Trip to Amsterdam!!!!

We have just had a very pleasant few days travelling to Amsterdam to visit the bulb fields. I had been in two minds about booking the trip but I am so pleased that I did. It was a great trip and I restrained myself, only took 300 photos!!!

We drove up to Newcastle and arrived early in the pouring rain. The port of Tyne was right next to an 'outlet' centre and it was at this point in the rain that we realised that Beth didn't have a rain coat. Every time we visit Amsterdam it rains so we decided to buy her a coat before we set off, just to be on the safe side. 

Once we pulled into the port, Tom dropped us off and then parked the car. Beth was in her wheelchair as too much walking has an effect on her knee. We wanted her to be able to get around once we were on the ship. 

The staff at DFDS were very helpful and they helped us get through passport control and onto the ship. We were met by another man who took us up to our cabin. A brilliant service which continued all through the trip.

Leaving Newcastle we could see some of the old dock areas that were being demolished and regenerated. There were lots of these dock areas where they used to work on the ships.

A little further on there were some new buildings and the place was starting to look cared for again.

These made us laugh from the ship it looked as if there were bodies hanging over the rail. on closer look they were diving outfits!!!

Although we have been on quite a few cruises and sea trips we don't usually have a cabin with a window. (We are too cheap!!) this time we had no choice as all the inside cabins had gone. So this was the view from our window, one of the life boats!! We were on deck 11 so we had great views across the ocean.

On the first night we went to a presentation about the wild life in the area, although we didn't see any, there are  porpoises, dolphins and whales all around in the North Sea!!

We had a beautiful sunset that first night and the sea was very calm. We had a good night in the cabin and slept reasonably well considering it was a strange bed!

After breakfast the following morning we headed off to the bulb fields.