Day 17 - Home and Post Trip Impressions

Thursday the fun was over, we got up early and took a shuttle to the Schiphol Airport.  I wondered why it was named Schiphol, I looked on the internet, there were several speculations. One theory suggests it translates to "ship hole," referencing a lake where many ships were lost, interesting. 

June made herself comfortable while we waited for the airport shuttle. I ordered her a set just like these. 

We arrived at the airport in plenty of time, while killing time, I found these in the airport gift shop. 

I sent the picture to Ronnie Van Slooten and he said this is his cousin....small world. 

Our flights were through Delta, but we flew KLM from Amsterdam to Detroit, then SkyWest to Burlington. All went pretty much as planned, we really can not complain. 

My buddy Steve picked us up at the BTV Airport, it is great to have friends that live close to the Airport. 

We were home and in the hot tub by 7PM.  Eddie stopped by yesterday and turned the hot tub up so it would be ready upon our return. Yes, leaning on our friends and relatives again. 

It was nice to be home!

Post Trip impressions:

It was a good trip, we did 7 countries (8 if you count Vatican City as a country). 

• England: Highlight - Stonehenge, British Museum
• London
• Windsor Castle
• Stonehenge
• Lacock
• Bath
• Greenwich
• France: Highlight - Moulin Rouge
• Paris
• Eiffel Tower
• Arc de Triomphe
• Switzerland: Highlight - Cable Car to the top of Mt Pilatus
• Lucerne
• Horse and carriage ride
• Italy: Highlight - Tower of Pisa, Trevi Fountain, Colosseum
• Vatican City
• Florence
• Pisa
• Rome
• Venice
• Austria: Highlight - Triumphal Arc
• Innsbruck
• Olympic Ski Jump
• Germany: Highlight - Glockenspiel, Castle views from the Rhine
• Munich
• Netherlands: Highlight = Canal Cruise
• Amsterdam

We used Cost Saver as a tour company, they are owned by Trafalgar.  We have used Trafalgar 3 times previously (Italy, Germany, Greece). The idea is you can pick and choose your itinerary items and ultimately save some money.  In addition, the hotels tend to be out of town, so you just can't walk to the sights. My impression is that most people (like us) will do most excursions (FOMO) and the increased flexibility actually causes some issues with coordination. Our TD did a great job keeping things on track but you could see it was a challenge at times. I would just pay the extra and go with Trafalgar next time.

Overall, we had a great time. We would never have been able to see what we saw without a guided tour.  Guided tours are not for everyone, especially one that had the pace of this one, but as long as we are still relatively agile, it works for us. 

Finally, we packed so much into the trip that I know I will need this blog to refresh my memory from time to time.