Karen’s Travel Blog

Journeys on water and land

europe

  • 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

  • Farewell to Friesland, Hello North Holland. visiting 7 towns in 7 days

    After picking up Jo in Harlingen, we were going to stop again Leeuwarden, but Peter decided he couldn’t face all those bridges again so we continued onto the small village of Wergea.. Now Wergea, and I’m sure nobody has heard of it, because I hadn’t, is a typical Dutch village. A canal wanders through the Read more

  • Travels in Friesland

    It was time to catch up with friends in Leeuwarden. Not only was Terry waiting for us in the port, but another Piper boat, Wanderlust, with Becky and Dave on board. We had crossed paths a few times, but never broken bread or shared a drink or two. This time we did both. From Leeuwarden Read more

  • We made it to Friesland! And onto Groningen

    After over 3 months travelling north we were finally in reach of Friesland. Our first stop for the night was Etchenerburg a small village on the shores of the Tjeukemeer ( a meer is a lake). With a campsite and marina, the town offers a small supermarket, a few restaurants and a chandler, where I Read more

  • A short trip from Kampen to Giethoorn

    We were excited to welcome our first family member aboard to enjoy the delights of our Joie de Vivre. Peter even put on a clean shirt and pants and asked me to cut his hair, to celebrate the occasion. Kampen is another Hanseatic town and we were still on the Ijssel. Our mooring was in Read more

  • The Hanseatic towns of the Ijssel

    The Ijssel is a distributary of the Rhine that flows in a northerly direction eventually discharging into the IJsselmeer. We had travelled on this river in 2022, but at that time we motored against the flow, upstream in a north south direction. There was a drought and the river was low with not much traffic. 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