Thanks for your help and encouragement with our recent trip!

Posted by Mona (California USA) on 05/08/18 01:52 AM

Netherlands Trip Report

We just returned from our very first spring trip to Europe. We've been to Europe in the summer, fall and winter but never in the spring because of our jobs. Even though we aren't flower crazy at home, we typically use succulents for landscaping, we made this our flower tour. We spent three weeks in the Netherlands then took the train to Paris for 4 days before our flight home last week.

Week one: The first week we were in Holland the weather was a bit cool, windy and wet so we started with some museums in Amsterdam and Haarlem. We were staying in an apartment in Zandvoort, Amsterdam's beach town, so we had plenty of restaurants and activities in our own town but we were only a 10 minute train ride from Haarlem with connections to almost everywhere else in Holland. We had access to a car but we only used it once for an outing Rick Steves book described as doable but difficult by public transportation-- more about that adventure in week 3. Some of the museums we visited were third or fourth visits for us but some were first time visits. Buying the $60 Museumkaart made a lot of sense for us since we were there for so long and we were last in the Netherlands 13 years ago and wanted to see so much. We also spent time in the first week, and the next two weeks, meeting some forum friends. We went on several gentle outings with a young couple with a new baby that we'd met through friends 2 years ago in Santa Barbara. Our big train trip at the end of week one was a day trip to Valkenburg near Maastricht. We went to see the castle and caves but everything was closed because of the big professional bike race (Amstel Gold 2018) taking place that day. It turned out to be pretty festive and fun.

Week 2: The weather turned really warm during the second week so we went to Keukenhof to see the formal flower gardens. They were spectacular and if you ever get the chance during the 6 weeks they are open every spring I highly recommend going. We'd been going back and forth from Haarlem to Leiden during the previous week and it was a wonderful train ride through the commercial bulb fields on both side of the train tracks for miles and miles--Haarlem to Leiden. We also went to Haarlem for the day to see the flower floats that had progressed from Lisse to Haarlem, about a 12 mile route, and were on display for one day in Haarlem.

We took a train trip one day to the Alkmaar cheese market which was fun. We took the 10€ all day bus pass to go to Volendam and Marken on another day. Volendam was interesting but overrun with bus loads of tourists. We really enjoyed the local history museum. The interiors of homes that were so lovingly recreated in the museum spoke to a very recent past and change this fishing village has gone through. The people running the museum wanted to tell us more and more about their families and earlier life. After Volendam, we took the ferry to Marken. There were far fewer tourists on Marken and we really enjoyed wandering all over the island. We took the bus back across the causeway to Amsterdam.

We spent some evenings sitting at a beach restaurant back in Zandvoort. There were 28 restaurants and bars literally on the broad sandy beach.

To be continued:

Posted by Mona OP

California USA

05/08/18 01:54 AM

4103 posts

Cont.
Week 3: The weather turned cool and showery again and we returned to Amsterdam to museums 2 days in a row. We always love going to the Van Gogh museum but we discovered that they'd just initiated a reserved time only policy at the first of April so we had to scramble and make a free, timed reservation for the following day even though the Museumkaart covered the admission. Our big outing for the 3rd week was the car trip to the open air museum near Arnhem and the Kröller-Müller museum (more Van Gogh) in the national park. I would hate to try to do this trip via public transportation, 1 train and 2 busses that run about 2 per hour or less. Kings Day happened during our last week and we decided to see what our small town would do to celebrate rather than return to one of the bigger cities. We dressed in our orange t-shirts and browsed the city wide morning rummage sales and afternoon of eating, drinking and music stages around town. A quiet drink at a beach restaurant was a welcome break as we watched a rain storm approach. The waitress came and lit the fire pit under the awning and we stayed for a couple more hours.

Another highlight of the 3rd week was a visit to Den Haag to go to the Mauritshuis Museum. It was a powerhouse collection in a lovely setting. The three Vermeers were breathtaking. We really liked the feel of Den Haag too and decided we'd go back and explore a bit more on another trip. We went on to Delft and really wish we'd had more time there. It was a smaller, more charming version of Leiden and Haarlem.

Week 4: We went to Paris for our last 4 days and flight home. We took a lot more garden walks from our hotel near Luxembourg Gardens. We really liked seeing the city's trees and gardens waking up in the spring. A trip to Monceau Parc was a first for us and we really liked watching all of the people enjoying their warm spring day. We took our first Pariswalks tour and recommend them if you are interested in history especially. We had a personal reason for wanting to venture out on RER B to see the impressive aqueduct at the Arcueil-Cachan train station and beyond. After all, Maria de Medici wanted water for her gardens and fountains at the Luxembourg Palace so she had to get it done someway. We walked for a ways along and under the beautiful aqueduct. There's also a glimpse of the aqueduct in the movie, Amalie.

Our time in Paris was cut short by one day because of the train strike and our changed flight home. I don't recommend staying at an airport hotel unless it's absolutely necessary. It was a peace of mind for us but we missed our last real night in Paris. But we are returning soon so life is good.