TravelStream™ news feed for member nedk on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/nedk en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:36:05 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nedk/4/1233763320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nedk/4/1233763320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nedk/4/1233763320/tpod.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:36:05 -0500 Iceland 2009

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Reykjavík, Iceland

Iceland 2009

End





I left Reykjavik Wednesday morning in a driving snow storm. The bus took around 40 minutes to get to the Blue Lagoon, so I had about 2 hours before the bus left for the airport. The trip out was somewhat surreal as the landscape was like being on the moon. The snow stopped once we left the city and as we approached the Blue Lagoon, I could see steam rising from the ground a few miles away. The Blue Lagoon is a thermal spa outdoors adjacent to a geothermal power plant in the middle of nowhere. The water is blue and is one third fresh water and two thirds saltwater. The bottom was a fine black pumice like sand that you could not see unless you brought it to the surface. The pools were huge, 200-300 yards across, with waterfalls, and little canals throughout the complex. I hung out in the water for about an hour and then caught the bus to the airport.



The plane was on time taking off and upon arrival in Boston, it was evident that an ice storm had gone through and I wondered if my connection in Detroit would be good. I had the last flight out of Detroit to Lansing and only had 30 minutes. As I expected, the flight from Detroit to Boston was held up due the to the weather in Boston, and I missed my connection to Lansing by about 30 minutes. Northwest put me up in a motel at the airport and I finally made it home at around 2:00 pm Thursday instead of midnight on Wednesday.



All in all the trip was ruined by the flu bug I caught and as I write this on following Tuesday, I am still sick. The one year in the past 100 that I did not get a flu shot has come back to haunt me. Oh well, Iceland is behind me and now I am off to France and Luxembourg on Monday.



Hang around for the next installment.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nedk/11/1256830815/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nedk/11/1256830815/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nedk/11/1256830815/tpod.html Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:24:25 -0400 The French Alps, October 2009

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Annecy, Rhône-Alpes, France


Saturday October 24

I awoke to a beautiful day in Chamonix.
I was sad it was my last day in the Alps, but I was anxious to move
on to Annecy, where Sandy and I had visited about 4 years ago. I
checked out and loaded the car, took a few more pics since it was
such a clear day and headed off to Annecy, about an hour drive from
Chamonix. The GPS set the course and off I went down into the
valley, with beautiful scenery around. I got the camera out and
fortunately since it was Saturday, traffic was light, and I took some
pictures while driving (although I don't recommend doing that, I
couldn't help myself). I arrived in Annecy and found the hotel
relatively easily. I had to park about 2 blocks from the hotel as
all spaces were full, I checked in and rented a parking spot for the
next three days. The parking spot was underneath a building about a
block away from the hotel and I was shocked how small the spaces were
when I drove down this steep ramp with about 6 inches of room on each
side of the car. It took me about 5 minutes in jockeying the car
through the pillars that defined the 8-10 spaces there. I got in the
room and then headed out to wander the town and wander down to Lake
Annecy, a gem in the Alps region.

The lake is touted as being the
cleanest lake in Europe, spring and glacier fed, is about 8 miles
long and 2 miles wide. The water is crystal clear and it was very
calm on Saturday. I stopped and had a beer then headed back to the
room to await dinner.

I headed back out for dinner and headed
to a spot in the guide book that was to be good for hearty, cheesy,
meaty meals. I arrived and waited to be seated and when I announced
to the waiter that is was only me he seemed a little put out as it
was a busy Saturday night and a seat lost at a table for two was lost
revenue. He hemmed and hawed and then relented and gave me a table
in the back. The next ten minutes revealed just such a scenario in
which I may have cost them 4 paid meals. A couple was seated at a
table of four after me, they could have had my table had I been
refused, and shortly a group of four entered and were apologetically
refused as there were no further tables available. I ordered
quickly, they got the meal to me quickly and I ate quickly as I did
not wish to hog the table, which is usually the European custom. I
thanked the waiter for seating me and I stopped at a pub for a beer
and then headed back to the room as I wanted to watch the
Michigan-Penn St. game on my computer. Anyone who travels at all,
has a laptop and has a TV tuner on their home PC, can watch home TV
from anywhere in the world you have a decent Internet connection. A
free program from orb.com is all that is needed on the home PC and
then I can access that PC from anywhere and watch TV, listen to music
I have stored on that PC, view pictures, etc. I works quite well and
I was able to watch the Michigan game on my netbook PC sitting in my
hotel room in Annecy, France for free. Orb is great and you may want
to check it out.

Sunday October 25

I was ready to hit the road and tour
outside of Annecy, the last real time I would have behind the wheel
in the mountains so I started out in Annecy, where it was overcast
and gloomy. I headed east toward the end of the lake and then
decided to head to Alberville, about 20 miles away. As I was driving
past the end of the lake and through a valley the sky brightened and
soon not a cloud and the mountains in the distance were beautiful. I
got to Albertville, where the 1992 Winter Olympics where hosted,
drove around and then headed back to Annecy. I wanted to continue
around the other side of the lake and wanted to get up high
overlooking the lake for one last time in the mountains. As I
approached the lake, a turnoff to the north was taken, now heading on
the other side of the lake I had not seen. I was heading up the
mountain pass and as I got higher the clouds moved in much to my
chagrin. I went around narrow curves, switchbacks, and fortunately
only met one car on the way up to the summit of the pass. At the top
was a couple of restaurants and gift shops so I stopped for a look
around and a few pictures. I was now about 3,000 feet above the
lake. The clouds were blowing through and finally things cleared so
I had a clear view of the lake, although not picture perfect. I
approached the outdoor seating of the restaurant and I saw signs for
paragliding and came upon the ramp that they launch when taking off
from the mountain. Standing and looking from a safe distance I
reinforced the thought that paragliding would be one thing left on my
bucket list as I leave this earth. A sheer drop after the end of the
ramp and then out into space, not for me........

I made my way back down the mountain,
headed around the rest of the lake and then found my way back to the
parking spot, hoping the Mercedes would make it into its home
unscathed.

I headed back into the old town, had a
beer and then back to the room to catch up and ready for dinner.

Dinner was in a nice bistro, with a
nice meal, nothing special and then I headed back to the room for the
night, awaiting my last day in France.

