My first Dutch bike ride and other stories

Prepare yourself - this is going to be a long entry.  Today was quite possibly the funniest day I've had here so far and mostly because of mishaps along the way in my quest to see all of the Netherlands via a guidebook.  So much to discuss.  Detailed bullets:

1.  I have been here almost 2 months and I had yet to eat a Dutch pancake.  How is that possible?  What kind of fake Dutchy am I?  A very bad one.  I found a place in the Hague for breakfast this morning called Will's Pancake House and ordered a hot chocolate (soo much better in Europe) and a bacon/cheese pancake.  I can't begin to describe the goodness in that pancake - the bacon and cheese are mixed in the batter and cooked in a very thin pancake, almost crepe like.  It was impressive.  Definitely a repeat and for any potential visitors, we will be going there.  Lonely Planet also recommends a pancake boat out of Rotterdam (which I think J and K have done with their little ones) but I will probably wait until I have visitors come or a friend that wants to go.  Kind of seems weird to call and book a table for 1 on a breakfast boat cruise.

2.  After my massive success finding pancakes, I was feeling pretty good about my prospects for the day.  I decided based on carrying LP with me that I should just pick a page and give it a shot.  The page opened up to Arnhem, which is just past Utrecht near the German border.  I went to the train station and got the ticket, thinking I would pick things to do there on the train.  If nothing else, I would get 1.5 hours on the train to see a part of the country I haven't really seen.

3.  First mistake happened at the train station.  I just missed the Intercity yellow train to Utrecht for my connection, so I jumped on the next train headed to Utrecht, which happened to be a white Sprinter train. I know better than that....the Sprinters do not sprint anywhere.  I can't believe I made such a rookie mistake.  Anyways, I was on that train for who knows how long, stopping at every measley station between here and Utrecht.  It must have made 15 stops...who knows, I lost count after 5.  Problem was I couldn't get off and wait for the yellow train, because it didn't make stops in most of the towns.  Well, it did in Gouda, but by that point I was so close to Utrecht it didn't matter.

4.  I switched trains in Utrecht to Arnhem without a problem and I got a yellow train this time.  So much better.

5.  On that train, I made a decision to visit the "can't miss" Kroller-Muller Museum near Arnhem in Hoge Veluwe National Park.  LP described the bus you get on and I figured with all the success I had last weekend going to somewhere different with LP, I could blindly trust that it would be right.  Famous last words.

6.  I hoped off the train at Arnhem, found the bus platform and proceeded to the Bus 2 as listed in LP.  I just happened to check the bus destinations for bus 2 and found that it wasn't going to where LP said it should.  Not even close.  So I flagged down the nearest bus I could and asked which one was indeed the right bus.  I was told that bus 21 took you to the back entrance and bus 105 took you to the front entrance.  Thinking it didn't matter too much, I went to bus 21, where I met an American couple headed the same place, just as lost as I was.  We confirmed together that the bus was indeed going to the park/museum and got on. 

7.  After arriving at the back entrance, I had a minor "score" moment when I learned they accepted my Museumcaart.  Entrance to the museum was covered with my card, so I just paid park admission and for a map.  Map was recommended by LP (called invaluable) and in hindsight I would have skipped it.  Everything was marked in the park. 

8.  So here's what I read on the long bus over to the park.  The back entrance was 10KM from the museum.  There were one of 3 ways to get to the museum.  Walk, take a free bike and make your way to the museum or bus.  Given my success thus far with buses on this trip, I had serious doubts about the bus, which was confirmed by the lady at the desk after I had already paid for the park.  Too far to turn back now.

9.  So 10KM is about 6 miles.  The museum was only open from 12-5 and it was already 1:30 because of all of my train debacles in Den Haag.  I figured I would check out these free bikes and see if I could figure that out.  If not, I would probably end up getting there and having maybe 30 minutes to check out the museum. This was going downhill and fast.

10.  The free bikes were typical Dutch Amsterdam type bikes, each the same frame with only the seat adjustable up or down.  I found a few that had the seat all the way down but I still couldn't tough the ground.  It was really bad.  I had a few under the breath curses and then started to feel a woe is me coming on.  WHY CAN'T I GET 3-4 MORE INCHES TALLER?  Is that too much to ask?  I was so frustrated...the sweet couple I met on the bus tried to help me out, but there was no fixing the situation.  So I sucked it up and started walking.  The first 2KMs or so were really pretty:

 

Then it suddenly turned into Amber waves of grain as far as the eye can see.  Like walking in a wheat field in Nebraska.  Not fun.

 



At this point, I'm in full on pitty mode as I watch other people fly by me on a bike.  I'm still trying to see if I can keep a fast enough pace to make it by 4 to give me some time at the museum, which LP said could take a half day to truly appreciate it.  I'm also beginning to think about where LP can stick it.  I'm dehydrated and I'm not having fun.  Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a Dutch man comes galloping on a horse at full speed.  Wearing a cowboy hat and full chaps and spurs.  And he was maybe 25-30.  He was so hot (or maybe I was just that tired of walking through fields of barley).  I thought that possibly I was seeing my "man on a white horse" except it was a brown horse.  Needless to say, he galloped past and I didn't have the courage to stop him.  I was also afraid he might fall off the horse at such a quick stop.  Chance lost, but maybe it was all just a mirage.  I truly believe it happened, but no pictures to prove it.

At this point, I start to see kids going by in the opposite direction with small free bikes.  Why I didn't think to ask the front desk for a kids bike is beyond me.  Well, not that far beyond.  Pride had something to do with it.  I also at this point begin to think about the ramifications of trying to steal a bike from an 8 year old and think better of it.

So about 6.5KMs into the walk, I'm completely over the museum.  I can't wait to get home, prop up my feet and relax.  Keep in mind, I just became a field hockey expert yesterday so I have muscles sore that are not used to being sore.  I may or may not have taking an elevator down from my second story apartment that morning.  I'm beat. 

Out of nowhere, a bike materializes next to the wheat field.  It's a kids bike and it appears to be abandoned.  I looked long and hard for a kid, I promise.  I didn't see any adults or kids, so I figured some kid got tired of riding himself and they put the kid in the child seat on an adult bike.  I didn't even check the tires on the bike, I just got on it.  First problem.  The front handle bars were permanently adjusted to lean to the left, so in order to go straight, you had to steer to the right.  No big deal after the first 200M or so.  First 200M, different story.  No falling, because the bike was so small, my feet were never really that far from the ground. 

Once I got going, it wasn't too bad.  The hills were tough, but I made it.  It cut a lot ot time off the rest of the journey and I stopped to take this picture:

Beautiful, right?  Not worth the 4KMs in the wheat, but pretty.

I got to the KM museum at 4, just as I was hoping.  I put the savior bike with the others and as I was leaving, noticed that the back tire was completely flat.  No wonder those hills had been so tough and no wonder it had been abandoned.  I like to think I did the park a service by picking up the bike.

