April 26, 2019 Serenade TA - Is it LIVE, or is it Memorex🤔

[John&LaLa]

So that was France. Busy day.

Laura missed out, but she would not have liked the weather in the morning

She will join us tomorrow in Brugge

 

I will leave you with another cabin delivery

 

Goodnight

 

 

 

 

[John&LaLa]

3 minutes ago, Bailey & Sophie said:

 

My uncle stormed Normandy. He was in the first round of men. He never talked about it. 

 

I'm sure it was a nightmare.

 

Laura had uncles in Europe and the Pacific

One had frostbite during Battle of Bulge and the other was a Japanese POW, but escaped/was rescued.

[kastke]

2 hours ago, Bailey & Sophie said:

 

My uncle stormed Normandy. He was in the first round of men. He never talked about it. 

I get that. My dad was on an aircraft carrier that was bombed twice; he was off the coast of Japan the day Japan surrendered. He would never talk about the war either.... until after 9/11. That was a turning point for him to make sure his grandkids and great grands knew the history. 

 

[John&LaLa]

Cruise Compass Day Day 14 - Zeebruge, Belgium

 

 

 

[John&LaLa]

We are taking the ships excursion bus transfer into Bruges

Need to fuel up before the bus leaves

Finally found a good picture of the new coffee machines

 

View from our balcony

 

Modern windmills aren't as romantic as the old ones

 

30 minute drive into the old town

 

Bus dropped us off in a park around 10 am, I think.

I think we had to be back in 6 hours, so lets head into town

 

Little details everywhere

 

 

 

Laura used to go here a lot in Germany when she traveled for work

 

Hungry horse

 

There were to sides to this fountain, guess what the other side looked like. 😁

 

 

 

 

 

[John&LaLa]

Finally got Patrick into a Cathedral

I'm sure it was Laura's idea

 

 

Ricky Bobby would love this place

 

 

 

 

A few shots from outside

 

 

Edited May 9, 2020 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

Time for lunch

But  not here

 

Somehow we found the square

My advice is just keep looking for the tallest towers and head that way

I'm always bringing up the rear

 

 

You can climb this one for about 7 Euro, I think

I sent Pat up to take pictures

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laura and I looked for a place to wait and have a drink

 

He's up there somewhere

 

 

It seems you could go up in this one as well

 

I think this is a National symbol of Belgium

Or a big piece of foil covered chocolate, I forget

Edited May 9, 2020 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

Waiting for Pat

 

 

Something pink, but not Beringer

 

Truly local beer

 

Forgot to order a Stella

 

Pat finally came down and we ordered food

Pizza and Frites

and beer

 

More beer

 

More wine

 

So we had Belgian Beer, Belgian Fries, but forgot Belgian Chocolate. 

Oops

Edited May 9, 2020 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

Lunch is over, let's ask Google where Starbucks's is at.

Luckily it's only about two klicks, outside the train station and near the park we need to meet the bus at.

 

Goodbye Markt

 

Off we go, it's a fairly scenic route

 

 

 

 

Still playing catch up

 

I think she noticed

 

Big fan of paw prints

 

 

Probably should have grabbed a taxi

 

Looks like we made it

But they only had Antwerp and Belgium, no Bruges

And the Belgium one was only in the espresso size

So we got three

 

Got one of these for Leslie since she gave us the Ireland one

Edited May 10, 2020 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

Minnewater Park was right across from the train station so we made it in plenty of time

It's a very nice park, there are some ruins to an old castle, and a gatehouse as I recall

 

Now this would have been a cool bus.

 

 

Laura seems unhappy to be heading back, or maybe it's just the Tootsie Roll

 

Passed by a new windmill going up as we approached the port, blades are massive

 

 

This was waiting for us in the cabin.😱🍣

Don't you just love warm sushi. 

 

It did look nice, though.

 

 

[John&LaLa]

David Knight

This may have been Laura's third time on stage, probably her last

She never does the weird stuff, but says she does fall asleep

Pat did it to, but it was a joke as far as he was concerned

He played along a little, but kept laughing and got booted near the end

 

The original victims

Nate and Julie on the end. Nate doesn't last long

 

Putting them under

 

 

Playing the piano

 

Do not go up there wearing a dress or a skirt

 

 

 

 

 

Priceless

 

Pat preferred being in the audience

Behind him is the lady in the skirt

 

Big yawn, time for bed

 

Goodnight

 

 

Edited May 10, 2020 by John&LaLa

[L454S]

Definitely one of the best stops for sight seeing and pics.

[John&LaLa]

Cruise Compass Day 15 - Amsterdam, Netherlands

 

 

 

[L454S]

[John&LaLa]

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Our last stop before Copenhagen

This stop actually drops you in the center of town

5 minute walk to the train station (and a Starbucks)

So no tour, just wander around town, find my ice cream, have lunch, and sample the local beer

 

City side of the train station

 

Canal boats for tours, we'll do that in Copenhagen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[John&LaLa]

Let's go find my ice cream

Coincidently, we end up at Grizzly's for lunch. Not sure how that worked out

And actually, we saw more sex shops than pot shops in this neighborhood

Sorry, no pics

 

Found Green Dayz

 

They sell a lot of edibles, no smoking

 

Went with banana, go figure

Full disclosure, The ice cream is a very low strength canabis, probably none to tell you the truth

They just add CBD oil to the serving after they scoop it

 

It was tasty, though

 

Laura bought a muffin😉

Supposedly it was the highest strength of all the shops edibles

Unfortunately, it made her nauseous, and I had to eat it.

