Looking for travel inspiration? Our world-traveling readers can show you how to—they've road tripped to Tuscany, climbed Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio, and explored the Azores. Now they share their adventures and practical travel suggestions with us.

This week we hear from 4 women – friends since elementary school days in Santa Clara! – who recently visited Amsterdam. Read on for details and find more travel inspiration at www.mercurynews.com/tag/wish-you-were-here/.

Wish you were here

NETHERLANDS: The fiftieth reunion of Santa Clara's Wilcox High School Class of 1973 last yr was the proper opportunity for 4 lifelong friends – Jane Droogsma of Santa Clara, Carmen Beggs of Atlanta, Gayle Jackson of Walnut Creek and Susan Valladao of Dublin – not only to satisfy again here, but to embark on a 12-day trip to Amsterdam.

“The four of us have been friends since elementary school,” says Gayle. “Our friend Jane is from Amsterdam and has arranged accommodation in a beautiful two-bedroom apartment overlooking the canals and next to Castle Square. We even saw the king and his wife!”

TRAVEL TIPS: There is a lot to see in Amsterdam. Gayle and her friends recommend a tour of “Anne Frank's house where she and her family were hidden from the Nazis, fabulous art in the museums and a tour of the palace.” We saw how wood shoes are made and the windmills and 1000’s of tulips!” Tulip season normally lasts from late March to early May. Amsterdam hosts a tulip festival in April.

---

image credit : www.mercurynews.com

Our intrepid readers have travelled all over the world in recent months and shared their adventures with us as they found the temples of Thailandcooked paella in Barcelona and explored Glaciers in Alaska.

Now a San Jose family is sharing their stories from a recent trip to Amsterdam. Read on for details, and find more travel inspiration at www.mercurynews.com/tag/wish-you-were-here/.

Wish you were here

NETHERLANDS: This spring, San Jose Middle School student Blaze Bentz took an 18-day trip through London, Amsterdam and Berlin, accompanied by her grandmother, San Jose resident Polly Ferguson, and her aunt Abby Lineberry. “We went to the wrong museum!” says Polly. “After an emotional visit to the exceptionally well-made Anne Frank House In Amsterdam we wanted to eat a Dutch pancake and then go to the Resistance Museum, but due to a lack of advance planning and language skills we ended up in the Rijksmuseum!

“The Rijksmuseum is an impressive museum. We saw many works by Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Vermeer, which is not bad, but we wanted – we now know – Resistance Museum focused on the Dutch resistance against Nazi occupation during World War II.

TRAVEL TIPS: “Book the Anne Frank House upfront! Tickets go on sale six weeks upfront and sell out inside hours. Abby was up at 2am six weeks before the trip along with her finger on the buy button to make sure that we had tickets. The Pancake Club serves delicious pancakes/crepes with outdoor seating overlooking a canal. Tickets for the Rijksmuseum might be purchased upfront or on the door, but tickets on the door are time stamped and you’ll have to attend an hour or more before you may enter the museum. Tickets for the much smaller and far less famous Verzetsmuseum might be purchased on the door for immediate entry.”

---

image credit : www.mercurynews.com