Then I saw the museum and caught up with my new American friends.  Here's some shots from the art there, including Van Gogh:

The first is Van Gogh.  The last two were modern art....I've never seen anything like it.  It was a room of stuffed tigers with these arrows in them and in different positions and heights throughout the room.  It was creepy and awesome at the same time.  I'm not sure what it was supposed to mean, but pretty cool visually.  The Van Goghs were nice, but I never found the Picasso or Monet's the museum advertised showing.  I did find a snack bar where I could get a huge bottle of water...best 2.50 Euros I've spent.  Overall, I liked the art, but not worth the 10KM bike ride/walk.  This was what I would term KM Museum Death March 2012.  I'll update at some point with Rick Steve's...he recommended this place too.  See if his directions were any better.

I left the museum around 4:40 to make sure I could get a kids bike back.  Good thing I did because there were only 2 kids bikes left and no adult bikes.  This one was much better, but the seat was a tad too low.  I made it work and took a picture for nostaglia purposes.  This time, I decided to head to the front entrance (3KMs away) to try to catch this bus 105. 

Look how cute it is.

My American friends met me at the bus stop just inside the park.  I checked 9292ov.nl for the correct time and it stated that another bus was coming at 6PM.  Not great, but at least one was coming.  It got ridiculously cold the longer we sat there.  At some point, a Dutch male model joined us (that's the only way to describe him, he was that good looking.  Long blond hair in a pony tail with a little bit of scrub.  He probably wasn't a model, but he should consider it).  He was convinced as well that a bus was coming at 6.  Well, 6:10 rolled around and no bus.  9292 is never wrong, so both he and I were concerned.  The American couple made a move and we headed into the town of Otterlo to catch a different bus....another 20 minutes of walking.  At this point, I can't feel my hands, nose or legs because of the cold.  I'm just so ready to get to a bus.

The bus waiting area we found said the next bus was coming at 7PM, which was 30 minutes away.  So we waited another 20 minutes and saw our bus that should have picked us up in the park zoom past around the roundabout to just off where we were standing.  D (the husband of the American couple) chased it down and found out he was still going to Arnhem station, so we all piled onto that.  We lost the Dutch model at this point, which was unfortunate (he headed in a different direction), but he was almost like an angel...translating to different bus drivers and people along the way, trying to find the right answer.  Most of the time, he was dead wrong, but he sure looked good trying.  And he was really nice.

After getting to the station, I was prepared to say goodbye to my 2 new friends as Utrecht and Amsterdam go in opposite directions.  However, the first Amsterdam train on the board said it stopped in Utrecht as well, so we ran to that train to take it together.  What we realized after getting on was we accidentally got on an ICE train, which is international.  They checked our tickets and charged us an extra 4 euros for the comfort of the ICE train.  I will say, it is a super nice train and well worth the extra 4 euros.  It was really full, so we just grabbed a table in the bar area to stand around.  M (the wife of the American couple) and I took this photo as we celebrated heading home after a long day:

I didn't get any of my laundry done, missed all of football at my local, and didn't open my work laptop once.  I would say that's a successful day.  I'm so glad I did it and that each mishap along the way played out perfectly to meet nice people who were just as lost as me and didn't really mind a tag along.  What a great day.

Sporty Lindsay

I feel strange identifying myself as "sporty" in the title of this blog, but today (and most likely only today), it's a very appropriate opening to what can only be considered the most successful day of my recreational sports career.  Here are the bullet points:

1.  Beginning of week:  Drinks with friends to celebrate finishing some work.  It was super fun because at the end of the night, I ended up teaching my British friend how to do the two-step in the middle of a Dutch bar.  I had a blast....never in my wildest dreams did I think that would ever happen to me.  I could get used to that.

2.  Rest of the week was mostly just work...sort of blah.

3.  Today was incredible.  It deserves a lot of bullet points, so I'll break it down.
     a.  I got a full 12 hours of sleep last night.  I haven't had that in a few weeks, so I felt so good today.  Refreshed and ready to go.
     b.  One of the girls from work convinced me to go with her to the company's field hockey tournament.  I'm not in a position to say no to anything really, so I said yes, thinking I was just going to be watching.  This was a few weeks ago when I was very green with the team.
     c.  On Thursday, the same girl told me I needed to get a teeth protector for this weekend's tournament.  Sister say what?  A teeth protector?  I'm not even playing, I said.  She said if I didn't play, our office would be disqualified for not enough people or we might have to split up and play with the Rotterdam or Amsterdam teams.  Unacceptable.
     d.  So I said sure, because again, I can't say no to things right now.  This morning I walked to her house to meet her and another girl from our team to drive to Rotterdam for the tournament.
     e.  We ended up picking up 2 other guys from the office.  5 people, 5 hockey sticks and assorted gear in a Ford Fiesta headed to Rotterdam.
     f.  It was so cold here today.  I saw sleet for the first time when we got the second guy.  That's how cold it was.  I had on 4 layers of clothing, so I felt toasty in the Fiesta, but outside was a different story.
     g.  Rotterdam, however, was beautifully cold.  Sun was shining....I got some Vitamin D and it wasn't in pill form!
     h.  2nd guy we picked up brought me an extra stick and shin protectors and the girl from work brought me an extra pair of hockey socks.  I didn't realize that the correct attire for hockey for girls is a skirt, but there were others there who had on pants too because it was so cold.
     i.  I put on the gear and let me tell you - it is something else to have those huge shin guards on.  I naturally run/walk very funny due to a fun disease....I found that these helped a ton.  I actually felt like I was walking and running straight....like an unintended pair of orthopedics.  It actually felt good.  We'll see how it feels tomorrow though.
    j.  We started off with a clinic first, where they split us by skill level and had an instructor teach us different activities at a station and rotate.  The instructors were professional hockey players in Rotterdam, so it was the best of the best.  The only slight problem was that all of the instruction was in Dutch.  I followed mostly by the demonstrations and just tried to repeat.  Occassionally they would give me direct instructions in Dutch and then forget and give it in English.  It was pretty funny to learn to hit the ball from Dutch instructions.  Forced me to pick up the Dutch meanings of what was going on.  Speaking of which, I can now say 1-4 in Dutch, Good Morning, Good Afternoon and See you in the morning and See you later.  Super proud of that.
    k.  The stations went ok.  I'm not a natural, but I think it also helps that I'm naturally lower to the ground and the sticks really aren't that long.  I really don't have to bend down that far.
    l.  After the clinics, we had lunch and then began the tournament.  We ended up having 2 subs (lies, I tell you!) but I ended up really wanting to play after the clinics.  It's all fine and good to hit a ball around some cones, but I was ready for some real action.
    m.  We played 6 on 6 on smaller fields than normal.  My team set low expectations for our results...most of them expected us to lose all 5 games we played, so that made me feel better.  I've only played sports with other public accountants one time...let's call it the Great Volleyball Incident of 2005, where my arm was tatooed with the word "Spaulding" from the ball being jump served to a team where I was the most experienced player (co-ed Level C intramurals at A&M and 94-95ish at Trinity).  Let's just say it was not a great experience.  My public vow has been to never play any sports with a bunch of public accountants because in general, it gets too competitive and just not fun for those of us who enjoy sports as recreation only.  I'm not judging the other side - there's a time and a place for competition, I just think people need to judge more judiciously where they are at when they decide they want to jump serve while up 65-10 in a 30 minute timed volleyball game.  Maybe it's just me.
    n.  Ok long rant done.  I honestly thought it was going to be like 7th grade PE, only instead of Mrs. M yelling in English, it would be someone on our team (or the other) yelling in Dutch about my lack of speed, ability and coordination.  However, I was very wrong.  The Dutch are GREAT at playing a sport for fun and not worrying about the score.  The last time I experienced that was playing basketball/volleyball intramurals with LSF in college.  I remember how much fun it was when J led our team in basketball and made sure everyone got the chance to score if they wanted to and was actively included in the game.  That's exactly how this was.  They first asked me for the team cheer, and I said it should be "Defense" since we didn't have high expectations of scoring a lot.  So we shouted Defense and got under way.  We definitely had the most team spirit.  They put me back at the goal, only because I wasn't quite sure what I was doing having only you tubed field hockey the night before.  If I had wanted to play up front, they would have said yes - no doubt.
      o.  I guarded that goal all afternoon.  We played 5 30 minute matches, tied one, lost 3 and won 1.  I touched the ball in every single match (and my teammates got really excited every time I did).  I blocked a goal several times (at least once per match).  It was really fun. The only thing bad was my teeth protector was slightly big.  You know when you go to the dentist to have x-rays taken?  I always gag when they do that because the adult version is too big for my mouth.  I should have gotten the kid version.  Don't worry mom, I wore it the whole time and only gagged once every 5 minutes or so when I forgot to breathe out of my nose.  When there's a next time, I will definitely get a new one - kid version.
     p.  After, there was a trophy presentation (which those guys in Amsterdam won).  We came in 4th out of 6 which was much higher than anyone thought we would do, so it stirred more of a response than the actual winner. 
     q.  I will say I was sort of a novelty there...none of the other American secondees showed up from other offices, so there was a lot of easy introductions because a lot of teams were interested in the fact that an American showed up.  I don't know why the others didn't - it was far and away the best thing I've done with the company to date.  I met the most people, had the most networking opportunities and actually had fun in the process. 

