To show a picture from one our 2019 travels. In the back the Eiffle tower. Trees in front of it. Then the river Seine. Cosette and Yuri standing on a bridge with a lot of locks attached to it.
City,  Couples,  France,  Kids,  Netherlands,  roadtrip,  summer,  winter

2019 travels in review

We had a good travel year, last year. We traveled in Europe, mostly the western part. We had trips in The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Czech Republic and Spain. Our 2019 travels were fantastic in one word.

January

We started the New Year with friends in Almere. Playing board games and watching the fireworks. After this we started our 2019 travels with a visit to Uden on Ice our with my sister and nieces during Christmas break. Ice skating and tubing is so fun to do. On a weekend we went to the Open Air Museum in Arnhem, we did the ‘Elfstedentocht’ route. It was a winter only event. It was cold outside, but still fun. The last outing we went on in January was a couples outing. Paul and I went to the Ashley Monroe concert.

To show a picture of something we did in January. A windmill in a frosty landscape. Pasture in front, trees behind it. A tubing lane in front of the mill.
A windmill in Openluchtmuseum Arnhem

February

The month started with a family weekend getaway to Landal Het Vennenbos. We do this every year with my parents and sister, it’s such a good tradition. Yuri and his nieces play together and we relax. In the rest of the month Yuri had a slumber party with his class at school. He had so much fun. I visited the Catharijne church and Catharijneconvent in Utrecht with the youth preparing for their confirmation. At the end of the month we traveled to Landal Marina Lipno in Lipno nad Vltavou (Czech Republic) with an overnight stay at Hotel Kasserole in Siegsburg (Germany).

A picture to show one of our 2019 travels. Yuri on his knees in the snow. Lifting a sled next to his head.
Yuri in the snow

March

The first days of March we were still in Czech Republic, enjoying the snow; the beauty of the region; ice skating and sleding. It was our second time at this holiday rental park and we loved it again. It’s a beautiful region with cute villages and lots of activities to undertake and the beautiful medieval city of Český Krumlov.

Straight from Lipno nad Vltavou we drove to Uden and went to the Carnaval parade. After one night at home we brought Yuri to his grandparents and checked in at the Fletcher hotel Amsterdam. We drove past this hotel so many times and it was high on my must visit list of hotels in The Netherlands. We went to the Country 2 Country (C2C) festival. Also something I wanted to go to badly for years. But until 2019 it was only in London, it would be expensive to go to. Luckily since 2019 it’s also in Amsterdam. So we went to the first C2C in The Netherlands and it was fantastic. But what do you expect with Keith Urban as the main act.

A picture to show something we did in March. Kids jumping on trampolines. Black trampolines, red in between. Looked up from above.
Jump-in

The rest of the month had only one more outing and that was Yuri’s birthday party at Jump in The Wall. The party was a succes. The kids had a blast jumping for an hour and fries, snacks and a slush puppy afterwards. The weather was already nice so Paul started making longer motorbike rides again.

April

April began with climbing the Domtower and visiting the Dom church with Yuri’s class. I was one of the parent supervisors and finally I climbed the Domtower, after living for 20 years in Utrecht.

To show a picture from our 2019 travels. A small street with higher buildings, shops below, appartments above. The buildings have different colors and lots of plants.
A street in Bilbao

April ended with our second vacation of the year and the first roadtrip of our 2019 travels. We made a roadtrip through Northern Spain. We visited the regions of Asturias, Cantabria and Basque country. On our way to Spain we overnighted in Lille and Bordeaux and on our way home just above Paris. We were pleasently surprised by the whole of Northern Spain and especially Asturias. If you visit Spain, don’t miss this part of the country. For good assistence on your walks, visit this site from our friends in Asturias. On our way back from Spain we stopped in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, before heading back home.

May

Paul and I had the opportunity to spend the night on the Cruise Hotel ship SS Rotterdam due to a company outing. The evening party was fun with lots of dancing and good food. The old cabins have been turned into hotelrooms and they did an excellent job. The next day Paul visited the Pinball museum and I visited the Photography museum before going back home.

A picture to show an event from May. Standing on a ship in the water, but not moving. The sun is setting behind the large buildings in Rotterdam.
Sunset on the SS Rotterdam

During the rest of May I visited the Willibrordus abbey in Doetinchem and had a city day trip to ’s Hertogenbosch with a friend. Yuri visited the Archeon with class from school. Paul ended the month by going on a roadtrip with his dad.

June

At the start of June Paul was still on a roadtrip with his dad. Since it was warm (hot) weather Yuri and I went a day to the beach in Zandvoort. Always a good idea, despite the crowds. We walked the Avondvierdaagse, 4 days, 5 kilometres each evening. Loads of fun. At the end of the month we had our yearly trip to the Efteling with Paul’s parents.

