Author Archives: Serene

We were able to enjoy a relaxing morning in Rotterdam and walked a couple hundred yards to check in at the port.  We boarded Nieuw Statendam shortly after 11:00 a.m. on July 27th. We were excited to begin our cruise … Continue reading →

Kinderdijk has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997.  This group of 19 windmills was built circa 1740 and is the largest grouping left in the Netherlands.  That was our destination for the day on July 26. We had … Continue reading →

We were still in Amsterdam on July 25th.  We had a food tour scheduled in the afternoon after our Anne Frank House morning. We met our guide, Roman, and our fellow food tourists.  Roman was amazing in how he instantly … Continue reading →

We woke up in Rotterdam about 4:45 am local time on July 25, very happy to have slept as long as we did after our long travel day. If you read my post on planning this trip, you know that … Continue reading →

July 23-24, 2025 It was nice to have a reasonable start to our travel day to begin our trip! Our friend picked us up at 8:00 a.m. to take us to the Phoenix airport.  Upon arriving, we learned our flight … Continue reading →

The genesis of our next big adventure was a phone call from Cindy, one of our close friends from Boise, in late summer 2023.  She was interested in a particular Holland America cruise because it included western Ireland and asked … Continue reading →

Our last day in Sydney, February 9, 2025, was spent in the Blue Mountains, ninety minutes outside the city.  We met for our tour at 6:55 a.m. and our guide introduced herself as “Rin, It rhymes with gin, and Rin likes … Continue reading →

Our second full day in Sydney was a really good day.  We had tours of the Sydney Opera House and a food tour called the Tastes of Sydney. First, we learned to use the Sydney light rail.  We had been … Continue reading →

After days of rain in Cairns, the morning of February 6, 2025 was sunny and warm, but also really humid.  We thought briefly of the snorkeling that might have been but were mostly just grateful that we got it in. … Continue reading →

We woke up on February 4, 2025, half expecting our Great Barrier Reef snorkel trip would be canceled – and it was.    It occurred to us that our accommodation in the hotel was room 1313 on the 13th floor!  … Continue reading →