Grand Europe Adventure - August 2022 Amsterdam - London - Paris

Let's add a few more cities, countries, adventures to our trip! Each of the cities chosen had something different to offer or a vaired reason for our visit. Our three city post cruise itinary included Amsterdam, London and Paris! Such a whirlwind of sites, people and fantastic experiences!

Pour your favorite refreshment and join us on our three city journey.

Amsterdam is my kind of city! I definity hope to visit again. We disembarked from our cruise and immediately felt the lively vibe and love of life. As become our habit we hit the ground running. A short Uber ride to our hotel in the city center and we started to explore. Listening to several travel gurus we trust including Rick Steves we walked along one of the canals. A walk through a neighborhood teaches so much about a city. Observing everything from architecture, interactions, daily routines and just the everyday vibe is exhilerating.

Residents confirmed that transportation among other daily expenses have become expensive. There were quite a few of these mini cars on the streets along with numberous electric cars like the Tesla pictured below.

A popular style is the "passenger/cargo" bike. We saw children being transported by their parents. Efficient and fun!

Bicycles in all forms are a huge part of life in Amsterdam. Cyclists are everywhere and have their own lanes in traffic. The bikes themselves become a form of traffic that pedistrations need to pay attention to! We learned that if attention is not paid riders can get a little boisterous. However, the majority of the time they were mindful of us and avoided running us over!

Just one of the bicyle parking areas we saw. Yes, those are all bikes on two levels! This one was on a busy waterway.

A fun cargo bike at a local outdoor market.

Outdoor cafes and bars along the canels were everywhere!

Reservations at the Van Gogh and Rijk Museums provided a day of art appreciation. There are so many masterpieces on display. It is very inspiring.

Artist's palette and paints.

This piece reminded me of our visit to Kinderdijk.

Always one of my favorites.

A fun background provided in the museum.

This was an interesting exhibit. The room was full of paintings and then an art student's summary of their studies.

A temporay exhibit at the museum inspired this workshop. We were provided a very brief presentation of the artist's signature work and then we created! The classroom was full of all ages and a lot of different languages. The "Color as Language" exhibition of Etal Adnan's work and her life inspired the workshop. In turn the workshop inspired me to create and learn more about art!

Learn more; Etal Adnan Exhibition at Van Gogh Museum

Photos from the Rijks Museum below.

Learn more; https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl

A note about our many museum visits for you to consider when you plan your visits-and I hope you will.

Although we usually took advantage of the audio tours in the future we will try to hire a local art student or museum docent to guide us through museums.

A look into the museum's research library.

Look at this young girl studying the painting. Both are wearing their fancy dresses. We enjoyed observing children and their fun for life throughout our travels. I will share more later in this post.

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Learn more about the Anne Frank Museum;

https://www.annefrank.org/en/

If you look closely in this photo you will see the street in front of the Anne Frank home and a family showing their children the photos and summary.

A few more strolls through the streets of Amsterdam before we take the Eurostar train to London!

Cheese-glorious cheese!

Unfortunately bike accidents do happen.

The Eurostar took us to London. I love train travel in Europe. Well, once I get on the train that is! The steps we had to go through to get on the train were intensive and took a lot of time. At the end of the passport, border (Brexit), security and ticket checks all passengers were held in room that was very crowded. We were finally allowed on the platform and able to get aboard the Eurostar.

London here we come!

Oh yes we play tourist well!

Fish and chips and a pot pie. A great London pub experience.

A Swiss chalet for a British Bird Watcher.

This art installation gets my vote for the most interesting! The explanation is explained on the signs posted near the sculpture.

Museum of London and a visit to Westminster Abbey.

The highlight of our London stay was a visit with friends. They planned an entire day and played tourist with us. We enjoyed a short boat trip down the River Thames to Greenwich.

Greenwich is home to the Cutty Sark, National Maritime Museum and the Greenwich Meridian Line. I am afraid I never became accustomed to the "tube" and all of the transit options in London. The steep escalators, the maze like halls, lack of fresh air challenged me at every step. Knowing this our friends navigated a route using mostly above ground mass transit. As they discussed the options it sounded like a foreign language. Very thoughtful of them.

It was a perfect day spent with a lovely couple.

The Cutty Sark

A field trip-as a retired educator it brought back many memories.

This pup carried his stick all the way up the hill to the Royal Observatory.

They met decades ago during their careers and stayed in touch.

The Meridian Line

On their way to the National Maritime Museum.

Before we said good-bye to London we attended a performace of "Anything Goes" at the Barbican Theater. It was amazing!

Before packing for our Paris trip we enjoyed a few more hours in London.

A great dinner at a French restaurant that was recommended by our friend. So nice having a local connection! (Yes that is an espresso martini with coffee beans as a garnish!)

A panaramic view from a London street.

Paris here we come!

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Back on the Eurostar and off to Paris. This city has been on my travel list for years. Wow, it did not disappoint. So much to see and experience. We stayed at a tiny hotel with a spiral staircase and vintage wallpaper and art. During our first day exploring the neighborhood we happened upon a nice cafe-bar and met Tim. We visited with him several times and he told us a little about the area. Always fun to meet a local resident.

View from hotel window.

Our Hotel de Nice was located on this street.

Tim working behind the bar.

One of their specialties was crepes.

Electric bus always in the neighborhood.

The colorful crosswalk is meant to identify our neighborhood as a safe and welcoming place for people of all lifestyles. Hopefully our entire world will be welcoming and in turn become a more colorful and peaceful planet.

An organic, locally brewed beer at an excellent restaurant our hotel clerk recommended.

Dessert that our waitress suggested. A carmalized apple kuchen. It was scrumptious!

Notre-Dame de Paris was a short walk from our hotel but of course it is still closed due to the fire.

The walk however allowed us to meet this artist and I found a piece of his work that I decided to bring home!

So many beautiful sites in Paris. We had a lot to explore and I am happy to share a few photos with you. Of course more than a few photos but I am sure you will recognize the places.

"Locks of Love" on bridges are very popular all over Europe. These were placed on a fence. Of course the ""MJ" caught our attention.

As the sun set the lights started appearing. It was magical.

Bastille

This piece caught my attention. I thought I should also include the description.

I mentioned previously that we observed many families traveling. Children were all ages including teens. It was fun observing these families exposing their youth to different cultures. We saw excitement in children's eyes, witnessed a few temper tantums and even knew when a child was rebelling against a parent's plan. We were fortunate to interact with a few families like the preschooler who spoke three languages. Families exploring different cultures is so important. Show youth that people, cities, food can be different than what they have in their daily routine. Demonstrate by expamle that differences aren't only okay but should be celebrated. New foods, new cities, even a new restaurant in your own city can a help a child keep an open mind.

How sweet and accepting the mind of a child!