RS Best of Europe Tour~ May 3- May 23 Who's Going?

We were on the May 4-24 trip in 2014 and had a fantastic travel experience. We had to good fortune to visit Keukenhof Gardens while the tulips were blooming and were in Haarlem for the annual Flower Parade. Everyday was an adventure. We hope you enjoy the tour as much as we did. We had one solo traveler on our tour who was included in all events and seemed to enjoy the experience as much as any of the couples. We will be publishing a scrapbook of our travels by the beginning of February, be sure to check it out.

Bob and Pam

Thanks Bob, Id love to read your scrapbook when it's ready. I've already set myself up a website/blog where I can journal and post pictures while I travel and keep my family updated. Are we allowed to post those kinds of links here?

Part of why I picked this date was so (hopefully) our tour will go to Keukenhof Gardens. It's the last days that they're open for 2015. I'm very excited about the itinerary, and the blogs I've read from past travelers of this tour have only added to that excitement. Late April can't get here soon enough for me (I fly to Amsterdam the last week of April and will spend nearly a week there pre-tour).

I've heard the tours are very singles friendly-with a couple exceptions, which makes me feel better. Ideally, I'd love to meet up with someone/someones who might want to share an excursion or two in the days before and after the tour, or who wouldn't mind exploring with me (or me with them) on free times during the tour. I want to cram in all the experiences I can before I get home and am forced to focus all my time on completing my college degree.

Lisa

Lisa, I'm sure you will make 20 best friends while in this trip! I probably won't be able to post while we are in this trip, at least not too much. We'll be in Italy when you are just getting started. Good luck finishing your degree. ....

Bob, please post links to your scrapbook when it is available! Those scrapbooks only add to my anticipation of our pending tour!

Hey Lisa,
My name is Lori. I will be going on this trip with my mother and sister. We are all so excited! We are eagerly counting down the days until departure! (95 days till!) We are planning on arriving a day and a half early to get our bearings and try and get acclimated to the time change. We will actually be meeting up with my sister who is spending a semester in Venice, Italy, who will be joining us on the trip. So while we will not be there much ahead of time it is great to get to know someone that we will be traveling with! I just finished up my college degree. So I was registered separately from my mother and sister, so we might get to be occasional roomies during the trip!

I am also curious what blog site you used. That is something that I would be interested in doing as well! Thanks!
It is wonderful to get to "meet" someone who we will be traveling with! I look forward to this wonderful experience!
Ciao!

Hi Lori~ great to meet you! How exciting to FINALLY meet someone (or three someone's with your mom and sister) that will be on my trip! I just heard from another gal who's signed on our trip, but she's on the waitlist, so may or may not be joining us.

I gotta fess up, I'm probably closer in age to your mother, as I'm in my late 40's. I never got the chance to go to college as a young adult, so made the decision to be an "old lady student". I'm actually in a community college with my daughter (who is 23) and will transfer to a 4 year college in the fall. I'm completing my degree in Psychology with the plan to get my masters in counseling. How old are you and your sister?

As for the trip, I did sign up for the single supplement, so in most hotels I'll be stuck in a tiny attic gable somewhere, lol. I'll keep my fingers crossed for a younger single gal roomie for you- or at least a really cool older lady! I'll be arriving in Holland on the Wednesday morning before the trip. I'll be staying 3 nights in Amsterdam and then I'll travel to Haarlem early on Saturday and check into the hotel a day early. Haarlem is a great little city, very charming. I want to tour St Bavokirk, see the Corrie Ten Boom house and perhaps take a canal ride. Perhaps you can talk to your mom and sister and we can explore together? I think you said you're arriving on Friday? Do you know where you're staying yet? On Friday I'm hoping to take a canoe tour of the polderlands outside of Amsterdam. I don't know if you'll be arrived in time to join me for that. Depending on when your flight gets in and where you're staying, you might not be up for more than a walk around and some supper. If your plane arrives after noon-ish, avoid napping if you can (try hard!) and avoid canal rides or any activity that has you sitting for any length of time. You'll fall to sleep!

I look forward to hearing from you again! Perhaps you can PM me. Tell you what, I'll PM you my e-mail address and some blog info, ok?

Lisa

Hi Lisa -- It looks like you started this string quite some time ago, so I hope you haven't given up on finding any your tour mates here. I am Rob from Saskatoon, Canada and I will travelling with my wife Norma. We are recently retired and really looking forward to our European adventure. It really feels like its coming fast now doesn't it? We too have a few days extra on each end of the tour, and we are just starting to look into what we should do with that time. Do you have any suggestions for us?

Hi Rob and Norma! So nice to meet some fellow tour-mates! I'm not retired yet. I'm a 49 year old full time college student, so I'm not sure what that makes me, lol! Have you been to Europe before?

If you've not been to Amsterdam before, I highly recommend you look at viator.com at their day tours. There is a windmills tour that takes you to Zaanse Shans to sample Dutch cheese and visit lot of pretty windmills. Then you take a boat to Volendam for lunch and then you go to Marken to see wooden shoes get made. It's a half day tour, but they also have an all day tour that also takes you to Delft to visit the Delft pottery factory, the Hague and Madurodam. Since our tour will visit Keukenhof and not the open air museum with windmills, this might be something for you to look into. I plan to visit the Dutch Resistance Museum on the Wednesday I arrive. I'm also hoping to visit the Church in the Attic. On Thursday evening I plan to see the play ANNE at the Amsterdam Theater. On Friday I plan to take a day trip to Bruges, Belgium. On Saturday I'll relocate to our hotel in Haarlem. I want to visit the Corrie Ten Boom house and St. Bavos and maybe even attend church there on Sunday.

As to Paris, after our tour ends (Saturday after breakfast) I'll be relocating to the Hotel Sublim Eiffel. I'll then be taking a special tour of Versailles that includes Marie Antoinettes Petit Trianon. It's a little pricey because it's a small guided tour and goes to places not usually seen in the regular tour. On Sunday a friend will be joining me and in the morning we're going to the Catacombs- very excited about that! We hope to see the Rodin Museum in the afternoon. On Monday (when the museums are closed) we're going to Pere Lachaise Cemetery. Many notables are buried there (Jim Morrison probably the most famous), but the tombs are supposed to be spectacular and include several ww2 memorials. I think it'll be Montmartre in the afternoon.

I also hope to squeeze in a trip to the top of the Eiffel before the RS tours ends (as it's not included). If you guys want any more information on any of those things, let me know and I'll send you the links. Of course if you want to join me for any of it, I'd love to have company! Just let me know! ;-)

I've met one other gal on our tour, a recent college graduate from Montana. She'll be taking the tour with her mother and sister. I've exchanged a few e-mails with her and friended each other on Facebook. She seems really nice, as do her mom and sis.

Great to meet you and hope to chat with you more!

Lisa