Tulips, Castles & River Cruising: Part 1 of 4

This four part series will cover my experiences  on Tulips, Castles & River Cruising – small group luxury tour by Want To Go Travel. It is a 12 day journey that started today. We will spend several days in Amsterdam, then cruise down the Rhine River visiting various quaint towns and ending in Switzerland where we spend our last two days in Lucerne.

You know your trip is off to a great start when:

• Your main handle breaks off your suitcase thus forcing you to repack into another suitcase entirely
• The airline check-in person is “in training” and to enhance their learning curve, the computer is broken
• And finally the airplane in-flight entertainment system (yes with the movies, music and games) does not work on the 9 hour flight – good thing I can sleep

Honestly, the KLM equipment was in need of a refresh but the crew was of high quality.  The flight seemed to go by faster than the last time I made this trip, which was nice. Most of our bags were already to be picked up by time we cleared immigration.  Our driver Cedric, reminded me of Morgan Freeman in looks, was fantastic with the most positive spirit and in depth city knowledge you will find! I look forward to using his services again.

The Sofitel Grand is well located in the heart of Amsterdam, although it may be a bit close to the Red Light District for some people. This former Amsterdam City Hall is a lovely upscale hotel. Check in was prompt and thankfully they had our rooms ready and waiting. The rooms, recently renovated, are very spacious by european standards and feature a large wall of windows that have a nice view of the canal. The marble bathroom offered a huge soaking tub with a TV in the wall, a generous separate shower and dressing area.

Several of us took a cruise to see the sights and amazing architecture from the waterways. My only issue with this boat tour is the glass windows, which don’t open.  Any photos taken from inside the boat would have reflections of the all the passengers – several places will have to be revisited if we want quality pictures. It is nice that Amsterdam is very walkable that retracing our journey is easily doable.

The most colorful experience of the day was taking several wrong turns in the red light district. Oh how very special and exhilarating to my jet-lagged self. Thankfully, no one I was traveling with was too shocked, although the “ladies” in the windows were eagerly trying to get our attention.

As I write this, I have all the windows open to let the fresh air in,enjoying the sounds of seagulls, bicycles and church bells. Texas was 90 when I left, so this mild 50’s weather is very refreshing.

What do you love about Amsterdam in the spring?