Monday October 26

The weather forecast was for a nice
sunny day in the mid 60's and I was not disappointed. I got up and
headed down to the lake. I knew that the big tourist boats for a one
hour tour of the lake went out only at 3:00 pm daily so I walked out
to the end of the pier and saw a smaller boat that was scheduled to
leave at 12:00 pm which suited my schedule better. Off we went on a
nice one hour tour around the lake, me being the only English
speaking person on the boat. The young man who was scheduled to do
the running commentary asked me if he wished to translate the
commentary for me and I thanked him for offering. The lake is just
beautiful with 6,000 foot mountains surrounding the lake and its many
villages that we passed along the way. We arrived at one spot on the
lake and the commentary indicated this was the sunny spot on the lake
and the little village had the most expensive real estate in France,
even more so than Nice and the south of France. Don't know whether
to believe it but that is what we were told. Off the boat, sat
outside and had a couple of beers and then back to the room to catch
up.

I headed out for dinner and had a very
nice meal at a bistro I had spied the day before. Then headed back
to the room as I had a 5:30 am wake up call for my return home.

Tuesday October 27

I got up, packed, checked out and got
the car out of the parking garage without incident. I was on my way
by 6:45 to Geneva for a 10:30 am flight out. I needed to stop
someway along the way to fill the gas tank before turning in the car.
It was about a 45 minute drive to Geneve, rush hour and not a gas
station in sight off the highway. I asked the GPS to help as I
neared the airport and was given directions to a BP station only a
couple of miles from the airport. The traffic was terrible and then
it dawned on me that I had no Swiss francs on me and had heard
stories that our American credit cards do not have a chip in them
like the European cards and will not work at gas stations. On my
last trip, I paid in cash every time I got gas. I filled up and
hoped that either Euros or dollars would work and fortunately the
attendant converted to euros and off I went to the airport to drop
off the car. When I approached the KLM check in area, I saw a group
of about 75 Asians in line for the flight to Amsterdam. Fortunately,
being a Platinum Elite I was able to walk right up to the Business
Class check in and in a matter of minutes I was on my way to the Sky
View club to pass the next hour prior to flight.

The flight was uneventful, arriving in
Amsterdam at about 12:30 for a 2:10 pm flight to Detroit. We boarded
another uneventful flight over the pond and arrived in Detroit around
6:00 pm. Immigration and customs took me around 10 minutes and then
I checked the board for flights to Lansing. My scheduled flight was
not until 10:00 pm, the last flight into Lansing, so I saw a 7:20 pm
flight, went into the Delta Sky Club and inquired if I could get on
the earlier plane. Unfortunately that plane was full, so I waited in
the club until 9:15 when I headed to the gate. Only about 15 people
boarded so off we went on the final leg of another great trip. I
walked in the door of the house at about 11:00 pm after a full day of
travel and it did not take me long for my head to hit the pillow,
dreaming of my next destination, wherever it may be.

Afterthought

People always ask me where my favorite
place in Europe is and I always answer Switzerland, as the scenery,
the people, the food and the mountains keep drawing me back. After
visiting this region of France for the second (Annecy) and third
(Chamonix) times, I am starting to soften my stance on my favorite
spot. This part of France is dramatically beautiful and when
thinking about France as a whole, there are so many varied areas, the
combination is difficult to beat. Paris, the south of France, wine
regions, Normandy and many others I have yet to visit have slowly
changed my view of France.

I think I can still answer that
Switzerland is still my favorite, although France is tugging at my
sleeve and is a very close second.

Thanks for traveling and thanks for the
comments that some of you have sent me. I will answer each of them
as I get settled in back home.


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Chamonix, Rhône-Alpes, France


Thursday



Thursday was a beautiful day
and I decided to head up into the mountains to check a few famous ski
resorts. I got in the car and worked my way down the valley on my
way to the ski resort of Megeve, according to the GPS, about an hour
drive away. I took the highway to the bottom of the valley and
found the road to Megeve. The map showed a thick yellow line meaning
a good road, I thought. I found a narrow two lane road in the trees,
winding its way up the mountain with many 180 degree switchbacks that
were very narrow, I am glad I did not approach traffic coming the
other way in these turns. There also was not a guard rail to be
found and as I reached higher altitude, I became a little nervous
looking over the edge to the valley over 1,500 feet below. I reached
Megeve and decided that I had had enough nail biting driving for the
day, so I turned around and worked my way back down. I then headed
back to Chamonix and stopped in the room for a break and to catch up
on the blog. I headed out for a beer on the square and then found an
Italian place highly regarded in the guide books. I sat at the bar
and had a nice meal of bruschetta and a ham and mushroom pizza and a
nice Rhine Reisling to accompany them. Things are quite slow this
time of year and there were only a few people in the restaurant, but
the service was good and the meal was also. Back to the room as I
was pretty worn out.



Friday



Friday turned out to be a
crappy day and the clouds were hanging in the mountains just above
the city buildings, so therefore I knew that sightseeing would be
wasted effort. I got up lazily and went down to the reception to
read the International Herald Tribune and around noon headed downtown
to see what was happening. I did some shopping (it had to be dreary
out for me to do some shopping) and then was getting hungry.
Normally in Europe I don't eat lunch as after a large breakfast at
the hotel, I am good until dinner. In France, unlike the most of the
rest of Europe, breakfast is not included in the room rate. My hotel
wanted 15 euros ($23) for a croissant, juice and coffee, so I have
given up breakfast for this trip. I was looking for some soup and
the one place I looked had french onion soup for 11 euros ($17) so
once again I passed. So I did something I almost never do, I
stumbled into MacD's and decided a big mac meal for 6 euros would hit
the spot. This was a very unique McDonalds, done up in
mountaineering theme and was located out of the way, as for 2 ½
visits to Chamonix, I did not know it was there. After lunch I
wandered around town for a bit as it started to brighten. Back to
the room to read and ready for dinner, although I was not hungry
after the meal at the arches. I headed out for dinner, still not
hungry and after seeing a couple places that were dead I decided to
head to the Sports Bistro and have a beer and see how my appetite
was. The bar was like the local Cheers bar as many groups of friends
were hanging out. One thing I have noticed in Chamonix, there are
many dogs, and perhaps more Golden Retrievers than I have seen in one
location in Europe. It is also not unusual to see the dogs with
their owners in bars and restaurants and the Sports Bistro was no
exception. When I entered there was a Golden in the corner and then
a some kind of terrier arrived and they were introduced to each
other. Then about a half hour later, a Bernese Mountain dog made a
grand entrance, all 180 pounds of him. He immediately headed to the
open arms of the chef and assistant in the rear near the kitchen and
was slobbering over everyone. Next he was invited into the kitchen
for what I don't know, although my decision was now made about eating
dinner that evening. As I had seen no TVs at the Sports Bistro, I
was intrigued when about 8:30 the barkeep unfurled a screen on a side
wall, not unlike in old school days, then turned on a projector and
turned on the French equivalent of ESPN and the bar watched an
Australian rules football match between two French rivals. Good
fun!!!



