We are leaving for Amsterdam tomorrow and have bought rail tickets for 3 days in 1 month. Are there any special places we should go to visit?? The tickets cover the whole county of Holland. Will read mail all morning before our flight at 5:50 pm. on the 4th of December. Thanks,J.Garrison

Janice, I see you are off again. When are you going to get down to visit Oz? Here is a URL for train timetables to check out. Even though it is German site, you will find all the info you need for the Netherlands. <BR>http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/detect.exe/bin/query.exe/en <BR>Have fun. Peg.

Peg, I am so happy to hear from you,how was your trip?? I have been thinking of you and all the wonderful places you were going. Infact, I am surprised that you are back already. We have indeed had a wonderful year of travel. This will make our 11th time over the pond this year. We really did a good job of travel for our 25th anniversary. Husband says no travel next year. But I will work on him. I would love to come visit you some time this winter, even if I come alone. This will be our 5th trip to Amsterdam this year. Main reason is we like the fact that you can walk or take the trolly everywhere. We always stay at the same hotel and have found a few places that we like to eat at when we go over. Lovely to hear from you again. I played bridge tonight with a club and am keyed up so I got on the net. It is like a fix going to fodors to check out where folks are going. We went to Athens Greece and had a wonderful time. Stayed at a hotel that had a roof garden. Great views. It is 1:30 so I guess I must go to bed. Later, Janice

Delft, the Hague, Arnhem, Maastricht - everywhere! Train travel in the Netherlands is so easy you can just start out and go where your heart leads you without much planning at all. Just remember that when the train is scheduled to leave at 9:07, that is not the time to turn around to hug somebody goodbye. <BR>

Janice, please post everything when you return. We are planning our first trip to Amsterdam in May and I'm in the gathering mode. Deciding whether to go directly to AMS or fly through Paris. Interested in restaurants and hotels you recommend. After all your trips, (wow! what a great year!), I'm sure you have a gem to share about the area. Enjoy, and safe return.

Friends, <BR> <BR>Our choseen route is to fly to Paris, take the Thalys train to Amsterdam (easily bookable at www.raileurope.com), and then train around the area. Even though this route was more expensive for us (could have flown directly from Vancouver-Amsterdam)I love trains and saw them as part of the raison d'etre of vacations. <BR> <BR>We are staying at the PC Hooft, a TimeOut Guide recommendation. <BR> <BR>I post our experiences! <BR> <BR>Josh