198 thoughts on “Sayling Away~”

    1. Jim basically booked this while I was at the grocery store, free round trip flight and accomodations at 70% off. He can’t pass up deals like this! It will be nippy though!

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      2. No, but when you are retired and can travel off season you can get some ridiculously good deals, cheaper than eating at home. But you have to be willing to go with little notice. I saw the flight is about 50% full which will be nirvana!

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    1. Jim did it. He got an offer online. He bit while I bought, and now off we go. He gets a lot of deals like this, free flights, 2 for 1’s or in this case 70% off. It’s like you can’t afford not to go. Of course it’s last minute, which you need to sign up to be on the lists for, off season, and it will be COLD! But hey, we’re retired, right????

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      1. I don’t really speak much Dutch, Cindy, only the few phrases one needs to get around in a “foreign” country. I used to know how to say “fill ‘er up and fluff the tires, please,” in Portuguese when we rented a car there. 🙂

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      1. I’m going to Finland on business … and pleasure later this month. Tickets will be last minute too 🙂 Then probably to Switzerland and Hungary little later, mid-winter’ish brrr…

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      2. But, you have the benefit if the Christmas markets which I have never seen and would really love too! We will just miss Budapest’s Christmas markets by one day. You will be there. I can’t wait for your photos. It is so incredibly cool blogging. I get to talk with people like you. <3 <3

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    1. When we return we have five months with no travel! Whooopeee! I am looking forward to it…..Well, I shouldn’t say this. Jim may encounter an offer he can’t refuse!! 😉

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    1. I will be the one who is actually blown away, while you are toasty at home. The winds in most of the places we are going, gut your umbrella in a couple of minutes. And then there is the sleet and the rain. Oh, the joys of travel! Laughing….. 😉
      ⌒°(❛ᴗ❛)°⌒

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  18. Gorgeous shots. And, woo hoo! Love Amsterdam. I wanted to go back and spend more time in the Rijksmuseum, but my hip locked up. I didn’t make it to the Hermitage either, but that is supposedly good. I loved Rijks though. Have fun!

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    1. Well it is a small world isn’t it? The last time I was in Amsterdam the Rijks was closed for rennovation. Now it will be open and empty. Benefit of going in a blizzard. 😉 It will be windy and raining and COLD! But not inside the Rijks. And then we move on to Germany for a long time, Slovakia and Budapest for five nights.
      I did see the hermitage. It is really something.
      It is so cool to know people like you Nicci! <3

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  21. Cindy, we get the special benefit of your photography skills while we will also be chilly, rushing in and out of work and rather boring places. Ha ha! 🙂
    Enjoy and explore to the utmost. We all have our hidden “havens.” Discover elegant, exotic and unique places far away from crowds. I will pray for you to enjoy mild cold days and warm sunny skies which brighten cold days. Hugs, Robin

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  23. Wow, what a surprise! Luck is surely smiling upon you Cindy! I look forward to all the beautiful cold weather photographs you’ll be taking. Have a wonderful trip! ~Lynn

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    1. Well we just arrived in Amsterdam and it is raining just a tad and is not too cold so this is promising. Plus the Christmas displays are going up and I wanted to see them!

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  25. Have a wonderful time. It’s been ages, but Germany is vunderbar all times of the year. What part will you visit? Try to make it down to Bavaria if at all possible. That is my favorite part.

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  28. That looks like a lot of fun. I’ve never tried it before.

    Can’t wait to see your photos from Amsterdam! I visited it once but many years ago. Spent only a few days there but had such a lovely time in the incredibly beautiful city. Have fun, and cheers to you Cindy!

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    1. It’s a fun city, with all the old canals and Hanseatic architecture, not to mention all the errrrrr ‘coffee’ shops! I’m not into coffee, so they aren’t my thing.

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  31. Parasailing looks exciting, a little bit like the kite surfing my son is doing. That shore line, by the way, looks very Swedish!
    Amsterdam is a beautiful city, I lived there for a while many years ago. Have fun and enjoy your European tour! 🙂

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      1. And I am glad that you are willing to travel and share your beautiful photos. About five years ago, I suffered a spinal injury, which makes sitting/traveling for long distances very difficult.

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  43. Oh, goodness, you are the most jet-setting friend I have (in real life or online)! 🙂 Great series of photos to go with your announcement! I’ve always wanted to try parasailing. 🙂 Bon voyage!

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  59. WOW! Have the best time. I know you always have the best time…. but have a better best time.
    AND dress for the weather, then you won’t feel the cold!

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      2. I was puzzled, thinking, These are Netherlanders, and I’m a Southern Californian. Why I am I the only one without a jacket? I think the weather may have been unusual and hence unexprected….. 😉

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    1. I’m too old to go parasailing……. Laughing! 😉 😉
      But truthfully I wouldn’t do it when I was young. I saw a lady once land in a palm tree in Mexico and that was it for me!

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      1. I am disabled and I am not sure I can get on the boat but I have been jet skiing on a cruise. It was a ball, but it probably won’t be repeated. But I did it once and I am glad. Hugs, Barbara

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    1. Well there was one tiny unmentioned catch, ,it was a Viking river cruise and the rivers have become un-navigable due to drought! Still we are off das boat and are so happy to be in Budaphest now for the Christmas markets! We saw them in Germany, Vienna and Slovakia too, which was wonderful!

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      1. Hope you have a wonderful serendipitous time. When we lived in Spain, they had beautiful Christmas markets on the plazas too. Hundreds of nativity scene pieces and old sorts of Christmas sweets. Wish I could see all the ones you are seeing… Here, I’m just stuck with the mall! have fun!

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  75. Have a wonderful time, Cindy. We actually had blue sky all day, at least over my town on the SE coast of the UK. Quite unusual, though. It rained for most of the time I was in the Isle of Wight the weekend before, not to mention the gale that was blowing and the choppy crossing I had on the ferry on the way there. I don’t know what the weather has been like in the rest of Europe, though.

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    1. We have had sun most of the time. Encountered your storm in Viennna, and the first day in Budapest. So dreary and cold. But this morning awoke in Budapest to cold, crisp, sunshine and clean wonderful air. Excellent photo day and the city has no tourists, although I met a lovely male exchange student from New Hampshire. I always meet US exchange students in Europe. They make excusés to talk to me because they are missing their mom´s. Love them. my daughter was one once…….

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