If you aren't up on field hockey, I would suggest you tube.  It's a pretty interesting sport...one that I will most likely do a better job of following the Dutch team.

 

Bizarre Bazaar

Finishing out the weekend....

So on Sunday, I had every intention of going to church.  I promise.  I looked up the bus number (just to make sure I knew) and headed to Central Station in plenty of time to make it to church.  Unfortunately, what I didn't realize was said bus went in both directions, like the time I tried to go to my local and went the wrong direction.  I did it AGAIN!  This time, I thought I was headed in the right direction....but then ended up at the beach and it was too late to rectify.  45 minutes later, I was back at Central Station, having missed all of church.  I gave up and after a quick stop at Starbucks to drown my sorrows in hot chocolate, I headed to Haarlem on a train.

Quick side point.  I realized that I've only been discussing what Rick Steves guidebooks say.  That ended this weekend, as my Lonely Planet Netherlands guide came with the shipment.  I didn't get a lot of LPs, just countries I knew I'd be spending a lot of time in....Netherlands, Belgium/Luxembourg, Germany and Italy (wishful thinking).  I'm so glad I got it for the Netherlands...has much more detailed off the wall things things to do.

So I didn't plan much, just knew I was going to go to Haarlem and then go from there.  As I was reading about Haarlem on my slow train, I realized that essentially most of the town is shut on Sundays.  So I started to research a plan B - day trip from Haarlem.  I found a listing for Beverwijk, which has a bazaar open on Saturdays and Sundays.  The listing said it attracted more than 80,000 people every weekend and was worth a trip.

Since I got a late start, I figured it couldn't hurt to spend a few hours there.  So I got a train ticket in Haarlem and hopped on the 30 minute train to Beverwijk, caught the bus from there to the Bazaar.  Here is where LP is more useful - I found the details on the bus/train much better than RS.  I didn't get lost once....but that might have had something to do with the 40,000 other plus people headed in the same direction and less to do with the guidebook.

The bazaar was just...bizarre.  I know that sounds lame, but I don't know how else to describe it.  It was an assault on the senses....stuff as far as the eye can see, smells of unidentifiable and questionable natures, people shouting....but it was all orderly in its maddening chaos.  There are 2 pieces to the bazaar....the part you pay to get in, which has "professional vendors" (whatever that is) and the free part with "everyone else".  I went first inside the pay part.  The pay part is much more organized...while crowded, everyone seems to know what they are doing and they speak Dutch or English.  There were boothes with antiques, tools, fishing poles, clothes (lots of them), socks, underwear, questionable paintings and smoking perphanelia, drug store looking places, make up, perfume, etc.  The best way to describe it is like Harwin in Houston....but so much worse.  Doesn't even come close to what I saw.  It was relatively orderly though.  I wandered through that for a bit, bought a scarf and some leggings.  Prices seemed decent.  I'll talk more about that in a bit.

After wandering for 2 hours, I got hungry and chose a food court area (there were tons of places to eat).  The further you moved back into the bazaar, the more middle eastern it became.  At this point, I was thick into the middle eastern culture and the only options were: Turkish, Pakistani, Indian, Afghani, Surinamese or Morroccan food.  I decided to "go big or go home" and went Afghani.  It was ok...not my favorite, but served the right purpose...fill the stomach and move on. 

I then ventured into the free part, which was completely middle eastern.  This portion actually contained almost all parishable type goods like produce, spices, olives, nuts, cheese, etc, all with a middle eastern flair.  I couldn't even name the vegetables and fruit they were selling.  It was abundant...the aisles got smaller, the vendors got louder and the croud became distinctly Arabic.  If I ever need a hijab, I know where to get one now (I won't - don't worry, but I now know where they are sold).  The smells were incredible...between the spice stands, the fruit, the shear smash of people and the incense, my brain was on processing overload.  Incredible experience - probably the closest I will ever come to Kabul, Islamabad, or Damascus.  Totally worth the train rides - I really believe strongly that as a nation we can't reach out to these countries without first understanding the culture...but yet I would never get on a flight to Islamabad.  At least for Sunday, Islamabad came to me.

