While watching the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, I started dreaming of one day being at one.
It never became a burning obsession, just a middle priority item on my bucket list.
In February of 2023 an opportunity came up and the end result is, we are going to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
La Vie est belle!
Another one checked off the bucket list Read More »
After nearly a year and a half, the tickets we purchased are finally available. Finally!
It feels odd to purchase tickets, and then not to have them immediately. Usually not how that kind of thing works.
But now we do…
(Since the tickets are encoded inside an app, I had to ask AI to generate a matching image.)
The tickets are here! The tickets are here! Read More »
Our awesome ‘not-uber’ driver George got us to the aiport with enough time to sit and experience the lounge.
It is fun if a credit card allows you to be bougie! Now where is my free glass of champagne…?
Travel step one is done Read More »
It was a hard travel day around the world, but we were blessed and made it all the way without any incidents. We even arrived early!
Since most of the world was not able to fly, this was the fastest we ever got through Schipol and immigration.
Good morning Amsterdam!
Dee and Tijn picked us up at the airport and we headed directly to brunch.
North of Centraal Station is an island that used to be the main shipping location for the city. Over time most of that shipping activity moved to Rotterdam and the place was abandoned.
It lately got developed and is now a very hip and artsy area. Old wharehouses with art spaces are alive in front of newly built living spaces and it all blends together with a youthful dynamic.
Pllek, (https://pllek.nl/en/) the restaurant we headed to, was built out of shipping containers to pay homage to the history of the area.
What a great start to a beautiful day.
Lunch at the coolest place Read More »
On our way to the house we stopped for a quick liquid refreshment and to see the beautiful little town of Zaltbommel on the bank of the Waal.
This small town’s most famous inhabitant was Mr. Phillips, the founder of the Phillips electronics company. This is the same company Pieter’s dad used to work for!
The town was very picturesque and many years ago an artist came and created ‘Gutter Ghosts’. These are not gargoyles, but rather creatures that peek out of gutters and around drains. There are about 30 of them scattered theough the town. Each one also has something about the place where they ‘hang out’. For example, the one above the bookstore would be reading, and the one above the optometrist have glasses. My favorite was the one above the restaurant that was holding a knife and fork, but from the street looks like Yoda playing drums!
Gutter Ghost Route – ‘Ghosts’ hang in many gutters or on the facades of buildings and houses in Zaltbommel, created by the regional visual artist Joris Baudoin. The artwork tells something about the people who live or lived there or the shop that is located there.
Does it really mean Salty Bumblebee? Read More »
We will be staying in the beautiful home of friends in the small town of Megen for the next few days.
With a sigh of relief we were finally able to take those compression socks off and get more comfortable.
We had a relaxing afternoon sitting and talking in the ‘garden’, and then took a walk through town to get some ice cream.
Megen, as small as it is, has a long history (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megen) and still has two active cloisters. One for the nuns, and one for the monks.
After the best lemon-and-basil ice cream we ever had, the fast approaching thunderstorm cut short our further exploration with a mad dash through the streets.
More exploring tomorrow…
We started our morning with a ‘treasure hunt’ around the town of Megen.
We went looking for an artist’s geocaching project where she hid caches all around the town. If you mark where you found all of them, not only will you have done the outline of a mouse on the map, but you also get clues to more locations.
It was a fun and exciting way to see all these pastoral scenes around the town.
And we ended up finding 5 of the 6 we set out to find…!
Argh… dar be treasure, Mateys! Read More »
We rented a boat and had a wonderful afternoon on the Vecht river.
Not only is it a most relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon, but you also get to see things from a different angle.
A boating we will go Read More »
