RHK's Spring Trip
May 25th, 2015, 09:13 AM
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Our Spring, 2015 trip began with a United flt from Boston to Ft Lauderdale on April 15. To understand who we are click on my name. We had 5 days planned in the Palm Beach area at a Marriott property.
The accommodations were just fine and we enjoyed visiting that area in a more in-depth way than we previously . We found some new, to us, restaurants and enjoyed the frequent water exposures as you drive around. The one restaurant I want to mention that is new on the scene is: Angry Moon Café, 2401 PGA Blvd, Palm Beach Gardens. Currently only lunch. Located in a strip mall. Inside and outside seating.. great sandwiches. Plans for evening service in the future. A-1. Florida1 and mr florida1 joined us for lunch one day and we had a pleasant afternoon.
On Sunday the 19th we drove back to Ft Lauderdale ( great car rental from Sixt) to board the Celebrity Silhouette for a 15 day sail to Amsterdam. This is our 3rd spring Transatlantic sailing. Very relaxing with stops in Lisbon, Le Havre, Zeebrugge. We only got off in Lisbon and Zeebrugge. Did the hop on hop off bus in Lisbon (very disappointed about how run down the city seemed). Hired a taxi with another couple to go into Brugge (50E each way—make sure to book roundtrip).
Arranged a car pick-up in Amsterdam for the transfer to the Wyndham hotel office of Sixt Auto rentals—30E… taxi line must have had 300+ people waiting. Arranged car transfers were taken out a back door-no wait. Sixt upgraded us to a BMW X-1 wagon with automatic…
We drove to Hoorn for 2 nights at Hotel de Magneet, a small family owned hotel with private parking and a restaurant for residents. We have stayed here several times. Hoorn, N of Amsterdam is a great town for a few days.
We drove to Delft from Hoorn and our friends Beth (mrs GPanda) and Jon met us at Hotel Royal Bridges where we stayed in their annex in two lovely tri-plexes for 3 nights. One day we drove to Keukenhof to see the flower gardens 2015, which were magnificent.
From Delft we drove to Gent, Belgium for 4 nights at the Gent Marriott (garage reservation a must for which they charge an additional 30E), the most central hotel in Gent.
Our fav restaurant was just across the canal from the hotel—DeGraslei… Inside dining or large canalside seating. I loved the white asparagus special with smoked salmon, or the one with smoked ham (about 21E). We also had their Belgium stew with a beef and beer base one night—to die for… The beer was fantastic on the whole trip and K enjoyed the wine.
BTW, desserts were fantastic everywhere as were the morning croissants, etc.
We dropped B&J at the train station in Antwerpen as they headed to Spain via Amsterdam. We headed for the “lakeside” town of Veere, a yachting destination for many. This was our favorite stop of the trip. We stayed in the annex of the historic Auberge de Campveerse Toren in room 17-- only room with it’s own private garden, but no water view---this was a plus actually. We ate at the hotel one night---slow, expensive, but fun. Our best meal was across the inlet at De Werf, a simply enchanting and delicious restaurant, recently reopened. Veere is a definite return place for us… Suspect it is overrun on weekends.
From Veere we headed to Middelburg for 2 nights… a bit unremarkable but we enjoyed our old hotel, Hotel aan de Dam.
From here we headed about 3 hours drive to Monschau, Germany, a small tourist town, in the best sense of the term, to the riverside Hotel Flosdorff. We had a 3rd floor walkup apartment over their restaurant (actually separate ownerships), which was quite perfect. The town is in a steep valley with ancient buildings and is very picturesque with it’s stream side setting. Good restaurants… very limited parking in town.
One thing which we really enjoyed on this trip was the constant bell ringing and the many carillons, some of which lasted 30 minutes.
From there we headed to the Moselle River to our favorite little town of Kattenes. We have stayed several times at the small weinhaus, Weingut Fries. BTW, they produce 50,000 bottles of the best Riesling each year. Reservations are a bit difficult I find. E-mails go unanswered, telephone calls are not recorded, etc. Their food is excellent too—no English menu. This time we were put in a small apartment about 4 doors from the weinhaus---brand new and very nice—65E. incl breakfast. Good parking.
We stopped one night at the Brussels Marriott, noisy as it is in a busy bar scene area close to the grand place—garage parking. We had forgotten how uninteresting Brussels is to the eye.
Our final night was at the 42 year old Schipol airport Hilton---a new one is rising directly next door. Great location on airport. Car rental returns are directly next door and you can walk to airport check-in although we suggest the free shuttle bus as the airport is large.
We flew home to Boston on United via DC.
I intended this to only be an outline of our trip and that is what it is. 6 weeks flies by.
The accommodations were just fine and we enjoyed visiting that area in a more in-depth way than we previously . We found some new, to us, restaurants and enjoyed the frequent water exposures as you drive around. The one restaurant I want to mention that is new on the scene is: Angry Moon Café, 2401 PGA Blvd, Palm Beach Gardens. Currently only lunch. Located in a strip mall. Inside and outside seating.. great sandwiches. Plans for evening service in the future. A-1. Florida1 and mr florida1 joined us for lunch one day and we had a pleasant afternoon.
On Sunday the 19th we drove back to Ft Lauderdale ( great car rental from Sixt) to board the Celebrity Silhouette for a 15 day sail to Amsterdam. This is our 3rd spring Transatlantic sailing. Very relaxing with stops in Lisbon, Le Havre, Zeebrugge. We only got off in Lisbon and Zeebrugge. Did the hop on hop off bus in Lisbon (very disappointed about how run down the city seemed). Hired a taxi with another couple to go into Brugge (50E each way—make sure to book roundtrip).