I had one moral dilemma in watching all of this unfold.  While I'm sure some of the market was on the up and up, a good portion of it was probably in some way connected to some pretty crappy stuff, exactly as Harwin in Houston is connected to human trafficking, drug cartels, etc.  I'm not one to fair trade shop normally, but I did find myself thinking that I wouldn't buy from booths because of the schwarmy feel I got from a lot of the displays and what was going on.  I don't think the controls are in place to make sure you aren't supporting something uncouth.  I've had the same internal debate regarding rugs....In Netherlands, it's perfectly acceptable to see carpet stores with rugs from Iran.  Not sure how they were imported in, but it leads to a perfect internal debate...do I buy something from a country so clearly sanctioned by my own (perfectly legal here) or do I stand by what my government has determined to be the right thing to do.  With EU sanctions, I'm not entirely sure how the carpets are imported (similar sanctions), if they are actually from Iran (and not China) and I also feel for the shop owner if he really is on the up and up.  Poor guy escaped a totalitarian regime only to have little me judge him based on his nationality and not buy from his shop.  That doesn't seem right either - but you really have no way of knowing what is clearly a transparent, clean business and what is not.  They need to come with a sign in the front window....something like "Fraud done within" or "Sanctioned carpets supporting terrorism for sale".  That would make it clearer.

A bit heavier on the blog topic today with no bullets.   Always next time.

On another note, I'm 7-0 in fantasy football.  Luck be a lady...and a bit of skill doesn't hurt.

More Saturday success

Yesterday had more success!  I got my haircut:

I would usually rag on people for doing the camera and mirror thing, but limited options call for tacky picture taking methods.  I really love the hair cut...I also did the highlight thing (go big or go home!) and it turned out well.  I really like the local place....father/daughter salon, nice people.  Already made my appointment for next month - haircut/highlight is also cheaper here than the states.

 I also got some more flowers for another vase.  Picture makes them look orange, but they are actually red, orange and yellow.

That's more red.

I also found a bookshelf/buffet table thingy at a furniture store and 2 lamps.  Delivery on Friday!  Still looking for 2 more lamps, a rug, a coffee table and some easy chairs.  And also a man to hang my pictures.  The walls are concrete!  Who would have thought.  Now I have to go to a hardware store to figure out a solution to that.

I apologize to all Aggie fans....I saw my first game and we lost.  I swear I'm bad luck....it's been so long since I watched a win.

Your stay at the Kelly B&B will include....

Thought I would post some pictures of the Kelly B&B to entice you further into making plans to come to the Hague....

 Guest Bedroom - Coats will disappear off the bed when you come.  Hopefully there will be a lamp too.

 My room.  Just to show how great the new quilt looks.  I'm in love with it.

 Living room.  Pictures are going to be hung this weekend.  The other side of the picture is all windows, making a lovely area for reading on a rainy day.

 Dining room - again, all windows.  Pleasant views.

Kitchen where the second B of B&B will be made.

Legacy

Today was such a great day, number one of which was my furniture and everything else arriving from the US.  It feels so good to sit on a couch and type this out, rather than an air mattress.  Praise the Lord for comfortable places to sit (it's the little things, people)!  As I opened boxes and rummaged through what I had hastily packed 1.5 months ago, I got really teary eyed.  I think the movers thought I was crazy.  It's not about the possessions.  Its about the memories of so many of these items and how so many people have given a lot to see me make it here.  Here's a run down of what I cried over today.

1.  Grandpa Zoch's veteran flag.  I can only imagine what he's up in heaven thinking now...how his only granddaughter is taking a huge leap of faith and trusting that in the end, God will provide.  I'm not sure if he'd understand what I'm doing, be proud or just smile and shake his head.  I know he'd ask me if I have a boyfriend.  That's just the way he was.  I hope he'd be proud - he set the stage for big things for me by working his tail off to send his daughter to college, creating a legacy of striving for the best for the next generation.

2.  Granny Zoch's dining room set.  I really thought at first I wasn't going to bring the chairs and table.  They are quality, but they've seen better days.  I wasn't as kind to them as I should have been....they still look great, but occasionally, the chairs decide not to work.  My dad fixed the chairs before I left and talked me into taking the set.  I'm so glad I did now.  It has been so nice to not worry about finding furniture.  And they have a history...countless Christmas/Easter dinners at that table with a lot of fond memories from.

3.  Aunt Minnie's saran wrap, ziploc bags and aluminum foil.  I feel sad writing this...I don't really talk much about how much she meant to me.  I really only have these three things to remember her by.  Again, I'm not sure how she would react to what I'm doing.  Wait, I'm sure.  She would say I'm crazy and then tell me to eat some more food.  That's what makes having her 1970s saran wrap so special.  I don't even know if it's still sticky or if it's gotten too sticky.  I don't really care.  She made so many amazing meals and packaged so many leftovers to send home with us, it's no wonder she had 4 decades worth of saran wrap, ziploc bags and aluminum foil.  I can't believe I'm saying that the best inheritance I have and the one that traveled with me overseas is several boxes of 1970s Saran wrap, but I can't help but smile every time I wrap food.  I still miss her like crazy and never really mourned her loss because I refuse to think about it.  Somewhere there's a therapist hearing dollar signs over my crazy obsession with this saran wrap.  Unfortunately, I don't have anything from Uncle Erwin, but that's even worse.  If I did, I wouldn't have made it through today....I can't talk about him.

4.  Granny Kelly's end tables, chinese cone and baking dishes.  Granny made it to the Netherlands with me.  Again, I'm not sure what she would think.  I have a lot of early good memories from the Kelly side of the family.  I mostly remember Grandpa Kelly sitting in an easy chair next to the end tables.  I miss him.  He cared about me and brother...he always made a special effort to spend time with us.  I have 2 favorite memories from the limited time we had growing up.  First was the day we went fishing on the bay (in my mind, the day that goes down as the best fishing day ever).  We caught tons of fish...none too big, but every fish we caught was different.  All different colors, shapes, sizes.  And for some reason, I remember the bay water being really really clear, which can't be accurate given it was Galveston bay in the 90s, but my mind has convinced itself that it was a beautiful clear bay.  Second was closer to his passing, and should for all accounts, be a sad memory.  I never knew where he (or for that matter, Granny) stood on faith.  He never talked about it, never went to church.  I had no idea.  As a 14 year old, it was really scary to watch your grandpa die not knowing whether or not he believed in the one who saves.  It was unfathomable.  Fortunately, Grandpa got some time to think it through before passing.  He told my family, not long before he passed that he was ready to meet Jesus (and not in a joking way).  My grandfather is one of those moments where I knew that Jesus intervened on behalf of our family.  It made his passing (while still difficult at 14) that much more peaceful for me.  I know where he is and I know that right now, he's looking down smiling.  Of all my grandparent types, I think he'd be the most proud and encouraged by what I'm doing.  My parents may disagree, but I think he would be the most excited.  I don't have anything specific of his here (the fishing poles and lures didn't make the trip), but those end tables remind me of him.

