For our first stop in Amsterdam, we stayed at the Hotel Esterea on the Singel Canal. This is a great downtown area teeming with shops, cafes and restaurants. It was wonderful exploring on foot and we found the lovely Casa Di David restaurant just two blocks away.
For the second stop, we stayed at the Conservatorium in the museum district, and so naturally we spent an afternoon at the wonderful Rijksmuseum. We loved our time in Amsterdam and will return soon.
We were super excited to find this cruise, which had two stops in Vietnam, including one in Nha Trang, where Laura's dad was stationed during the Vietnam war, and where Laura had always wanted to visit. The cruise started in Bali Indonesia on April 12 and finished in Bangkok Thailand two weeks later. We added on additional stops before and after the cruise ... since we could!
So here is our full itinerary, which will be the subject of the next 7 or 8 posts on the blog:
April 7-9 Amsterdam
April 10-12 Bali
April 12-25 The above cruise
April 26-27 Amsterdam again
April 28 Laura flew home
April 28 - May 6 Phil in England
May 7 Phil in NYC
May 8 Phil home
The cruise was fabulous, and our favorite parts were Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore. Lots of details to follow.
Stopping in Amsterdam both ways was great - we stayed in different parts of the city out and back, and on the way back we arrived the day after Kings Day so the city was in serious party mode!
I had booked to fly home from England via Amsterdam again, but KLM canceled my flight so I rebooked through New York to visit my good friend Duane. Even a flight cancelation worked out for the best.
We love going to Estes Park, to hike or snow shoe, depending on the season. This time we got to do a bit of both as there was not much snow on the ground when we arrived, but mid way through the trip we had some good snow fall.
As so often on our Estes Park trips, the elk made their appearance. This time it was a group of bulls, hanging out together and feeding. I guess that once rutting season is over, the bulls forget about their life and death fights and just chill together.
