Let's Plan a Trip to Amsterdam

Day 1

Morning

Arrive in Amsterdam! Welcome! Welkom!

From Schiphol Airport, hop a train to Centraal Station, Amsterdam's nerve center. From here, you can catch buses, trams, ferries, trains and taxis to anywhere in Amsterdam and almost anywhere in Western Europe. Tempting, but we'll stay in Amsterdam today and focus on the old center, exploring on foot.  

Eat breakfast at Omelegg-Centrum, where hearty meat, cheese and veggie omelettes are a filling and scrumptious way to kick off your trip. Begin exploring via Amsterdam's canals — the city's aquatic arteries — on a one-hour canal boat tour. 

After canal cruising, tour the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam’s oldest building. Originally intended as a Catholic place of worship, it converted, along with the rest of the country, to Dutch Protestantism. Nearby, another church reveals an entirely different story: Instead of converting to Protestantism, the clandestine Catholic church at Lord in the Attic survived by quietly hiding in a nondescript canal home.
 

Afternoon

That was a big first morning. You've earned another filling meal and celebratory beers with lunch at Brouwerij de Prael, just a few minutes' walk from Lord in the Attic. After lunch, make a "coffee" stop (should you be so inclined) at the Green House-Centrum.

It's now time for a stroll. Walk south to Dam Square and visit the Royal Palace of Amsterdam. Take a self-guided tour using the provided audioguide. Finally, dive deep into the city's history at the thoroughly illuminating Amsterdam Museum, a few blocks south of Dam Square.
 

Evening

After all that walking and sightseeing and to celebrate your first night in Amsterdam, go for a fancy dinner and drinks at The Lobby, a trendy upscale restaurant that focuses on locally sourced ingredients. If you haven't dozed off yet, make a "coffee" stop (should you be so inclined) at The Original Dampkring. Want to party? You're a few minutes' walk from all the nightlife you can handle in the notorious Red Light District.

That was a big day. Get some rest.

You don't need a passport to travel to these destinations.

https://blog.thediscoverer.com/tropical-destinations-dont-need-passport-for/

Good Vibes

If you are of Jewish or Israeli heritage, a multi gen vacation can be an incredible experience

If you are of Jewish or Israeli heritage, a trip to Israel can make for the perfect family vacation. This historical destination is brimming with sacred sights and significant monuments that make for an incredible experience to share with your family. Spend time connecting with each other and reconnecting with your heritage during a multigen vacation to Israel.

Have you ever been to Israel with your family, or is it on your bucket list? D.M. or email me today to plan your trip.

You may think a Travel Agent is not necessary.

Explore Europe with Princess Cruises in 2020

UNWRAP YOURSELF

UNWRAP YOURSELF 

By Miles Patrick Yohnke

We arrive not totally wired nor totally assembled like an electric jigsaw puzzle. And thru life we are just trying to figure out how all our pieces go together. A boxing match within our own mind. We human beings all beat ourselves up. This is how it feels at times. From jabs of fear to uppercuts of doubt. It's all there.

So are the crosses of joy and hope. God placed it all in your mind. One will go many rounds sparring with oneself. But it is a good fight. Internal ugliness will be knocked down and our beauty will prevail, if one chooses to fight the good fight.

Broken fragments of what we were. One climbs out from their bed of black, found in the city of death. An unknown nobody is how we feel. The burden of our own self can feel like a monster not just a monkey on our back. The madness numbs us in ways we can't imagine and yet yesterday one was loaded with care.

Like the choice of choosing to walk on the sunny side or upon the side of shadows. This is the beauty of the mind. The blessings of the living. Turn your weaknesses into your strengths. Success is failure turned inside out. Life is sure interesting, isn't it? Surrender. Surrender. It starts there.

By one simply saying I don't have all the answers. I don't know why I do what I do, but I want to know. I'm tired of making the same mistakes over and over. I'm tired of my mind being like this. I'm tired of the same song being sung in my head. I'm tired of doing laps in my pity-pool. So we start unlearning what we were taught. We start being less of a victim (well-meaning parents, teachers, society - ourselves) and start understanding ourselves.

If one is really living, one is looking to others or into themselves for a challenge. A challenge to be better. To be more. Far more. We may not really know the full impact we can have on each other until much later on in our life (or even after death).

Each of us starts out as strangers to each other. We respond and interact and allow each other into our lives and little miracles occur. We learn and teach one another. We challenge each other to be better and be more. When people accept that they don't have all the answers and start seeking out other sources for their own betterment they have moved forward.

A simple gesture like signing up to a self-help or inspirational website for example demonstrates that "I'm a seeker, I'm looking for help. I don't know all the answers but I'm going to be more than I was yesterday." To be someone making an impact on this world you have to surrender to your own limitations first. Learn from them and pass on what you have done to become more to others. Be accountable. Accountable to yourself.

Some time ago I was recording a vocal performance. It was a mid-tempo song. With heartfelt lyrics. A real nice song. Take after take and an afternoon goes by. I replied, "You have written a great song here, but I don't believe you, your delivery or performance. It's just on the surface. It's not believable." I told him to go back. Reflect. Take yourself back to the place you were with pen and paper when you wrote it.

The next morning we recorded it and pretty much nailed it in one take (we punched in a few touch-up lines). He was in tears doing that track. He had been in tears when writing it he remembered. To be real - you have to surrender. Then and only then does your work or life take on the right meaning. This includes parenting. Anything. Sadly most of life is just on the surface.

This is why McDonald's is so popular. Garbage in. Garbage out. This is why the drink, the drug, the food is so popular. We as people should be far more than this. We must be. It starts by surrendering.

Let's create anew. Let's enrich the minds and souls of all mankind. Let us gift-wrap that. Let us place that under the tree of mankind. Let us witness iPeace. iCare. iLove. iSurrender. These are the real Christmas gifts. Christmas comes each day if one surrenders.