5.  K and T's box of ULC dirt.  I don't know if K and T would remember this at all, but the first summer I did Group Workcamps, they made a little box that is painted maroon with "We are the Aggies, the Aggies are we" painted on it, with our pictures in the lid.  Inside was a baggie of ULC dirt, where we went to church and spent so much time together.  That box for the first summer went with me across the country...from Colorado to West Virginia.  Then it went a second and third summer, from Colorado to Michigan to Virginia to Florida.  Now, it gets an even bigger trip.  This one really made me teary eyed because I can't believe it's been 8 years (if we do when K graduated) since we were together facing big changes....K getting married, T starting work, me staring work.  I wouldn't want to go through the big decisions without them again...those girls mean the world to me.

6.  S's bean game.  Really this game belonged to Mike, but I believe S is the one who gave it to me.  The bean game is now over the ocean....I'll need to find someone who will love it as much as our group did back then.  S is so good at gift giving, it's truly a talent.  I wish I had an ounce of that.  She is also such a great listener and we have been pretty much on the same path in life for the last 7-8 years...it's been so great to have a friend who keeps me accountable yet also shares in life's struggles.

7.  A's painting.  He got me this painting while he was living with me a few years ago.  I don't know if he knows how perfect it is for me, but it's perfect.  I'm putting it in a very prominent place once I figure out how to hang stuff here.  I absolutely love this painting of the lilies by Monet...not sure he knew it at the time, but it's perfect.

8.  Mom's quilts.  I have 2 quilts here that I spent a lot of time making with my mom.  I can't really talk about it because I'll get tear eyed again....I miss making them with her.  She better have the sewing maching ready to go at Christmas...I'm ready to sew again.

9.  Dad's tools.  I used the tool kit today, Dad!  I know you are proud.  I can see how you sorted the tools exactly how I would need them while I'm here.  I've unfortunately rearranged them.  Can't wait for you to get here and sort it out again!

10.  Work friends - all of the stuff you gave me prior to leaving.  I got teary eyed just thinking about how much I miss Houston and the connections I made there.  Can't believe I'll be away from that for 2 years. 

All of this is really just stuff (especially the saran wrap), but it has so much meaning and is particularly touching after a hard weekend on an air mattress.  I've been blessed in so many ways and I only hope to continue the legacy that my grandparent types began and my parents continued and my friends encouraged to grow. 

On another, less sappy note, IKEA is dead to me.  The lamps won't work.  I'm taking them back and finding a real furniture store where they are preassembled.  Dead to me.  At least J and K don't need to worry about me asking them for help with an Ikea trip.  And my first born will not be named J or K.  For now.

Retail, Floral and Liquid Therapy

So this week was a bit tough at work and I hadn't planned to be out of town this weekend because I'd like to go to church.  I realized on Friday afternoon that wasn't such a great idea because that meant 3 more nights on the air mattress.  However, what I didn't count on was the moving company calling to let me know I passed customs and the movers were coming on Monday!  It was a good decision to stay in town because I really now need to figure out where to get things for actually living here as opposed to camping here.  I ended up finding some great places for retail, floral and liquid therapy after a tough week at work. 

1.  I took the tram that goes by my house the opposite direction away from work to see where it headed and found....drum roll....a mall!  Not the kind that you would see in the US, but it's a mall in my book.  It's outdoors, but there's tons of parking, so in the future, I could drive there.  This is where it gets good....I had some major success.

       a.  I bought a medium/heavy coat for work.  It's super cute and it fits in the sleeves (mostly) and around the waist.  And the price wasn't awful.  I've found that coats are cheaper in general than in Texas.  And they are everywhere!

       b.  I bought some Ugg boots!  I really wanted some boots and I found a place selling them in kids sizes and they had the US sizes on them.  I found some in size 4 and they fit great!  So excited....I will fit in more now for sure.  And they are comfy and super warm.
       c.  I woke up and found that my jeans had a mysterious stain on them from who knows what.  I dried it into them too...my favorite pair :(.  I found a place that looked like nice women's clothes with nice ladies helping.  I tried on a pair of pants....and they had short sizes!  Given their short was still too long, but the waist fit great on them.  I asked about tailoring places close and the lady said that a lot of Dutch clothing shops have a tailor in them!  I assumed it was going to be super expensive....At least I would charge an arm and leg for that kind of service.  However, she said it was only 7 Euros and they would be ready next Friday!  That's cheaper and faster than the states for sure.  Very excited for my new cute jeans.  My mood picked up considerably.

2.  One of the reasons I was in a stinky mood was because I knew I had to go to Ikea at some point.  I am not a fan of Ikea at all.  Why people bust on Walmart and not Ikea is beyond me.  At least Walmart employs people to put together your furniture.  Anyways, I figured it would be packed, uncomfortable and just generally loud.  So I put it off longer, came back to the apartment, unloaded my goodies and then walked to the grocery store street near my house.  I accomplished several things on my list during this trip:
        a.  I got 2 vases!  So excited about that.  I really couldn't wait until Monday to get the vases I have coming.  I also think the vases I have coming will not work for the flowers here :)  
        b.  I went to the grocery store, got some chicken, vegetables and fruit for dinner.  I'm grilling the chicken right now on my little in apartment grill (next to stove).  SOO handy.  We'll see though when it comes time to cleaning it up.  I then went to the bakery and got some rolls for dinner too.  I also found a fish shop, a meat shop and a produce shop so I can avoid Albert Heijn for those things from time to time.  AND A CHEESE SHOP!
       c.  I couldn't go home with vases and no flowers.  I found a great floral stand just down from AH and bought some beauties.  10 Euros for this:

Come on, that's just giving it away.

3.  I came back and realized I was putting off the inevitable.  I got the car out and went to Ikea.  Driving was easy - no issues getting there.  Parked in the garage on the roof where it was only half full.  It was just as I expected.  Cramped, uncomfortable, loud and no service.  I wandered the furniture floor, where everyone pushed and shoved to write down the number for a book case that will last about a year.  Because my low expectations were met, I really can't complain too much.  I found a chair that I like for my living area that I know I don't have coming.  I also found a coffee table that wasn't too bad.  I didn't find a bookcase, but I must admit I got tired of furniture after the search for a coffee table and chair.  I moved down to the household items.  I found lamps, which I bought.  I'm not entirely sure I can assemble them, but I got four of them to play with tonight.  I also found light bulbs for the lamps, extension cords and power strips.  I figure those will come in handy at some point.  I found wine glasses (6 for 4 euros), so I got them.  I don't have that many coming, so I figured if I'm going to entertain guests, I might as well.  I also wanted to drink a glass tonight out of something other than a tea glass.  Just doesn't taste right.  Worth it

4.  Back to the furniture.  I got to the warehouse area and chickened out on it.  First, I don't know for sure the coffee table will fit in my car.  Second, the footstool was only available for the chair...the chair I wasn't quite sure how you get it.  I think it gets delivered?  No idea.  Anyways, I thought it through and decided I could do a second trip at another point because I now know exactly what I want which is really 65% of the battle.  I'm hoping I can talk J and K into helping me at some point in picking it up and then maybe putting it together???  I know I will owe them, most likely my first born will have to be named J or K (gender appropriate obviously).  Its a price I'm willing to pay.  Where is Johnny Angel?  I need him to pick up and assemble Ikea furniture.  

