Karen’s Travel Blog

Journeys on water and land

amsterdam

  • Making our way south

    After all the excitement of Sail Amsterdam, it was time to take stock and plan our trip back to Brugge. We left our port in Waterguezen and returned to Sixhaven (where we usually stay in Amsterdam). A walk into town showed a much quieter city than the one we had experienced the previous week. There Read more

  • Sail Amsterdam 2025

    What would you describe as a highlight of your life? Did you go to Woodstock or a Queen concert, visit Antartica, were caught in the tragic aftermath of a terrorist attack, or were witness to an Olympic milestone. Well this year Peter and I visited the 10th edition of Sail Amsterdam aboard our Joie de Read more

  • North Holland Den Helder to Amsterdam and 2 Museums!

    With a love for all things nautical you will not be surprised that we visited the Navy Museum in Den Helder. We climbed through the Submarine Tonijn, launched in 1965 and decommissioned in 1991, had lunch on the ramming ship Schorpioen and were nearly blown away in the radar dome to the HLNMS de Ruyter. Read more

  • From The towns of South Holland to Towns and rivers of Gelderland

    Leaving Gouda we took the Hollandse Ijssel, heading east. This section is a meandering narrow waterway, 32kms in length with 11 opening bridges. Although we were aiming for the town of Ijsselstein, we made a stop at the historical village of Oudewater. Little is known about the origins of Oudewater, though it did hold a Read more

  • A farewell cruise

    Since 2022 we have spent some time cruising with James, Julie and Colin on their boat Mimosa. Sadly all good things have to end. With James and Julie having now sold their boat we decided to head south from Amsterdam with them back to Haarlem, Leiden and Gouda. This was our last fling and the Read more

  • Amsterdam for 2 weeks, Museums, Gardens and Friends

    Yes the bad weather did persist, but I did manage to make a few forays into the city of Amsterdam. With my trusty museum card in hand(best 75 euros I have ever spent!) we (that’s Peter and I) visited a number of sights. Next on the list were the Oude Kerk and the Nieuwe Kerk. Read more

  • Escorting our visitors through South Holland to North Holland

    With Helen and David Grodski in tow we left Gouda, destination Leiden This city is home to the oldest university in the Netherlands, which is celebrating its 450th anniversary this year. Wow and we think the 150th anniversary for our yacht club is a major event. Puts it in perspective, doesn’t it? The tulip was Read more

  • Zeeland and beyond

    Now it’s time for a little geography lesson. The Netherlands (which literally translates to “lower countries”) is a collection of 12 provinces or states. Two of these provinces are South Holland and North Holland, so when people refer to Holland they are technically only talking about these two provinces. So we left Yerske in Zeeland Read more