Back to the room, had some
left over Pringles and off to bed for the next part of the journey,
Annecy in the morning.








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Chamonix, Rhône-Alpes, France


French Alps 2009






I will start by bringing
everyone up to date as to what my travels have been since the summer
trip to France and the Isle of Guernsey. Charlie and I traveled to
the island of Majorca off the coast of Spain in the middle of
September. I did not blog as internet access was limited and when I
travel with Charlie, there is little time to take a break and put my
thoughts on the netbook. We had a wonderful time in Barcelona for
one night on the front end and one night on the back end of the trip.
We spent three days in Majorca and had a great time. The weather
was good for two days and then it rained for the last day and the day
we left. We stayed at a hotel right on the beach and had a great
balcony that overlooked the beach. We took a boat trip to the other
side of the island and a beach that was very relaxing. Barcelona is
a very happening city and we took a open deck bus tour the first day
and then wandered through the old town the last day and had a great
time.




Upon returning from Spain,
two days later I then boarded a train in East Lansing for a tour that
I was leading for America by Rail, that took 44 people from Chicago
to Albany, NY and then by bus through Vermont and New Hampshire for a
fall foliage tour. The color was not quite at peak, although it was
very pretty. I had a great group of people and every one enjoyed
the week that we spend in New England. Four days after returning
from New England, I then boarded the train to Chicago take 32 people
from Chicago to Las Vegas via Provo, Utah. I was sent over the day
before the tour and I ended up seeing my original travel buddy, Tom
Herron and his family and it was great to catch up with him. We used
to hang out a lot when we were both single, but times have changed
and our time together has been limited over the last 10 years. Great
to see he and Robin and their 2 boys. The next day on to Las Vegas
with 32 people, the tour was marred with a few problems and the group
was not as enjoyable as the one I just left. Upon returning from
Vegas, I had just 3 days to host a couple of buddies for the MSU
homecoming game and then on to Europe.



Monday 10-19



I left the house on Monday
morning for a noon flight to Detroit, Amsterdam and then on to
Geneva, Switzerland. The LAN-DTW flight was late, but I had a 3 hour
layover in Detroit, so it did not affect me. I arrived in Detroit
and went to the Delta Sky Club (formerly the Northwest World Club..no
longer in existence due to the merger) and had a couple of beers
awaiting the flight to Amsterdam. The flight to Amsterdam was
uneventful, although as usual I did not get any sleep on the flight,
and we arrived in time at 5:55 am, giving me time for my 7:10 am
flight to Geneva. I had forgotten that I had to go through
immigration and security and of course the gate to Geneva was the
furthest that could be at Schipol Airport. I arrived at the gate
with about 5 minutes to go before boarding. Luckily the flight was
about half full and we arrived in Geneva at 8:35 am on time. I found
my way to the EuropeCar desk, as I was renting a car for the second
time in my European Continent career to travel the French Alps.




The inspiration for this
trip was twofold. I have been a Northwest Airlines Platinum Elite
for the past 7 or 8 years. This means that I fly over 75,000 miles
during the calendar year, which affords me many perks when flying,
including upgrades to first class on domestic flights, double miles,
boarding first and other things that become enjoyable when flying a
lot. I needed about 13,000 miles to get to Platinum this year and
this will get me close, although not quite enough to reach my goal.
The other inspiration was watching the Tour de France this summer as
one of the many legs was through the French Alps that I had visited
before and watching the race in HD TV, I thought of driving through
the areas that were so beautifully portrayed on TV this summer. I
had visited Chamonix twice in my travels and decided to hang out
there as a base and drive around the mountains before the snow season
begins .



Tuesday 10-20



I picked up the rental car
at the airport and much to my surprise, I was given a compact
Mercedes Benz, a very cool car for a very inexpensive price for the 7
days I will be driving. I stepped out of the garage to warm up my
GPS that I have come to depend on in Europe and it took about 5
minutes for it to catch the satellites. I plugged in Chamonix as my
destination and out I went. I had to travel through Geneva for about
25 minutes that was somewhat harrowing, driving a stick shift and
using the GPS as my sole way of finding my way around. I would have
been literally lost without it. Finally out of Geneva and on the
highway on my way to France and Chamonix and up into the Alps.




It took about an hour to get
to Chamonix and upon arrival I checked into the hotel, within walking
distance of the city center. I was tired so I unpacked and then
started taking a nap until about 2:30 I was awakened by the fire
alarm going off in the hallway. I got my shoes on and went down the
stairwell to the lobby floor. I was on the 3rd floor
(the 4th floor in the US) and did not want to be caught by
a fire. It turned out to be a false alarm and back to the room I
went. I gathered my stuff and headed off to the town center to see
what was happening. Chamonix was the birthplace of mountaineering as
it sits at the base of Mt. Blanc, the tallest mountain in Europe at
over 15,000 feet. It is a very impressive sight from the town and
once I arrived in the town center, climbers and hikers were arriving
from up above as the day was ending. It was about 60 degrees and I
sat out and had a beer before heading back to the hotel to read up on
the restaurant recommendations. I ended up at a restaurant about a
block from the hotel and had a nice meal of pork, mushrooms and
fries. Back to the room as the first day jet lag was catching up to
me and I was ready for the bed.



