Brussels

Wednesday July 4 Happy Birthday America!  Brussels is much more modern than I thought it would be. Every other city has seemed so old. Brussels has a square with majestic old buildings, but most of it is very modern and feels like any city in America. So today I was excited to meet up with Emily again. We got up and went to breakfast at  La Brouette, our server was very funny, he had lived on a ranch in Nevada for 8 months when he had run out of money while touring the states. We had a traditional Belgian breakfast. Croissants , ham and cheese. I had a waffle and Robbie and Jill had an omelet. Robbie and I got in trouble from another waiter for moving our cups off the little serving tray. " it is really much better if you leave this here" said in a snotty French accent. Oh well, the other guy was nice enough that it made up for it.  We then shopped around a bit, there are so many Belgium chocolate shops, it's crazy. Robbie and I drove to the bus station to pick up Emily, and driving in Brussels is crazy! We get there , finally get of hold of her only to learn is bus is still far away stuck in traffic. We told her to take a cab so we could ho check out of our hotel.  Jill had been saying she wanted to drink some beer all morning so that was next up on our list. I had my first beer in the beer Capitol of the world. Jill had a cherry or kriek beer In Brugge that I had liked, so I got one. Robbie and Jill were taking bets on whether or not I would drink it.  I did, it wasn't bad if I had peanuts with it.  Emily finally arrived and met us at the bar. I was getting worried about her, Jill said to give her until 3. She arrived at 2:58. Emily's friend Sandra from Spain came along with Emily to help her with her luggage, what a sweetheart.  It is fun to ask her about cultural differences.  We rode the metro to see the Belgium Parliament  buildings.  Brussels is the capital of the EU. We then went and got checked into our hotel. I think I'm getting the hang of driving in Brussels and all of the round a bouts. I would rather drive in the city, it makes Robbie grumpy.  We went to dinner at a tavern by Emily and Sandra 's hotel. I had some pretty good pasta. I was hoping for a really cool last dinner in Europe night together but we were all so tired and hungry by 9 when we finally ate. It was fine, just not as I had hoped. We dropped the girls back at their hotel. ( the Marriott it was not) . We then went back to our hotel to play musical luggage and try to get the bags under 50 lbs each. We bought some stuff and Emily has a lot. Now if we can just navigate the London tube with all of this!

Germany

Tuesday July 3rd Today we set off to find more castles. I wanted to go to Germany. Robbie kept making jokes about going to the dachshund mother land. His german accent is really funny. We left Ghent and headed to Germany. It's seems so weird that going from country to country is just like going state to state here. Our little Renault Magena  gets really good gas milage so we haven't really spent that much on gas even though it's around 6 dollars per gallon I think. It's hard to convert the liters to gallons, then the euro to dollars. While on our way to this castle Jill had looked up we ran across the Nubrugring race track. Jill and Jason are top gear fans and she had heard a lot about it and was excited to see it. We stopped by there and had lunch at Subway and watched the cars fly by for a bit. I guess you can pay to take your car out on the track. We then headed to the Castle Eltz, it has been in the same family for 33 generations. It has been updated throughout the years because the family still uses it. It has a lot of furniture and artifacts. It is so majestic , sticking out of the hillside. It is in the middle of no where though. On the way to the castle we saw a man walking two dachshunds, we were so excited. They were beautiful with long hair. Jill has been saying she wants a German dachshund  girl for Walter. We headed back towards Belgium, not sure of where we would stop for the night. We stopped in a little town for some dinner. There was a round about when we got into town that was covered  in bunnies. They were all just sitting around with the traffic whizzing by without a care in the world. We are still not used to the European way of eating . I don't really want to sit at dinner for two hours. But dinner was good. I had these potato pancakes covered in cheese, tomatoes and sauce. We ended up driving all the way back to Brussels, Im not sure, i guess we were on the autobon, cars were sure flying past us! We were trying to get to the hotel we had reservations at for the next night, but Ken ( our navigational system) had a different location in mind. So it was crowded and we were tired so we just found a room where we were. It was fine, a Novotel, very expensive and not that nice, bit it got us out of the car.

