Good Morning,
Today is Sunday and we are waiting at our hotel for the driver to pick us up to take us to begin our Avalon boat journey. Jim and Cher arrived in Cocoa on 2 June from Arizona. They came over to Cocoa from Orlando. We all went to the harbor and had dinner at ONE of our favorite fish restaurants. Tom and I went back to Kelly’s for the night and make sure we had all packed and ready to head out on our journey the next day. We left Cocoa (in the van had rented) and stopped at Boston’s for lunch before we arrived at Orlando Airport. We were notified that our flight had been delayed and would leave later however we found an earlier flight so would not miss our connection at the airport in England to Amsterdam. SO we were on board of our British Air Flight by 5:30 PM. Had a couple hour wait in Gatwick,England before we had our flight into Amsterdam. We arrived in Amsterdam about an hour later. We met Diane and Jerry at the airport and headed to find our driver to transport us to our hotel in Amsterdam AND who did we meet up with at the Viator Transport...Pat and George and Rita and Mike! Tom said George was trying to steal our Transport Van....but of course that was not true. We all were seated in the van and then the luggage ....amazing how the driver made all the luggage for 8 of us in the van! After a short ride we arrived at the Holiday Inn Express in Amsterdam. It was a beautiful sunny day. We had a nice dinner just across from the hotel before we settled into our hotel room. George and Pat and Rita and Mike were staying just blocks from our hotel so came over for a visit. Sandy and Joe had also arrived in the late afternoon.
AND SO OUR ADVENTURE TOGETHER BEGINS!!
The next morning woke up to sunshine and a little chilly weather but a beautiful day.
We had researched and found the train we needed to take to our first tour here. We boarded our Viator Bus to Zaanse Schans Windmills, Marken, Volendam where we visited windmills, cheese factory, wooden shoe factory and walked about the towns. In Zaanse Schans, we saw several windmills and and toured a sawmill that was run by the windmill. We visited a clog maker and took a boat ride in Marken and Volendam where we saw a traditional fishing village. We also visited a cheese factory and had a taste of several types of Dutch cheese. Do you know that wooden shoes are still used today? The bus driver and the tour guide on the bus were great fun and very knowledgeable. The driver even had a keyboard in the bus which he played for us when we were at a stop. Very entertaining!! In the evening, we took a river boat cruise through the streets of Amsterdam in the evening. We quickly learned the tram and train schedule with Tom and George’s lead!! The traffic with the trams,and the bicycle riders was so congested. They call the bike riders, the death bikers as they have their own lane but come so fast and there are so many AND do not slow down for foot traffic. Charlotte saved me several times from being hit by the bicycle riders. Rode the tram during heavy use and there were four of us that were standing in this mass of people on the tram and all at once found that we were going down like a row of dominos before someone caught us all!
We had a nice riverboat canal trip through Amsterdam one evening going to several parts of Amsterdam. Seeing interesting homes including the Anne Frank Home and life on the canals while having a beverage.
I cannot even explain the beauty of the Tulip Gardens....amazing..took lots of photos but cannot describe to give you a picture of the beauty of the flowers justice. There must have been over a hundred buses and cars in the parking area. I did not count but must have been thousands on the day we were there. It was still fairly easy to walk about in the gardens. Do not think have ever seen any gardens as beautiful and so impressed with the cleanliness. Every color flower you could imagine. The next flower more beautiful than the last etc.
We found a good restaurant just a few steps from our hotel in Amsterdam and we all enjoyed dinner together after a day out and about. Then a group played FARKLE down in the lobby after dinner. Maryann decided to go back to the room and fell asleep immediately about 7 PM and did not wake until the next morning....much more rested!
Up and about on Sunday morning for a buffet breakfast at our hotel before we finished packing to get ready to go to our long boat. Played some more FARKLE before our driver arrived to take us to our long boat about 1 PM. We were thrilled that we had the same driver that brought us from the airport! He brought a bigger van this time so did not have to struggle getting the luggage to fit into the van with us. After about a 20 minute ride through Amsterdam, we arrived at the Affinity..our long boat and home for the next 8 days. Had a great welcome to our boat , and almost immediately we began to eat. We had a buffet lunch while we waited for our rooms to be ready. We were taken to our rooms....most of us are next to each other or just across the hall. Took us about 30 minutes to put away our luggage and put our belongings into our room. We have a huge patio like window in our room and a very comfortable bed with down cover. Our room also has a live potted orchid and just enough room for our queen size bed and a nice bathroom. We have a great view of the other boats on the river for the first night just outside our large window. Many barges and other boats on the water.
