Belgium and Holland in Springtime

Picture tulips and windmills and what comes to mind? Springtime, of course.

I'm looking forward to discovering spring in one of the most beautiful regions of the world, the Benelux (also known as Belgium and The Netherlands.)

The adventure begins tomorrow as I fly from Austin to Brussels with my good friend Tana Taylor, another a travel consultant. We are going to spend next week cruising the centuries-old waterways of Belgium and the Lowlands of Holland on a Tauck River Cruise.

Most of our fellow passengers will be arriving in Brussels a day ahead of us, but we will join them on Sunday in Antwerp, Belgium. Immediately upon arrival in the Brussels airport they will be driven to the medieval city of Bruges for a day of sightseeing. Fortunately, I have been to Bruges on several trips but do wish time would have permitted one more visit. It is one of Europe's best-preserved cities and contains beautiful buildings that are hundreds of years old along with charming canals that flow under arched bridges.

This is my third Travel Blog, with the first from Costa Rica last September and the second from the Danube River as we travelled from Budapest to Prague. Each edition has a new twist. I was really a novice in Costa Rica, frantically searching for a computer after a day of adventures that included ziplines over the rain forests and rappelling down 185 ft. waterfalls! In December I added photos to each posting as we travelled from Budapest to Prague exploring the magical Christmas Markets of Europe . The latest addition is my new Netbook, a small 10" laptop that only weighs 3 lbs. Hopefully (with occasional IT support from Austin and San Francisco), there will be daily postings as we search for windmills, sample local cheeses, indulge in delicious chocolates and savor the charm of Europe!

Next update -- Belgium!

Linda