I love Ghent

Monday July 2 Waffles! We slept in and headed out for breakfast, we had Belgium waffles of course. It really was the best waffle I've ever had. I also had fresh squeezed orange juice, it was so good. We  looked around the shops in Ghent, then toured the castle Gravensteen. It had a lot about torture and had a guillotine. We then had some frites with frite sauce and headed to Brugge. while in Brugge we looked around the shops, took a brewery tour at the Half Moon Brewery, then walked around some more and found a market in the town square.  We ate dinner at a place called Tavern Green, looked like maybe a man and his wife ran it.  The man was very funny when he translated the menu for us and gave me a hard time because I ordered water to drink. I had something called boem-boem, it was a ham and cheese grilled sandwich covered in spaghetti meat sauce, it was very good. We then headed for the shore of the North Sea, I just wanted to stick my toes in. It was very cold.  We headed back to Ghent for the night. Had an adventure getting the car parked. The parking spaces are soooooo small! We got some awesome ice cream and went to bed. I was up half the night, I could not shut my mind off. Next up castles in Western Germany.

3 countries in one day!

Sunday July 1 st We slept in and then went out to lunch at Les 3 Brasseurs, Jill had a beer sampler. We had a lunch and tried to buy Emily some new shoes but the mall was closed so we headed to Rotterdam, for Emily to take a train back to Amsterdam to get her stuff and close her bank account and stuff. The navigation system was trying to re route us a bunch we finally said no, Big Mistake! We have been sitting in traffic for an hour now going no where. We are supposed to see the windmills in Kinderdijk today and spend the night Ghent, we will see if that happens as it is already 4 o'clock .  We got Emily dropped off for her train back to Amsterdam and we headed ro Kinderdjik. We found the windmills and right in front was some police on the road. Robbie had to blow  for a breathalyzer! It was pretty funny, he hadn't drank all day, the policewoman then gave us directions to the parking lot. We walked around and took pictures of the windmills, it was very pretty, we got some great pictures. It was windy and cold, hard to believe it is so hot back home. We then drove to Ghent, Belgium. We are staying at the Marriott with our points. The hotel is gorgeous and the fanciest place we have stayed. We then walked around Ghent , it's looks like a baby Amsterdam.  There is a castle right by our hotel that we will tour tomorrow. It's almost 11 and we can still walk around in the light. The world cup soccer match ended tonight, there were fireworks and singing in the streets.

Main Square Festival

Saturday June 30th Today we left Beauvais in our trusty rental car and headed for our hotel near Arras, France where the Pearl Jam concert is. We stopped again at the yummy patisserie, Angelique & Benoit. Going to a pastry shop was one of my top do to lists while in France, this one exceeded my expectations.  We then went to look at this Gothic church , the Beauvais Catherdral. It was a very beautiful, but I still find it odd to but gargoyles on churches. We then went to our hotel. The French country side doesn't seem much different than home.  We got to our hotel and laid around a bit,  then went to the mall so the girls could shop at H&M. The mall was a lot like home. We then decided to go get dinner , it was only 4:30 and dinner is not going to happen in France that early , so we went to Ikea for meatballs, but not even Ikea serves dinner before six in France, so we had a snack and left to go to the concert.  Walked out of ikea to a rainstorm, I was sad, we haven't had rain since Amsterdam and I didn't want it to cancel the concert Robbie has been looking forward to.  We had a problem with the language barrier and Tom Tom took us to a citadelle, but unfortunately that means town square and every town as one. So we went about 30 min the wrong way in the rain. We got turned around and finally found it. I dropped my family off and headed back to the hotel. I got lost, of course but went back to the mall. I love going to grocery stores here. I spent about 20 min. In the extensive cheese aisle.  I found my way back to e hotel after cursing the navigation man, Ken, several times. I watched The bachelorette on iTunes and skyped and emailed. Around midnight I headed back to get my family, my very drunk family. With stories to tell of naked men rolling in mud, Robbie being kissed by a French guy and of a really great time. Their feet were covered in mud and we threw out there shoes. Then bedtime, with lots of drunk snoring.

