Greetings from Amsterdam

Well, we are beginning our final night of living in Europe. This morning, we smooshed all the luggage into the Fiat Panda (we stacked it all in the elevator at the hotel, since we were staying on the top floor, and then sent it down while we ran down the stairs), and once we got everything and ourselves in, we realized that it was ridiculous to take the train to the airport. It's not a straight shot, and with two large, heavy suitcases each, plus carry-ons, it would not be a stress-free ride.

So when we got to Schinnen, Lance asked the rental car guy if we could drive the car one-way to Amsterdam airport. He said we could...after all, the government is paying for it anyway...and he closed out our local rental and opened up a new one-way rental for us.

We spent a bit of time at Schinnen...said goodbye to Patty and Andy and ran into other people we know, so we were able to say goodbye also to Teri and Glen as well as Christine and her husband.

Then we started making our way toward Amsterdam. We shaved a half hour off our travel time because we left from Schinnen, which is closer to Amsterdam than our usual departure point. The only problem is, we had no idea where the hotel was located. Lance knew it was in a business park south of the airport, but that's all he knew.

Once we got here, it didn't take long to find it.

And OH. MY. GOD.

We are staying at the Radisson SAS...it is SWISH. The rooms are about 300 euros a night, although we're here on a government rate, and we're not paying for it anyway. This is the hotel that the government reserved for us. This hotel room is spotless. We have free internet. There is a bathtub, so I am looking forward to soaking in a bubble bath tonight. It doesn't have a kitchenette, unfortunately, and we can't even use the refrigerator since it's the minibar. And the restaurant is pricey, but we got around that.

Since we had to pay to park here (except for the first 90 minutes), we decided to go ahead and return the rental car at the airport and take the hotel shuttle back here. We really had no idea where to return the rental car, but fortunately, that wasn't hard to figure out. So we returned that and then went into the airport. Lance got some food at Burger King (he already bought snacks to keep in the room). I felt it was too early to eat, so once he was done, we went into the grocery store in the airport and I got a Mexican chicken wrap and a small can of Pringles to bring back to our room. I wish I could've gotten a salad, but none of them came with forks.

So now I have dinner waiting for me in the ice bucket, so it stays cold.

Plan for tonight - just relax. Today was much less stressful than we anticipated, which is really great...hopefully we can ease into tomorrow and our journey back towards home.

Dutch Vocabulary

Whilst watching Animal Planet, in English with Dutch subtitles, we learned that the Dutch word for squirrel is "eekhoorn". What a fun word!

Nothing of substance to post, except to say that we are full of win today...because of what I mentioned in my last post and because Lance was able to get us different seats on our flight tomorrow. Originally, the flight was almost full and the only seats left were in the middle of the middle row. Ugh. Suddenly today, Lance discovered that a ton of seats have opened up, and got us a window and an aisle seat in the very last row of the flight...so while we'll be right by the lavatory, which is both good and bad, we'll also be the first ones on the plane after the first and business class passengers get on. And that will ensure that Lance can put his carry-ons in the overhead bin by our seats.

It pays to check the seating on the flight everyday. You just never know when you can change your seats if you don't like what you were originally given.

Anyway, I'm expecting this motion sickness pill to kick in at any time...it makes me drowsy, and I'm supposed to take one the night before we travel. I usually don't need them, but since I actually got very nauseous on our last flight to the US, I thought it best to take them this time as a precautionary measure.

Also...because I am awesome, I just finished filling my paper journal this evening. I've been keeping this journal for almost the entire time we've lived in Europe, and I just inked the very last page...I can start a new journal for the new chapter in our lives. I already have two blank journals packed up with my books.