Wednesday 10-21



I got up to a cloudy day and
headed to the town center to go to the Tourist Information (TI)
office to pick up some maps for my travels in the area. The wind was
howling and the TI rep told me that all the lifts were closed due to
the winds, so no travels up the mountain today. I picked up the
maps, headed to the town center to pick up a sandwich and then
headed back to the hotel and pick up the car for my first excursion
into the countryside. I decided to head over the mountains and back
into Switzerland near Martigny, a place I have been a couple of times
as that is where I have caught the cog train to come into Chamonix
the two other times I have visited. There was a cursory border check
and then I turned around and headed back into France and to Chamonix.
The roads were somewhat scary in spots, with many switchbacks and
narrow road for two cars and few guard rails. I made it back to
Chamonix and headed to town for a beer and found the “Sports
Bistro” for a couple of beers. A guy sat down next to me and we
started chatting, he was a local and gave me some of the local lore.
Language was not an issue as most French speak some English. He told
me a movie crew was in town staying at the Hotel des Alpes and it was
rumored that it was a Clint Eastwood flick, maybe I will run into him
during my stay!!! Back to the room and then out for dinner at a very
nice restaurant near the town center. A lot of wood and cuckoo
clocks made up the ambiance and I had a nice meal of meat and cheese.
The French dining experience is like no other. In the finer
restaurants, they take the dining experience very seriously and they
turn meals with ordinary ingredients into something very special.
Back to the room to end up a
very full day.





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Haarlem, Noord-Holland, Netherlands


Sunday June 28



We left for Haarlem about 10:30 am and
arrived about 11:45 am. Originally planning to spend our last night
in Amsterdam, I found the hotels were booked and if not at least
double the normal room rate, so we used Haarlem, about 20 minutes
outside of Amsterdam and equidistant to Schiphol Airport, our
departure point on Monday. We found a place to park on a street that
was near the hotel and then went in to check in. We had to wait
about 10 minutes for our room to be readied and then we left the
hotel to take the car back to the rental office. The GPS took us
right to the Avis office and we left the car sticking out into the
bike lane and almost in the street as the parking in front of the
office was completely taken. The office was not open and no one was
around so I locked it up and dropped the keys in the drop box, hoping
that it would still be there in the morning, and started our walk to
the town square of Haarlem.



It took us about 15 minutes and a few
wrong turns to get to the main square of Haarlem and found that the
square and all of the streets that dump into the square were abuzz
with people and book stalls. We later found out that twice a year a
book flea market is held and it is a big deal for people all over
central Netherlands. We found a seat at one of the many cafes and
sat with a drink and watched the world go by. We walked back to the
room to relax and ready ourselves for our departure.

We then walked 10 minutes back to the
main square and found a nice cafe for our final dinner in Europe
together in 2009. It was a nice meal and afterward we went back to
the hotel and got to bed, awaiting the alarm clock at 5:30 am.






Monday June 29



We were both awake prior the alarm and
packed up and headed to Schiphol. A 40 minute bus ride from just
outside the hotel to the airport and we were checking in for our
flight home. We were directed to the KLM lounge to relax prior to
the flight and then headed to the gate to board. Boarding was a
little late as they had to wait for catering to ready the plane and
we boarded and were greeted with a beer and champagne prior to
departure. A very nice meal and then the seat went back and we got a
couple hours of rest prior to another meal before landing. We
arrived in Detroit about 30 minutes early and went through
immigration and customs with no problems. We then went to the Delta
desk to see if we could get an earlier flight to Lansing than our
scheduled 5:15 pm flight. We were successful in getting on the 3:17
flight and we arrived in Lansing around 4:00 pm. Sandy went outside
to find a taxi as I waited for the bags to be delivered. Sandy's was
the second one off, but mine never showed. I headed back to the NWA
desk and finally met Sandy and the taxi for our final leg home. We
arrived home to find everything OK and settled in for the rest of the
summer. Another successful trip to Europe!!!



My bag was delivered the following
morning.





Thanks for following along, I hope you
enjoyed it, I had fun putting it together.



Until September when Charlie and I head
over to the island of Majorca, off the coast of Spain for a
week..........Happy Travels.



Ned












Final Thoughts



I had been doing a lot of solo travel
this year and this trip was a nice change with Sandy aboard. It had
been two years since we were in Europe together and I had been
overseas probably 10 times in that time period. Solo travel is nice,
but it is also nice to share the travel experience with someone and
believe it or not we got along well for 15 days with no major spats!!

Traveling by car was also a major
change for me in my travels to Europe. After more than 60 trips to
the continent, this was the first time I had rented a car for a
length of time and I was apprehensive as to how it would turn out.
After 11 days with the car, everything worked out fine, no dents,
although a few close calls, and I now realize that there is another
mode of transportation in Europe besides the train. Both modes have
their pluses and minuses, but even though there were times I missed
getting on the train, I would use a car again. If traveling from big
city to big city, I definitely would still take the train as the
relaxation factor, not having to read the signs and being dropped off
in the middle of town is big for me. Gas ($8.00 a gallon@30
miles per gallon), many highway tolls and parking expenses add up and
make the cost of car vs. train about a wash. The flexibility of the
car was important where we traveled this year and it was nice to be
able to go when you want to go and not be bound by the train
schedules.

The GPS system (Garmin 275T) was
indispensable. I don't think our marriage would have survived
without it as the maps we had were just not detailed enough for the
cities and towns that we were in. The GPS would take us right to the
hotel and then back out to the highway again. An invaluable tool if
driving in Europe. I would suggest taking one from home as the
rental agency wanted about $13 a day for renting one, you can get one
at home for the cost of the rental and still take it home with you.


Last but not least, another big thank
to Whitford and Heather in Guernsey, as our stay with them was the
highlight of the trip. Wonderful people and a great setting to spend
some time. I hope we get a chance to go back some day.



Thanks for riding along and if you
don't want to be bothered with the blog, just shoot me an email and I
can take you off the mailing list.



Best,

Ned








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Delft, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands


June 26-27



We awoke to a cloudy day, the first of
the trip, packed, checked out and set the GPS for Deflt, Netherlands.
It was about a 7 hour drive to Delft, through the northwest corner
of France, through Belgium and up to Delft, near the Hague in the
Netherlands. A very pretty drive through France and then we ran into
the edge of a very large thunderstorm, although fortunately we missed
most of it. Belgium and the Netherlands are very flat and somewhat
uninteresting to drive, although there is much water and we ended up
going through a few tunnels on our way.




