Holland Hotel De Moerbei Oostkapelle

This morning, we checked out of our hotel in The Hague and headed out to the airport where we climbed aboard our helicopter to head down to Vlizzingen, The Netherlands. There isn't a lot in Vlizzingen aside from what looked like what was once a huge ship yard. We landed near the water front at the Amels shipyard. They make some of the best quality yachts on ...

So, it's the 5th of June and
we are in Belgium. The ferry was long and there was very little to
do, so we decided to sleep for 15 of the 18 hours we were at sea. We
had avoided getting diesel in the UK in order to make the most of
cheaper European prices, so refuelling was our first priority. Once
fully loaded up with fuel and crisps, we powered on through north
east France, planning to cut across Switzerland and enter Italy just
above Milan.

(60 miles) We road along the ocean between Rotterdam and Middelburg; then continued across the Channel by ferry to find camp just on the other side of the water: The trip actually looks alot cooler on the map. There really wasn't a ton to look at. Some occasional ocean vistas and some heavyduty levee machinery. I guess two ...

... cream for dessert. We have sampled a few chocolates from Dumon Chocolates (very very close to our hotel-and they love Rick Steves...we saw the Steves family Christmas card hanging in the back) but most chocolate shops don't give out samples (stingy!!, but understandable I guess). Today we climbed the bell tower for some great cardio, then went to the Groeninge Museum. Many of the paintings we were looking forward to ...

Jacek picked me up from amsterdam airport around 9am, my flight got in around 7.15 am (45 minutes early) so i waited reading a book at the juice bar in the airport, we had arranged to meet there. it took jacek 4 hours to make the 2 hr drive to amsterdam because of snow and ...

... put the nuts on when reassembling the engine last month...we will leave withing an hour"

What?? Within an hour? I secretly think that I certainly do not know if I feel fit to leave without an hour! Well, we jump off the boat, go to the chandlery, and Frank cannot find the correct size of bolt. He starts searching for alternative solutions, and by the time he found screws in the correct dimensions, it is too late to leave. I have to admit, I feel quite reliefed!

... weight on the crank, the boat moves in all directions, the wind and rain are all ovet, the jib is flapping, we push, and yess, the rope gets free, ok, now the second winch is unjammed, we push the crank, and suddenly it moves... first winch is free again, we wind up the rope, the jib tightens and takes wind, the boat lists a little, and off we go!!! Frank and I are just sitting, exhausted, out of breath, sweating under our rain clothes... Well, to think that my colleages at home were ...

... of traffic on the river. The wind is coming towards us, so we have to bear regularly, sometimes need to start the engine to make some speed, because after some time the tidal current is reversing, starting to slow us down. The trip becomes longer than expected.
We arrive at Terneuzen around 19hrs, Johanna jumps off the boat, waves us goodbye and we start again towards Breskens. From now on, I am ...

... day down to where we were camping near the famous Delta Works (the reason why there is land despite it being below sea level) . Camping is also a very popular past time in The Netherlands and even though there were 1000s of people there with us the campgrounds are so well organised that you dont even notice. Our campsite was right near the river and we could see accross the otherside a beutiful old village with a giant church that ...

... it! We also saw the Benedictian Nuns home. These Nuns were almost expelled and buried alive by the Catholic Church as they wanted to create a vow where they could marry Jesus. They were thus named "spinsters" and not acknowledged in Medieval times as Christians. _____ (I'll fill this blank in when I recall the name of the King) - but he came to Brugge to build up wealth in a greedy manner, and thus, the town overpowered him, captured ...