Waste not, want not is my motto

Well that and Love All, Serve All.

Very dry as I recall

[John&LaLa]

Lunch and then back to the ship

We all ordered burgers and fries

Not sure what Amsterdam is known for eats wise

Probably stuff for the Munchies

 

But there was plenty of beer

 

 

 

Kinda boring after Bruges

 

This was cool, kind of a mall

 

Happy Mothers Day

 

View of the Serenade as you leave the station

 

I like how the river boats tie up so you have to walk across them to get to yours

 

I wished I had known there was a Heineken Experience tour

Maybe next time

 

Pat picked these up as we got back on the ship

Wooden tulips don't need water

 

Our coffee mug from the train station

 

It was a fun day, but Bruges was better

 

BTW, here are a few pics from Laura's camera

 

Looking towards the train station from her aft cabin

 

Walking over

Edited May 11, 2020 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

Sorry, but this is all for a few days.

Closing on our new house is tomorrow morning

Still have the trip thru the canal and ABBA show

 

I'll leave you with the afternoon food delivery

 

Macarons, they were very good. There may have been a chocolate one prior to the picture

And the chocolate cherries were a new treat

 

Goodnight

Edited May 11, 2020 by John&LaLa

[Sea Dog]

I spent several days in Amsterdam many years ago and loved it. Even though the brown cafe's and the red light district get a lot of attention. I found the history and the city amazing. One of the most beautiful cities (other than Paris) I have ever seen. I really want to go back on a cruise to see and experience it again.

[dani negreanu]

7 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

Closing on our new house is tomorrow morning

 

LaLa & John -- May your new house be a blessed one.

 

Don't forget to enter first with the right leg 😁

[heatherb1958]

Hope all went smoothly with the house deal.

 

We have been to Amsterdam several times by cruise ship but last year did a 14night  river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam , the most amazing trip . 

They call it double/triple docking when you have to walk through the other river ships or an up & over if your doors don’t line up 😆, very interesting climbing up and down stairs on each boat comparing them. The Amareina  in your photo was with us all the way last year , luxury end of the tour company we were with but there was nothing budget about our trip, highly recommended if you want a break from the big girls . 😂. 

[bobmacliberty]

4 hours ago, heatherb1958 said:

We have been to Amsterdam several times by cruise ship but last year did a 14night  river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam , the most amazing trip . 

 

What cruise line did you use?  We've been looking at Viking for a river cruise.  Looks very interesting.

[pstone1]

We took a walking tour and canal boat ride in Brugge, which was our favorite Port.  During our free time, we visited the local brewery that made the Bruges Zot Beer you were drinking, and learned they installed an underground pipeline to move their beer through the City.  There was a viewing spot outside where you could see it!  

Link to the interesting story below: 
 

https://globalnews.ca/news/2944925/150-year-old-brewery-opens-taps-on-new-underground-beer-pipeline-in-belgium/

[John&LaLa]

8 hours ago, heatherb1958 said:

Hope all went smoothly with the house deal.

 

We have been to Amsterdam several times by cruise ship but last year did a 14night  river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam , the most amazing trip . 

They call it double/triple docking when you have to walk through the other river ships or an up & over if your doors don’t line up 😆, very interesting climbing up and down stairs on each boat comparing them. The Amareina  in your photo was with us all the way last year , luxury end of the tour company we were with but there was nothing budget about our trip, highly recommended if you want a break from the big girls . 😂. 

 

House closing went fine, actually went back to CB, grsbbed some more stuff and back in Ocala.

 Headed home in the morning.  Hopefully catch up Friday

[bearette]

We did Ireland in March, there were no crowds except the St. Patrick's parade.  We had a five minute wait to kiss the stone at Blarney and I have several pictures without a soul in them inside the castle. The area around the castle is very touristy, but the grounds are worth your time.  We did a short stop on the way back to Dublin and we both (hubby and I) agreed we would go back if ever in Ireland again and plan on walking the whole forest area. We took the short loop and made lunch fast food in the car just so we could walk around.

 

I highly recommend the Heineken experince. It is pricey and busy, but very entertaining. You get two free soda (underage) or beer, only Heineken of course,but they did a free toast during the tour. They do a "bottle experience" that my kids thought was so cool that to this day if they see a Heineken add they call "mommy look! Heineken!". They make me look like an alcoholic, though I don't drink beer and have my free beers to two very happy college guys. Seriously though, they had a dance party, a sports and Olympic interaction based on their add campaigns that we liked as much as the factory.I

 

Looking forward to the end.  Thanks for the entertainment!