We arrived in Delft around 4:00 pm and
found our hotel, the Ark, located on one of the many canals of Delft.
We pulled up on the narrow one way street in front of the hotel,
unloaded, checked in and then following a map from the reception,
headed to a parking ramp to get rid of the car. The narrow streets,
bicycles, people and other traffic made for a very difficult time in
finding the ramp. Once we found the ramp, I was ready to find the
town square a have a large ice cold beer, which we did.




Delft is described by one of the
guidebooks as the most beautiful city in the Netherlands and I
believe it. The market (town) square was quite large and with the
canals and large churches, it was a very pleasant spot. We went back
to the room, which was perhaps the largest hotel room I had ever
stayed in. The hotel was a former canal house converted to hotel
use, and our room was probably 30x30 feet with an outdoor patio with
many chairs and tables. A very nice relaxing place. We headed back
out for dinner and found a cafe on a side street off the square and
had a very nice meal and then headed back to the room. It did not
get dark in Delft until about 11:00 pm, although we were never up to
see the darkness settle in, somewhat different than back home. A
relaxing day awaits us in Delft.



Saturday June 27



Another nice day greeted us and we
headed for breakfast, which was the first included hotel breakfast of
the trip. A nice breakfast room and good food was enjoyed. We then
stepped out of the hotel and saw that the canal boat rides were about
50 feet from our door and they were just getting ready for a trip so
we went over and got on board. A pleasant one hour ride through old
Delft and out into the harbor was a nice change of pace from the on
the go style of most of the trip. Our driver/narrator was very good
in explaining in both Dutch and English what we were seeing along the
way. We arrived back at the dock and then headed back to the square
to find much activity, as is the case in most town squares on the
weekends. A music festival was underway with stages on both ends of
the square and as one set was completed at one end, the other stage
would start up and was enjoyed by many people. We found a cafe to
sit outside and have a drink and listen to the music, when Sandy
announced that she was ready to go shopping and would return in 30
minutes. Well a little more that 30 minutes and a few hundred
dollars passed and she showed me the Delft china ware that Delft is
famous for that she had purchased. We wandered around a bit more,
stopped and had another drink and then headed back to the room. Some
laundry, blogging and relaxation and we were ready to head back out
for dinner, tonight deciding that we would do Mexican. We found the
Mexican restaurant and had a nice change of pace meal and soon headed
back to the room to ready for our last travel day of the trip and on
our way to our last stop, Haarlem, just outside of Amsterdam.




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Bayeux, Normandy, France


Wednesday, June 24



We started out early and decided to go
to Arromanches where the British formed an artificial harbor by
scuttling 17 old ships and bringing huge concrete filled piers across
the Channel to form a natural breakwater for ships to offload cargo
to supply the troops on the ground. We went through a small museum
and then went up the hill to the 360 degree cinema and a great view
of the remains of the harbor. You could still see waves breaking
over the top of the concrete piers maybe ¼ mile offshore. The movie
in the cinema was very interesting, mixing the battle scenes with the
same locations today in surround sound and visuals. We then hit the
road and wound our way down to Omaha Beach, where the Americans
landed and was the bloodiest portion of the landing. The Germans
were ready and had the beach well defended on bluffs atop the beach.
You could still see concrete bunkers and other remains of the battle
and it was very strange as the beach was so beautiful, it was hard to
imagine that on that day the water was red with American blood. We
had lunch at a cute restaurant on the beach and then headed out to
roam some more. We drove to Ste. Mere Eglese, the first town
liberated by the US paratroopers, early on the morning of the 6th
of June. A US paratrooper was caught on the steeple of the church in
the center of town, wounded, playing dead for a couple of hours
before being taken prisoner. As a memorial, a parachute and a dummy
paratrooper is permanently affixed atop the steeple, blowing in the
wind today. Looks kind of hokey, but is a vivid reminder of the
efforts of the young US soldiers.




We then headed back to Bayeux, had a
beer outside and then back to the room. We headed out to a
restaurant in the guidebook near the church and entered around 8:00
pm. They were very busy and we ended up having a very long 2 ½ hour
dinner that was very good, although was quite lengthy. Back to the
room and readied for an all day tour of the D Day area by an expert
guide tomorrow.



Thursday, June 25



We headed to the Quebec Place square
for our 8:20 departure on the Overlord (the official code name for
D-Day) Tour we had booked prior to leaving home. We took another
tour three years ago, enjoying it immensely and wanting to do it
again, but with a different company this time. The minivan was
waiting and Alain, a Frenchman, who is an expert on the D-Day
landing, greeted us. Couples from Texas, Georgia and a single lady
from California made up the group. We had booked the full day tour
with half of it related to the D-Day landing at Omaha beach and the
remainder a tour of the Band of Brothers, made famous by the HBO
series and books by Steven Ambrose. The Band of Brothers portion
followed Easy Company of the 82nd Airborne Paratrooper
division as they landed in Normandy and made their way to Berlin as
the war was ending. Alain was very detailed with his description of
the American landing at Omaha and Utah Beaches, with detailed
diagrams and photos that really made the day come to life. We
visited many small farm houses that had significance to the day that
you normally drive by and give a second glance and even went into a
cow field with huge cows walking nearby as he detailed one of the
missions Easy Company was part of to eliminate large cannons firing
on Utah Beach. Very serene at the time with the cows walking by, but
you could close your eyes and just feel the terror as the young guys
battled each other, with Easy Company completing their mission.
Alain narrated that at one point during the battle, as the German
machine guns pinned down the Americans on the other side of the
field, an old woman walked out to milk the cows as if nothing was
happening, and both sides ceased firing. There was silence as the
lady finished her duties, walking off with pails full and as soon as
she was out of the way, the battle resumed. A very vivid picture was
painted as we stood in the middle of that same field.



