Puerto Rico – Luquillo Beach, La Cueva del Indio and Bioluminescent Bay Tour


Ok so I’m still on Puerto Rico and I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted.  I would like to finish up Puerto Rico and I think I should be done in 3 posts.  In looking forward we were in Amsterdam back in February and we went to Barcelona in April.  I’m a little behind from last year’s travel as I didn’t go anywhere in March but I really can’t complain.  Ok so now to get two more days in Puerto Rico.  We went to the Beach on the first day and on the second day here we went to La Cueva del Indio and we also did the Bioluminescent Bay Tour in La Parguera.

We went to the Beach in Luquillo which was the town we were staying in.  We did have to drive to the beach but it was only about 8 minutes or so.  We could see the beach from our condo but we still had to drive there.  The beach itself was beautiful.  Here are my husband and sister in the water.

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It was a beautiful day out.

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The mountain in the photo is El Yunque.

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My husband and I were trying to take a picture with the beach in the background and we got photo bombed by my sister. Man she has great timing

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We did get one good shot in

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Before she got us again.
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Here I am with my mom and my sister

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The next day we went to La Cueva del Indio.  This place was great.  First off it was free to go in and you only had to pay for parking. And guess what parking was only $2.  We did have to drive up and around the top of the island to get there and we drove passed it and then had to turn around.  Thankfully we didn’t go far.  Just as we past it I said there it is.  Needless to say the GPS was not that good in this part of the island.  Also there was big bicycle ride going on in a small town so we had to be careful of the bicyclists.

The people who run this place say they have filmed Pirates of the Caribbean here.  I haven’t checked the credits but if you come to Puerto Rico I highly recommend this place.  You can find it on trip advisor if you read the comments from the people who have been there the directions are in the comments.

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You can climb down here there is a very rickety looking ladder but we did see some people go down it.  We didn’t go down it though.  Maybe if we get back there I will.  I feel as if I missed something and should have been more adventurous and gone down.

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My husband holding on to my sister while she was taking pictures over the edge.

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I’m not sure what the alien face is in the picture below but I saw a smaller one in the rocks also.

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I took a lot more pictures if you want to see them let me know and I will post them on flickr or smug mug.  We then headed over to Cueva Ventana which is a cave that overlooks a valley but it was closed as they were replacing the steps in there I guess to many people were slipping and falling.  So then as a last minute thing we call the Bioluminescent Bay Tour and made reservations.  We had to be there by 6 and we had to drive half way around the island.  So we rushed and just barely made it in time before they were supposed to start.  But of course you know how it is you get there and then you have wait anyway.  I don’t have any pictures of the Bioluminescent because none of our cameras could get pictures that good in the dark but I will tell you I’m not a swimmer and neither is anyone else in my family, my husband on the other hand swims like a fish, but we all got in the water with the life vests (except him) and it was pretty cool.  At first it’s hard to see them but then after being there a while you see them.  When my sister got out of the water I could see them in her hair.  Kind of made me want to take a shower afterwards because they plankton.  Here are a few pictures when we were on the boat.  I should have brought my tripod.

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It was a gorgeous sunset and we had a blast.  The only problem was that afterwards we had to drive half way around the island to get back to our condo.  I believe we drove around the entire island that day.

Categories: Flight Attendant, Luquillo, Photography, Puerto Rico, Travel, Trip Advisor, Vacation | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Puerto Rico – Bacardi Plant and San Juan


So we started the day out late because we wanted to go to the San Sebastian Festival at night.  We didn’t leave the condo till about 1pm or so.  Our first stop of the day was to head over to the Bacardi Plant.  Obviously, they make the Bacardi Rum there.  Fun fact for you though the Rum is made in Puerto Rico and it is bottled in Jacksonville Florida.  When we arrived at the plant we walked over to a big tent.  In this tent they give you two tickets each for free drinks (score).  You then choose the language of your tour and take a sightseeing trolley to the main building.  Upon entering the building they give you a brief introduction to Bacardi.  Here is the building on the outside.

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We were allowed to take pictures in the first room they then showed us a film afterwards and we then went into another room we were not allowed to take pictures there either.

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After getting the history of Bacardi and learning how they make rum we were able to smell different types of rum and then went into a bar room where we were able to take pictures.   He told us about some of the drinks and how they were created.

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We then went outside to the big tent where we were able to get two drinks.  Here we are enjoying our drinks.

