The Baloo 3 week European Adventure

[davewasbaloo]

Dave, I think we share the same favorite seat

Has the bench been put back though? When I went in December there was a solitary seat there

There benches were indeed back Mark

 

[davewasbaloo]

Awesome trip report !!! I have a question for you: do you know how far ( by car) is the Europa Park from Paris? .Thanks for your time... Tania.

Ooops, sorry for the delay Tania. It is about 300 miles (450 Km), not too bad.

 

[davewasbaloo]

I've just read the first week and looked at the photos and I'm exhausted!!! How did you keep going for another 2 weeks...???!!

I need a rest before I finish, but finish I will! Some great photos there, thank you for sharing!!

Lol, glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for taking the time

 

[davewasbaloo]

If anyone is interested, I could also put on my Netherlands Trip report including Efteling (my daghter's now fav park - a wonderful place) from August on.

We are off to Blackpool this weekend to see the illuminations, the newly refurbed tower, the new Nickelodeanland at the Pleasure Beach etc. if anyone is interested?

 

[markpsych]

I'm interested

 

[davewasbaloo]

Well, we have just got back from our vacation to the Netherlands, and I am laying in bed with tonsilitus after a very mixed experience vacation. During our travels we visited Delft, Leiden, The Hague, Schwenegen, Zaanse Schans, Voldam, Edam, Marken, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Kinderdijk and the most amazing Efteling (which my daughter proclaimed to like more than Disney or even Europa Park, lol).

We had a great time tasting cheeses, beer, dutch apple pie, coffee, pancakes etc. We visited museums to see Vermeers and Rembrants, Escher prints, Diamonds, Clocks and many more things besides. And we loved Efteling and their amazing Bosrijk village.

This trip report will cover the adventure with links to pictures in Facebook (no need to have a FB account or friend me to view them). It rained every day, everyone was ill at some stage, our mobile phones did not work, and we came home to find our freezer open and all the food spoilled. But overall we still had fun and can make some recommendations. Here is the adventure (with some Disney bits squeezed in where appropriate).

We decided last Christmas to use our Tescos vouchers and book a free crossing to the Netherlands as the faily had never been, and I had only ever been in a work capacity. So, we booked it and ventured across for a 10 day break taking in the Hague, Delft, Leiden, Amsterdam, Zaanse Schans, Rotterdam, Kinderdijk and the wonderful Efteling.

This is the first day. I had work to do before we could leave, and called it a day at 4pm on the Sunday. We then zoomed down to Harwich and had some time for some fish and chips in the old town. We then boarded the Ferry, the largest in the world, where in many ways it was more like a cruise ship including a basketball court, cinema and casino.

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[davewasbaloo]

Day 2 we arrived at the Hook of Holland at 5:30 in the morning and disembarked at 6:30. It seemed to take forever to clear immigration, but once clear, we were off. It was pouring with rain and we had to stop the car (there is nowhere really to stop near the terminal as they are narrow roads with canals either side) for Jessica to be sick. Sarah and I got drenched dealling with it and it took hours for us to dry. Not the best start to the holiday, but we made the best of it.

As it was raining, we decided we better look for something indoors. Sadly, our new smart phones were cut off by vodaphone (a glitch that meant we were without coverage for the whole trip - a mixed blessing - no work to interupt, and a curse - couldn't look things up). Hmmmm. Thankfully I had done my homework and knew than most museums were closed on Mondays, but the Delft Pottery Workshop was open. So that is where we were headed.

As a Disney historian, I was keen to go here. I knew that Walt Disney had brough his wife Lillian here when he had his nervous breakdown/toured Europe while planning Disneyland. She fell in love with both the town and the pottery. He bought her loads of the stuff and there are now links at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and at Disneyland Paris (read the commentary of the photos to find out more).

This was a lovely place to visit as we enjoyed watching the hand paintings, seeing the museum exhibits including recreated paintings in tiles, and the casting rooms. It was lovely and we spent half a day here (though some appeared to come in and out in 30 minutes and spend more time in the shop - american cruisers, I'm looking at you).

Sadly Jess was feeling poorly again, so we went to the coffee shop and she slept in my lap while I enjoyed a wonderful Dutch apple pie and strong dutch coffee - a ritual I seemed to repeat daily, ooops. Our room would not be ready for a while, so this seemed like the next best step.

After we left the Pottery the sun had come out (not something we would see much of over our time in the Netherlands). We explored Delft a little and then made our way to Leiden where our hotel was. Leiden is the birthplace of Rembrant, and it is a gorgeous little town, much nicer than many of the more famous dutch towns. As our room was not quite ready we went for a little walk and explored.