5.  That's about it.  Dinner tonight turned out fabulous.  I got the itch this morning and decided to book my December weekend trip.  I'm doing Vienna Dec 14-16...then most lkely flying home to Houston right after that.  I got the hotel and the flight done.  Just need to decide what I want to see.  I'm excited about the Christmas markets and general Christmas happenings in Vienna.  With any luck, there will be some snow on the ground, Christmas carolers on every corner and a hot Austrian will take me to dinner and dancing (ballroom of course) on Saturday night.  And he will love my Ugg boots.  A girl can dream.

Mosel Valley Germany Day 2 and Camping is getting better!

So guess what!  I'm on the internet in my apartment!  I had to jerry rig it to get it set up, but I did it.  I'm not totally sure on the security of the network, but I'm on it.  Things are looking up big time now.  A friend from work (Dutch!) brought over a camping table and 2 camping chairs tonight too!  So I had dinner at a proper table and in a proper chair rather than on the floor!  What more could a girl ask for.  I'm set, really.  My stuff can take it's time....I've got a chair, table, internet, blankets and basic kitchen stuff.  Bring customs....I can so out wait you now.  Although....I really miss having a real bed.  The air mattress is tough.  But I still feel much more energized about coming home than I did yesterday.  It's the little things.  Here's the rest of the weekend:

1.  On Sunday, I meant to get up early, but I know the walk really took it out of me the day before because I slept straight through my alarm, which I never do.  It's a good thing too because getting as much sleep on a real bed was a high priority.  Side note:  I facetimed with M & D on Saturday night and it was really fun.  Glad we got that worked out!

2.  After a slow morning start, I decided to head to Cochem for the touristy side of the German valley.  I put the town in Faith and we headed off, with me mostly ignoring her instructions and she mostly getting really upset with me.  I wanted to stay on the river, she wanted to take the short cut.  I won.  It was a really pretty drive that took much longer than it should have, but what a sight.

3.  Cochem is quaint, but much more touristy.  There were people everywhere, tour buses as far as the eye can see, etc.  I found parking at the train station, paid for a 6 hour pass and walked the 1 KM into town.  Side note:  Europe and I have VERY different defnitions of what a 2 way street is.  Most 2 ways look like 1 ways in these quaint towns.  But for the most part, I got lucky and just followed the guy ahead of me.  I figured he would be the one to crash, not me.

4.  Cochem is great for one thing for sure:  Shopping.  I enjoyed walking to different stores and seeing the goods.  I even tried on a pair of shoes (didn't fit), but I felt good for giving it a shot.  I am realizing that I wished I owned a pair of Ugg boots.  I wondered where people wore those when I've seen them in stores.  I know now that they where them in Europe.  Something to bring back at Christmas!

5.  I shopped for a bit, found a Christmas present for the bro's gf and then looked some more for other people with no luck.  I'm not worried - I've got plenty of time to find the right things.  I just got really lucky with her gift - it was exactly what I was looking for.

6.  After wandering the shopping, I was hungry and decided that even if it's 100% tourist trap restaurants along the river, I was going to eat along the river.  It was so worth it.  The food (chicken schnitzel) wasn't as good as yesterday's pork, but the view!!!  Wow.  It got a tad chilly, but so worth the scenery.

7.  I headed back after lunch because I didn't want to drive at night and I knew I had a long trip back.  The scenery continued to be gorgeous on the trip back.  I saw signs for more places I want to see in the area....Koln, Bonn, among others.  I'll be headed back at some point.  SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT:  Actually a good place to go if you come to visit too. 

8.  Another plus of the area was it was within range of the huge US military base, so I actually found an English radio station from the base.  So nice to hear English on the radio, even for just a bit.

9.  Speaking of radio, I've found that countries I've visited do not have the good old FCC monitoring their language.  It's funny how the curse words don't translate to something different in say Dutch or German....and they don't alter songs either.  I've found quite a few songs I no longer enjoy because of the word changes.  I also found that you can be listening to the Dutch announcers (which I've been doing to try to pick up the word sounds) and suddenly here an unfortunate word in the middle.  It's so strange.  I gave up about half way through the trip and switched to classical music that I could find in just about any range.  I usually can't stand listening to classical at all.  At all.  But driving through the mountains, it just seemed appropriate to listen to Beethoven and Mozart.  I loved it and will probably listen to it more often now.

10.  When I got back, I headed to what is becoming my "local" pub for a Coke and some NFL action.  They also happened to be showing the Real Madrid v. FC Barcelona game, which was clearly the highlight of the night.  Every single football fan, particularly Spanish, showed up to the pub.  The people watching was great and I actually enjoyed watching the other football game more than the NFL.  NFL was really a side show this weekend.

Some pictures:

Burg Eltz walk

Burg Eltz 

 Burg Eltz

 View from lunch

 

 

On tap next is Rome at the end of November.  Booked the flight, just need to book the hotel.  Love the fact that EasyJet is so easy :)  If you've stayed somewhere you would highly recommend, let me know.  I have a few suggestions from T, but I'd love some more.  Oh and I missed the birth of my "nephew" :(.  Congrats to T and D on Baby A.  Can't wait to see him at Christmas!

Camping es no bueno! Germany Part 1

I titled this blog in Spanish (mostly) because I don't know the Dutch word for any of that.  However, my mother will be proud because I'm learning the numbers in Dutch.  Today was Number 1 - which is Ein.  I'm so going to master this language, one word at a time.  Anyways, here's the update.

