Category Archives: Amsterdam

Onboard our riverboat

 

Our room on the Travel Marvel Sapphire

Our room on the Travel Marvel Sapphire

 The travelmarvel Sapphire is wonderful, the cabins are a decent size, they are clean and comfortable there are no obvious signs of age or wear and tear.

Every single one of the crew are happy courteous, friendly and helpful.

 

The lounge area on the TravelMarvel Sapphire

The lounge area on the TravelMarvel Sapphire

 The meals have been great, they have happily accomodated me being gluten free and dairy free, always offerring alternatives and … they stock gluten free beer!

At meal times there is always an abundance of food, breakfast has a whole table of breads, pastries, cake and … DONUTS! (Which is really putting my willpower to the test) as well as the standard bacon, eggs, hash browns etc. the lunches are a buffet style with a couple of additional options available from the kitchen made to order. Dinners are always À la carte and while the servings are small on massive plates there are five courses so you never leave the table hungry. Lunches and dinners are served with flowing red and white wine from the regions you cruise through and beer … all included in the price of the cruise.

 

Cocktail anyone?

Cocktail anyone?

 Additionally there is the cocktail bar professionally headed by the congenial Gerome with a “cocktail of the day” to indulge in if you feel like indulging as you settle back and enjoy your cruising.

Most of the other passengers have been friendly and engaging. Almost all of us are Aussies … could have done with a bit more variety there but as we found out this boat is part of an Australian run bussiness, so I guess that explains it.

Lindt Easter Bunnies

Lindt Easter Bunnies

 TravelMarvel have done a great job, all the extra little things add up to make it a really special experience the friendly heartfelt welcomes from ALL of the staff everyday, the swan folded from the towel on the end of the bed by the cleaners, the chocolate on your pillow at night with the turn down service and … as a special Easter treat for us all LINDT EASTER BUNNIES … Oh yeah! 

Our European river cruise begins

Starting our travelmarvel 15 day european gems Amsterdam to Budapest cruise …

It’s really hard to wind down. ..
Our first nite in Amsterdam we stayed at the Mővenpick Hotel, only 10 mins walk from city centre. Like their ice cream,  the Mővenpick hotel was delicious. .great location beautiful room and a great  breakfast.

The view of Amsterdam from our room in the Mővenpick Hotel

View of Amsterdam from our room in the Mővenpick Hotel

We went for a stroll into town to see ..and smell …what Amsterdam had to offer…ahhh nothing has changed.

The next day we decided to visit the NEMO science museum …very interesting, could spend the whole day there but we had to go get ready for a long transfer from our hotel to board the TravelMarvel Sapphire riverboat that will take us from A (Amsterdam ) to B (Budapest)…it was only a 5 min walk but we got on the bus anyway. 

The TravelMarvel Sapphire riverboat

The TravelMarvel Sapphire riverboat

Ooh la la on our way to gay Paris

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It was pouring rain in Amsterdam last night. This morning we woke up to thunder, lightning and rain. Oh I hope this doesn’t last too long so we can get our luggage on train without getting wet..But true to the Amsterdam weather prediction it cleared up as we said our goodbyes to the very friendly and helpful staff of La Boheme hotel.

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Our train trip was long and I must admit tiring…. The train stopped at few places in Netherlands and Belgium before reaching our destination “Paris Nord”.

You know what they say about the French being rude?? Well sad but true!
Anyway we weren’t going to let that get to us so after a €20 taxi ride to our hotel (a bit old and shabby but good location near the Eiffel Tower) we dropped off our bags and set off on foot to explore our surrounds. First stop …. The Eiffel Tower of course!! With queues as long as the river seine we decided to go up the tower another time.

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OMG!

With a late start to the day we set off to explore a bit more of Amsterdam. ….
OMG moments …
We tip toed through the tulips, down the “flower markets” … they’re selling some interesting items along with the tulips …

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Where is my bike? I parked my bike here in Dam Square …. I know it’s here somewhere !

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High on the streets:
Streets galore filled with not only sex shops like this very popular condom shop

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….but lots of shops selling weed & hemp products such as food, drinks, ice cream, lolly pops and of course smoking coffee shops.

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Ladies locked in windows : funny thing about the Dutch, they lock naughty ladies in windows instead of jail… Fat ones skinny ones old fat ugly ones and some young ones… They are so mean they don’t even give them enough clothes to wear!

Cold as ice: a chilling visit to the ice bar was SO COOL!!

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