April 9, 2024 Transatlantic - pre-cruise

   For our next trip, we have combined several different tours in Europe. We begin with a flight to Fort Lauderdale to board the Holland America Rotterdam for a 14 day cruise with stops at Ponta Delgada, Azores; Brest, France; Portland, England; Le Havre, France; Dover, England to arrive in Rotterdam, Netherlands. After a few days in Rotterdam, we will fly to Dublin, Ireland, to join a bus tour of Ireland travelling from the east coast to the west coast and southern coast back to Dublin. We then leave Ireland to fly to Brussels, Belgium, to take a train to Bruges, Belgium, to begin a seven day bike and barge voyage to Amsterdam before flying home.

  To make following the adventure easier, the trip will be separated into three blogs: the cruise and Rotterdam;  the Ireland bus tour and the Boat Bike tour.

   We have stored the various hotel reservations, tours and transportation tickets on our phones and printed copies too. Travel in the 2020s requires a cell phone with data now. We have a SIM card for data in Europe. It was easy to order on Amazon. 

  Claire’s brother was admitted to a palliative care hospital ward on March 24, but passed away on April 6 after a 14 year battle with cancer.

   The blog for the Ireland tour is called Emerald Isle Bus Tour 2024.

The website is https://emeraldisle2024.blogspot.com/ 

   The blog for the Boat Bike Tour is Cycling Bruges to Amsterdam 2024.

The website is https://cycleboat2024.blogspot.com/