When I was in Amsterdam last April (only three months ago!) I had no idea that I would be back so soon! You see, I had signed up for a tour of Marian shrines in France, Spain and Portugal, but due to insufficient registration, the tour got cancelled. So, I had to find another tour within the same dates—and here I am, on my fifth GoAhead tour, visiting Amsterdam, Luxembourg and Brussels.

We are staying in the posh Manor Amsterdam hotel, which is definitely a step up from the hotels we stayed in Austria and the Czech Republic. Here are some pictures I took of my room, and see if you don’t agree that this is definitely a four-star hotel.

At the welcome dinner on our first night, I’ve already made some new friends, and they have traveled a lot more than I have! Two of the women told me they have gone on more than 20 GoAhead tours, from destinations as diverse as Europe, South America, India, Africa, and Asia. I did notice that most of the attendees on this particular tour are single women.

This morning we went on a bus and walking tour of Amsterdam. Even though this is not a musical tour, I still managed to find two pipe organs when we visited the English Reformed Church! We also visited the Van Gogh museum, and I couldn’t help myself but buy more things with the Almond Blossoms design—this time, an umbrella, a computer mousepad and more paper napkins. (See the post on my last visit to the Van Gogh museum!)