Paris

Friday June 29th Today Robbie and I got up and got in the car to find breakfast. We found this adorable little pâtisserie, we got some pastries and eclairs for breakfast. We then went to what we refer to has the French SAMs club for some orange juice. We thought it was a grocery store, but it was huge. They had self check out with an English option so that was good. After hanging out in the hotel lobby so I could find a train station ( stupid wifi doesn't work from our room) we headed for the train station. Jill said she didn't want to go to Paris, she didn't feel well. We didn't want to leave her at the hotel all day and she had said all along she didn't want to go to Paris. She did come along. We found the train station and parked the car and hoped on a very nice train for the station Paris Nord. Immediately after we arrived Jill said she was going to be sick, we rushed for the bathroom and paid our 50 cents and Jill lost her breakfast.  We waited a bit and she thought she was okay, so we got on the next train. It was crowded and miserable and Jill needed outside.  I was ready to find her a hotel to hole up in for the day. We sat outside for awhile and then when she was feeling better we started walking. We walked along time through a neighborhood that made me uncomfortable. Poor Jill.... She tripped on a board covering a whole and fell down, scrapping both knees. So back to the underground metro. Finally, we make it to The Louve. We saw the Mona Lisa and some beautiful sculptures from Greece and Italy. We didn't stay too long we had to keep moving to see Paris in a day After that we looked for a tour bus, but it was very expensive, so we took a regular bus to the Eiffel Tower. While we were in the square in front of The Louve we saw a bicycle police chase we some guys selling little Eiffel towers. It was pretty funny, they were hiding in the bushes and jumping out and running. The police didn't seem that interested in catching them as in running them off.  We made it to the Eiffel tower, Jill wanted ice cream, so I knew she was feeling better :)  I was more impressed  with the tower than I thought I would be. It is really beautiful. I wanted to see it at night but we had to catch our train back by 1020 and it doesn't get dark here until around 11!  We then rode a boat on The Seine river to the Notre Dam Cathedral. We got to go inside, they were having mass, so we had to be silent. It was so beautiful and so big. We didn't see the stairs Cindy had suggested we take to the top. They closed right after we left . We got the dinner at a place Emily had been before bak in high school. It's called Flam's. We had made flamkutchen one time at home too. It was very good. We then headed back to catch our train. We made it back to our hotel and we all sat in the car with our phones and I pad to use the Wi fi close to the main lobby. We kept losing the connection though. I'm sure we all looked pretty funny sitting in the car. Oh well. Then off to bed. The day ended much better than it had started. Jill has sore knees but her stomach was fine.

Travel day

Thursday June 28th So the plan was take a train to La Spezia, then another train to Pisa, sight see there and then catch out 1900 plane to a town north of Paris, called Beauvais.  We also needed to print boarding passes for our flight or be charged 60 € extra per person, yikes! I was told I could do it at the information desk, Wrong! So we tried the train station, nope! Then we were sent on a wild goose chase, we ended with Emily and I running around the streets of La Spezia. Finally got it done and ran back to the train station and got the train. I'm pretty sure I now smelled like one of the stinky Italian men. It is so hot and sticky. We got to the Pisa airport, we were told we could store our bags and that the leaning tower was in walking distance.  The man at the luggage storage only spoke Italian and wasn't pleasant, so we decided to take turns seeing Pisa. Robbie and I headed out first. Turns out it would have been one hell of a walk, so we took a cab. We had lunch and a cannoli by the tower, took some quick pictures and a cab back to the airport. The girls decided it probably wasn't worth the cab fare to go see the tower so they spend all day inside the Pisa airport. We then finally got to Beauvais, spent way too much on a rental car and found our hotel.  It's not the Marriott for sure, no a/c, Wi-fi doesn't work unless your outside , and we drove around forever looking for a place to eat. This town rolls up it sidewalks at 11. We finally found a pizza place , ate some pizza at midnight and went to bed. We are going into Paris tomorrow, I'm not sure if we will drive most of the way or just take public transit. Jill wants to stay at the hotel. She is tired of being on the go. Yesterday is the first day I really just wanted to be home. I miss the familiar and the language barrier is getting harder. Tomorrow should be interesting!

June 27th

Wednesday June 27th Today is all about the beach. We took the train which goes through tunnels to each town of Cinque Terre. We went to the last town, Monterosso, we found us some beach chairs with umbrellas to rent.  We spent the day floating in the sea and lounging in our chairs with drinks. We had a lunch of sandwiches on the beach.  We took a ferry boat back to our hotel. The views from the water of the towns was amazing. We had some dinner, then took the walk with the girls to the a bar overlooking the sea. One drink there was all it took to get this girl tipsy. I  also had a yummy nutella filled brioches. We all thought we had used enough sunscreen, But we didn't , poor Robbie is as sunburned as I've ever seen him. Jill is pretty red in spots. Me a wee bit. Emily stayed mostly under the umbrella. Some of today was spent regretting my just wing it attitude to this portion of the trip. We spent a good deal of time figuring out the best way to get to France. Flying was not the plan but it turns out to be the most cost efficient and fastest. So tomorrow we will get to fly again :(