We had to have a fire drill with life jackets and then a greeting with the Ship Captain and staff AND hourderves with drinks. Minutes later we were in the dining area for a several course meal. We had several selections to pick form for all the courses of the meal...including dessert and drinks!! After dinner we spent time in the lounge on the third floor visiting with our group and meeting some of the other guests. AND of course had a night snack! We have a wonderful piano player who also has a wonderful voice singing and playing some oldies ....of course George and I could not resist spending some moments dancing as soon as we heard the music. We even managed to have a few bites from the late night buffet. Tom and I spent some time with Jim and Cher in the lounge before we headed to our cabin.
When we walked into our cabin, the bed had been turned down and there was a fireplace scene on the TV that made us feel like we had a fireplace in our room.
OF course throughout the day there was lots of laughter as we sat and talked. The staff are all so very friendly and fun to joke with them. Today, Tom and I and a few others spent the day walking about the ship (for exercise!!), sitting on the top deck and front of the boat enjoying the beautiful scenery as we moved down the river...and of course eating several times and still laughing lots!!
We know that we are so blessed to be able to be on this trip with our friends that are family to us. There are 14 of us from times we spent in the Air Force over the last 40+ years and Tom’s sister and her husband. Just happened that 3 of the guys were fireman in the Air Force ..Bill was in the Air Force for 4 years as active duty fireman and the rest are retired....2 retired medics, 1 retired nurse practitioner, 1 retired who worked in Fuels from the Air Force. To be able to share these days with such special people just makes us feel like we won the lottery!
Today is Sunday and we are waiting at our hotel for the driver to pick us up to take us to begin our Avalon boat journey. Jim and Cher arrived in Cocoa on 2 June from Arizona. They came over to Cocoa from Orlando. We all went to the harbor and had dinner at ONE of our favorite fish restaurants. Tom and I went back to Kelly’s for the night and make sure we had all packed and ready to head out on our journey the next day. We left Cocoa (in the van had rented) and stopped at Boston’s for lunch before we arrived at Orlando Airport. We were notified that our flight had been delayed and would leave later however we found an earlier flight so would not miss our connection at the airport in England to Amsterdam. SO we were on board of our British Air Flight by 5:30 PM. Had a couple hour wait in Gatwick,England before we had our flight into Amsterdam. We arrived in Amsterdam about an hour later. We met Diane and Jerry at the airport and headed to find our driver to transport us to our hotel in Amsterdam AND who did we meet up with at the Viator Transport...Pat and George and Rita and Mike! Tom said George was trying to steal our Transport Van....but of course that was not true. We all were seated in the van and then the luggage ....amazing how the driver made all the luggage for 8 of us in the van! After a short ride we arrived at the Holiday Inn Express in Amsterdam. It was a beautiful sunny day. We had a nice dinner just across from the hotel before we settled into our hotel room. George and Pat and Rita and Mike were staying just blocks from our hotel so came over for a visit. Sandy and Joe had also arrived in the late afternoon.
AND SO OUR ADVENTURE TOGETHER BEGINS!!
The next morning woke up to sunshine and a little chilly weather but a beautiful day.
We had researched and found the train we needed to take to our first tour here. We boarded our Viator Bus to Zaanse Schans Windmills, Marken, Volendam where we visited windmills, cheese factory, wooden shoe factory and walked about the towns. In Zaanse Schans, we saw several windmills and and toured a sawmill that was run by the windmill. We visited a clog maker and took a boat ride in Marken and Volendam where we saw a traditional fishing village. We also visited a cheese factory and had a taste of several types of Dutch cheese. Do you know that wooden shoes are still used today? The bus driver and the tour guide on the bus were great fun and very knowledgeable. The driver even had a keyboard in the bus which he played for us when we were at a stop. Very entertaining!! In the evening, we took a river boat cruise through the streets of Amsterdam in the evening. We quickly learned the tram and train schedule with Tom and George’s lead!! The traffic with the trams,and the bicycle riders was so congested. They call the bike riders, the death bikers as they have their own lane but come so fast and there are so many AND do not slow down for foot traffic. Charlotte saved me several times from being hit by the bicycle riders. Rode the tram during heavy use and there were four of us that were standing in this mass of people on the tram and all at once found that we were going down like a row of dominos before someone caught us all!