We then checked into the Holiday Inn and it was perfect for the kids. The had 2 play rooms including a bouncy castle, games, ball pool etc. They were given colouring books and candy when we checked in. And the restaurant had activities on every night. As well as there being a swimming pool (though it was a little on the cold side as Mikey and I found out that evening while Jess napped).

After Jessica's nap, we headed for Dinner in the hotel. It was a dutch buffet. The Pea and chicken soup was amazing, as were the meat selections, salads, and I had to have some more dutch apple pie with cinnamon ice cream - yum. The kids ate free, which was great as we did not know how Jess would do.

They could not find the wine Sarah and I wanted, so we then opted for the Konig Dark Beer, which was very good. They comped us the beers as compensation for taking so long. That was lovely.

After dinner, we let the kids play for a bit in the kids club and then turned in for an early night. The next day would be a visit to the Hague - land of international peace, and the paintings of Holstien, Rembrant, Van **** and Ver Meer, including the Girl with the Pearl Earing.

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[davewasbaloo]

Day 3 - The Hague - again there was rain on and off, so we decided to enjoy the museums of the Hague. We went to the Mauritshuis museum, a wonderful home of Rafaels, Holsteins, Rembrants and Vermeers, including the Girl with the Pearl Earing. We then explored the Parliament and the International Peace Palace, making our way to Schwenigen to see the sea, and then back to the hotel for Dinner (we enjoyed another drink on the house here due to our status in the loyalty club - nice perk). It was a fun day despite the rain, and this time, Mikey had tummy troubles. also, the Hague is one of the scariest cities to drive in the world. I have driven in LA, San Francisco, Miami, Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam, London, Collogne and many others. The Hague is the least pleasurable driving experience, and the cyclists who act like they own everywhere are part of the issue. But if you can get past that, it is a great city.

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[davewasbaloo]

We decided to take a trip to the living history museum of Zaanse Schans. Although a little bit of a tourist trap, we were happy to see lots of dutch cars there too. they have moved a number of 17th century buildings together to recreate life at that time. People actually live there, and you can see clogs being made, diamonds polished, cheese making (and tasting), jeniver distilling, pewter making etc. It really was great. Though we spent 6 euros ($9) just going to the toilet. Mikey was still feeling a little under the weather, and we kept having brief rain storms, one causing us to run into the restaurant with our dinner in our hands, lol. After we left Zaanse Schans having bought loads of souveneers, we headed north to the coastal towns of Marken and Volendam. Then we drove back via Amsterdam, a city for another time when the children are older (we opted to go to the Hague again the next day instead of the originally planned Amsterdam day).

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[davewasbaloo]

We were very tired and the forecast was yet more rain, so we decided to go to the Escher Museum after a leisurely breakfast buffet and swim. We then went via the town hall and International Centre, then to the Escher Museum in the old Winter Palace. It was wonderful and the kids fell in love with his work.

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[davewasbaloo]

We hit the road south bound. It was cool to see the mouth of the River Rhine in Rotterdam after visiting the Rhineland in Germany at Easter. We then headed off to Kinderdijk, the UNESCO heritage site with 19 windmills from the 1750's. After a lovely cruise on the canal, we then got to Efteling via the grocery store.

We then got to Efteling Bosrijk, it was fantastic. We were greeted with a warm welcome and they talked us through the resort and tickets. The resort was a wonderful village of cottages based around the sandman's magic castle. In our cottage was a wonderful story book and night cap souvenirs for each of us. It was excellent.

We then popped into Efteling and enjoyed PandaDroom - a wonderful 4D theatre about environmental protection. It was excellent and felt as good as It's Tough To Be A Bug, and the post show playground was amazing.

We then enjoyed their great haunted castle attraction. We then headed back to the cottage to enjoy a dinner and then to bed, awaiting Mr Sandman Klaas Vaak to visit us.

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[davewasbaloo]

We enjoyed our first full day (sort of - we flaked out before the midnight close) in Efteling. We were pleased to be greated with a live band and headed to the amazing Ravelijn stage show. This was fantastic (You tube has good coverage of the shows and many of the excellent dark rides). We then enjoyed the dark rides and exploring the park, as well as grazing on a number of the tasty treats on offer - Turks Pizza (really a kebab/burrito hybrid), kipkorn, croquettes, fish and chips etc.

The park was fantastic, though it is huge, being bigger than Epcot, and one of my minor complaints is a lot of walking. Not a problem for the fit cyclists of the netherlands, but for us, it was tiring. Not many strollers for anyone over 3 either, so a big difference from Disney. But a great day.

