Amsterdam / Bruges

First off two very important pieces of information, ask the concierge at your hotel when the Royal Palace is open, not all the time, don't miss this. Second, Anne Frank House, either get tickets online before you go or at Central Station, not specific time, but have them and be on line no later than 8:30, its a zoo after that. Also earlier in the week in better

Travel, when booking flights look into Icelandair, requires a stop in Kelflevik but the prices are great. Also the Renaissance Hotel, 1/2 block from Central Location, transportation hub for all your needs. If you can swing the Club Level, it comes with Buffet Breakfast everyday and afternoon, cocktail hour, so while the room is a bit higher, the perks make up for it. Also get a Holland Pass, depending on number of tickets you order you save time and money at most museums (not Frank House), avoid using a ticket on their 2 hours bus trip around town.

Now the trip, Dutch Masters Excursion, you can do the museums alone but having someone who knows the art and "the"pieces to see helps, this was Van Gogh Museum, followed by a Canal Trip, (with light lunch,sandwiches) and the Rijksmuseum. If you only do one excursion, IMO, this is the one. Zaanse,Voldendam, Markeen, windmill visit, cheese maker, clog maker. Fun but if you rent a car, skip Markeen. Niuewerkirk , one of the oldest churches in town, near Royal Palace, beautiful. We went on a tour of North Holland which includes a trip to the Enclosing Dam they are very proud of, it separates the North Sea (salt) from the largest lake in western Europe (fresh) an engineering marvel, also a short visit to Medembrik , wonderful small museum Westries and a ride on a steam engine train, Not for everyone but a relaxing day.

Bruges, its a long trip, either by bus or train, again if you have rented a car, they have the only Michaelangelo outside of Italy and a beautiful city. And of course the Chocolate Museum

We really liked Delft (reminded us of Oxford) and The Hauge, but the trip was a bit short in both places. Other places we saw and liked, Rembrandt House, Joods Historisch Museum, Portuguese Synagouge, Holocaust Museum, Alkmaar Cheese Market (1/2 day trip, Fridays only) National Maritime Museum, Tulip Museum, (with Holland pass discount card, it was 5 euros for the 3 of us). Dutch Resistance Museum (a must imo, shows Dutch involvement in WW2)

So there you have it, we covered a lot in 10 days But it was a great trip, would go back in a heartbeat. As always if you are thinking about going get in touch and we can talk, we of course avoided the "coffee shop" (they don't sell coffee , lol

And remember watch out for the bicycles, they rule the city

Chicago The Third

Yes we went back to Chicago. Why you ask? My wife just had to do the Beluga Whale Experience before our friend moved. And what an experience, not cheap, but the money helps maintain the Shedd Aquarium so a great cause. The class is 1 and 1/2 hours in total of learning about the Beluga and then being in the tank with them. You feed them, touch them, put your hand in their mouth and help train them. We have swam with Dolphins in Hawaii and helped train Sea Lions in the Bahamas, nothing comes close to this. Save up and go. While we were in Chicago we had breakfast in our favorite place on the Northside, Lilly's Pancake House and dinner in Ethan's favorite restaurant Ron of Japan. So just a short blog as it was a weekend trip. Off to Amsterdam in 10 days for 10 days, look for the blog week of June 23rd