1.  Last I left you, I had just found out I lost my temp apartment and had to move into the new place.  This is all fine, except for the fact that my stuff is not here.  Truly, I love my new apartment.  Great location, beautiful area, etc.  However, it doesn't feel homey because I literally have an air mattress, sheets, 2 suitcases of clothes, a bowl, one set of silverware, bath towel and a cup.  No internet either.  Thanks to friends in Rotterdam, I tripled that amount of stuff by borrowing blankets, a pillow and useful kitchen items like a pot and pan, knives, etc.  I don't know what I'd do without them. 
2.  As I sat there on the floor on Thursday night eating my dinner, I thought about how great it would be to get out of town the next day if for nothing else but to avoid staring at an empty apartment on the weekend.  So I made a brash call and did it.  I booked a hotel in Germany on Friday morning and drove that evening to the Mosel River Valley.  All I can say is I'm so glad I did it because this week in the apartment has been brutal.  It's just depressing.
3.  Mosel River Valley - For those who haven't heard, it's near Cologne, south of Koblenz where the Rhine and the Mosel meet.  It's not nearly as famous as other rivers in Germany, but the sites are just as credible and I would say worth a few days as other parts (having not seen other parts, I'm going to make a wild assumption).
4.  The valley is fully of small towns that are your quintensential German villages.  Some are gorgeous and relaxing, others are over-hyped, touristy and over-priced.  Here's how I planned out my trip:
     a.  Since I had a car, I booked a room in a town that didn't have a train station.  This guaranteed me a less touristy spot with less traffic and more quaintness.  The hotel was Hotel Zeltinger Hof in Zeltingen-Rachtig.  It was definitely worth the price I paid.  Clean, comfortable and one block away from free city parking.  Parking was right on the river, hotel was back in the village, was a tad disappointing as I was hoping for a view.  But that didn't happen.  I lived.
     b.  The trip there was mostly uneventful.  I learned all about the Autobahn.  Apparently, any major highway in Germany is technically the Autobahn, because Faith (the GPS) stopped telling me the speed when I crossed the border.  I let Molly (the Toyota) loose to see what she could do for a bit and that was fun.  Its a bit scary though when other people fly by you going 180KM/hour.  Molly was not pleased with that.
     c.  On Saturday morning I got up early, partook in the German breakfast buffet experience (a tad scary, not something I would recommend) and then headed out for a walk down the river and to see the sites.  There isn't much to see in the town I was staying in.  In fact, there was nothing.  Having established that in less than 15 minutes, I headed over to the local Tourist Information office to get brochures on what to do in the area.  Here's one of the drawbacks to staying in a town that doesn't have a train station:  They figure that everyone coming is German or Dutch.  No english brochures or people who speak English. 
     d.  I should point out at this point, that due to a series of mishaps in the Hague prior to leaving, I left my RS guidebook at home.  I took this in stride, realizing that now I wasn't tied to an agenda and could just go with the flow.  That's what I told myself at least.  In reality, I was pretty upset that I did that.  But as you will see further, it was for the best.
     e.  Having remembered that there was a cool castle just up the road, I decided to put it in Faith and see where it took me along the way.  Well, Faith really tried to convince me that I wanted to take the fastest route possible, but I kept ignoring her and driving along the river.  I loved that fall is here in Europe....the trees were incredible.  All different colors and exciting things to see along the way.  I only wish there had been more places to pull over and take pictures.
     f.  I arrived at Moselkern, the town I remembered RS recommending parking at and then hiking to the castle, Burg Eltz.  What I didn't accurately remember was which parking lot to park at.  Long story short, I parked at the free lot, which was 5 KM down hill from the castle.  He actually recommended one that was 2.5KM and only 1€.  I found this out by hiking the first 2.5KM to discover the parking lot.  Oh well, I'm on a mission to get in shape too!  The first 2.5KM were quite beautiful.  Stream running alongside the road, trees dropping leaves of all colors, etc.  It was gorgeous.  The last 2.5 KM were really straight up hill, with the same stream and colors, but much more difficult walking.  At this point, I had to really watch what I was doing for fear of falling, but the times I stopped and looked around, it was really spectacular. 
      g.  The castle comes up out of nowhere on the last switchback headed up.  It's really a site to see.  RS calls it the best castle in all of Europe.  If so, I've ruined castles by seeing the best one first.  Kind of like seeing St. Peter's Bascilica as the first church. 
     h.  I would give the castle 3 pyramids just like Rick.  The views are great, the atmosphere was nice, the English tour was well thought out and planned.  I enjoyed a brat and fries on the top of the mountain, which was good because I was famished after the climb. 
     i.  I climbed back down and 2 funny things happened.  First, I had just exited the last stair to head back to the trail head, when a lady gave me a funny look coming the opposite direction.  She then proceeded to step off the trail about 2 feet into the woods and looked at me again.  She then dropped her drawers and that's when I started moving quicker.  Folks, there was a bathroom not 25 yards up the steps.  No joke.  SO Strange.  Second, most know about my inordinate fear of dogs.  I was walking back along a different path in the second 2.5 KMs, on a trail path instead of the road, which I'd missed earlier.  I walked past a gate and this HUGE red pit bull (mouth as big as 2 of my heads) ran up to the gate and barked at me out of nowhere.  I went into fight or flight mode, choosing flight and ran my typical 40 yard dash, losing my camera, purse and part of my soul along the way.  It was the scariest dog related incident I've had in a long time.  I realized that the dog was confined to a small piece of the fence line, which was mostly covered and walked back to pick up my stuff and pride.  One of these days I'll conquer that fear.  That day was not that day.
       j.  After all that exercise, I drove back to my hotel because I was exhausted.  I spoke with reception at the desk, who actually spoke English and asked them what to do in the town.  I then found out that the hotel itself is a bit of a legend.  They have 150 bottles of Mosel Valley wine by the glass.  The area is a huge producer, which I could see on my drive, but wasn't sure where to go for a tasting.  Well, I was in luck, because I tasted right at my hotel.  Fun stuff!  I'm not a white wine person, but the wine was good.  They are big on Rieslings, so I had low expectations, but it was actually quite good.
       k.  I then found out that the town I was in had a local Octoberfest going on every night.  So I walked across the bridge and had my first German beer, pork Snitzel (mmmmm....sooo good). 
       l.  I enjoyed a local oom-pah/rock band.  I know you think those don't go together.  But they so do.  It was really funny.  Lots of dancing, singing and just pure back door Europe excitement.

Tomorrow I'll update on the Sunday trip portion of the trip and hopefully get pictures up.  I still don't have internet at home, so I've discovered the library for updates. 

My "I meant to do that face" and other Dutch thoughts

Some more truths I've learned in the last month (tomorrow marks month 1 done...not sure if I'm happy or sad about that).

1.  Perfecting the "I meant to do that face" is so important.  I can't tell you the number of times I got on the wrong bus or tram, only to jump off 2 stops later to correct the error.  The best example was on the way to watch NFL 2 Sundays ago, I went to the bus platform to catch bus 22.  The platform is huge with probably 20 different stops and signs on it.  I just started at the end looking for 22.  I found 22 and it was there!  I jump on it, thinking, man, am I lucky.  No waiting 15 minutes in the rain for this bus.  The bus takes off and I knew I had 5 stops before I needed to jump off, because I had checked it on the internet before I left.  No way I can screw this up.  So I closed my eyes for a bit through the first 2 stops.  Then I looked up and we were headed in what was very clearly the wrong direction and had been for some time.  On a Sunday night, the bus only hits the stops once every 15 minutes if you are lucky.  So I debated - do I stay on the bus all the way around the route which was about 8 more stops and then ride it back around to the central bus platform where I started?  Or do I get out now like I know what I'm doing and just cross the street and wait for the same bus to make it back to the same stop.  Rain trumped my pride and I rode it all the way around.  When I was the only one left at the last stop, the bus driver looked at me like I was crazy.  I told him I wanted to see more of the Hague and this was a great way to do it and gave him my best "I meant to do this face".  He didn't buy it, so it still needs work.  My mistake at the bus platform was that the next island over from the 22 I took is another 22, headed in the opposite direction.  Lesson learned, always check for your stop on the sign before jumping on a random bus.  Even if it's the right number.
2.  I've also learned to perfect the "I know this announcement in Dutch does not affect me" face.  Again, I hear Dutch announcements constantly on trains and trams.  There is no English translation, so I've perfected the art of ignoring it and remaining confident in my travel plans.  So far I haven't been burned by it, but when I end up in Rotterdam instead of Amsterdam because of some strange diversion of the train, it will be because the announcement really did affect me.
3.  I'm really enjoying walking to the grocery store.  It's been fun to only buy what you can carry and I'm finding I waste a lot less when I know that I spent effort to go get it. 
4.  On that note, my pants are starting to not fit.  This is good in that I need to be at a healthier weight.  This is bad because there is no way I'm shopping here for clothes.  Bringing empty suitcases back to Houston!