Roma

Monday June 25th  Robbie and I went to find some breakfast, i never thought I would say this , but i may actually be tired of puffed pastries.  We then headed over to Vatican city, it was very crowded and people are trying to sell you things all over. The line to get in was soooooo long, you can shortcut the line, but it was very expensive , so we decided we were good with just seeing it. We then got on a tour bus, it was a double decker with an audio tour. We rode around Rome on that. Our legs are getting tired earlier and earlier in the day.  We got off at one of the stops and I'm embarrassed to say we ate lunch at McDonald 's. I just wanted ice in my drink. I did have a sandwich on ciabatta :). After lunch we headed back to our loft to cool down and take a nap.  We were so excited when we got up to find our Wi-fi working! We then headed out for dinner and to see the Trevi fountain and the Spanish steps.  Our dinner was amazing, we ate outside though and people come up to sell you something about every 5 min.  I think it was the best meal of the trip so far. We finished it with complimentary Limoncello. Rome is a beautiful city, I love the Trevi fountain and the pantheon.

Roma

Sunday June 24
We got up early and headed over to Emily's to drop off some  stuff we are leaving in Amsterdam until we fly home. Of course it was raining! So we rode the bus to Central Station. Once there, we just missed a train heading for the airport because the wrong track was listed. We caught the next train, and made it to our flight fine. We are all very tired today. Emily slept on the plane, Jill and I read. We saw the Alps, they were beautiful. I'm excited to see them from the ground. We landed and got lost leaving the airport and went through customs twice. Two Italy stamps ! Took a bit to find the guy with our name on his paper to take us to our loft. When we did find him he didn't say anything, I thought it was awkward.  We jumped in his Mercedes and we were off.
We are staying in a loft apartment, it has a small air conditioner, but it's hot! It's on the third floor and the elevator is tiny and scary. Robbie and the luggage rode up in it , and the girls rode it once but couldn't get off on our floor, I will not be taking it!
After we had some lunch. Spaghetti carbonara for me, pizza for everyone else. We started off looking to take a bus tour, but could never find the start of one, so we walked and walked. We found the colosseum and went in to  walk around that. It was pretty amazing to stand in something that old with that much history. We left there and had a snack and drinks, Rome makes us thirsty. We then came back to our place. We don't have Internet which is driving us crazy!!!! They are trying to fix it. Robbie and I went for a walk right around our apartment building. We saw the Castel st Angelo and it seems around every turn is a monument of some sort. We are very close to Vatican city and will walk there in the morning. We got some gelato and then off to bed. I dozed off  but was awoken to constant honking and yelling, I'm guessing this means Italia won the football match that was in overtime. 
Dad had asked me to look in a phone book if I saw one, it was funny that on the way up the steps we found one, there is a Paolo Loffredo living in Rome, as well as Loffreda's and Perazelli's. 
One of the funniest things of the day was the lady walking with her rolling suitcase and it kept tipping over, right in front of us she started yelling and kicking it. She then explained she had been dragging it for two miles. We laughed that maybe her vacation was going worse than ours, we haven't kicked our luggage YET! 

Amsterdam Day 4

Saturday June 23 I can see why Emily loves this city. It is very beautiful. The hing I have loved most about Amsterdam is my morning walk to get breakfast. This morning I walked by two flower markets on the way to the store. They have such beautiful things, I also see people carrying fresh flowers all the time.  I got stuff to make ham and cheese croissants for breakfast.  Emily came over to have breakfast and then we went to a market. It's was kind of like our farmers market only bigger and also mixed with swap and shop like stuff and clothes. There were bakeries, fish markets, ( lots of stinky herring) cheese shops, fresh squeezed oj.  So much to see!  From there we went to some souvenir shops to get some items on our list , stopped at Central station to use the restroom for 50 cents. Then we went to get our tickets for the brewery tour. It is right by a huge windmill. I was so excited to see one. It isn't working but it is very pretty. We spent a lot of time there .  A lot of beer was consumed, and cheese and sausage and peanuts. Emily's friend Sandra from Spain came to meet us. She is very sweet.  Then we went out to dinner, more beer for Robbie and Jill.  The girls are going out tonight and Robbie and I are going for a walk along the canals. I want to see them in the dark and it doesn't get dark until after 10. So we have not seen them yet. We leave in the morning at 730 for Rome!