At one point of the tour in a small
church where it was detailed that during an intense battle, two
American medics went into the church to care for the wounded, both
American and German, the American troops withdrawing leaving the
medics on their own, the Germans coming in the church, seeing the
medics caring for all soldiers, leaving them alone and then resuming
the battle. Blood stains on the pews remain leaving an indelible
mark of the hell of war. A cracked tile remains on the floor as a
US mortar shell came through the steeple as the medics were working
on Germans and did not explode. A very moving spot. Alain took that
moment at the alter to let us know that it was totally untrue that
the French dislike the Americans and were still very grateful for the
effort of all those young men. You did not have to look far
throughout Normandy to see American flags flying everywhere you
looked as a reminder that these people really appreciated the blood
the Americans left on their soil




Alain had met many of the soldiers he
used in his dialogue and it was apparent that he viewed them as rock
stars, pointing out that no D-Day veteran paid for taking his tour as
he said they already paid on that day in 1944. A very moving day and
was one of the highlights of the trip.



Our tour ended in Bayeux and we headed
out for a beer and then back to the room for a rest. A storm was
brewing so we headed out to a Turkish kebab place just up the street
from the hotel. A decent meal as we tried to sort out all we had
seen that day, saying that we would still like to return again to
further explore the area.



Back to the room as the rain was
falling and we got ready for our next stop, Delft, in the
Netherlands.







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Dinan, Brittany, France


Monday June 22

We decided that today we would travel
to Mont Ste. Michel, an abbey located about 45 minutes from Dinan. I
set the GPS for MSMichel and got on the highway, realizing that I
needed to get gas soon. Not knowing where on the highway a station
was, I asked the GPS to guide me to the nearest station. Off the
highway and about 2 kilometers later, I found a station that was last
open in the 1970's, not much help. I then asked for the next nearest
and off we went through a couple of dirt roads and out into a farmers
corn field!! I then looked for one that had a recognizable brand
name and I opted for an Esso station 7 kilometers away and off we
went. We ended up going back into Dinan and actually waved as we
passed the hotel we left 30 minutes before! Finally found the
station on fumes and off we set for MSMichel one hour after we had
originally started.

A pleasant drive to MSMichel and we saw
the church sitting on a small island with sand flats surrounding it.
The tides were out until 6:00 pm and people were walking around the
island on the sand. We parked, noting that about 200 yards closer to
the church, signs posted indicating that the parking spots here would
be under water at 6:00 pm and owners beware. (check photo) With 50
foot tidal changes here (the most in Europe) it was said the incoming
tide will race in faster than a horse and that the water will rise 2
feet per second when approaching high tide. We walked to the island
and walked through the narrow streets and found a restaurant that had
a terrace overlooking the ramparts and the sand flats. Sandy had a
fluffy omelet and I had a crepe filled with cheese, ham, mushrooms
and a fried egg, very tasty. Both were considered specialties of the
region and both were very good.

We then climbed up to the top of the
250 stairs and reached the entrance to the abbey itself. We decided
not to pay the $22 each to enter and soon we were making our way down
to level ground and back to the car, well in advance of the tides.
We then found noted in the guidebook that a German war cemetery was
located nearby and off we went. A couple of wrong terns later, we
found the memorial on a small hill and noticed that no other cars
were there. We had the whole place to ourselves for ½ hour and it
was quite a moving site. About 11,000 German remains were located in
a round open air rotunda with side rooms with 110 remains in each.
You are struck with the fact that most of the dead were just kids,
many just teenagers that probably did not have anything in common
with Hitler. Halfway around the memorial were steps leading up to
the top of the hill and a wonderful view of Mont Ste. Michel, about 4
kilometers away. We headed back to the car just as another couple
were entering, a great stop.

We then took the coastal scenic route
back to Dinan taking about 2 hours. A wonderful drive through small
beach towns and then up on top of the cliffs overlooking the beach.
A great drive on a beautiful day and soon we were heading back to
Dinan and to the room to take a break.

We headed out for a beer and then
dinner and the old town was quite a contrast to the night before.
You could shoot a cannon down the streets as it seemed almost eerie
as no one was around and many of the restaurants were closed. We
ended up eating at the Akropolis, a Greek place that turned out to
be a nice change from the rich French food. A big plate of meat
later, we headed to the room and readied for another travel day, this
time into Normandy and one of the main reasons for the trip this
year.

Tuesday June 23

We checked out and we headed for Caen,
the capital and largest city in the Normandy region. Caen has a
memorial museum dedicated to WWII and we wanted to spend time there.
We found the museum and wandered through until it was time for a
showing of the D-Day film, which turned out to be quite informative.
I saw a couple of WWII vets in the theater and was moved by there
presence. Looking at them, you know that more than likely this will
be the last trip they can make to Normandy and I thought of my Dad,
who passed way too young (69), although he was a veteran of the
Pacific campaign.

We left the museum and headed to
Bayeux, our headquarters for the next three nights as we explore the
Normandy region of France. We got the room and then headed out for a
beer and to wander the town. We had stayed in Bayeux and the same
hotel 3 years ago, so we were familiar with the town. We wandered
and then back to the room to ready for dinner. We then headed out
and found a nice pizza place near the hotel and both had a very nice
personal size pizza and a bottle of French wine. A very good meal
and a good start to our stay in Normandy. Back to the room and were
both excited about Wednesday, as we were just going to drive from
village to village and see what we could see, which we were unable to
do 3 years ago without a car.


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Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom


Saturday June 20



I met Whitford on a swim up pool bar
stool on the island of Langkawi, off the northwest coast of Malaysia,
just in sight of Thailand. He and his wife Heather were vacationing
there when meeting up by chance with three other wonderful couples at
the pool. My four days were spent with the group, self named the
“Pelangi Parliment”, Pelangi being the resort we were staying at.
I bonded with Whitford immediately as we were born 2 months apart
albeit from different worlds. We shared many of the same likes;
travel, sport, fine food and a bit of drink, although not necessarily
in that order. He has spent over 30 years as a general practitioner
of medicine and has practiced in large urban settings and in very
remote environments and has many hilarious anecdotes of his practice
over the years. He writes a monthly column regarding these tales in
the Guernsey magazine and is a very popular doctor on the island.
His love of rugby and cricket is very apparent, playing and then team
doctoring were very important to him. He is a wonderful cook and
also enjoys botany and is an avid bird watcher and these fields of
interest were very helpful on the walks we took while visiting.




