On the Road Again!

Just a teaser. 😆 Y Viva España

Awaycation Tulips 6 marks the end of the planning and the decision to discontinue with this plan. Yep, you read that right.  Trip cancelled. It's is still a long way off but this decision has been a hard one to make.  As well as the ongoing and somewhat complicated relationship the UK has with the former "partners" in the EU since Brexit, and the apparent impossibility that Covid will ever be defeated we had a long hard look at plans. Another reason is that our dog, Reggie, has begun to suffer with what can only be called "separation anxiety". With both of us being at home since March 2020, Claire retired and me working from home online, he is used to us being around.   He follows us everywhere. Anyone that doesn't have animals in the home probably won't understand this can happen, but it is very real. So,  I will have to start looking elsewhere but in UK.  I will be retired next year and so we can go whenever we want. Outside school holidays is fantasti...

With little to do but plan for holidays in the future I have started to consider what to do after we have looked at a few million tulips... I had though that on the way up to Noordwijk and the bulb fields that we could meander through Zeeland. In the end I decided that it would be simpler to go straight there and leave any meandering to the way back. With the Juke having its own navigation system it should be quite easy for Claire to use her Nissan Connect app to send specific addresses from her phone to the system.   On the way back then I have booked a hotel on one of the Zeeland islands. Currently the booking is with the Hotel Hector in  Zierikzee. This of course change as more places for 10 months away come into play.

Whilst we are away, and Reggie is in the kennels having his holiday,  I thought maybe to extend the trip a few days and take in a bit of the culture etc that the Netherlands has to offer. I have planned the way "up" to the bulb fields that will island hop across Zeeland but I haven't planned anything for the return journey.  It looks as though I will be hitting the internet over the next few months to see what there is to see, and planning a visit. The main draw for the trip is the bulb fields and they are obviously only vibrant in April and May. I hope it's not a gamble to go in early May. The main site being the Keukenhof . As I have said before the Juke has the Nissan satnav/gps system fitted. The downside is that only one phone can be connected to Nissan Connect. Claire has already connected to it and so she can plan a destination in Google Maps and sent it to the system. I can't. Seems a bit limiting. So far I have been looking at around Delft for an overnigh...

A couple of days and it's all change again. Looking at the trip I decided that three nights in tulip country would be enough for us to enjoy the place and include a visit to the Keukenhof to look at the displays there.   So I have changed the hotel for the first three nights to one in Zandvoort - Hotel XL .  It's only 17kms car park to car park. Walking extra. We are of course keeping our fingers crossed that Covid will be out of the way and that the Keukenhof will be open to the public.  We are talking April 2022 now! The fourth night I have snipped off the original hotel booking and have looked at somewhere in Zeeland on our way back to the Channel port. A few years ago we did the Zeeland route to Assen for the MotoGP. It was very nice meandering on the BMW up through the islands. That was in 2010.   This time the journey will be in reverse.  I looked up the B&B we stayed in back then and it has no vacancies for when we want to go. This maybe th...

If you can have Staycations, then why not Awaycations. So for what could be the first awaycation I have looked at the Holland bulbfields. We both like 🌷 and Holland in the Netherlands is the home of the bulb. Of course it's not until April 2022.  I'll have been retired a few months by then and we can go on vacation whenever we like.  I have looked ahead and booked a room for four nights near Leiden. Of course it's with the usual "pay later" and "free cancellation" policy. I need to make a diary note to cancel just in case we can't go. At the moment it's for the last week in April. Checking the term dates it looks as though the schools will start the summer term a week earlier. So let's see...