You may have been to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Delft, The Hague and, perhaps, Maastricht…
but what about the Netherlands you don’t know?

CAA co-founder Hans van den Houten and his wife, Marian, have put together an off-the-beaten-path itinerary for an extended CAA reunion weekend September 23-27, 2010.  As this trip is just as much about providing enough time for a real reunion of colleagues, however, Hans has scheduled long cocktail hours and meals in places conducive to catching up and reminiscing. A summary of the itinerary is given below. 

There is room for another single traveler.  Please contact Ken Jablon (jablonkt@aol.com) if you are interested.  Please indicate whether you will pay in dollars or euros.

If you are planning to participate alone but would like to share a hotel room, please check the "Look Who's Coming" list and feel free to contact another solo traveler who has indicated a willingness to have a roommate. 

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CAA REUNION:
THE NETHERLANDS YOU DON’T KNOW
Thursday evening, September 23 − Monday breakfast, September 27, 2010

Thursday, September 23, 2010:  Arrival in Amsterdam, check-in at the four-star Hotel Estheréa, a medium-sized, family owned hotel in a charming 17th century building on the Singel, one of the principal canals; cocktails while touring the harbor aboard the electric-powered and silent boat Bredero, Rederij de Nederlanden, followed by a Rijsttafel (Indonesian rice table) dinner.
   
Friday, September 24, 2010: By bus to the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterloo − a magnificent amalgamation of art, architecture and nature, centering on an extensive collection of works by Vincent van Gogh and a world famous sculpture garden; guided tour and visit.  Then lunch on bus before arrival at the Royal Palace "t Loo" in Apeldoorn (former XVII century royal residence). Guided visit of the palace, and, weather permitting, the formal gardens. Then travel to the hotel and spa Landgoed Het Holtweijde, Lattrop, Twente, in the province of Overijssel, for two nights' stay; dinner at Dorset Mansion House in Borne.

Saturday, September 25, 2010:  Visit the country estate of Landgoed Singraven, with coffee and tea served at the Old Saw Mill on the estate; Pannenkoeken lunch at the famous Watermolen Bels; covered wagon tour to the oldest Twentse town, Ootmarsum, with a guided tour of the town and visit to Museum, art galleries and other local attractions. Return to the Hotel "Landgoed Het Holtweijde" for rest, swim, massage, etc.  Cocktail and dinner at Landgoed Het Holtweijde.  NOTE: CAA members who are not participating in the overall weekend are welcome to join the group at 19:15 for cocktails and dinner this evening.  Click here to reserve.  Hotel rooms are also available at a special rate; see registration information for details.

Sunday, September 26, 2010:  Tour town of Giethoorn, Overijssel – a “Venice of the North” – and surrounding lakes and canals by “whisper” boat, before touring the North East Polder and Schokland, once an island in the Zuiderzee, and now splendid testimony to Dutch survival against the sea (and a UNESCO World Heritage site). Guided tour of Schokland Museum.

Visit the Zuiderzee Museum, which shows the development of the Golden Age in Holland and the actual houses of the period, in Enkhuizen, Noord Holland. We will cross a long dike from Lelystad across the former Zuiderzee, now the IJsselmeer. Lunch will be served aboard our bus.      

En route to dinner, we will pass through a scenic polder landscape, typical of the Netherlands.  Before dinner we will have a chance to walk around Zaanse Schans, a fully inhabited open air conservation area with historic windmills and houses in Zaandam, nine miles north of Amsterdam. Farewell cocktails and dinner at Restaurant De Hoop op d’Swarte Walvis in Zaanse Schans. Return to Hotel Estheréa for last night.

Monday departures after breakfast…or continue your own stay in the Netherlands.
 

COST AND PAYMENT

The price is all-inclusive except for travel to and from Amsterdam and transfers to and from the hotel before check-in on Thursday and after check-out on Monday. 

There are five registration/payment options, for which you can click below:

• single or double room, in either U.S. dollars or euros (deposit per participant: $450 / €300).
  
• registration/payment solely for the September 25, 2010 dinner (€70)

Because the expenses of the trip are in euros, and because of the potential for a major fluctuation in the euro/dollar exchange rate going forward, the price for the trip will be fixed only in euros.  For those paying in euros, the cost of the entire trip will be €1,000 per person double occupancy, with a €200 single room supplement.

When we announced the trip on December 7, 2009, the equivalent dollar cost was $1,485 and $1,782.  The actual dollar cost, however, will fluctuate, depending on the exchange rate when final payment is made.  Indeed, at the beginning of May 2010, the cost is less.  Each Sunday we will post the balance amount for the coming week, based on the exchange rate published in the prior Saturday's Wall Street Journal.  The final cost will be determined when the balance is paid − starting May 2, 2010, but no later than June 15, 2010.  

You can now make the final payment for your Netherlands reunion in dollars. 

The dollar amount of the payment will depend on the date you authorize the credit card charge. The amount of the dollar payment will be set every Saturday and will stay in effect for one week. Again, the last day for final payments is June 15.

For double rooms: The credit card charge, for payments made between June 12 and June 18, will be $1,518 for you and your guest. This amount was calculated using the June 11 Wall Street Journal euro/dollar exchange rate as follows:

• Cost of the trip per person €1,000 
  
• €1,000 times x ($1.209 per euro) = $1,209
• Subtract $450 deposit = $759
• Multiply by two (two individuals) = $1,518

Click here or below on "Final payment for double room in dollars".

For single rooms: The credit card charge, for payments made between June 12 and June 18, will be $1,001 for you. This amount was calculated using the June 11 Wall Street Journal euro/dollar exchange rate as follows:

• Cost of the trip per person €1,200 
  
• €1,200 times x ($1.209 per euro) = $1,451
  
• Subtract $450 deposit = $1,001
  

Click here or below on “Final payment for single room in dollars.”

If you are paying by check, please send a check for the appropriate amount, payable to “Chase Alumni Association” and earmarked “Netherlands”, to:

Chase Alumni Association
Lenox Hill Station
P.O. Box 534
New York, NY 10021-0011

To pay the final balance for a double room in dollars, please click here.

To pay the final balance for a single room in dollars, please click here.

For information on paying the final balance in euros, please click here.

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For a single wanting to participate,

• To register and pay the initial deposit in dollars, click here.
• To register and pay the initial deposit in euros, click here.

IMPORTANT:  Click here for "the small print" – information on cancellations, limitations, liability, etc.

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To register and pay in euros for the Saturday, September 25, 2010 dinner only, please click here.

Click here to see who has already registered.

Click here for PDF of itinerary.