Trip to Europe--British Isles, Amsterdam, and Rhine River Cruise, Spring of 2015
Millie Dearing
Slide Show of Photos with captions at end of trip information
Last Spring my husband and I took a trip to Europe. Our wonderful travel agent, Norma Jean, works out of Wenatchee and is the sister-in-law of one of my former student teachers. She did a great job of planning our trip and we would definitely use her again. Every aspect of our vacation was well planned and we felt totally prepared for our adventure. We decided that, if we were going to fly such a long distance, we would see as much as possible, so planned for a three week trip.
Our first stop was London where we met the rest of our motor coach tour group. The tour was a ten day Globus tour of Britain and Ireland. We visited many cities in Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England. All hotels were excellent, as were the tour guide and bus driver. We visited many castles and historic sites. There was quite a bit of walking involved, but most was not too strenuous.
In Edinburgh, we stayed at a very nice Holiday Inn. It was located next to the Zoo. The first morning, at 5:30, I was awakened by, what I thought was a siren. It went on and on, so I mentioned it to others on our tour. Although they had not heard it, they thought it must have been a car alarm. That seemed to make sense. However, when I was again awakened at 5:30 the next morning, I realized that what I was hearing was not a siren or car alarm, but the monkeys at the Zoo. So remember, if you want to sleep past 5:30 a.m., stay at a different hotel.
We added an extra day in London at the end of the tour and enjoyed walking around the city and seeing the sights.
Our next adventure was in Amsterdam. We stayed at Hotel Nicolaas Witsen, which was about 20 minutes by bus from downtown. We really enjoyed this small hotel and the residential area in which it is located. We spent many hours walking and trying to avoid being hit by bicyclists. On our first day we visited the Anne Frank house and took a bus tour of the city. Another of my former student teachers teaches in The Hague. She took us on a train ride to Leiden, a beautiful city. We enjoyed lunch, a canal boat tour, walking around the city and getting reacquainted.
After four days in Amsterdam, and a trip to the laundromat (which was quite fun, actually), we boarded our Viking river boat for a trip down the Rhine River. Everything about the cruise was top notch, from the accommodations, to the food, the people we met on board, and the land tours. We will definitely take another Viking cruise in the future. Again, quite a bit of walking was involved, but it was well worth it to see the sites. We particularly enjoyed exploring the towns where we docked.
Our trip ended in Basel, Switzerland. We went from the ship directly to the airport with wonderful memories of our vacation.
Millie Dearing
Slide Show of Photos with captions at end of trip information
Last Spring my husband and I took a trip to Europe. Our wonderful travel agent, Norma Jean, works out of Wenatchee and is the sister-in-law of one of my former student teachers. She did a great job of planning our trip and we would definitely use her again. Every aspect of our vacation was well planned and we felt totally prepared for our adventure. We decided that, if we were going to fly such a long distance, we would see as much as possible, so planned for a three week trip.
Our first stop was London where we met the rest of our motor coach tour group. The tour was a ten day Globus tour of Britain and Ireland. We visited many cities in Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England. All hotels were excellent, as were the tour guide and bus driver. We visited many castles and historic sites. There was quite a bit of walking involved, but most was not too strenuous.
In Edinburgh, we stayed at a very nice Holiday Inn. It was located next to the Zoo. The first morning, at 5:30, I was awakened by, what I thought was a siren. It went on and on, so I mentioned it to others on our tour. Although they had not heard it, they thought it must have been a car alarm. That seemed to make sense. However, when I was again awakened at 5:30 the next morning, I realized that what I was hearing was not a siren or car alarm, but the monkeys at the Zoo. So remember, if you want to sleep past 5:30 a.m., stay at a different hotel.
We added an extra day in London at the end of the tour and enjoyed walking around the city and seeing the sights.
Our next adventure was in Amsterdam. We stayed at Hotel Nicolaas Witsen, which was about 20 minutes by bus from downtown. We really enjoyed this small hotel and the residential area in which it is located. We spent many hours walking and trying to avoid being hit by bicyclists. On our first day we visited the Anne Frank house and took a bus tour of the city. Another of my former student teachers teaches in The Hague. She took us on a train ride to Leiden, a beautiful city. We enjoyed lunch, a canal boat tour, walking around the city and getting reacquainted.
After four days in Amsterdam, and a trip to the laundromat (which was quite fun, actually), we boarded our Viking river boat for a trip down the Rhine River. Everything about the cruise was top notch, from the accommodations, to the food, the people we met on board, and the land tours. We will definitely take another Viking cruise in the future. Again, quite a bit of walking was involved, but it was well worth it to see the sites. We particularly enjoyed exploring the towns where we docked.
Our trip ended in Basel, Switzerland. We went from the ship directly to the airport with wonderful memories of our vacation.