We had a nice riverboat canal trip through Amsterdam one evening going to several parts of Amsterdam. Seeing interesting homes including the Anne Frank Home and life on the canals while having a beverage.
I cannot even explain the beauty of the Tulip Gardens....amazing..took lots of photos but cannot describe to give you a picture of the beauty of the flowers justice. There must have been over a hundred buses and cars in the parking area. I did not count but must have been thousands on the day we were there. It was still fairly easy to walk about in the gardens. Do not think have ever seen any gardens as beautiful and so impressed with the cleanliness. Every color flower you could imagine. The next flower more beautiful than the last etc.
We found a good restaurant just a few steps from our hotel in Amsterdam and we all enjoyed dinner together after a day out and about. Then a group played FARKLE down in the lobby after dinner. Maryann decided to go back to the room and fell asleep immediately about 7 PM and did not wake until the next morning....much more rested!
Up and about on Sunday morning for a buffet breakfast at our hotel before we finished packing to get ready to go to our long boat. Played some more FARKLE before our driver arrived to take us to our long boat about 1 PM. We were thrilled that we had the same driver that brought us from the airport! He brought a bigger van this time so did not have to struggle getting the luggage to fit into the van with us. After about a 20 minute ride through Amsterdam, we arrived at the Affinity..our long boat and home for the next 8 days. Had a great welcome to our boat , and almost immediately we began to eat. We had a buffet lunch while we waited for our rooms to be ready. We were taken to our rooms....most of us are next to each other or just across the hall. Took us about 30 minutes to put away our luggage and put our belongings into our room. We have a huge patio like window in our room and a very comfortable bed with down cover. Our room also has a live potted orchid and just enough room for our queen size bed and a nice bathroom. We have a great view of the other boats on the river for the first night just outside our large window. Many barges and other boats on the water.
We had to have a fire drill with life jackets and then a greeting with the Ship Captain and staff AND hourderves with drinks. Minutes later we were in the dining area for a several course meal. We had several selections to pick form for all the courses of the meal...including dessert and drinks!! After dinner we spent time in the lounge on the third floor visiting with our group and meeting some of the other guests. AND of course had a night snack! We have a wonderful piano player who also has a wonderful voice singing and playing some oldies ....of course George and I could not resist spending some moments dancing as soon as we heard the music. We even managed to have a few bites from the late night buffet. Tom and I spent some time with Jim and Cher in the lounge before we headed to our cabin.
When we walked into our cabin, the bed had been turned down and there was a fireplace scene on the TV that made us feel like we had a fireplace in our room.
OF course throughout the day there was lots of laughter as we sat and talked. The staff are all so very friendly and fun to joke with them. Today, Tom and I and a few others spent the day walking about the ship (for exercise!!), sitting on the top deck and front of the boat enjoying the beautiful scenery as we moved down the river...and of course eating several times and still laughing lots!!
We know that we are so blessed to be able to be on this trip with our friends that are family to us. There are 14 of us from times we spent in the Air Force over the last 40+ years and Tom’s sister and her husband. Just happened that 3 of the guys were fireman in the Air Force ..Bill was in the Air Force for 4 years as active duty fireman and the rest are retired....2 retired medics, 1 retired nurse practitioner, 1 retired who worked in Fuels from the Air Force. To be able to share these days with such special people just makes us feel like we won the lottery!
We are keeping you all in our daily prayer as we take this new journey.
Our love and thoughts are with you daily.
“SOMETIMES ALL YOU NEED ARE GREAT FRIENDS AND THRIST FOR ADVENTURE”......and we are certainly blessed to have these friends on this Amsterdam-Rhine River Cruise to Basel, Switzerland 2018!!
Until our next post....please keep up in your prayers for safe travels.
God Bless,
Tom and Maryann
Sent from my iPad
Maryann Graue
Maryann Graue
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