DAY 15: - MORRISON DAY in LONDON

DAY 14: LONDON....and the MORRISONS!!

 

On the Eurostar Train for London!!!!! See you tomorrow Jessica!!!

DAY 5: Imagine Dutch Weather As A Moody Teenager

 DAY 5: IMAGINE DUTCH WEATHER AS A MOODY TEENAGER

That's what we experienced on Day 5. In the Netherlands, tulips always (even when it rains) turns this country into a rainbow!!! (I might have borrowed that quote somewhere). And this day, found us boarding a bus, leaving the sunny skies of Day 4 on the boat and arriving in Keukenhof Gardens.

Keukenhof Gardens is also known as "Garden of Europe" and is one of, if not the, largest bulb garden in the world. It's located in Lisse, Netherlands where millions of people, throughout the 7 weeks each year its open in the Spring, walk through the gardens admiring the 7 million flower bulbs that were planted BY HAND in the Autumn. It's an unbelievable place to visit.

So I thought, for Day 5, I'd let the pictures speak for themselves. And you must know, this was the hardest day to pick which pictures to share with you. There was so much beauty eveywhere.

Pay close attention to the last picture. Back on the bus heading to the boat, check out the men.....then check out the women. Hummm......

DAY 4: Sailing Day!!

 DAY 4: SAILING DAY!

Ahoy, relaxation! Today was all about smooth sailing from port to port—with plenty of memorable moments in between.

We kicked things off with some yoga on deck (yes, balancing in boat pose on a moving boat = extra credit), warmed up with mugs of hot chocolate, and gave Rick a proper serenade with a hearty round of “Happy Birthday.”

For a bit of cardio, we hoisted the sails like pros—burning calories and pride—and then launched into a competitive sing-off of the Gilligan’s Island theme song. Turns out, remembering all the words is harder than raising the sails.

As the sun began to dip, we sailed into the enchanting harbor town of Enkhuizen, Netherlands, and explored it on foot like giddy tourists. We snagged some delicious local cheese, devoured Danish-style nachos (don’t ask—just try them), and conquered a seriously steep tower of stairs.

Not a bad way to spend a day on the water!

DAY 3; NO ACCIDENTS HAPPENED ON DAY 3!!!

 DAY 3; NO ACCIDENTS HAPPENED ON DAY 3!!!

But we did wake up to a beautiful day.....grabbed our bikes and headed out to Den Burg for a little (and I do mean "Little" but "Stout"!!) cup of coffee and delicious but rare danish (Texelse Hoornderring) that can only be found in this part of the country. We navigated our bikes through the town of Den Burg to a cafe called Timmer (De Echte Bakker) to taste, what our guide called "The Best Thing That Ever Hit Your Mouth" (or something like that).

After stuffing ourselves on Hoornderring, we waddled back to our bikes, albeit a little heavier, and pedaled off into the wild—wildlife refuge that is!! After a few wrong turns, we gave up and decided this was merely a great place for our daily group photo!

As we rolled into the neat little town of Den Hoorn, our guide steered us toward a tiny family-run flea market where I scored—and I mean SCORED—two gloriously worn Danish koffie cups for just one euro each. Total suitcase space? Gone. Regrets? None. This roadside goldmine even offered a dozen eggs on the honor system! We opted out of the eggs, figuring eggs and bikes don't mix too well.....especially with this group's history of...cough cough....crashing.

Our next stop—surprise!—was a beach. Honestly, I had no clue we were even remotely close to water until we crested a hill and BAM: sand, waves, and, thank the biking gods, a BATHROOM. After a quick bite to refuel, and a final stop in the ladies room, we were back on the bikes hunting for more tulip fields!

Tons and tons of pictures, a few sheep and one family of ducks later, we arrived at the boat just in time for dinner and a sing-a-long with our Guide Tammy and our favorite motivator, Tom.

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Day 4? We give our butts a day off and learn how to sail this sweet Home on the Seas! Stay tuned!!

DAY 2: Let's RIDEEEEEE

 DAY 2: LET'S RIDEEEE!!! We waved a sweet "Tot ziens!" to Medemblik and a "burrr" chilly 48 degrees, and hopped on the bus to take us back to our waiting bikes in Schoorl where we ended our ride on Day 1. Though the sky was drizzly and gray, our biking group were all smiles and chatter and ready to pedal our way through whatever the day held. Ohhhh....if only we knew the adventures (and maybe a few comical struggles!) that Day 2 had quietly waiting for us.

Rain geer on and smiles on our faces, we slid into the village of Burgerbrug's where we found the most beautiful (muddy) roadside flower market waiting for us. It was less "stop and smell the tulips” and more "dodge the raindrops while gawking at the tulips" but seriously, they had the coolest tulips, many named after snacks and rock stars – like the "Popcorn Tulip”, the "Janis Joplin Tulip" the Pizza Tulip.....it went on and on!

The sky FINALLY took a break from raining as we huddled together for a group photo!

We continued riding past tulip field after tulip field until we arrived in St. Maartensvlotbrug where we had a scheduled combination snack/lunch/much-needed-bathroom break at a cool cafe where we ordered MORE Dutch Apple Pie and a stiff hot coffee and enjoyed hunkering down in a warm building for a few minutes as we dried off.

Our next stop was a short 8 miles up the road to a place called Anna Paulowna. There, we were told, we would find a miniture version of one of the largest bulb gardens in the world!!

And this is when the ride took a sharp turn… straight into disaster.

We were a couple miles from Anna Paulowna, when we found ourselves on this magnificent tree-covered road. Truly...this is the kind of road Liz is known for pulling over and taking no less than 50 pictures of in East Texas. Turns out, I'm not the only one who does things like that. One of the girls had a great idea to video the crew riding through this tree-covered masterpiece. She raced ahead to get her camera ready to video when....BAM....she took a hard fall on the bike and broke her arm. An ambulance was called and she was hauled off to the hospital. She’s fine....but has a serious break in her sweet arm.

We then continued our journey towards the town of Anna Paulowna (named after a Dutch Queen Anna from Russia, wife to King William II of the Netherlands....just in case you were wondering). We arrived in Anna Paulowna about the time the sun started coming out and behaving as we toured the Gardens of Poldertuin. WOW. The sun, the tulips, the cute town and did I mention, the SUN.....all brought our spirits WAY up!

We were still rehashing the "broken arm" accident when, in a moment of pure poor timing, one of our cyclists demonstrated a truly innovative (and terrifying) method of navigation. A casual glance to the "left" somehow translated to a sharp veer to the "right," and wouldn't you know it, a murky Dutch canal was conveniently located stage right waiting for her. The "SPLASH" instantly silenced our broken arm commentary as we pulled both the cyclist and bike out of the nasty canal....

We finally all made it back to the boat safely to a warm dinner waiting for us and a quick exit to the next days destination as we set sail....and our guide took a much needed Zanax (kidding...I think).

Day 2, I assure you, will forever be a day we will never forget.