Other happenings:
1.  I signed on my apartment on Monday. A friend from Rotterdam helped me with the walkthrough to make sure I caught everything.  I'm not entirely sure I can work the washer/dryer combo they put in the apartment.  I'm also not entirely sure I can work the microwave, oven, or heating system.  But the walkthrough went well and I have keys in hand.
2.  Last night I moved almost all of my stuff to the new place, excepting clothes and refrigerated stuff.  I'm delaying moving over there because all I have is an airmattress in the apartment.  I thought I could eek a few more days out of the temporary apartment, but I found out today that I have to be out by tomorrow at 8AM.  So tonight I packed up the remaining stuff and I'll put it in the car in the morning to move the last parts of it.  This is when we will find out how well I really packed.  I am sort of cheating though because the same friend in Rotterdam brought by a bag of blankets and a pillow and some very handy kitchen stuff that I couldn't have packed in.  So I should be set for a while.
3.  I did find out that my shipment of furniture, etc arrived in port in Rotterdam early last week.  I sent in my customs paperwork on Monday, so (fingers crossed) I should have my furniture in 2-3 weeks, depending on how long the paperwork takes.  And assuming it's the right ship on the tracking device.  This only is relevant to you because you can now start planning your trip to visit for anything after the timing of my shipment.  Start planning!
4.  I'm mostly excited about my bed and quilts coming, but a close second is the Rick Steve's books I have for other countries that didn't make it into the packing.  I'm thinking about my next weekend trip already....it'll probably be November because of work during October, but super excited about the prospect of planning now.  I'm thinking about flying south because of the weather and finding somewhere a bit warmer than the Hague for a weekend (does that make me a snowbird?  there's a term for that).  I looked at Dubrovnik Croatia today a bit, read a good review for November time frame.  The problem is that book is in the shipment.  Same with Spain...Madrid or Barcelona would be cool, but no book right now.  I have the Italy, Ireland, Scandanvia, Germany, and Amsterdam book.  Why didn't I bring more warmer countries?  Blast.  I could go buy the book somewhere here, but that would defeat the purpose of getting them cheaper in the states.  So I think it will be somewhere in Italy.  That's where I'm leaning....Rome, Florence, Venice....one of those for the weekend.
5.  I won't have internet for a while, so I'll probably be doing blog posts via word and using a  jump drive to get them on here from a different computer.  How do people live without the internet?  I'm about to find out for 5-7 days.
6.  I have a renter on my house in Houston!  Move in this weekend. 
7.  No movement on the car...sad day.
8.  I've also increased my 40 yard dash speed.  I run to almost every tram, bus and train.  I'll be ready for the combine for sure next year.

That's about it for the last few days.  No plans for the weekend, other than a trip to Blokker to get appliances (vacuum cleaner, kitchen appliances, etc) and maybe to Ikea in Delft to get bookshelves and maybe a free standing clothes rack to dry clothes on given the issues I'm expecting to have with the dryer.  I say maybe because I don't want to commit to adding too much to the apartment before my stuff gets here from the states.

Milan Day 3

Day 3 - after a good nights sleep for me (not so good for others)....

1.  I met most of the guys for breakfast at 9 and then from there, we went to the Duomo to actually go inside the church.  RS gives the Duomo 2 pyramids.  Depending on who you talk to, the cathedral is either the 4 largest church in Europe or the 3rd largest in the world.  RS says the former, guide at Last Supper said the latter.  Wikipedia says 4th largest cathedral in the world.  Not sure who's right, but it's impressive no matter where it ranks.  RS has a walking tour that I didn't do, but it's helpful now when writing the review of the sight.  Wish I would have read it while we viewed it.  Anyways, the outside of the Duomo is covered in statues, a lot of which are gargoyles.  I find that interesting on Christian churches - how the gargoyles have survived all these years even through Puritan like movements.  You would think that at some point along the way in the last 500+ years, some priest would recognize the lack of Biblical support for gargoyles and tear them off.  The attention to detail in the marble work is impressive. 
2.  The glass windows inside the building are impressive as well.  The windows date from the 1500s - 1980s.  80s!  Many of the windows were bombed out on the left side of the church and were replaced in the 50s.  One was added in the 80s to honor the three cardinals from Milan.  Not as great as say Notre Dame in Paris or St. Chappelle in Paris, but still impressive. 
3.  Overall, the church was dark (due to Gothic architecture).  We happened to be there when mass was going on.  The sound was atrious - not sure how the congregation understood the muffled sound of the priest.  However, the organ was impressive.  I love/hate seeing a tourist church in action.  Love because the organ is my favorite part of church and to hear it rumble in those huge historic churches gives you goose bumps.  Hate because of a previously mentioned weird feeling I get of being a tourist in a church, compounded infinitely when church is going on.  We didn't linger too long because of that, but I would definitely see it again to get more time to study the different chapels along the side.
4.  After the inside, we made the climb to the top.  This is what made Duomo 2 pyramids, and possibly could have been 3.  Great view.  The climb wasn't too bad....we had the elevator option but decided to work out the muscles that morning.  Much easier climb that Brugge.  The sides with a view of the market square were the best by far - neat to see that from above. 
5.  After that, we wandered the Piazza del Duomo (market square) and people watched.  RS gave this 1 pyramid - I agree.  Great people watching.  Along the Duomo is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and on the far side are two fascist buildings that Mussolini gave speaches from. 
6.  We then wandered into the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, which RS gave 2 pyramids.  I disagree - for my purposes, it was a 1 pyramid.  Unless you are really into out of this world shopping (i.e. Dolce, Gucci, etc) then this is not for you.  There was a gelato shop and other type restaurants, but it was too early for food.  We did however, find the mosaic mentioned in the RS book of the little Torino (bull), which according to legend, if you step on it's junk and spin three times, you will have good luck.  Well, when in Milan......do as the Milanese do.
Here's some pictures of the things I saw:

 Inside Duomo

 Stained glass window in Duomo

 View of Piazza from top of Duomo

 How close we were to the spires of the church at the top

 Opposite side of the church from the top

 

Me spinning on the junk for good luck

                                      
View of the Alps at sunset on the plane ride back to Den Haag.