Tag Archives: great guide

July 16, 2015 · 1:30 pm

Insight Vacations Trip Through Spain and Portugal

We are coming to the end of this segment of our vacation and I would be remiss if I didn’t comment on what we received, where we went and how we were treated.

We have been on the road now for two weeks with this company. We have a wonderful, careful, pleasant young driver from Portugal we call Joel. Sorry ladies, as handsome as he is, he has a girlfriend. A wonderful gentleman.

We have received with great passion more history on the different areas we have been to; hints about shopping, foods to try or avoid as the case may be, and always with a smile, cute joke or assistance from our wonderful guide, Elena. This lady had a monumental task ahead of her when we first met.

For example, she has to advise (warn?) the various hotels we will be staying in, trying to please 39 passengers from different parts of the world with foods, places to go to, assistance and understanding for those who may require it.

Through it all, we were plied with information, pictures of historic people, events and architecture, finding lost or late passengers and keeping a schedule. Elena does all this and more, and truly is a gem in the Insight diadem.

Did we have an easy time booking this vacation? Absolutely.

We asked them to book our airflights, advising them who we preferred . Insight to the rescue, again.

The biggest question people ask us is; would we travel with them again? Absolutely with great haste. There is no better way to travel and see new places, things and a history lesson as well. Fascinating.

We began as 39 strangers and we end as 39 friends.

 

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August 12, 2013 · 6:42 am

Brussels to Amsterdam

This morning at the early hour of 6ish, we went down for breakfast and then boarded the beautiful Mercedes-Benz Insight touring bus. Our fearless guide, Bob, was born in Amsterdam so we are all in good hands.

We drove on our way to Volendam where they make cheese and clogs (wooden shoes). We got to sample every cheese they make (13 of them) and Don tried each and every one. I must be married to a mouse.

We loaded the bus again and drove on to Amsterdam. We stopped in a small `town`on the Zuider Zee for lunch and an ice cream. Back on the bus to Gassan, to view  Diamond cutting and polishing of cut diamonds.

The hotel we are staying in is very modern (almost stark) but clean and the breakfast was good.

The sun has come out now and we are getting ready for our canal cruise, dinner in a historic Dutch restaurant and finish our day with a stroll through the red light district.

The canal cruise was fabulous, showing all the  canals. We were told Amsterdam has more canals than Venice. Wonderful time.

Bob tells us it would like going to Pisa and not seeing the tower. .

I tried to come back and tell you about the lovely restaurant we dined in. It was ONLY since 1500. The ham and goat cheese Lucille and I started with the magnificent, followed (FOR ME) Salmon with lobster sauce, on a bed of mashed potatoes, carrots and finished with a cinnamon ice cream with raisins and brandy sauce. Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.

Don and Lucille had the roast pork on a bed of mashed potatoes and green beans Lucille had the Crème Brulee.

We then went on our walk through the red light district. It is a real culture shock and, I must admit, unsettling for me. I didn’t think I was a prude but…….Also the smell of the drugs would make a normal person high. It is legal here and without sounding like I am giving a sermon, the sights we saw would make a parent cry. Wasted kids by the hundreds.

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