Brussels To Amsterdam 2025

   We liked our time in Amsterdam and survived it, meaning we successfully avoided being run down by a bicyclist. Amsterdam is a city of bicycles and bike lanes, and bicyclists (insist they) have the right of way, although I don't know if that is codified in the law. When crossing the street, ALWAYS check the red bicycle lane to see if it is safe to enter and make your journey to the other side of the street. Most Amsterdam auto drivers yield to pedestrians, but a pedestrian needs to be on the lookout for the middle of the block U turn that appears to be a required driving maneuver for Amsterdam motorists.    Our final day in Amsterdam was full of walking and emotion since we visited both the Anne Frank House and the Dutch Resistance Museum. We utilized my City Mapper app to help us navigate by foot to Anne Frank's house. It was about a 45 minute walk and the weather was in our favor again. There was no rain and the temperature, while not warm, was warmer than we had...

   We had a couple of pretty full days and so finding time to update the blog was not easy. Our time in Enkhuizen was fun. We arrived and boarded buses for Hoorn. This was a wealthy seaport in the Golden Age of the Netherlands during which the Netherlands became very wealthy thanks to the Dutch East Indies Company. Cape Horn in Africa takes its name from a Dutch trader. Hoorn is another charming old Dutch city and we were quite glad that we took this excursion. After our time in Rotterdam, it was nice to experience old Dutch charm. There was no rain for us in Hoorn, but the wind was cold and necessitated bundling up against the elements. We ate with some Canadians at dinner, and even they found Hoorn cold. We opted out of our afternoon tulips and windmills excursion. We must not have been thinking when we booked the excursion. There are no tulips to see at this time of the year, and we already had a windmill excursion. We will be more careful when we book our Vietnam and Cambo...

   First, a postscript about Wesel. We did not see old buildings for a reason. Wesel was obliterated by bombs during World War II and had to be rebuilt.   After leaving Wesel, we arrived in Dordrecht and yesterday we had a walking tour of Dordrecht and again fell in love with a charming city with a long history. Dordrecht is actually an island laced with canals and oozes charm even in the rain. I was grateful for the pants that shed water I was wearing as well as my waterproof Viking jacket I purchased onboard, the waterproof shoes from REI, and the travel umbrella we purchased. The architecture is captivating and our guide was a local who was well versed in the history of Dordrecht. He was also entertaining. After our tour we had some free time and made our way to the fresh air market and a restaurant where we enjoyed a cup of coffee prior to making our way back to the boat. Dordrecht is another city in which we would have loved to be able to spend more time and where we...