J & T’s AWESOME ADVENTURES MAY 2013
Time has flown by and we thought we should to bring you up to date on J & T’s Awesome Adventures. Since our last Newsletter we have really been on the go. The newest excitement for us in March of 2011 was a deluxe river cruise called “Tulips and Windmills”. This was our first ever cruise and entailed ten nights on the canals and rivers in Holland. We were told that the tulips should be in full bloom so the fields would be spectacular, however a late spring meant they were just beginning to come up when we arrived. We did get to journey to Keukenhof Gardens, the world’s largest floral park (similar to Victoria’s Butchart Gardens) and saw the beautiful variety of tulips there, as well as many other magnificent flowers. We took a canal tour by glass-topped boat to see architecture from Amsterdam’s Golden Age, saw the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum. In Arnhem we journeyed to 17th century Paleis Het Loo, the Dutch royal Family’s summer residence for 300 years. We had the opportunity to tour the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Kinderdijk and saw an actual working windmill. These are just a very few of the sights we saw and the places we travelled on this marvelous tour by Rostad Tours and Viking River Cruises. It was a wonderful, hassle-free, fun-filled tour where we made many new friends.
We traveled to Ireland and Scotland in the fall of 2011 to celebrate our 65th birthdays. Believe us when we tell you that it was a celebration we will never forget, and likely Ireland and Scotland will never be the same! What a wonderful way to turn 65!! A special thank you to all of you who came with us to help us usher in our “Golden Years”! We enjoyed our Netherland cruise so much that in October 2012 we toured Eastern Europe (Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia and Hungary), cruising down the Danube. We saw some stunning scenery – especially through the Iron Gate, a spectacular narrow gorge with enormous white limestone cliffs. Of course the performance of traditional Puszta horsemanship in Hungary was one of ‘Tricia’s favorites (anything to do with horses!), and a fun addition to the tour was travelling to the village of Neszmely-Dunaalmas where we took part in a wonderful strudel-baking course! In February, 2013 we returned to Jean’s favorite destination in the world – Costa Rica! She was anxious to see if ‘Tricia would be as enthusiastic about this country as she is and she wasn’t disappointed. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour to the coffee and banana plantations, the ride on the Rain Forest Aerial Tram and the beautiful Lankester Gardens, home to more than eight hundred species of exotic orchids native to Costa Rica. Tortuguero National Park was amazing even with a 6:00 a.m. wake-up call from the howler monkeys. We even had a cruise on Arenal Lake which gave us a great view of the Arenal Volcano. No worries! It was sleeping. Of course Tamarindo Diria Resort was a marvelous way to finish off our tour with 3 relaxing days in paradise. Many of our passengers capped off this adventure by going zip-lining. Are we ever going back to Costa Rica? Of Course!!! But first we need to focus our attention on our November 2013 tour to New Zealand and Australia – 3 weeks “Down Under”! We are excited to tell you that this tour is completely sold out! But we are taking passengers for our wait-list!! We will spend 2 weeks in New Zealand touring both the north and south islands by bus. Then we will fly to Sydney for 3 days and fly to Cairns for another 4 days before returning home. Rostad has done a fantastic job of putting this tour together with such a variety of sights to see – everything from a BBQ lunch on 90 Mile Beach to a gondola ride, 3 cruises, the Rainforest Skyrail and the Kuranda Scenic Rail, never mind Great Barrier Reef! We can’t wait! And that brings us to 2014. What are you doing next July? Perhaps you would like to join us for another cruise, this time down the Seine in France. Rostad Tours and Viking River Cruises have teamed up again to take us on this adventure. We land in Paris and are treated to a tour of its most remarkable sights, including the Eiffel Tower, the Cathedral of Notre Dame and the Champs Elysees. We cruise along the Seine to Giverny, and then to Rouen, the historic capital of Normandy. We will also have a full-day tour to the beaches of Normandy – Gold Beach, Juno Beach and Omaha Beach. As we cruise back to Paris, we will stop at Les Andelys to see the Chateau Gaillard built in 1196 by Richard the Lionheart. The evening will find us docked in Conflans. Then it is back to Paris where Rostad has arranged a wonderful extension of 3 days to take in the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum, the Palais de Chaillot and the Palace of Versailles. Wow! We expect this tour to fill up quickly, so don’t delay in having us send you a brochure if this adventure tickles your fancy. There is an Early Booking Discount of $500 if you sign up by June 30, 2013. And there are other discounts available if you have traveled with Rostad in 2013, 2012 or 2011. Viking River Cruises also offers an Alumni discount of up to $200 and another $100 discount if you make your final payment by cheque. Don’t delay! Come with us and let Rostad, Viking and Jean and ‘Tricia make your tour hassle-free and fun-filled. Our future plans include a trip to South Africa in 2015, although no dates have been put to this yet. Where would you like to go?
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