Arranged a car pick-up in Amsterdam for the transfer to the Wyndham hotel office of Sixt Auto rentals—30E… taxi line must have had 300+ people waiting. Arranged car transfers were taken out a back door-no wait. Sixt upgraded us to a BMW X-1 wagon with automatic…
We drove to Hoorn for 2 nights at Hotel de Magneet, a small family owned hotel with private parking and a restaurant for residents. We have stayed here several times. Hoorn, N of Amsterdam is a great town for a few days.
We drove to Delft from Hoorn and our friends Beth (mrs GPanda) and Jon met us at Hotel Royal Bridges where we stayed in their annex in two lovely tri-plexes for 3 nights. One day we drove to Keukenhof to see the flower gardens 2015, which were magnificent.
From Delft we drove to Gent, Belgium for 4 nights at the Gent Marriott (garage reservation a must for which they charge an additional 30E), the most central hotel in Gent.
Our fav restaurant was just across the canal from the hotel—DeGraslei… Inside dining or large canalside seating. I loved the white asparagus special with smoked salmon, or the one with smoked ham (about 21E). We also had their Belgium stew with a beef and beer base one night—to die for… The beer was fantastic on the whole trip and K enjoyed the wine.
BTW, desserts were fantastic everywhere as were the morning croissants, etc.
We dropped B&J at the train station in Antwerpen as they headed to Spain via Amsterdam. We headed for the “lakeside” town of Veere, a yachting destination for many. This was our favorite stop of the trip. We stayed in the annex of the historic Auberge de Campveerse Toren in room 17-- only room with it’s own private garden, but no water view---this was a plus actually. We ate at the hotel one night---slow, expensive, but fun. Our best meal was across the inlet at De Werf, a simply enchanting and delicious restaurant, recently reopened. Veere is a definite return place for us… Suspect it is overrun on weekends.
From Veere we headed to Middelburg for 2 nights… a bit unremarkable but we enjoyed our old hotel, Hotel aan de Dam.
From here we headed about 3 hours drive to Monschau, Germany, a small tourist town, in the best sense of the term, to the riverside Hotel Flosdorff. We had a 3rd floor walkup apartment over their restaurant (actually separate ownerships), which was quite perfect. The town is in a steep valley with ancient buildings and is very picturesque with it’s stream side setting. Good restaurants… very limited parking in town.
One thing which we really enjoyed on this trip was the constant bell ringing and the many carillons, some of which lasted 30 minutes.
From there we headed to the Moselle River to our favorite little town of Kattenes. We have stayed several times at the small weinhaus, Weingut Fries. BTW, they produce 50,000 bottles of the best Riesling each year. Reservations are a bit difficult I find. E-mails go unanswered, telephone calls are not recorded, etc. Their food is excellent too—no English menu. This time we were put in a small apartment about 4 doors from the weinhaus---brand new and very nice—65E. incl breakfast. Good parking.
We stopped one night at the Brussels Marriott, noisy as it is in a busy bar scene area close to the grand place—garage parking. We had forgotten how uninteresting Brussels is to the eye.
Our final night was at the 42 year old Schipol airport Hilton---a new one is rising directly next door. Great location on airport. Car rental returns are directly next door and you can walk to airport check-in although we suggest the free shuttle bus as the airport is large.
We flew home to Boston on United via DC.
I intended this to only be an outline of our trip and that is what it is. 6 weeks flies by.
May 25th, 2015, 10:48 AM
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Nice short report! No time in AMS? One of my favorite European cities. Can't wait to return for a few days in August.
Your trip sounded very relaxing! Not at all rushed. Just the way we now like it to be. We used to dart from place to place, always on the go. Not so much anymore.
Hope to see you in July at the GTG!!!
Carol
Your trip sounded very relaxing! Not at all rushed. Just the way we now like it to be. We used to dart from place to place, always on the go. Not so much anymore.
Hope to see you in July at the GTG!!!
Carol
May 25th, 2015, 02:54 PM
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wow, record short-report from the peripatetic Kimballs. You usually write that much just describing dinner. Hope all is well with you two. I have moved on to Ojai, California and loving it, close to my rather large family of 6 adult grandchildren. Lotsa love to go around. What more can an old guy wish for.
Keep on travelin' and keep on truckin' Bob and Karen!
stu tower
Keep on travelin' and keep on truckin' Bob and Karen!
stu tower
May 25th, 2015, 03:41 PM
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LL-- others have said it all, I just wanted to add my spin.
T---Lisbon used to be so vibrant.. now it seems like a city racked by graffiti and empty store fronts.. the central mall used to be spotless and well trimmed but now it is much less so..
ST-- glad the new digs are working for you... do they have you worshipping crystals yet?? If so you would be the first hometown boy since john quincy adams to do so...
T---Lisbon used to be so vibrant.. now it seems like a city racked by graffiti and empty store fronts.. the central mall used to be spotless and well trimmed but now it is much less so..
ST-- glad the new digs are working for you... do they have you worshipping crystals yet?? If so you would be the first hometown boy since john quincy adams to do so...
May 27th, 2015, 04:45 AM
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We have been there before, and find we enjoy time in the smaller towns....a slower pace,easier driving, lower or no parking fees, Better chance to meet and talk to people. Plus the beauty of the countryside.
Jul 10th, 2015, 09:15 AM
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Finally got to reading your report. Sounds like you had a relaxing time regardless of what the mynah bird says lol. Sad to hear about Lisbon. We really enjoyed our time there. Will you be going on the cruise again in 2016?
Hanoi ho!
Hanoi ho!