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We then went into the souvenir shop and purchased some stuff.  After the tour we headed to Old San Juan for the San Sebastian Festival.  Unfortunately everyone else was headed in that direction also.  I swear it took us about an hour to get from Condado to Old San Juan normally a 5 minute drive.  Also, unfortunately for me I had to use the bathroom.  When we got closer my sister and I jumped out of the car and went to Sr. Frogs.  Now of course the restrooms are for patrons only, so we headed to the bar and she went to order a drink as I went to the bathroom. Well when I came out of the bathroom the bartender had still not even acknowledged her.  The bar wasn’t even crowded.  So we decided to leave.  Mission accomplished.  We then found my mother and husband still driving around looking for parking.  We jumped back in the car and continued looking for parking.  After about 15 minutes we finally found one that was a good walk away from from the festival.  We walked back to Old San Juan and looked around the festival.  We went in various shops and had some snacks and purchased some stuff from the street vendors.  Here is a picture from the car as we were still looking for a parking.  This street was blocked off and there was no room to turn around so my husband had to back up down the block.  He’s a much better driver than I am because I cannot go backwards for that long in a straight ling.

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After walking around we were hungry so we stopped in La Vaca Brava.  The food was very good, here is a piece of pork that both my mother and I ordered.  It was really good and we both ended up taking some home.

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After dinner we made the long walk back to the car and then went back to the condo.  Tomorrow is a beach day.  Yay

Categories: Condo Rental, Flight Attendant, flights, Photography, Puerto Rico, San Juan, Travel, Vacation | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Puerto Rico – El Yunque

So we started day two heading to El Yunque. El Yunque is the rain forest in Puerto Rico. We started up the drive heading to the scenic locations. The first stop was a scenic overlook. You can see the beach from here.

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We then walked up to a small waterfall. There were plenty of people here taking pictures.

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This is down on the other side.

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My husband and my sister decided to climb up a bit closer to the waterfall. Here she is taking a picture of him. Then she went to join him.

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We then got back in the car and made our way up the hill.   There we came across a look out tower.

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We took a picture from the top.   It was a very bright day as you can see. 

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We then made our way down to La Mina Falls.  Here is one of the leaves on the way.  

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Here is one of the pictures I took of the falls.  I kept my camera in the bag most of the time as I didn’t want to drop it near the falls.

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We then made our way back up to the top of El Yunque and had some food.  We then made our way back down and called it a day.  The walk out to La Mina falls felt longer than it was and it was narrow and very hilly.  All in all it was a great day.

Categories: Photography, Puerto Rico, Travel, Vacation | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

Vacation in Puerto Rico

So the year began with a vacation to Puerto Rico. We were originally going to leave on Thursday the 17th of January but the flights started filling up. I was able to talk to the woman we were renting the condo from and she was able to let us come few days early so we arrived Tuesday evening instead. The place we rented was called Casa Valeriana in Luquillo.  I found it on Trip Advisor. It was a really great place to stay very private and in a gated community and about 5 minutes from the Luquillo Beach.  Below are some pictures of where we stayed.

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The owner was very nice because we flew in around 10:30 pm and by the time we got the car rental and drove over there it was almost midnight.  She waited for us and gave us a quick tour and all we needed to enjoy our stay.

The next day we went to Old San Juan.  I had not been there since I was 15.  Actually, I hadn’t been to Puerto Rico since I was 15 either.  The first thing we did was eat.  We went to El Jibarito it is a small place and the menu’s are handwritten but the food was really good and not very expensive.  We then toured the town.   This guy below was a decoration in El Jibarito.

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I love the colors of the houses in Old San Juan.

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We then headed in the direction of the Fort El Morro.

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I didn’t know that the City of San Juan had so many cats but there were many of them lounging around.

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We didn’t stay to late in the city and left before 7 and our parking was not even 2 dollars it was great.  No bull.  Speaking of bull here’s a picture of my husband and my sister with a bull.

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Puerto Rico is port for cruise ships.  As we were driving by I quickly snapped this picture of one of the ships.

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We went to El Yunque the Rainforest on our second day there I will post those pictures shortly.

Categories: Airplane, Airport, Car Rental, Flight Attendant, flights, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Photography, Puerto Rico, San Juan, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Quick Recap of 2012

I figured I would give a quick recap of the places we went to in 2012 and then give a list of the places we hope to get to in 2013.

We started the year on a family vacation in February with my mom, husband, daughter and I going to Paris, France we were there for about 5 days or so and though it was very cold and we froze our butts we still had a blast.

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In February I also went to my cousin’s reception in NY (technically New Jersey)

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Then in April my husband and I went to Rome for a quick trip.

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On the way back to Rome the plane landed in London for them to take a bag off.  My husband says that counts as me being in London but we never got off of the plane so I don’ t count it.