Heather is highly educated and is one
of the few obstetrician/gynecologists on the island. She is a very
active woman, who enjoys bike riding and hiking and just being
outdoors. She is a great compliment to Whitford and as with my
Sandy, she sometimes has her hands full.



Laura, their daughter is a remarkable
young woman. She is extremely highly educated as she will graduate
next month, with honors, with her degree in medicine from Newcastle
University, having already received degrees from Oxford and
Cambridge. She is also an accomplished actor, having appeared in a
one woman play on the West End in London. She too is very active
outdoors, is very grounded and a joy to be around. Heather and
Whitford should be very proud of their daughter.



Their son Gareth is studying medicine
(a common thread?) in Sydney, Australia and is also very active in
rugby and outdoor pursuits. Not having met him, I would imagine he
follows closely in his father's footsteps.



All in all a wonderful family that
Sandy and I truly enjoyed.






We awoke Saturday to another beautiful
day and had a nice breakfast. Whitford then took Sandy and I on
another tour of the island, stopping at the island's reservoir for a
nice view, we stopped at a German gun battery that had been
preserved after the war. It started to cloud up and was getting
cooler with the stiff breeze coming in off the Channel and I was
concerned with our plans for the rest of the day. Our plan was to
catch the 12:15 ferry to the adjacent island of Herm and have lunch
and walk around the island for the afternoon. Heather, Whitford,
Sandy, Laura and I arrived on the small island of Herm and walked to
the small village at the harbor and sat at the Mermaid and had a
drink and lunch. The clouds were beginning to part and soon the sun
shone and the rest of the day turned out to be glorious. After lunch
we started hiking around the island, stopping to be informed by
Whitford as to the flora were observing. This part of the island had
few trees as the wind was whipping pretty good. Many tiny flowers
and plants and Whitford was able to identify most of them and give
each one its story. As we approached the end of the island, we
hopped down to the beach, which turned out to be a very beautiful
one. Finely ground white seashell, it was a great contrast to that
of the beautiful turquoise blue water. I had no idea that an island
in the English Channel could look so much like the Caribbean. We
walked the beach for a bit and then with time getting short, we
headed up and over the middle of the island to the harbor village in
time for a drink before heading back to Guernsey. The hike up and
over was somewhat strenuous for the former male athletes, whereas the
girls seemed to always be waiting for us. An ice cold beer was apt
reward for our afternoon of walking and we soon determined we had
time for a second.




After an enjoyable ferry ride back to
St. Peter Port, we went back to the house to freshen prior to dinner.
Whitford and I immediately adjourned to the living room to watch the
rugby match of the Lions vs. South Africa that started earlier that
afternoon and Whitford had taped. This is an every four year event
and pits the Lions(the best of England, Scotland and Ireland) against
the best team in the world at the time (South Africa). In the rugby
world this is as big as our Super Bowl and only happening every four
years is even bigger to them. I now realized the sacrifice Whitford
made to have us stay for the weekend, while meaning nothing to
Heather, it was big for Whitford. Many times on our visit to Herm,
Whitford ran into to mates and he was certain to remind them that he
wanted to watch the match later and did not want to know the outcome.
We were able to watch most of the first half of the match, Whitford
very animated and displaying much more knowledge than the referees in
instances when calls went against his Lions. He was also very
gracious in explaining the game to me as the match went on. I did
not want to jinx him at the time and tell him that my NFL Lions were
0-16 this year and the worst team in football. At half, the Lions
were behind by a good margin. In the end it turned out to be a good
thing the “test” is a two out of three.



We left for the port and dinner with
the top down on a lovely evening. We had dinner at Le Nautica, a
great restaurant on the edge of the harbor with great views. After
lobster soup, a great sea bass with chorizo sausage was enjoyed
with a wonderful New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. That evening was an
island wide walk for Breast Cancer that ended in the town square at
10:00 pm. The route lead everyone right underneath our perch and we
had a great time watching everything pink you could imagine. It was
a pink Halloween in June with even every imaginable dog painted
pink!!! A great end to a great meal.




After the very long day, we headed back
to the house and retired. Perhaps my best sleep on the trip.









Sunday June 21



An even nicer day awaited us, warmer
than the day before and not a cloud in the sky. Another nice
breakfast and Whitford, Heather, Sandy and I drove out to a point
with one of the major German fortifications and walked around and
observed flowers, birds and the fortification. Stunning views of the
rocky coastline and with the tide out, you could clearly see evidence
of the 30 foot tidal changes with the colorings on the rocks where
the water had been only hours before. One last time back to the
house to ready for the ferry, when Whitford wanted to take me to the
cricket field to see a portion of the Sunday match. When we arrived
after 11:00 am, it was evident they didn't start until later so
Whitford decided we could go upstairs in the club for a pint. Upon
arriving we were reminded that adult drinks could not be served until
noon and the barman was bemoaning the fact that three or four bars
recently had been busted for serving early, otherwise I think our
wish would have been granted. With lunch time approaching, we left
for the house and packed up our things and left for our last moments
on the island. We to the Auberge, a spectacular restaurant, sitting
atop the cliffs overlooking St. Peter Port. A drink on the lawn and
lunch on the veranda, a spectacular finish to a very appreciated
weekend with Heather and Whitford. We made our way one last time to
the port in Heather's convertible and once again marveled how narrow
the roads were on the island.



As we said our heartfelt goodbyes, I
couldn't help but feel a kinship with Guernsey. Although only a
short stay, the island's charms suck you in and make you feel at
home. It is an enchanting place that I hope Sandy and I can again
return some day. I also hope that the time we spent with Whitford
and Heather was not our last and that we can say we now have good
friends on the Isle of Guernsey.



Thanks Whitford and Heather, for
everything.................






