Advertisement
Published: February 18th 2011
Saskia in Amsterdam
Central Train station behindThe next leg of our trip was on Malaysia Airlines from Bangkok, Thailand to Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was about a 15 hour flight with one layover stop in Malaysia. One long flight....
When we got to Amsterdam we took the train to Zaandam where I lived when I was 17 years old as an exchange student for one year. I have stayed in touch with my host family and friends over the years and it was wonderful to stop by and visit before heading back to the states.
Jon and Wil, my host parents, are in their 80's now. They are in the same house I lived in. The weather was cold and damp so that was a big change from the sunshine in Thailand. Amsterdam seems a bit busier than I remember. Lots of foreigners living there as well. Sitting in a coffee shop with my daughter, smelling the aroma of Marijuana in the cafe brought back some memories. Amsterdam is known for that among many other things...
We also visited my girlfriend Saskia, her husband Gertjan, and daughter Femke. This is the friend I have whom I named my daughter after. I always loved the name. It
Host Family
My AFS host family when I was 16 yrs. Part of the family. was Rembrants' wifes name. We had a great time visiting them as well. They made us fresh squeezed orange juice each morning...pretty special.
After six days in Holland I was ready to come back to the States after a long.... trip. Just about 28,000 miles total. Hard to believe. My daughter Saskia has stayed behind in Amsterdam. Her plan is to work as a nanny for 5 months then travel to Italy to do the same before coming back home. The family she is now living with have two small children ages one and three. She will be busy.
So what to say after a trip around the world? So many thoughts I couldn't write it all down. I suppose to all our readers I would say, "if you ever are able to arrange your life to do some traveling to a different part of the world you have never been, do so. It is well worth all the effort." Getting out of your comfort zone to experience something new can be a lifechanging experience so worthwhile you will never forget.
Yesterday I took an 8 hour flight back to Orlando Florida. It is great to be home
again. Bruce and I and my parents are in Hobe Sound Florida, just north of West Palm Beach. So what is next?
Bruce and I are going to try Florida living for awhile. If any of you are visiting Florida please give us a call or stop by...we would love to see you. Thanks for all the wonderful comments. This will be our last blog...for awhile anyway. If you care to send one last comment or send an email, (laydendianne@yahoo.com) we would love to hear from you.
Wish you all the best....Dianne and Bruce (and Saskia and Nicole)
Advertisement
Tot: 0.051s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 26; dbt: 0.0304s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
larry w
non-member comment
last comment on last leg
thanks for sharing it's been a wonderful adventure accompanying you on your voyage best of luck in FL and beyond love larry