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[davewasbaloo]

Our 2nd full day in the park (well sort of). We decided to make use of the indoor water park in the morning since it had poured with rain all morning. It was so much fun. Though small, they had a really fast lazy river, a relax bubble lounger, dumper buckets (controlled by the kids), a spa and a toddler area with sprinkers. It was not quite a water park, but for a hotel pool, it was a lot of fun. We left the pool and then had lunch in the cottage before heading for an afternoon and evening in the park, and it remained dry throughout.

Most of the day was dedicated to exploring the 15 acre fairytale forest Sprookjesbos. It was fantastic, and they have been updating using AA and pepper's ghost technology. I must confess, the Little Match Girl display had me in tears. It was fantastic.

We then tried a number of the attractions we had yet to experience including the flying gondella which delivered great views. For dinner we had stir fry and discovered Jess seems to have an intolerance to prawns. The way she was going, I thought her head was going to spin around. She felt fine after spending some time in the restroom and we enjoyed the last ride of the night - the Carnival. A bit of an It's a Small World rip off, very unPC, but lots of fun. After the park closed, we headed back for a bedtime story, and the Mrs and I enjoyed a cold beer.

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[davewasbaloo]

Our last day in Efteling. After packing everything up, we made our way into the park. We saw the most increadible diorama with trains, and moving boats and cars. There was even a lightening strike with a windmill on fire. The kids have loved the puppet shows and things on the Efteling tv channels and my daughter wanted to see the puppet show. The park was heaving as it was the first day of sun we saw all holiday. So we sped through the park to get into the first puppet show of the day. the Kids loved it, despite not understanding one word. I love how accepting children are, wish more adults were.

We then made our way over to Ravelijn to make reservations to see it again. Booked it using one of their machines and then headed over to ride the Vogel Rock roller coaster. This is a great family roller coaster in the dark, with the story you are being carried on the back of the giant bird. There is a synchronised soundtrack in the car, and some cool visuals of birds nests etc. It was Jessie's fav attraction.

We enjoyed the steam carousel and and Anton Piek Square before heading back to the Bosrijk village where we came upon Klaas Vaak - what a way to say good bye!

We then made our way to the Hook of Holland to catch our ferry home. Once on board, as we had a bite to eat (I was feeling very under the weather) we were greeted by Curious George and then the kids had balloon animals made for them! Lol Then off to bed.

The next morning, my wife awoke me thinking it was 5:30 (given we had to get off the boat at 6:30), it was actually 4:15. I had a terrible headache and sore throat. I went back to bed discovering how early it was after my shower.

Once the alarm went, we went downstairs to await disembarkation. My throat got worse as I drove home. When we got home, we found our freezer had fallen open and everything spoilled. Also, when Sarah looked at my throats, it had white spots. We booked me in to the DR, I found out I had tonsillitus. Given we came home especially to celebrate my mom and step dad's 25th wedding anniversary and to be there for my 15 year old brother to have surgery. Bummer. also not the greatest work e-mails to come back to. Holiday over. But many great memories to take from it.

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[davewasbaloo]

Our next European fun adventure is off to Blackpool to see the Illuminations, enjoy the refurbed tower, circus, ballroom, Madame Tussauds, Sealife Centre and of course, try out the new Nickelodeanland at the Pleasure Beach.

Trip report to follow when I get the chance.

 

[zinderella]

I'm sure you have a 'real life' too, but I totally love the fact you guys seem to live like one big holiday. That's the bonus of reading trip reports I guess and not someones daily diary!

Thanks for taking the time to write your amazing trip reports. I had been thinking of Efteling, but after seeing your pics I'm seriously considering going there instad of DLP.
Must go and check prices.

 

[davewasbaloo]

I think if you have been to DLP many times, then it is worth skipping and going to Efteling or Europa Park instead.

we are excited as next year, enroute to DLP, we have decided to try out Puy du Fou and Futuroscope. We are also going to return to Parc Asterix as the kids are bigger now!

 

[davewasbaloo]

we do have a "real life" too. all too real, with major disabilities and terminal illness in my extended family. And I travel about 30,000 miles a year for work with 70 hour working weeks, this is how I make it up to my family. Lol.

For those interested, here is a trip report for when I took the kids to London to see the new Shrek Musical (London Eye and Madame Tussauds too):

Today was fun. the kids were off for a teacher training day, so after I got a little work done, we hopped the train into London. Bumped into Roger Federer at St Pancras, as well as some old work colleagues (lol, I never bump into anyone in my home town, but always in others) and we bought a few keep sakes in the Olympics store!

