kmoore

What a trip! Spent Sunday putting things away and doing laundry. Then a mini-trip: off to OKC with Andrew for the John Fogerty/ZZ Top concert at the Zoo Amphitheater, tickets for which the kids got for my birthday. Great show - almost 4 hours of wonderful music. And ZZ Top may be the coolest band ever! So, according to Google Maps, we flew a total of 10,294 miles, rode intercity trains 484 miles, and walked 60 miles. We saw so many wonderful places and did a lot of really fun things. I am really awed and humbled by how small we are in the scheme of the world and history. At the same time, I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to spend this time and do so much with Alex, who I love ... read more

I'm writing from Heathrow at almost 1100 London time, having started our journey home. Alex and I were up at 0300. We stumbled through final packing and getting to the lobbybefore 0330. The very kind hotel manager found us another taxi when the one we scheduled didn't show up. We drove through darkness and fog to Brussels Airport. On arrival, contrary to the manager's agreement with the cabbie, he charged us more than the hotel rate. To add, he only spoke French (supposedly) so there was no discussion -just the cabbie excitedly talking and pointing at the meter. Not really a surprise...we needed to go so we paid and moved on. After our ham and cheese croissants, we checked in with British Airways for our flight, went through security and border control, and waited at our ... read more

Today was relatively quiet compared to the past few days. Alex and I slept in til 1000, packed, and made our way from Amsterdam to Brussels. We continued to expertly navigate the train system, going from Sloterdijk to Schippol Airport to Brussels Midi without a hitch. The trip gave us a great view of the countryside - lush trees, farms, cattle, sheep, and the occasional windmill flying by as we sped south. The major train stations in Europe are like shopping centers, with tons of stores and restaurants along with hundreds or thousands of travelers. We stopped at Midi for a salad and just watched people coming and going. The Belgian military had a strong presence - soldiers in full gear armed with automatic weapons monitored the entrance, and there were several military vehicles parked in ... read more

We had a great night's sleep and woke to a cool, cloudy day. Heading to the train station, it was downright brisk! This should have been London weather, and we are grateful to have it in Amsterdam. We jumped on a train (finally have the system down) and, after a 30 minute trip, arrived in Utrecht. Why Utrecht? Well, Alex wanted to go because a novel she had read took place in that town. On further research, though, we discovered that Utrecht was the religious and financial center of the Netherlands for much of the middle ages - almost 1000 years. A 20 minute walk took us to Utrecht Cathedral, which was as awe-inspiring as any cathedral in Europe. The pictures attached don't do justice to the majesty of the place. It dates back to 690 ... read more

Right now we are on the Eurostar from London to Brussels, somewhere in northern France, so have some time to catch up. The highlight of Sunday was the Rock & Roll Tour of London! Before the tour, Alex and I slept in, then headed over to Abbey Road Studios for the famous crossing. Unfortunately for us, there was a GIANT tour group there, and we could hardly see the studio. Kind of a bummer. We picked up a few souvenirs at the gift shop and got a picture of Alex in the famous crossing, then traveled to Trafalgar Square to pick up our tour. It was a blast from the start! Our tour guide, Lee, was incredible - funny, knowledgeable, and engaging. He saw Alex as we boarded the van and said "Oh, we have a ... read more