to do this: enjoying our favorite pastime of people watching over a drink and a cig. The place was so cool the we decided to have dinner there as well.

The Warwick by Nestor seemed like a nice, affordable little hotel located in the accessible heart of Westminster, but our room however was in the basement, after a climb down a dangerous wooden stair case. Very strange room in layout, but the location made it work for us.

The first full day of our stay we would be walking to world-famous department store Harrod’s on Knightsbridge and maybe have something to drink on Hans Road (?). Well the phenomenon that is Harrod’s distracted us for the better part of several hours, simply because there is nothing like it in the world to our knowledge. Although the old magnificent Harrod’s from the 1960s and 1970s is no more. What was once ONE STORE that had the entire world for sale is now more of an exhibition of the world’s foremost brandnames where you can order incredible luxury items: a 50.000 British pound speaker box or a 125,000 Pound model Ferrari, you can buy it here, choc.

Welcome to Harrod's; step into our Elevator
Have a delight at Hans Crescent
Harrod's Opulence on full display
A Hand-fitted riding saddle
A snake necklace for 165.000 British Pounds
Han in a Mini Cooper model for sale
A 125,000 Pounds Ferrari Testosterossa J Model
A $90,000 Bugatti model
More cars at Harrod's
Chocolates from around the world
A $90,000 home racing simulator
How about a $38,000 football ?
Interested in diamond studded shoes?
Harrod's Beauty and Food Halls
Dior's Corner of Harrod's
Love is a London Thing

After this bedazzling display of capitalistic insanity we set out on a trip to nearby Hyde Park to let it all sink in , followed by a quick walk to Fortnum and Mason past Hyde Park Corner and then via a stroll down Constitution Hill to Buckingham Palace where we watched the Royal Guard’s Band perform Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody in front of maybe 50,000 tourists from all over the world. And this was just early in April!!!

A short walk down the Mall to take some more pictures of important British Aristocratic statues, followed by a visit to the Buckingham Palace Gift Shop and from there a quick stop at famous British retailer Marks & Spencer, we wound our way back via Victoria to the Warwick neighborhood and hotel. Dinner choice was once again provided by the Marquis of Westminster neighborhood bar & restaurant. Our watch indicated an 18,000 plus step day and we were properly proud of ourselves as well as deeply tired to the bone.

The pedestrian crossing from the pub to our hotel
History all around you
A London street scene
Knightsbridge Station
A fullsize Rhino for display
Just a Tuesday on Knightsbridge
Hyde Park Playgrounds
The Duke of Wellington
Entrance to Buckingham Palace
Palace Guard Playing Bohemian Rhapsody
The famous Victoria Memorial
Magnificent, delicious pub food at the Marquis

Our second day in London offered a wider visitor view of the city via a Hop On Hop Off bus tour, which also included a sail on the Thames River for past the Tower Bridge in the north to past the Vauxhall Bridge in the south. Usually we do a Hop On Hop Off Tour on our first day, so we can define which places to visit the next two or three days, but this time we figured the first day was for all attractions in the Westminster area. Of course a city like London has a least 5 or 6 different Hop On Hop Off offerings. Our selection stayed close to the Thames River, as we wanted to see the parts of London that defined the British Empire during its heyday, and that included Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge with the Docks, Fleet Street, the London Stock Exchange, the Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Waterloo Square and all the institutions that once controlled more than one quart of all the world’s land.

We picked up the Hop On at Victoria Station and were taken immediately across the Westminster Bridge for a closer look at the London Eye. Since it had only been there since the turn of the century, Han had not seen it either. The London Eye, originally the Millennium Wheel, is the world’s tallest cantilevered observation wheel, with more than three million visitors annually.  The structure is 135 metres (443 ft) tall and the wheel has a diameter of 120 metres (394 ft). The Eye was the highest public viewing point in London until 2013, when it was surpassed by the 245-meter (804 ft) View from The Shard observation deck. The capsules are designed to move slowly with the wheel, completing one full rotation in about 30 minutes, which allows passengers to board and disembark without the wheel stopping. The 32 capsules not only serve a functional purpose but also symbolically represent each of London’s boroughs, making the ride both an engineering marvel and a cultural icon. There are 32 Capsules but none carries Number 13. Long live superstition. The Millennial Wheel moves in a continuum, traveling at a pace of 0.9km per hour, allowing passengers to board and hop off without the wheel ever needing to come to a complete stop.