The ferry ride home was much less
eventful than the way over and the sea was actually quite calm and
the ride was very smooth, very much appreciated by my full stomach.
We arrived in St. Malo and headed off to Dinan, our stop for the next
two nights. After a 45 minute drive we arrived in Dinan and although
our GPS was zeroed in on the hotel, we struggled to find it. The
traffic and crowds were unbelievable for a small town and a Sunday
night when it hit me. June 21 in France is is Fete de la Musique,
celebrating the first day of summer. As I recalled from previous
June 21's in France, the night is for music and celebrating. Live
musical acts are set up seemingly every 100 feet in squares, street
corners, everywhere. We luckily found a place to park just across
the street from the hotel and checked in. We then wandered out into
the city, seeing probably 20 musical acts from goth rock to high
school marching bands and everything in between. A very festive
evening, if not crowded and cool.
The weather in Europe has been
unseasonably cool and at night the evenings cooled, but the crowd in
Dinan did not seem to mind. Having had a full meal earlier, we opted
for a serving of grande frites, or large french fries, very tasty,
not healthy, but quick and easy on a side street that was not
crowded. We headed back to the room and watched the major musical
acts in Paris on TV. As I drifted off to sleep, the music from
outside the window could still be heard.




A very long and wonderful day.




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Honfleur, Normandy, France


Thursday June 18

We got up, packed and took the tram to
the car rental office. By 9:00 am we were on the road and of course
as soon as I got behind the wheel on a major street in Amsterdam,
there were motorcycles zooming in and out of traffic, pedestrians
crossing at any time and any place and many delivery trucks stopping
the lane which created a challenge right off the bat. Our GPS unit
got us to the highway and we settled in for a 5 hour drive to
Honfleur, on the French coast in Normandy. Traffic was quite heavy
on the highway out of Amsterdam and at one point traffic slowed as a
lane was closing ahead. I came to a stop and a semi truck was waving
me in line in front of him when I stalled the car in the middle of
the highway!!! Fortunately traffic was at a stop and I gathered my
faculties and restarted the car with the button (not the key, which
was not a key, but like a key fob). I was getting indoctrinated to
driving in Europe in a manual transmission in a real hurry, but
driving on the highway was just like back home.

With no further incidents, we arrived
in Honfleur at around 3:30 pm and checked into the hotel. Honfleur
is a tiny port town that many of the master impressionist painters
came to enjoy the scenery and the light. We wandered the harbor, had
a beer and then headed back to the room to ready for dinner.

We walked back to town and found a nice
restaurant with a view of the harbor and sat down to our first French
meal of the trip. I had fois gras for a stater and then chicken and
apples and Sandy a Normandy salad for a starter and fried salmon for
the main and everything was very good. Welcome back to France!!!
Desert was apple tart for me and Sandy had meringue and cream sauce
and all was excellent.

As we had had a long travel day, we
headed back to the room and readied for our next stop, the English
Channel island of Guernsey and meeting my friends Whitford and
Heather, whom I met in Malaysia earlier in the year.

Friday June 18

We checked out and were in the road by
7:30 am for a 3 hour drive to St. Malo, France. Upon arriving at St.
Malo, we parked at the ferry terminal and checked in for the 2 ½
hour trip to Guernsey. We soon learned that our ferry had been
rescheduled for an hour later and I contacted Whitford to let him
know that we would be later than expected. We were seated in Club
seating which meant we paid about $10 more per ticket to have some
peace and quiet and enjoy the trip over to Guernsey. We were shown
to our Club seats and were served a drink awaiting the cast off. O f
the 24 seats in Club seating only 2 were left as we were ready to
push off. I glanced up and saw the final two seats in the row ahead
of us appear, mom, dad and a crying 2 year old boy, who seemed like
the ferry was the last place he wanted to be at the time. I knew at
that point that it was going to be a long trip over. Little did I
really know!

Sandy, who is quite paranoid of getting
sea sick from previous experience, took two Dramamine prior to the
sailing and I was chiding her along the way for being a sissy. As we
left shelter of the St. Malo harbor, it became quite rough with
swells coming sideways and the boat rocking back and forth and not up
and down. About an hour into the journey, I made a trip to get some
fresh air as I was feeling quite queasy. My male ego forbade me from
mentioning this to Sandy and for about 30 minutes I sat down below in
chairs that were within sprinting distance of the toilet.
Fortunately I was able to keep everything together and soon we
entered St. Peter Port, the main town of Guernsey in the Channel
Islands. As we pulled into the dock, I saw Whitford on the upper
observation deck and I knew a fine weekend awaited us. We got off
the boat and had to go through immigration, the only non European
Union residents on the boat and it took about 5 minutes to have our
passports checked and we were the last ones out, with fortunately 2
bags left on the carousel, the right ones. Whitford greeted us in
the arrival lounge and we then proceeded to his Saab convertible for
our first glimpse of Guernsey on a beautiful day with the top down.

Whitford informed us that his daughter,
Laura, was coming home from England, having passing her final exams
for the start of her medical career as a physician. Prior to heading
to the airport to greet Laura, Whitford took us to his golf club for
a drink and an opportunity to meet some of his mates (friends). We
went upstairs to a very nice barroom and met Bill and Mike and had a
drink. The club had quite a cast of characters and I could
understand the draw Whitford has to his sanctuary from the hubbub of
life as a General Practitioner on a small island We then proceeded
to the airport and arrived just as Laura's flight was landing.
Whitford's wife Heather was already at the airport and we waited for
Laura to arrive. After their greeting and our introductions, we
headed back to Whitford's home as he had informed us that tonight we
would be eating in. The roads on Guernsey are extremely narrow and
to drive you have to pay very close attention to traffic and the
stone wall just inches from the car. Whitford stated that many car
mirrors meet their demise as two vehicles pass if not paying
attention or if one is too big for the road for two.

We arrived at Whitford and Heather's
beautiful stone home that was built sometime in the 1600's. It was a
beautiful setting with an enclosed flower draped patio and a
wonderful kitchen that everyone migrated to. Whitford was planning a
chicken stir fry with many great vegetables and rice. Heather,
Laura, Sandy and Andrew and Chloe (Whitford and Heather's nephew and
girlfriend) headed to take a walk on the beach and stop and pick up a
few items for the meal. Whit and I stayed and chatted in the kitchen
as he prepared the feast for the crew. The meal turned out to be
extraordinary and we enjoyed an after dinner drink of Calvados, a
Normandy apple brandy, a very special treat.

We chatted into the evening and then
retired to await the new day with wonderful friends in a very
interesting island setting.


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