sailingdutchy

Thank you all for the lovely birthday wishes , so far we had a wonderful day on board ship in Rotterdam where I was ably to bring my nephew and his family on the Nieuw Statendam for a wonderful visit and a nice little lunch together . We are a little delayed with our departure because this morning environment protesters had blocked the cruise terminal so some tours were late and people were half an hour or more late to get off the ship . thank you also for the good wishes for DW birthday on the 18th , I think the last 7 years both our BDs have been on board a BHB !! looking forward to a very nice itinerary to the Canary Islands . best wishes to all the Daily Friends tony 😍

Thank you for the Daily special Thanks to all the people who keep this going day in and day out ! I should not be looking for pictures of Zadar where we landed while on the Eurodam in 2021 , our first post Covid cruise where we had an amazing tour , because I should be filling my suitcase to the rim for our 35 day cruise on Sunday , Easter Day when we get on board the Nieuw Statendam . This was a wonderful day with a great guide and with a number of very good friends . I will just let the pictures do the talking , hope you enjoy looking at them : Guess who……... After the wonderful tasting at the cheese factory paired with some nice wines we than went for some more wine tasting ……… After we had a great day in Zadar going to the cheese factory on the Peninsula and had some more Croatian wine just outside Zadar with great friends we than went on our way to Dubrovnik with the Eurodam . If we have a chance we will do some lurking while on board ship but I doubt if I have a chance to do a lot of posting , in the mean time our best wishes to all on the Daily and hope to see you back in May . Thank you all for the good wishes . Tony 😁😍

Since we are talking daffodils , springtime and tulips today and to bring you in the mood for spring a few more Keukenhof pictures , we have been there 3 times starting in 1974 just after we emigrated to Canada and than visited for the first time the Keukenhof . Our last time we were there was on May 2nd in 2018 , with my cousin. Last picture for those who have been on the Zaandam and have seen and listened to the “ Draaiorgel “ loosely translated traveling “ barrel organ “ . Hope got you in the mood for spring …... while it is snowing here ….and YES go to the Keukenhof ! Tony 😍😍

Good morning to everybody on the Daily and a Big Thank You to all of you keeping the Daily Family together and going day in day out ! For a change I am not just lurking here ……... Today winter is back in SW Ontario and the daffodils that were about to bloom are at this moment being snowed under and we are expecting more than we have had all winter . We docked in Falmouth, Jamaica in January this year and we chose to stay on board ship , the Rotterdam because we have been to Jamaica a couple of times on the other side of the Island and saw enough , but here a couple of pictures from the Port. So we had a very nice and lazy day in Falmouth and were looking forward to the Nami Sushi that evening where we met up again with our lovely friend Apinia. So today is a great day to start filling my suitcase and get ready to step on board the N Statendam next Sunday , on Easter Day ! for a 35 day cruise to Rotterdam . Yes we will miss the daffodils blooming at home but will end up in tulip country where I was born . Tony 😍😍 Even the crocussen did not want to open up yesterday ........ Best Wishes for all of you here !

We are also giving the cabanas a shot , we have booked an inside cabin for a week because we almost always only sleep in it and watch very little TV so than for a lower cost of a Veranda Cabin we hope to have a much quieter surroundings and more private space than around the Lido pool where all these people lay books on the loungers at 5 or 6 in the morning , which is such a bad thing that people do . Hope that HAL is starting to clamp down on that . So we are trying this on one of the Pinnacle Class ships to see how we like it .

Ashdad tour Part 2 . It was quite a warm day and we had already done a lot of walking so after a drive towards the Dead Sea we stopped for a snack and drink before we took a “ dive “ into the sea . Here you can see the sea in the distance The date palm farms It is not easy walking into the sea because of all the very uneven seafloor you can't see under the water but once in it was wonderful what an experience .! I have to admit , I am not a swimmer , but I was so happy to float on my back for minutes without doing anything . DW got some very , very salty water in her eyes ( yes she was warned …....) so she went quick to the showers . XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I am sorry to do this to you but I can't show you my speedo and Ann's bikini pictures that I have on file they did not make it through the Censor ! XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Our Israeli guide , Ital , who had done an awesome job all day did not talk at all about the settlements we saw in Palestinian territory ........... Tony 😄 OK Ann @VictOriann you can look now you are safe !