Then onto the underground to Madame Tussauds, where out APs allowed us to skip the queue, which is great as it was heaving! At first the kids did not know what to make of it, but after singing Living on a Prayer in the X Factor room and meeting Shrek, the kids really got into it. The Spirit of London Dark ride and the Marvel Exhibit/4D were a big hit with them. I enjoyed strangling David Cameron, our horrid PM.

On the way out, I managed to get 4 tickets to the hottest family show in town. We secured tickets for about 20% of the face value!!!! I was thrilled. So a late night ahead of us.

We then went south of the River and watched the 4D London Eye preshow followed by a flight where I met a german lady (Koln) who lives where I grew up in California, small world. The kids loved this as it was their first time, and they got thrilled when I pointed out all the offices i worked in. When I pointed out the area where I used to work in the Houses of Parliament, the kids went "whoa".

After our flight, I thought fondly of Spirit and the last time we were together in London (buddy, you need to get yourself back over). We headed down to Piccadilly Circus (Mikey laughed as we just watched Wayne's World 2 last weekend where they call it a crummy circus, he agrees). Lol. Sadly the Piccadilly Line was having problems, so we walked to Drury Lane. Though not far, it is for little legs where they have been on them all day. Lol.

Just as we got to the theatre, there was a little Mexican place offering 2 for 1 meals before 7!!! Awesome, the food was good and filling (authentic too). I opted for the corn and beef enchalladas, Sarah opted for the beef quesodia, Mikey had a kids' burger (adult size though), and jess the chicken with homemade BBQ sauce (lovely). It was happy hour, so we got a pitcher of Sex on the BEach.....mmmmmmm.

After dinner, we went to the theatre and got in for Shrek. Jamie Oliver was also there this evening! The show was excellent - 4.5 stars out of 5, with so much humour, great acting, a very tight orchestra, and the show made fun not just of Disney, but also so many west end shows too (including the Lion King and Les Miserables). Jessica squeeled with joy all the way through. Mikey was a little too tired, and I wasn't sure if he liked it, though he claims he did.

Sarah and I did, the funniest musical I have ever seen and the best curtain call! Great fun.

We left with Mikey and Jess wearing their Shrek ears, which garnered attention. We enjoyed the street performers at Covent Garden - a great U2 tribute playing With or Without You, followed by a guy playing wartime tunes on a tuba that burst flames out of it every note! Great stuff.

After navigating the tube with tired kids, we got on the train and arrived back home for 12:30. Very proud of them.

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[davewasbaloo]

It was time to renew our Merlin passes, or more to the point, with Monday being Mikey's 8th birthday, and him being old enough for the lego robotics workshop, he really wanted to go. We surprised the kids, not telling them, and they only realised where we were going about 1 mile from Legoland. We renewed our annual passes and got Mikey a borthday badge. Where ever we went, they made Mikey feel very special wishing him a happy birthday. And they kept giving him and jess, Lego badges (we collected loads for our lanyards by the end of the weekend - about 15, all free!). It was busy, but probably one of the quietest Saturdays we have ever seen.

We had a fab day in the park managing the skyway, Robotics workshop, build and test race car building, the X Team waterslides (I got soaked, and stayed that way all day, I saved mama by riding with both kids, they loved it, and if I had been in swim trunks, so would I), the Dino Safari, the Jet Skis, the stunt show, Lazer Raiders (Disney fans, think a lower key Buzz Lightyear LAzer Blast/Astro Blasters with lego men), the swings and then the hill train back up. A great day.

When we left the park, the kids asked why we got off the motorway at the wrong junction. Then they asked why we pulled in to the MArriott. Lol, I had surprised them. I had a free accommodation certificate due to expire at the end of this month. So I booked us in.

When we checked in, we were upgraded to 2 Execitve Jr Suites (rather than normal rooms), with lounge access and they comped us breakfast! Fantastic.

We went to the Brasserie for a lovey Dinner, but by the end of it, the kids could hardly keep their eyes open. So after, we put them to bed and settled in for Eurovision.

The next day would be a fab breakfast, swim and back to Legoland.

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[davewasbaloo]

Day 2 at Legoland for Mikey's birthday. After breakfast and a swim, we got into the park for 12:30. We enjoyed a number of attractions today as the queues were minimal (most attractions were 2 cycles on average). Think the cold and threat of rain kept folks away.

We went on Lego Racers (I won!), the Viking Ship, the Pirate Ship, the kids played in the playground, the spining train, dinner at the Rotisserie Chicken place in the castle, the Dragon Coaster, two spins on the Spider (tea cups), driving school and boating school.

We then had a look around Miniland, spotting the Royal Wedding, the Simpson's and Where's Wally/Waldo! Great day! Tomorrow is Mike's birthday!


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