We spent a week in a campground near Breda in The Netherlands. Although the Dutch don't use ice as prodigiously as we Americans, when we inquired about buying ice in a supermarket, an assistant manager volunteered to freeze a bucket of water daily for us for free to keep us supplied! So every day we made our trip to the market for essentials, handed him an empty plastic bucket and picked up our new block of ice for our camp trailer icebox. He refused to accept money for his service! Everyone we met in the campground went out of their way to be friendly and helpful to us. The only downside: rain. But that's universal here in Europe, isn't it? Our first trip to the North Sea beach was a bit of a shocker to my wife and sons as Europeans broadly consider swimsuits optional on Dutch beaches. Ahem -- yes, well, indeed! I recommend The Netherlands as a stand-out destination for wonderful people, good food, and memorable experiences.

We just recently returned from a trip to Norway and the Geiranger Fjord. The trip was outstanding, and we were fortunate enough to have good weather for most of the trip. For those that don't know, Geiranger Fjord is one of the World UNESCO sites selected for it's beauty.

We stayed in a cabin in order to save some money. Everything in Norway is rather expensive. The location was right on the water, and just lovely. Of course there is shopping to be done, and we did just a bit of it. We also went to the Norwegian Fjordcenter to see the history of the fjords. We also took a boat tour on the fjord to see the sights. It was amazing to see waterfalls that fall for hundreds of meters.

For those interested, I've posted pictures that we took. I'm not the worlds best photographer, so the pictures are mainly for my family and friends. They are located at http://www.mikenjane.net/~mike/geiranger and http://www.mikenjane.net/~mike/geiranger2 . Enjoy.

Mike

My husband, son, and I took a military hop from an AFB here in the US to a base in England. My son was born in England when we were stationed there. The base that we were stationed at is closed. We stayed at a different base. The plane landed on the base. We stayed in billeting (TLF) and ate in the food court. We couldn't buy at the BX or Commissary because we did not have ration cards. We bought some food at British stores and cooked it in our billeting unit. We rented a car, which was surprisingly cheap. Took buses, trains, and taxis the rest of the time, after we turned in the rental car. We visited old haunts, and looked up some British people that we had known. We didn't have much luck getting a hop back and had to take a taxi to Heathrow Airport and buy commercial tickets home. Oh, well. What a wonderful trip.

I extended at my current base in Portugal and took the 30 day non-chargable leave option.
I bought a eurorail pass and off I went. My plan was to visit as many new countries as I could in the 3 week span of time. I started by catching a hop to Mildenhall, then took Easyjet to Budepest Hungary. From there I took trains to Krakow Poland, visiting Auchwitz concentration camp. I spent a few days in Berlin before heading north into Scandanavia. First was Copenhagen, then on to Stockholm and Oslo. I took a ferry back into Denmark and spent a few days in the village where my great grandfather lived before moving to America. I made my way south through Munich, Vienna and Belgrade Serbia. Croatia was my final stop before heading back into Italy. I made a stop in Pisa to see the famous leaning tower. Rome was very hot in early July so I made my way south by rail to NAS Naples where I stayed until my flight back to the Azores.
The special part of this trip wasn't any one thing, just the opportunity to get out and enjoy a large part of Europe enjoying the sights, sounds and food. It was exhausting but I would throw on the backpack and do it again tomorrow.

My husband & I took our son to Europe for a vacation his senior year. Now we would like to hop from the US to Europe and see where it takes us. We are trying to figure out which bases have transport to any place outside the US.

Went to Garmisch, Bavaria, Germany in September with my Wife for 3 nights and 4 days. What made it special was not only the accommodations at the AFRC Edelweiss Lodge and Resort, but also the Carriage Ride in the Village of Garmisch. The young lady conducting the carriage ride was very personable and it was obvious she certainly enjoyed her position as our Guide. The Edelweiss is now the only AFRC Hotel in Garmisch. Beautiful and the personnel are very knowledgeable and have excellent interpersonal communication skills. Been to Garmisch many times and enjoy the close proximity to Austria and Switzerland. The Zugspitze which is the highest point in Germany (almost 10,000 Feet Up) is just breathtaking. While up there one can walk across the Border into Austria and have a bite to eat and walk back. The Director of Security at the Edelweiss a Mr. John D'Amatto is a jewel. He gave my Wife and I the grand tour to include the Attic (Not an attic as we know it). At any rate I strongly suggest Garmisch be an absolute must on your list of travels.....Ollie

I like to be surprised when I travel. On the other hand, when I arrive in an unfamiliar city late at night I'd rather know that there was a hotel waiting closeby with a reservation in my name. Planning isn't my strong suit, but at least some of it has to be done before I go or I fret.
inchirieri auto