We had a fantastic cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean , Greece , Albania , Italy , Cyprus , Israel , Malta , Spain, Portugal and after that all the way back to Ft Lauderdale on the beautiful Prinsendam in Oct / Nov 2016 . Our good friends Ann @VictOriann , with DH Pat and their DD had organized a wonderful tour to Jerusalem and the Dead Sea from Ashdad. It was a very long but amazing day one we will always remember , towards the end of the day floating in the Dead Sea healed us all . An amazing day and wonderful tour we saw so much history and religion in just a few hours after that we went to the Dead Sea but I will show some pictures in a separate post . ( they will have to go through the censor board first ! 😄😄 ) Tony 😄

Good afternoon everybody , Martha and I would like to thank you all once more for the well wishes you send us yesterday for our Anniversary . How time flies ….. Today it is 55 + 1 (day ) maybe if I count that way it will not go that fast) We were on the Volendam in Nov 2015 from Sydney to Singapore , had a wonderful stop on Hamilton Island and there was a lot of talk on board ship about the Great Barrier reef which we were passing in narrow marked channels so we would not disturb the reefs , but there was nothing to see and sadly there was not an expert on board ship telling us about the reefs or showing film or pictures from down below the surface . If I remember well there were a couple of tours available from Carins or Hamilton Island that if you were a diver or great swimmer you could take to see the reefs , but there was also a lot of talk that this e tours were going to places where the Coral was dying . Too bad it was a nice opportunity lost to see or hear more of this Natural Phenomenon ! Talk about phenomenon the weather in SW Ontario is completely out of wack , since begin November we have had I week of extreme cold weather and all together this winter so far maybe 3 or 4 inches of snow , while usually we would have received by now 3, 4, or 5 feet of snow. Not that we are complaining but it worries us and we are worried about the farmers ! Today + 15 degrees Celsius and in the next couple of weeks hardly any frost at night , We might not be able to get Maple Syrup ! Have a great weekend and take care , Tony 😁

First of all Happy Birthday to @RedneckBob , I wonder what rednecks do on their birthday ? Thank you all for the good wishes after a little birdie from Victoria , named Ann @Vict0riann told you about our 55 years of Wedded Bliss ( which according to Mrs Google means : The Happiness experienced by people who are married ! ) It is unbelievable that it has already been 55 years , Time flies and I think the love for each other, the love we have received from our children , friends and family and the time we have spend at sea on Dam ships have enriched our lives a lot ! Just a couple of pictures out of the old shoe box of the big day ! Tony and Martha 😍😍

Good morning /afternoon to all and Thank You to all the Daily contributors . From our San Diego Circle Hawaii cruise on the Veendam in 2014 , yes 10 years ago already , a few pictures of a great tour we had together including DMIL (than 87 ) and her cousin. How beautiful is nature to see and listen to . A fairly new lava stream we were allowed to explore New growth coming up in the lava stream One of the craters of Mauna Lua Look at mom getting excited being near a volcano for the very first time ….. Visiting some lovely Orchid gardens Liked that companies slogan ! Best Wishes to all and please Take Care ! Tony 😄😄