On our continuing trip on the Southside of the river, it became clear that most of the important developments in London over the past 50 years have been south of the City of London and the Thames River. As the bus crawls eastward past the London Bridge to the Tower Bridge, we witness the enormous traffic congestion causing frequent long stops. Finally we make it to the Tower Bridge which we take to the Tower of London on the northern river embankment. Behind the Tower hotel are the famous St.Katherine’s Docks where in historic times clipper ships like the Cutty Shark and Thermopylae found their anchorage after completing heated tea races from China in the 1800s.

At the Tower of London stop we get off the bus for a drink and a short walk to the river cruise boats, while London’s music scene awakes on the squares. London has a vibrant busking scene, with talented musicians performing in iconic, high-traffic areas like here near the Tower Bridge Piazza and the Royal Menagerie. while we enjoy the music, we’ll watch the Tower’s Royal Mint entrance with the Traitor’s Gate behind it and reminisce about the bygone eras of Victorian and Elizabethan conquering.

Then it’s time to go aboard the river sightseeing boat and yes, it’s a must do tour to see London from the water. A completely different perspective, one not filled with thousands of tourists. You see the architectural wonders of the Gherkin office building in the financial district that keeps on showing up in pictures and the Shard Building which offers the highest viewing/photo platform in London these days. You learn the history of the many bridges over the Thames, the Monument of the great London Fire and so much more. And then of course you’ll get an unobstructed view of the Houses of Parliament as well. We decided to take both legs of the water sightseeing tour which got us back to the Tower of London area for continuation by Hop On Hop Off bus. we completed the loop which slowly took us down to the Victoria Station by the end of the day.

The sun had been setting on the British Empire for a while now, but it was still impressive to witness what it once was.

Egg or Gherkin, you'll be the judge!
City of London from Tower Bridge south access
The Tower Bridge from the Thames
St.Katherine's Docks
London Tower
Early Spring day in London
London Busking
The Royal Courts of Justice
Big Ben and Houses of Parliament Gardens
Cities like London are always under construction
Westminster Abbey
London Apollo Victoria
London Victoria Palace
London pub interior

A quick walk down the Westminster street scenes took us back to the hotel where we started packing for our next day departure by bus to Stansted Airport 31 miles to the north of the city from where Ryanair would fly us to Eindhoven in the Netherlands for our last 10 days of family visits and a trip to the Tulip Festival at the Keukenhof near Amsterdam.

In two full days of London, we did exactly what we had set out to do: see a number of the historic sites and walk the inner city for some local flavor. London is witness of the British former empire,  in statues and a multi national diverse population. This is not so much apparent in places like Devon, Cornwall or the Lake District. But it definitely shows in the big cities. We will be back for more later. 

TJ’s assessment of the last morning in London:

Today, you ask?

Finished packing, coffee on front stoop of flat, carry five pieces of luggage up the stairs, no lift, walk to the bus station lugging all the crap, hop on bus, two hours to airport, both of us pulled aside (and our carry-ons) by security, got felt up a little 1f923.png, walked for miles it seemed, then walked some more to the plane waiting on tarmac, waited quite some time, watched our luggage being removed, plane canceled, got on bus, went to another plane, finally took off, arrived safely (most importantly), checked into Eindhoven hotel for the night and now laying in bed being a slug.

1f601.png

We also grabbed some lunch in-between to keep our strength up.

1f609.png

Just another gypsy kinda day.

Ryan Air playing tricks on us

 

Load more