To show something fun from June. Cosette making two peace signs with her hands. Se sits on her knees on the beach. Lots of people around her. In front of her a sandcastle.
Building a sandcastle

July

In July Yuri’s summer break started, so a lot of our 2019 travels was in this month and in August. I started Yuri’s summer vacation with a city day trip to Maastricht with a friend. We love Maastricht and go each year.

The next day we dropped Yuri off at his Game&Reality camp. It was the first time he went away for 7 days in a row. All went well and he had a fabulous week. During that week Paul and I spent one night at Van der Valk hotel Schiphol and one night at hotel De Watertoren in Zwolle. The day we went to Zwolle I paid a visit to Museum de Fundatie in Zwolle.

A picture to show one of the things we did. Yuri is standing on a sandy parking lot. Behind him parked cars. He's holding a big bag and a sleeping bag.
Dropping Yuri off at camp

The day after we picked Yuri up from camp we went to hotel Noordzee, which is next to the beach in Katwijk. The start of our summer roadtrip. After one night we pitched our tent at Vakantiepark Koningshof. Paul still had to work for a week and this campsite was close to his office. We had a good time there, playing lots of Uno, swimming, reading and gaming.

August

Paul’s last work day was on August the 1st. On that day we packed up our tent and started our roadtrip through Belgium and France. We started in Ypres, Belgium then on to France: Nurlu, Disneyland, Paris (Paris macaron walking tour ending at the Arc de Triomphe), Tours, Nantes, Mont St Michel, Amiens and back home. We stayed at hotels, appartments and a holiday rental. Yuri’s favorite were the campsites with swimmingpools. Second favorite was Disneyland. Paul celebrated his 40th birthday there. When we were back home I went to the movie theatre with Yuri and a friend and also had some fun at the Jaarbeursplein.

To show a highlight of our 2019 travels. The Snowwhite castle in the dark. On both sides fireworks. Projected on the castle is a  still from the show.
Illuminations show at Disneyland

September

The last day of Yuri’s summer break we went to Duinrell and the Tikibad swimming pool. It was a trip down memory lane for Paul and a friend of us. Since they visited Duinrell many times in their childhood. In the beginning of September we stayed for a second time at Bed & breakfast De Hooimoat in Losser and the three of us went to the Tuckerville festival for the 3rd time (it was the 4th visit for Paul and me). This year it was a rainy one, but we still had fun.

A picture to show something from Duinrell. A giant's stride making a swirl. Waster blowing up under it, just mnot hitting the people on the chairs.
A giant’s stride at Duinrell

We kept on going with outings in September. I went on a city day trip to The Hague and Scheveningen with a friend. They really did well on the Pier, it’s fun to walk over now. After that Paul and I went to a double concert from Lauren Jenkins and Austin Jenckes. The 3 of us went apple plucking at the fall harvest of Nieuw Slagmaat. We ended the month with a weekend getaway for Paul and me. During the day we paid a visit to museum Het Valkhof at Nijmegen and we slept in Bed & breakfast Common in Ubbergen.

October

Paul and Yuri went to the Firstlook festival, which is all about gaming. They go every year and enjoy themselves a lot. Then we had 3 weekend getaways in a row. First Paul and I went to the Mercure hotel in Tilburg for one night. Brad Paisley performed at 013. Second weekend we went to Luxembourg city, to stay in Yuri’s favorite hotel the Doubletree by Hilton. Since they were overbooked they gave us a junior suite. Very luxourius. The third weekend getaway was at the Van der Valk Schiphol Airport. We explored Amsterdam 2 days from the hotel. We celebrated Halloween that weekend at the Hardrock Cafe.

A picture to show something from October travels. It's a staged picture taken on a beam. In front of a green screen. The green screen shows a still of Amsterdam. Yuri's fallen of the beam, Cosetee tries to grap him. Yuri is holding on tight on Paul's hand. Paul looks into the camera.
Amsterdam lookout

November

We kept a slower pace in our 2019 travels at the end of the year. With Yuri’s class I went to a cheese making workshop at kinderboederij de Koppelsteede. Then to celebrate 15 years of marriage we had a weekend getaway a the Beachhotel by Center Parcs in Zandvoort. Onesies, swimming, jumping and walks on the beach, it was perfect.

To show something from November. Looking down from the promenade on the beach. A beachclub with a tractor in front of it. Some wind blowing. People walking on the beach.
A view on the beach in Zandvoort

December

On Christmas break we went to the Amsterdams Winterparadijs and had a blast. Tubing, throwing snow balls, good food, a ferris wheel and more like that. Our last trip of the year was to Paul’s sister in Germany, were we celebrated Christmas.

A picture to show one of the last 2019 travels. Paul is on a tube. He's in the air. Under him a air cushon. He's coming of a tube jump.
The tubing jump

This concludes our 2019 travels. We had a good travel year with roadtrips and weekend getaways.

What’s 2020 going to bring in travels and what will 2021 bring in travels? Well we’re going to Austria for some snow and the rest is still wide open, except for the Tuckerville weekend in September.

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