Tuesday my wife and leave on the adventure of a lifetime: 7 weeks in Europe! 4 weeks in Paris (staying in my cousin's apartment!), followed by about a week each in Belgium, Netherlands, and Norway.
I've already arranged to meet Hangout member RB-1 - Bruno Van Hoek - and I'm looking forward to that.
I've discovered some jams or bluegrass shows in Paris between Sept 26-Oct 25, but we already have conflicts with some of those. Oh, well.
If anyone knows of bluegrass or banjo events in Belgium Oct 27-31 or Amsterdam Nov 1 - 6, please let me know. I think it will be too convenient to take in any events in in Norway unless we luck into something close to one of our hotels.
Can't help you, Ken, but what a spectacular trip, with or without picking!
Arnie
My late wife Maggie, and I went to The Netherlands and Belgium in 2000. We spent most of our time in the border area because her family had come from Flanders. We ate in several cafes that had outdoor seating. One cafe in particular had a row of white tiles across the center of the patio with NL on one side and BG on the other. When my wife asked the waitress about the tiles, we found out that it was the border between The Netherlands and Belgium.
Nice to hear from you, Arnie. Happy New Year and a Good Fast.
Our trip to Europe has two big motivators: Pent-up post-pandemic demand for travel. And escapign the full house resulting from our son's family (wife and kids almost 8 and almost 6) moving in with us while their tiny house elsewhere in town is torn down and replaced. Our son is an architect and designed a two-story house with rooms for everyone and a large home office (that can become a suite for aging-in-place).
Our guest room has become our granddaughter's room. Our grandson is in my former office (which was originally our son's room). Our son and his wife are in a basement den with full bath -- which required relocating all my music stuff (banjos, basses, amps, PA) to various other locations throughout the house. Our daughter-in-law who only goes to her office one or two days a week is using Linda's office in the basement. Our son decided to sub-lease an office from a nearby architect he sometimes partners with.
It's a big change for us. But we're not the type of parents to say no.
So we're getting away.
In late January into early February, we're going to Turkey and Thailand. Possibly Canadian Rockies and Alaska in late spring. In-between times, we'll probably get away more often than usual to our beach house in Delaware.
They moved in two weeks ago. But because of permitting delays, demolition hasn't started. Oh, well.
quote:
Originally posted by Old HickoryTuesday my wife and leave on the adventure of a lifetime: 7 weeks in Europe! 4 weeks in Paris (staying in my cousin's apartment!), followed by about a week each in Belgium, Netherlands, and Norway.
I've already arranged to meet Hangout member RB-1 - Bruno Van Hoek - and I'm looking forward to that.
I've discovered some jams or bluegrass shows in Paris between Sept 26-Oct 25, but we already have conflicts with some of those. Oh, well.
If anyone knows of bluegrass or banjo events in Belgium Oct 27-31 or Amsterdam Nov 1 - 6, please let me know. I think it will be too convenient to take in any events in in Norway unless we luck into something close to one of our hotels.
Looking at your schedule, I guess this is a near miss but since Lluis is such a great player and nice guy, I post the information about this anyway:
Thanks for posting. Magritte would be proud!
Check with Thierry Schoysman from the Belgium band Rawhide (rawhide.be/Contact.html). He sends a newsletter about bluegrass in Belgium.
Other than that, I don´t know what bluegrass there may be in Norway. Bluegrass in fall is a slow time. There are certain spots to visit (Bluegrass Camp in Aschau, Germany from the 6th to the 8th of October) but not that I know where you´re going.
In spite of having that date in Nov. secrured, the rest is 'wrong time, wrong place' as it seems.
On Oct. 15th we're playing in the N. of Germany: https://www.suedliches-ostfriesland.de/ferienorte/moormerland/veranstaltungen-in-moormerland/take-four-in-der-muehle-neermoor-moormerland
One of the rare pictures where I'm holding my RK-75....
It's not bluegrass related, but if you want to visit the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, then you need to book well in advance. I just checked and at the moment October is completely sold out. Tickets are available for the first 2 weeks in November but at first glance they're 50-80% sold out as well.
I'm not sure how well they do at staggering entry to manage the crowd. I went a long, long time ago (in the 90's) when you could simply show up, but the line was always enormous. The best thing to do at that time was get there early and be one of the first people in -- which we did, and the line was huge when we left while inside was getting very crowded. I'd probably suggest trying to book for the opening slot of the day (and get in first), because when it's full of people it really detracts from the experience. It's absolutely worth going to see, so don't dither too long.
Edited by - Barnacle Joe on 09/30/2023 17:08:35
quote:
Originally posted by Barnacle JoeIt's not bluegrass related, but if you want to visit the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, then you need to book well in advance. I just checked and at the moment October is completely sold out. Tickets are available for the first 2 weeks in November but at first glance they're 50-80% sold out as well.
Yea. My wife was on it. By the time I posted here she had already secured our tickets for our first full day in Amsterdam. For almost every major museum and site we've visited in Europe, we've had our tickets in advance.
Also had a great visit with Bruno and his wife Elly, and got so wrapped up in conversation and music we forgot to take pictures!
Arrived in Norway yesterday evening and on Tromsø a few hours ago. Northern Lights, here we come!
Newest Posts
'Is this a "G lick" ?' 54 min
'God's Not Dead' 1 hr
'Silver Lake' 1 hr
'Punched a Cop!' 3 hrs