Amsterdam Day 3

The girls had a good time at the concert last. This morning  after I did the laundry at the laundry mat, we met the girls and rode our bikes to a street book fair. It started to rain so we looked around in an indoors book shop, then when the sun came out we looked around the book fair. Jill has bought a total of 11 books this trip. She has advised us to keep her out of book shops from here on out. We then had some lunch at Emily's favorite cafe here.  I had a yummy meatloaf sandwich. After that we went to return our bikes. Trying to dodge other bikes, mopeds, people and cars and trams and buses, not to mention it was windy and in the 50's and our butts hurt. Was too much for Jill and I. Emily is going to keep riding hers, it's her favorite part of Amsterdam.   Its raining again, We then went on a canal cruise. It was very relaxing to get off the streets and see Amsterdam by boat. The architecture here is so cool.  We then went to a record store and looked around. Robbie bought a Rush Album he doesn't have. Then we went had some snacks. Frites with frite sauce, and a croquet from febo. It is a store with just vending machine food. It was Em's place to go for a late night (drunken) snack. I wasn't a fan, but, I was sober :) Robbie got a croquet sandwich from McDonalds, we split a stroopwaffle Mcflurry, best Mcflurry I've ever had! We went to the movies then to see Moonrise Kingdom, it was in English with Dutch subtitles. I fell asleep in the movies for a little bit. Walking and biking makes me need a nap! Then we watched some street dancers in a square by the movies, they were really good. We then headed over by Emily's house to get some dinner at a place she had been wanting to go. Everything was in Dutch , our very nice waitress translated everything for us. We had fondue, I had a smoked chicken salad, Jill had cheesy mushrooms and Robbie had  Chorizo, everything was very good. Emily liked that the football match was on. Germany vs Greece. ( who is this kid?) After that we headed to our place, Jill came with us tonight, Emily may go out with her friends tonight. Jill got to Skype with Jason and Ellie and tomorrow we have a Skype date with Abby and our dogs. That reminds me, they let dogs in restaurants here! They all seem so well behaved and just chill under the tables! We love it!

Amsterdam Day 2

Day 6  We slept in this morning and then Robbie and I went to Bloemenmarkt , it is the floating flower market. It was actually smaller than I thought it would be. It's geared towards tourist. There were some gorgeous fresh flowers and plants. I didn't buy any tulip bulbs because I'm not sure we can bring them home.  I was very proud that we were able to navigate our way there and even took a tram and a bus. We also had stopped in at Central station to get some money. It seems everything here is so complicated. We had to have a credit card with a chip card in it, so we also bought one of those. I had to use the restroom, so I found one in Central station, but it cost 50 cents, I had a 50 euro bill and 20 cents.  After some cursing, I just decided to hold it.  We then met up with Jill and Emily, we met for coffee. The coffee house had a sign that said you needed a chip card, and didn't take cash, we thought we were all good, turns out they didn't take the kind of chip card we got. So Emily had to run down the street to her bank and put more money on her card and pay. Oh my, we were so frustrated. We then went to see the I Amsterdam sign. We left there and went to the Van Gogh Museum. Jill was sad and missing Walter. We had seen dogs playing in the water pool in front of the Amsterdam sign. We left there and had pancakes and Poffertjes. We then went to rent our bikes. Emily thought we should try it. It's how everyone gets around here. Jill was terrified to try, I was pretty concerned. Robbie seemed excited. We got to the bike rental place and then realized they wanted a 50 € deposit per bike plus the two days rental, of course they only took cash! We of course didn't have enough! It's just how this day was going. We had enough for the deposit, so they let us go with that. We got a quick lesson on locking them up and we were off.  By this time it's rush hour and we are headed to the library and we had to go through traffic, it was pretty scary. At a stop light Jill turns to me and says, " remember how much I hated the crowded tube in London, well, I would rather be there"! We made it to the library and it is the coolest library I have ever been too. It also has great views of the city from its top floor. The girls rode to our house with us, then they left to go to their concert. Jill was not in a good mood. Robbie and I went to the market and then decided to go get tickets for the Anne Frank house for tomorrow. The website said you need a printer to purchase online. It was sprinkling when we left. We found it fine,it was raining harder though. I ran in to get the tickets only to be told they don't sell them for the next day and to get them online.  I said " so I biked in the rain and I can't get tickets? " The poor girl was nice. We then started back and the monsoon hit, we waited under an awning, until it let up some, made it back, completely soaked. I was laughing so hard, the whole day seemed to always have something go wrong. Oh well, a bad day of vacation is better than a good day at work. We then got some yummy pizza, skyped with dad and wrote a blog post. Time for bed,my legs are so tired!