Our next trip was then to Madrid.  It was completely unplanned as I had no luggage with me when he called and said he got a trip to Madrid.  Somehow I made it up to Philly and on the plane in time.

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Our next trip was to Frankfurt in May, where we rented a car and drove to Stuttgart.  The trip was great the rental car was a disaster but all in all well worth the trip.

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I then went to Washington DC and met my mom, sister and godmother there. wpid-washington-1.jpg

Then the 3 of us took the Megabus back to NY and we went to a street fair that Saturday.

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We then went back to Frankfurt on our Anniversary.  This wasn’t exactly the way we wanted to spend our 1st anniversary but at least we were together.

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Our next trip was the ideal anniversary trip, we went to Venice and had a romantic two days there.

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Then my husband picked up a trip to Munich which we had been hoping to get to all season long.

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I then flew to Denver Colorado to visit my friend Natalia

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Then for my daughter’s birthday we went to NY.  She had a hard time getting out there but thanks to my great husband that waited for the kids and drove them to NY from Philadelphia she was able to be with us for her birthday.

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As the year was winding down I was coming to my last 3 trips of the year each a week apart.  It was a lot of travel and almost too much for me.  We started in the Netherlands for 3 days the first weekend of October.

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Then it was back to New York the next weekend for the Scott Kelby World Wide Photowalk on Roosevelt Island with my mom and sister

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Then the last trip of the year was to Zurich, Switzerland.

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It was an exciting year and hopefully 2013 will be just as exciting.  Our first trip is to Puerto Rico for vacation with my mom, sister and husband next week.  The other places we are hoping to get to are as follows: Athens Greece, Aruba, St Maarten, Amsterdam, Belize or Costa Rica, Brussels, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Zurich and Munich again, Barcelona, London and San Francisco.

Hopefully we will be able to visit most of them.  Wish me luck and I hope to be posting a lot this year.

 

 

Categories: Airplane, Airport, Amsterdam, Car Rental, Colorado, Denver, Flight Attendant, flights, France, Frankfurt, Germay, Italy, Madrid, Munich, New York, Paris, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Photography, Porsche, Rome, Roosevelt Island, Scheveningen, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Travel, Venice, Zurich | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Zurich Switzerland (the last trip of 2012)

Well back in October I went on my last trip in 2012.  With the holiday’s approaching and flights getting more crowded, me being almost out of vacation days and my partners at work having days left that they had to take I figured it was fine that this was my last trip.  We landed in Zürich in the morning and a day that was supposed to be in the 60′s ended up not being at all.  We first went to the hotel where we changed and headed out.  My husband had been to Zürich several times but always on a Sunday when all of the shops were closed.  This day was a Monday so everything was open.  We headed out and hoped that the foggy day would clear so that I could see the Swiss Alps from Lake Zürich.

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The town where the Hotel is located is Regensdorf which is a short train ride from Zürich.  The first thing we did was walk to the train station.

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Not sure what kinds of berries these are but the color was great.  As was the coloring in the red tree in the back of the next picture.

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Regensdorf is a quaint little town.  When we got to the train station we saw an SAP building.  This is the software we use at my job so we I had to take a picture of it.

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This is the train we took to go into Zürich.  The trains are very different from the one’s in NY.  I wish I had thought to take a picture of the inside.

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This is the first sight when leaving the train station.  It was pretty cold at this point.  I don’t think it ever made it out of the 50′s and still foggy.

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All of the main train stations in Germany and Switzerland are called Hauptbahnhof (German for main station).  All of the ones I’ve seen had statues and such on top.  Here is a picture of the statues on top of the train station in Zürich.

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I’m not sure what this building is but I liked it when walking past it on the way to Lake Zürich.

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We made our way to Lake Zürich here is a picture of the River Limmat which is downstream of Lake Zürich and a swan on the river.

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Here is a park that was uphill of the River.  We walked up there to get a view.  There were  a lot of pigeons in this park and they were drinking from some water statues.

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Here is a view of the river from up above.

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I loved this house, not sure if you can see the ladder that leads to the door way and it is pretty thin on the front half.

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After making out way to Lake Zürich we were going to take a boat ride on the lake.  We missed the first boat and had to wait about an hour and a half for the second boat.  As you can see it still isn’t clear enough to see the Swiss Alps.

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We walked partially around the lake to take in some of the fall colors.

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As you can see the sky was clearing up on this side of the lake but not enough to see the Alps.  This is us on the boat.  The views were beautiful and it was pretty cold.  We were both freezing and tired at this point and sitting on a boat for an hour and a half was not the best idea but we made it through.

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Here are some pictures from along the lake side.  It was a very scenic boat ride.

