Today we have finally set a date for our big move to America. We bought our plane tickets today and will fly from Amsterdam to Chicago with our two cats Arby and Alex on Sunday 21 September. This means we have only 85 days left from today to arrange a lot of stuff, get rid of a lot of stuff, and move all the stuff that’s left. We’re going to have a busy three months!
One year ago, on 23 June 2007, we were in Paris and visited the beautiful Musée d’Orsay. The museum holds French art dating from 1948 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture and photography. Here’s a view of the museum from a bridge over the Seine:
Three years ago today, on 19 June 2005, we had a great day in Italy on our city trip to Napels. In the morning we took a bus from Napels to the foot of Vesuvius and in the afternoon we visited the ruined and partially buried Roman city of Pompeii nearby. Here are few photos of our visit to Europe’s most famous volcano.
Last weekend we drove to the Alsace region in France and visited the area around Strassbourg, especially the Vosges Regional Nature Park in the south and north of this region. We visited the Caves of Han in Belgium, Strassbourg, Kintzheim, Munster, Gérardmer, Épinal and La Petite Pierre.
Last week on Wednesday 30 April we drove to France and stopped in Han-sur-Lesse in Belgium to visit the Caves of Han or Grottes de Han.
Five years ago today, on 28 April 2003, we did one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done. On this day we made a hot air balloon ride over Luxor and the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. Seeing the sunrise over the Nile was a wonderful experience. Here are some photos of this exciting journey:
This week we were in Florida and for New Year’s Eve we visited Leesburg for First Night. Leesburg, a small town north of Orlando that celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2007, is one of four cities in Florida that organize a First Night every year. There was live entertainment in 17 venues along the town’s charming Main Street, from 8pm to midnight.
I’ve updated and finalised our 2007 Year Book in our online Photo Album. Highlights of the year were our visit to The Gambia in January, where we saw 177 different species of birds, our holiday in the south of Spain, where we explored Andalusia and a part of Portugal, and our diving trip to Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt, where we had some wonderful dives in the Red Sea.
We saw seven different species of Kingfisher this year, 2007, in The Netherlands (‘IJsvogel’), Egypt and The Gambia! We saw most on our trip to The Gambia in January, and most of these were Pied Kingfishers (Ceryle rudis). These black-and-white birds are very approachable. They hunt by hovering over the water and then diving down bill first directly below to catch a fish. We found this one somewhere between the towns of Tendaba and Georgetown:
Earlier this month we spent a 10-day holiday at the Amar Sina hotel in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. We chose the Amar Sina because our preferred dive operator, Colona Divers, is located there. Online reviews of the hotel were mixed but mostly favorable. Here is my review of the Amar Sina hotel.