Amsterdam

Day 5 We got up , I overslept, so no shower for me. We went to get our free breakfast from the Spread Eagle Inn, then we headed for Bristol to find the airport. We made it to Bristol fine through  the beautiful English countryside. So many cows and sheep. We had to stop and ask for directions for the airport. We were headed the wrong way on a one way street with cars approaching, while we weren't in danger of being hit, we were certainly going to cause a traffic snafu, Jill says, " Dad pull in the grass" so over the median we went, crises averted! Good story for later , Robbie was not so amused at the time. We got our rental car back with 15 min to spare before being charged another 200 dollars for a second day.  We had a long wait at the airport, Jill bought a holiday travel game book for grownups, we did that for a bit and had lunch. Then had an uneventful flight to Amsterdam, we did get to board the plane early because Jill's suitcase has wheels and they wanted us to check it. So we got the exit row with extra leg room.  We rode a very crowded train to central station, then switched to the bus, the girls stop was before ours and we had to ask for directions to our apartment. I'm so glad we are easing in to non english speaking countries. We then went over to see where Emily has been living. I can see why she loves it here. Her neighborhood is so cute and the canals are very cool.  We stopped at a little pub and had drinks and kaas ( cheese) and salami. We watched the boats go by. We will take a canal cruise while we are here.  Then on to Burgermeister for dinner. We then went to Damm square, then the Red light district. I thought the women would be a little farther away. Very awkward to make eye contact with them.  We also had stopped at the grocery store. Jill got these yummy truffles that we have to get more of, Robbie was very fond of the little doughnuts . The girls came back to see our place, the stairs are insanely steep. Emily thought I embellished how bad they were. She agreed they are pretty bad. Almost like a ladder. Poor Robbie had to carry a 40 lb bag up them. I was worried by the time we made it up.  I will add a picture when I can. Anyway, finally in bed now, I think the girls are going out. Now that I'm in bed, I'm not sleepy. Only 5:30 at home, I guess that is why.

Day 4 Stonehenge and Stourhead Gardens

We left London today. We took the tube to the Waterloo train station to change over to the train to Sunbury where we picked up the rental car.   There were a bunch of women in cool fascinator hats and men in long tails, Jill overheard that they were going to the horse races. We got to Sunbury and got our Ford montero, Robbie seemed excited to be driving from the right side of the car. He only tried to get into the left side once :) I had directions to our Bed and breakfast at Stourhead Gardens and thought that Stonehenge was past it, we thought we were lost a couple of times, but all of a sudden we went around a curve and there was Stonehenge in the middle of a field. It was surreal to see it. I've seen pictures so many times. We decided not to pay the 7 £ to go behind the fence, wasn't much difference really than where we were standing. We then went on to Stourhead. The B&B is so cute and old. The owner Eric is a British photographer. He has two labs, I kinda wanted to sleep with one ;) we are missing our dogs. We went to lunch across the street at the Spread Eagle Inn, Jill was upset about missing Walter, the service and food were kinda lackluster. We then went on a tour of the house here, they have some very cool old stuff and it was beautiful, then we walked around the gardens and lake. Emily was not feeling well, so she napped. We then went to find a place for dinner. We went in to a place called the Red Lyon, they were not serving dinner, I swear, I felt as if I had been dropped into a movie , the girl was speaking English but it may have well been Dutch to me. She directed us to another place, Jill reading all of those Jane Austin books must have paid off as she understood the directions, we went to the Crown and Bell. It was good, but expensive almost 100.00 dollars for an average meal with drinks. We then returned to our rooms and went to bed early, but I'm up listening to my husband gasp for breath in is sleep , I know he hates his cpap machine but he really needs it. Tomorrow we head to Amsterdam , I'm excited to see it . Emily loves it so much.  I'm still trying to figure out how to add pictures to the blog from my iPad.

Day 3 Jill and I got up early and went to the market and got stuff to make breakfast. I made bacon and eggs, it reminded me of dads kitchen. I kept setting off the smoke alarm. We set off to go to the British Library, to go to the exhibit called Writing Britain: Wastelands to Wonderlands. As an English major Jill was pretty excited about this. To quote " as an English major, I felt a deep stirring at seeing Wordworth's own notes on Tintern Abbey and Blake's draft of The Tyger. As a girl who loves her Harry Potter, I almost pissed my pants seeing Rowling's first manuscript of the Sorcerer's Stone!" I love this girl!  We left there and we to an Irish pub, no one drank, strange but true. We then had a large difference of opinions of how are day should go :( we then headed to a area with a lot of vintage stores. Emily wanted to get a Burberry coat. She found her coat then we headed to see the Tower of London and the tower bridge. Waited  in  line at a Starbucks for forever to pee. Looked for a bus tour of London but they were expensive and it was too late to get in the whole tour. We set out on a regular bus for Harrod's. It was rush hour and London was crazy crowded. The bus driver announces that the route has now changed, so crap, now it won't take us where we thought. At this point we are tired and cranky, Jill and Robbie headed back to our flat and Emily and I headed to Harrod's and then stopped at the store for snacks on the way home. It was a hot bath an d bed for me. I'm really hoping tomorrow goes better.  One cool thing, I have never seen a building as old as the Tower of London. Pretty cool!