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This is the Lindt Chocolate factory.  We should have gotten off the boat and gotten some but we didn’t.  Maybe next time.

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After the boat ride we headed back to the train station so we could go back to Regensdorf.  Away from the Lake it was pretty clear but I walked away from Zürich not having seen the Swiss Alps.

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After we got back to the hotel we decided to walk over to a restaurant for dinner.

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It was a pretty long walk but very scenic.  As you can see the fog was starting to come back in (not that it ever really left).  This the restaurant were we ate.  We then had to walk back from the restaurant in the dark.  There was one section where we had to walk through the woods and we were using our cell phones for light.

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All in all it was a good trip though the weather was a little colder than I would have liked.  Hopefully the next time we go back I will be able to see the Swiss Alps.

Categories: Airport, Flight Attendant, flights, Photography, Switzerland, Travel, Zurich | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Scott Kelby’s World Wide Photowalk

I have done the Scott Kelby worldwide photowalk 3 years in a row.  The first year I did it was a walk leader in St. Augustine.  Last year with the flight benefits I have I chose to fly to NY to do the walk with my mother and my sister in Staten Island NY.  Neither my mother nor I had been to Staten Island before which is pretty bad considering we had both lived in NY for such a long time.

Well this year I decided to fly up there again and we signed on to the walk the day it opened.  We picked Roosevelt Island this year.  Of course once again my mother and I had never been to Roosevelt Island either.  My sister on the other hand has been there via her job on several occasions.   I flew in on Friday with no issues.  I have learned that is I get to work at 5 and work till 1 than I don’t have any issues with flights to NY.  The walk started at noon (which is late but it worked for us).  We headed downtown and took the tram across.

I took this picture after we got across to the other side.  I loved the color contrast.

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The tram goes across next to this bridge.

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This is one of the trams.  There were two going across.  The good thing is that you can use your metro card from the subway and it is a free transfer on the tram.  The day was pretty cold and we were bundled up quite nicely.  The walk was pretty good and we first hopped on the bus to get to the other side of the island.  I believe the bus was a quarter.

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Here are several of my shots from the walkwpid-Kelby-Photowalk-Roosevelt-Island-5.jpg

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This is the picture I submitted to the walk.  Needless to say I didn’t win.

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This picture was taken in the subway station.

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I had a great time in NY with the photowalk.  I’m not sure where we will walk next year.  Maybe I can talk my mom and sister into flying somewhere else to do the walk next year.

Categories: Airport, Flight Attendant, New York, Photography, Roosevelt Island, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, or Happy Holiday’s which ever you prefer.  I am grateful for my followers and those of you that are interested in my blog.  I’m grateful for my family and friends whether they are here or not.  The holiday’s are rough for flight attendants and their families as the airlines are still flying and some may not be able to spend time with their families.  We just have to remember that this is the what we signed on for and this enables us to get all those free flights.  So have a happy day with your family and give them big hugs and kisses (especially if you travelled a long way to see them).  Also, if you happen to work in an industry that also works during the holiday’s remember this is only one day out of the year.

Categories: Flight Attendant, flights, Travel | Leave a comment

The Netherlands – Scheveningen (Day 3)

So on our last day in The Netherlands we went to Scheveningen.  It was a gorgeous day in Holland.  The sun was out and the beach was crowded (though there wasn’t anyone in the water).  The ships were probably headed to the port of Rotterdam.

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We walked around the boardwalk and were going to meet his cousin and her boyfriend for coffee.   This picture is a small restaurant at the end of the boardwalk.  The restaurant is at the bottom the top part is just a climb to a lookout.  They also had bungee jumping off of this thing.  Now I’m not afraid of heights or anything but I wasn’t going to bungee jump off of this.  Besides it was 60 euro for one jump.  Do you know what I could get for 60 euro. So we headed in the direction of the pier.
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Here are some of the things we saw along the way.  This boat was a decoration on the boardwalk and the picture below it is near the restaurant.  It too used to be a restaurant but it was shut down.

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This is a picture of The Kurhaus Hotel it is right on the boardwalk.  There are lots of stores and restaurant on the boardwalk.  There are even restaurants on the beach.  This was actually the last day for the restaurants on the beach they tear them down for the winter and then build them back up for the summer.

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This is the Pier (if you want to buy it I believe it is for sale)  At the end of the pier is the restaurant.

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We walked all the way to the top (which was a pretty big deal for my husband because he is afraid of heights).  I was so proud of him.  We took pictures at the top and then headed down to have coffee with his cousin and her boyfriend.

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Here are some more pictures of the water and the beach.


