There's no place like home
If there was a quicker, better way to get to Europe than economy class on an airplane, I'd be saving my money to go again. But there's not.
We had a really good time in Amsterdam and Germany. My favorite was Amsterdam mainly because everything was closer as far as walking distance and more people spoke English! Boy, have we missed English-speaking people and English TV!! All we had was CNN, which is not the same as it is here, and two BBC stations. In Germany, we only had CNN, and we learned ALL about the election in Zimbabwe and autism. Evidently that's all that happened in the world the week we were there.
I am thrilled to report that the seatbelt FIT!! Going and coming...and coming back I could even tighten it a hair. :) Of course, I should have since I walked ALL OVER CREATION!! And believe it or not, even skipped a meal or two. Trust me, there weren't too many missed lunches, but we always seemed to eat a large and somewhat late breakfast and that helped.
In Amsterdam, most everyone rides a bike. They rule the roads over cars, buses, pedestrians. It's amazing! There were several bikes with what looked like a wheelbarrow bucket on the front. I saw children riding in them and even dogs! Too cute! There were bicycle taxis. You name it, they were pedaling it.
If you ever get a chance to go to Amsterdam, do it. It's an easy city to explore. Even though we didn't do any of the touristy stuff...museums, historic sites...we still really enjoyed the two days we were there.
On Monday, BZ and his co-worker, PC, left to get the rental car. About an hour later, they made it back to the hotel and PC was driving. It seems that the majority of the cars over there are manual and BZ has never driven one before. Luckily PC knew how.
Because the streets are so narrow (one-lane), PC had to circle the canal about three times to let cars pass while we checked out and got all the luggage down. As he pulls up to get us the last time, he raises his hand and he's holding something. It was the gearshift!! PC was a little tense driving since he wasn't planning on doing it, but he did a fine job. He only pulled the stick out one more time while shifting. :)
We got to Dusseldorf and checked in fine. Again, our hotel was in a really good location. We were a little further away from the area of town that I really wanted to explore, but still doable.
I noticed that close to the end of the trip, of all the places we'd eaten, chicken was not on any of the menus. On the breakfast buffet at our hotel in Germany, which was a Holiday Inn, they did have what they called "McChicken"...flattened, breaded and fried pieces of chicken. It was good, too! :) The main meat seemed to be pork, which was right tasty, too!
The weather cooperated most of the time. There were some cold days, which I still enjoyed since I tend to be a human furnace when I walk. There were some rainy days, too, which I could have done without, but that's why I packed an umbrella.
We drove over to Cologne, Germany, the day before we flew home. That would be a pretty cool city to explore more. BZ and I rode a tram over the Rhine River, and I realized then that I may be becoming scared of heights. I had a mini-freakout as we started to rise. I didn't see much on the ride over since I kept my eyes on the clouds. I really thought I could be sick. Yes, we had to ride it back over and it was better. I did turn my head from side to side and look out. :) Never again though.
We were all glad to touch down in Memphis and get in our big American vehicles and drive through our American fast food place and chow down on the way home. Experiencing a different culture will really make you appreciate your own!
Saturday morning I was in the vet's parking lot at 8:30 waiting to pick up Molson at 9. Yes, I was anxious. :) He was just as thrilled to be home and see us as we were. Home sweet home.
Have a good one, Girls!!