Day 2 We slept in today, we were very sleepy, we had breakfast here at our flat, then we started out, we headed to Portabella road, there is a market on the weekend and we briefly looked through there. I was anxious to see the sights of London that are familiar to me. We went to The museum of brands and packaging, that Emily wanted to see. It was really cool. It had brands and packages of things over the years. It was fun to see items from my childhood. No pictures allowed. :( We then stopped for lunch and got to try Pimms and lemonade . I liked it! After that we set out to see Buckinham palace. The flag was up, I think that means the queen was home! We took the wrong bus to get there and had to walk a long way to find a tube station to get back. I was afraid to ride the tube at first, now I think I'm pretty much a pro. Buses, not so much! After that, we headed to find Westminster Abby and Big Ben and the London eye. Church was just letting out of the Abby.  Then we had dinner in an area called Soho, Robbie and Jill split a bottle of wine. Jill seemed a little homesick but the wine seemed to help :) I had my ickiest meal so far. It was supposed to be a cannelloni filled with ricotta and spinach but it was all spinach. We then headed to a jazz bar that Emily had been too. It was very crowed and loud so we headed across the street to a little pub. I had two brambles, some drink with gin and black currant and somehow got persuaded to do a shot of tequila, I only did two thirds.  We were all a little tipsy. The way back to our flat was interesting since the tube had quit running and we had to find buses home . We did ride a double decker bus and we sat on the top in the front kinda like sitting in the front of a roller coaster.  We had no idea which stop to get off at. We tried to get a cab we saw but he was lost too:(, so we walked and walked. Bathrooms are hard to come by at 2 am , certain people may have peed by the street, but I won't name names.  Finally we found our flat, bedtime ahhh!

Day 1

Day 1 I can't believe it's finally here, it's almost time to see Emily! We are still on the plane, my butt is quite tired of sitting ! We have about an hour left in our flight. I have watched two movies, The Vow, and Young Queen Victoria. Jill watched the second, Robbie didn't watch either one. We have napped, read, listened to music. Jill likes it when they show our location on the tv. It looks like the sun is setting now, while it is 3:30 to us it will be 2245 when we land. I told Robbie after this flight I feel a flight to Australia is out for me, maybe in 1st class... He said he doesn't even want to fly back home :) we are getting restless.  Our food has been pretty good, an omelet this morning and pizza and salad just now.  My favorite was the Scottish shortbread cookie, I love those things.  So we finally made it to Heathrow, waited in a long line in customs. They give Jill a hard time about not having a job and wanted to know how much money she had. She had to explain she was with her parents. Then we finally got to find Emily who had been waiting a bit. We then ran and caught the tube and found our flat. It is really cute and has everything we need. We went back out and the girls got some shoarma, they were hungry, then to bed.

Fail!

So taking a picture a day is apparently too much for me. When I work there is seldom much I can take pictures of. Emily sends me some really cool pictures, but those are hers. So here are some pretty ones from this week. I can't believe that spring appears to be here already!

March 3

We went on a Gnome hunt sponsored by the Royals for an Allstar package. They tweeted clues. We didn't win, but we were close, Emily even helped with the clues from Germany.

March 2

I went down to the West Bottoms today for First Friday with Jana, this store is so cool. We got caught in a freak snow storm, the weather is soooo weird!

March 1

A patient gave me this because I told her of the strong memories it evoked of my first hours of motherhood. What  a thoughtful gift.  One of the things I love.

February 29

This is the most tempting thing I have encountered on my cleanse, I LOVE Panera's shortbread cookies. I was strong and didn't eat one, but I have wanted one ever since.

February 28

Who would think Noli would need her Thunder shirt in February?

February 27

After my juice fast yesterday I was so excited for my Blue Koi leftovers. There will be no more juice fasts for me!

February 26

I love being home with my puppies.

February 25

We love this place and have vowed to go here more often.

February 24

Robbie was up early today and we sent a good morning message to Emily, sadly this was the best part of a very rough day.

February 23

Sometimes in my line of work this is the only way to get through the day.

February 22

I went today for my doctor recommended MRI of my breast, and took this picture to send to Cher.

Feb21, Today I'm giving two pictures. Ollie is 1 today, and he is just so cute.I also went to get some "baby" love today.