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This is the port of Rotterdam in the distance.  
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And a lighthouse

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This is my husband’s cousin and her boyfriend.

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These are pictures in the Kurhaus Hotel

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We then drove back to his aunt and uncle’s house and while dinner was cooking we went to see his other cousin Justin and then after dinner we went to his other cousin’s house and her husband.  When we got back we went to bed because it was going to be an early flight back to the states.

The picture I missed posting was when we landed in The Netherlands this is what it looked like.  My husband says this is how he remembers Holland.  When they would vacation in Spain for the summer when they came back this is what it always looked like.

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The flight back was uneventful but very crowded.  The planes they take out to Amsterdam are way small then the ones they take to Germany.

Ok that takes care of that three day trip to the Netherlands.  I do love this country (and not just because my husband grew up there).  It is a very charming country.  The next trip is a trip to New York for the Scott Kelby World Wide Photowalk.  I did the walk with my mom and sister at Roosevelt Island.  After living in NY for 25 years and my mom for 60 some odd years.  Neither of us had ever been to Roosevelt Island.  My sister on the other hand had been there for work.  I will post that blog shortly.

Categories: Amsterdam, Flight Attendant, flights, Germay, New York, Photography, Scheveningen, Spain, The Netherlands, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Netherlands – Baarn and Hilversum (Mini Vacation) Day 2

Ok, so I know I’m behind but I also know I won’t be doing any travelling until after the beginning of the year.  My partner at work will be out the last two weeks of December and my boss is out the first week in December so no opportunities for me to go anywhere.  Also, I only have one vacation day left and I think I will roll that over to next year.  So I’m dragging out the last few trips to make them last the rest of the year.

On the second day in The Netherlands we woke up to a day was a little rainy.  The first thing I did was look out the window and took these two pictures outside of Judy’s window to the patio downstairs.

We then went downstairs to have breakfast and sit and talk with Judy and Hans.  As we were having breakfast at the table we heard a big bang on the window.  When we turned around there was a large bird imprint on the window and a bird was flying away and landed on the tree out front.  I told Judy her windows were too clean.  The bird did appear to be stunned but ok.  Here is a picture I took of the window.  Can you find the bird imprint on here.

If you look to the left o the light post behind the car and little above it you should be able to see the imprint.

After that excitement we decided to head out.  We were headed to Baarn which is a town my husband grew up in.  We were then headed to meet his friend Raymond and his wife Gwenda in Hilversum.   On the way to the Baarn we had to go by the airport.  There was a plane crossing the highway that had just landed.

Also, there is a spot over the highway where an aqueduct crosses the highway.  Here is a link to a picture that shows it from the air https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-eKe9bbk6DSQ/UF1TUWowsiI/AAAAAAAB4fo/868IukHXsNE/s698/546092_468037953227053_1360869425_n.jpg.  Everytime we went buy it on the A4 there was never a boat there so there was no point in taking a picture.

We then got to Hilversum but we were not stopping there first.  We drove from Hilversum to Baarn.  My husband used to ride his bicycle everyday to school from Barrn to Hilversum.  I believe he said it was about a 7 mile ride each way.  Here is a picture of the road he used to ride his bike on.  The bike lanes are on the side of the car lanes completely separated by a small grass median.

Below is the main shopping street in Baarn.  We walked down from one of the houses he grew up in and walked the main shopping area.

We then walked over to the house his sister was born in.  He had not been in this house since he was a child.  It is currently a special needs house.  He wanted to go knock on the door but decided against it.  I said to him what is the worst that can happen.  All they can say is no.  So he knocked on the door and spoke to one of the women that worked there.  He explained that we were from the states and his parents used to have an old age home there and that his sister was born there.  They let us in and we were able to look around the main areas.  Obviously the bedrooms belonged to the people that lived there and we could not go in there but we were able to go into the office downstairs which was his parents bedroom and the room his sister was born in.  We were also able to see the hallway where he fell and hit his head when he was young.  We left and thanked them and I was happy to see the smile on my husbands face from having seen his childhood home.  wpid-untitled-DSC_0188-121006.jpg

We then made our way back to the car and headed over to Hilversum to see his High School friend Raymond.

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We sat got to meet his youngest daughter and his girlfriend for the first time, my husband had met his oldest daughter before.  At first the conversation was pretty slow going but by the end of the night they were talking up a storm as if no time had past.

All in all it was a great day to see my husband so happy with many childhood memories and meetings with old friends.  We had a great day and invited Raymond and his family to come to Florida and stay with us if they wanted.  It would be great if they could visit us.

Categories: Airplane, Airport, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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