Good evening to all of the Daily organizers and all the loyal followers . It was an amazing but very busy day here in SW Ontario it made it up to 19 C so this was a sign to go out and start cleaning up the garden a bit . I would love to show some of the pictures from our day in Alicante when we were last there in April 2019 . On one of the Prinsendam’s last cruises for HAL we landed in Alicante and I had set up a double walking tour with a very good guide first we went to Castillo de Santa Barbara and afterwards we did some nice walking around the town itself . In our nice group there were also Jacqui and Jose @kazu A distinct view of the Castillo from sea level , for most of the way up we used the elevator however the last few and quite steep hundreds of meters we climbed ourselves. It was a beautiful clear and very warm day , and we had great views from up there ! We had to find shade wherever we could to listen to the many stories of our guide , also of the horrible years under Generalissimo Franco when many prisoners were imprisoned here Beautiful architecture in the downtown The Mercado Central All the food in the market made us hungry and thirsty Always the gentleman....... One of my favourite pictures of the day “ Who is leading who ?” Just stay in the shade There also is a story about this image of face in the rock …….. 3.15 time to get out of the heat and go back Home to the Prinsendam and drink a nice cold beer , but a very nice day was had by all in Alicante , Spain ! Tony 😄

Bon Voyage ! Cabin 5200 by chance we will be there on April 7th ! Have a wonderful cruise.

Thank you for another very nice Daily to all the contributors . I am again late to the party today but could not let the Port of Livorno go without posting some pictures . We were a few times in Livorno going on small group tours ( I believe 9 times now) to visit different places like Pisa , Florence , San Gimigliano , Luca , Voltera and Sienna etc. Hope I am not duplicating too many pictures already posted today This very special photo was not taken with a special purpose . DW wanted to take this nice ice cream cart through this store's window and only when we came home and I sorted all of our pictures on my computer and it showed in the reflection the famous tower of Pisa ! It would not have come out this nice if she had tried to do this. This is only a picture of the “doppleganger “ of the real David , who of coarse stands proud and well protected inside this nice museum ( It was a long time ago that I looked like David but if you want to I can go through my pictures later on.......) That was Pisa, Florence , San Gimigliano and now a few pictures from a different cruise in 2022 when we went to Sienna which is another lovely place to visit. Amazing to see all of the details on the facade and the workmanship The famous piazza where the annual " Palio di Siena " horse race is held . And to finish the day this was a beautiful spot for a tasting of the heavenly wines , oils and foods of this area. A wonderful weekend to all . We are slowly starting to get ready for our next cruise to the Caribbean , to Rotterdam ( The Netherlands ) and our first big visit to the Canary Islands at the end of April. Wishing all of you a wonderful weekend , it will be 14 C on Sunday here what is usually snow country but until now we have not had to shovel snow all winter , fingers crossed that I did not jinx it now . I better stop now before I get in trouble Tony 😄😄

In the early 80’s we were on a 10 day Incentive trip from Philips Electronics ( Canada ) to Melbourne and Sidney with a large group . After a very long flight from Toronto via Fiji to Melbourne and after just having a couple of hours rest in the hotel the company offered a side trip to see " The Penguin Parade " on Phillip Island , I said to Martha sure we should do that...... I had not planned that and was not aware of where it was but after sitting in a minibus what seemed to be a long time we arrived on a beach where a good number of people where already waiting , we stood at a very a nice spot to see toward sundown that every time a wave hit the beach a number of these very small penguins came ashore sometimes in large groups and other times just a few at the time and they would each run to what we were told their own burrow . It was really a wonderful sight to see , but than we had to drive back all the way to Melbourne and Martha was quite tired and not impressed me booking this side trip . Long story short we were still young it did not bother me too much and we are still talking about these wonderful little penguins ! My pictures are in my photo album , but here a couple of stock pictures from the web. Tony 😁

A few pictures from when we were on the Zaandam in 2015 on our way to Antarctica Entering the Channel just crossing the border between Chile and Argentina Sundown before we reach Ushuaia Back on board the Zaandam after a wonderful tour in Ushaia ( that’s for another time ) and on our way towards Cape Horn through the channel . From one of my favourite graphic artists Maurits C Escher Promoting the Indonesian crew show that evening ( We are really missing that feature ! ) Tony 😍