Feb 20th, I made it a week, some days are harder than others, but for the most part it's not too bad.

Feb 19, This has been in the notes on my phone for awhile, it's a message I often need to go back to.

Feb 18th, This is Monica at work, Emily, she is the one that KNOWS all about you! She is giving me a thumbs up because she is eating a healthy apple.

Feb 17, The ice cream truck in February! I love the weather this winter. I had a nice long walk with my puppies today.

I cheated today.

I cheated, I didn't actually take this picture, this is a Dutch dog! Emily sent this to me. It was the bright spot in my day. I love how he is just sitting there waiting, looking in the window. Her texts and pictures mean so much to me. I love her including me in what she sees that makes her happy.

February 15, Ollie's favorite place to be, my lap.

February 14th, Happy Valentines Day. I got flowers! A card too with a hand written note, all in Spanish!I had to have Jill translate. Good thing it wasn't dirty.

February 13th, I can't help it, it's my guilty pleasure. However this season may end it for me. Ben appears to be a complete idiot!

February 12th, Nothing says Happy Birthday like helping your daughter do her taxes, with some puppies help of course.

February 11,  A birthday song and a shot of tequila for the birthday boy. I think he was very humiliated.

February 10th, I saw these at the grocery store and they reminded me of Emily. I can't wait to see my Dutch slippers she is going to get me!

February 9th, My baby girl turns 21 today!!! She is off partying in Amsterdam.

 

 February 8th, This was a very emotional day, it brought back a lot of memories of my Mom. I think it was the hat. I love you Cher, and I didn't even care that you threw up on me a little bit.

February 7th

This week was hard, I about gave up on my picture a day goal. I have worked the last 6 out of 7 days. So mostly I see co workers, babies and my dogs when I get home.  I wish I could take pictures of my patients, I had a couple of cuties this week.  So for now my pictures will not win any photo contests, but hopefully will be a visual diary of my 2012. I'm trying to keep my eye on the prize which will be an awesome trip to Europe to see the sights with my family. So the last couple of days I have seen beautiful sunrises from the window, also kind of cool that you can see where I am.

February 6th

This is my future, A green smoothie. I find myself feeling fat and tired all of the time. So I'm going to try the Crazy, Sexy, Diet cleanse. This woman has an amazing story. I thought I would give it a shot for 21 days. So no more grilled steaks or cupcakes for me. My hope is that I feel so amazing after trying it that I will want to continue. I know I will not be a vegan forever or give up baking, but I definitely need to find a better balance in my diet. Check it out here http://crazysexydiet.com/

February 5th

Me and my BFF Meri, we got together to watch the Super Bowl commercials ;) Also got to celebrate Missi's birthday, but I forgot to take pictures:(.

February 4th

Not dog of the day, but usually the cutest part of my day. This little guy adores me. Let's face it we all need someone who adores us.

February 3rd

Bella is always dog of the day at out house, Robbie holds a daily contest and she always wins!

February 2nd

You can't tell by this picture, but the moon tonight had a huge ring around it. I need to figure out my new camera so I can take awesome night photos, or just awesome photos in general. I came home tonight to my hubby grilling steaks and looking at the cool moon.

February 1st

I got to see my sister at work today, with her new hair. I'm hoping if chemo is killing her hair, then it must be killing her cancer too!

Jan 31st, This has been a very emotional day for me. I know she will have a great time, but I will miss her so much. I think I did a pretty good job taking this photo myself.

Jan 30th, DOG PARK in January! Another 65 degree day.

Jan 29, Heart shaped ravioli prepared by Emily and Matt.

Jan 28th The Ipad has some really cool effects.

Jan 27 The new Kauffman Center is beautiful.

Where did January go?

Well we are 27 days into the new year, where did it go? I'm doing much better at taking a picture a day than I have been about exercising and eating right. February will be my month for that!

Jan 25, Pizza fail, I made this amazing pizza with homemade Alfredo sauce only to have it fall into the oven and catch on fire! A couple of pieces were edible.

Jan 26, Played with Emily's Zoku maker today. Strawberry yogurt, strawberry limeade, pineapple coconut, and coconut.

 

 

 

January 24, "There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face."

January 25, After a long day at work I love to scroll through pinterest while lying in bed on my soft comfy pillow.

Went to dinner with these two lovely ladies tonight. 291 days until that happens again.

We went to a Hockey game on Saturday night, it warmed my heart to see that Jill's eyes still light up for cotton candy.

January 20th Gefeliciteerd and Dag Party