Merry Christmas!

I finally feel human again after fighting this bug for weeks.  Managed to get everything done for Christmas, even a little extra project for my SIL.  Tomorrow, we're off to Ventura County for the long holiday weekend.  Thankfully, our wild Southern California weather has returned to normal after six extremely wet days.  I can't remember ever having rain this intense for such a long period.

We'll have our traditional spaghetti dinner Christmas Eve at our daughter's house with most of the family.  I imagine the two oldest grandchildren will be beside themselves with anticipation and excitement!

Christmas morning, we'll again be at DD's house to exchange gifts and enjoy Flo's Serbian Eggs.  My favorite boss, Sylvia, shared this recipe with me years ago and it has become a family favorite.  We usually serve it with sausage, croissants, and fresh fruit.  For Christmas, there will also be mimosas!

FLO'S SERBIAN EGGS
6 eggs -- beaten
1 pound Jack cheese -- shredded
1 pound cottage cheese
1 cup Biscuit mix
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine -- melted
1 teaspoon dried onions
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix together.  Pour into a buttered 9 x 13 pyrex dish.  Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
My sister is hosting Christmas dinner - roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans - yummy!  There will, of course, be cookies everywhere we go!

Does it sound as though Christmas in our family is all about the food?  Well, food plays a big role but it is really about being together and celebrating this most festive time of year.

My very best wishes to all of you for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Can I really be in this beautiful place?

September 19 - We packed our bags and made our way to the Bern bahnhof to catch a train to Lucerne.  As usual, we saw many busses during our short walk - one of them had seven sections!   I love watching the sectioned busses turn corners.  The transportation systems in The Netherlands and in Switzerland are superb.  In the cities, the busses and trolleys run on electricity so they are very quiet and clean.

I finally had my first clear view of the Alps - gorgeous!  Once again, I noticed the garden sheds next to each of the many roadside gardens.  The Swiss must love their gardens.  Lots of donkeys today, too.  I wonder what they are used for on the farms.

Hotel des Alpes overlooking the river

Our room was not yet ready at the Hotel des Alpes so we left our bags in the locked storage room and headed out in search of a place for lunch.  The weather was the nicest we have had, so an outdoor lunch at the Meisterkonditorei (Old Town store) was in order.  Calzone and beer - don’t they go together just like ham and cheese?  And, there is a Starbucks two doors down from our hotel!

DH contemplating lunch!

I’m hearing more American accents here than anywhere else.  More English in general.  Today is Sunday, so Lucerne is full of tourists from out of town as well as out of country.  So many couples holding hands! Lucerne is absolutely gorgeous and very romantic with its swans, flowers, and medieval bridges.

After lunch, we walked along the waterfront admiring Lake Lucerne and the many sailboats and tour boats on the lake. DH noticed a group of men playing a game similar to petanque or bocce ball. They were speaking German, so perhaps it is the German equivalent of bocce.

View from  our balcony!

We got back to the hotel and checked into our room. The Hotel des Alpes is on the River Reuss with views of the Chapel Bridge and the Water Tower -- an incredibly beautiful sight.  We have a balcony on the first floor, which we Americans would call the second floor.  I can see the entire downtown area, four bridges, swans galore, and the Alps!  Doug splurged on this one, but it is worth it.  This is classified in the tour books as a “middle class” hotel.  Whew!  It’s costing us more than any B&B we’ve ever been to in the US!

Our room is small, but the balcony certainly makes up for it.  I decided to live out of the suitcase since I’ve lost track of clean vs. dirty clothes.  While DH unpacked in his usual leisurely fashion, I sat on our balcony listening to a violin player, watching people enjoying their lunch in the outdoor cafes along the River Reuss, and taking in the views of Lake Lucerne and the snowcapped Alps in the distance.  I am a very lucky gal! Am I really here in this beautiful place?

Chapel Bridge at sunset

We are closest to the flower-adorned Chapel Bridge, one of five pedestrian bridges crossing the river, so I can watch people strolling across and stopping to take pictures.  The river is very clean; swans, mallards, seagulls, and coots enjoy the water as well as the bread tossed into the river by visitors.

I kept thinking that this is my reward for all that "budgeting by envelope" that I've done over the years.  My second thought was that I want my children and grandchildren to enjoy this beautiful, beautiful city.

We spent the afternoon walking and walking and walking.  If the scale is not my friend when I get home, I’ll be pretty miffed.  We stumbled on a restaurant that has a reasonable menu for fondue and decided that it would be the place for our special dinner at the end of the trip: The Hotel zum Schlussel, Schlukelftube.

DH wanted to check out the river cruises so we explored the lakefront.  Our Eurorail pass allows us to take a lake cruise for free.  We’ll do a 2-hour roundtrip tour on the lake tomorrow.  We had another one of those unexpected surprises while on the lakefront.  A group of 20 costumed revelers on bicycles were riding round and round a large fountain in front of the art museum adjacent to the lake.  They did not have signs, so we don’t know what the occasion was -- but they were certainly having a wonderful time.  They looked a lot like circus clowns, blowing horns, etc.  Fun, fun, fun …

We had a great dinner of fish and chips at Gracie Kelly’s Irish Pub while watching the Bears vs. Dallas on tv!  A small taste of home ....

More pictures of this beautiful city:


One of the towers at the medieval wall




Flowers everywhere




Looking across Lake Lucerne



Fondue restaurant perhaps?



They're out there somewhere!

September 17 - Our room key is attached to a piece of metal that looks just like an extra large beer bottle opener.  DH did not want to lug this around, so he removed the key to carry separately. Sometime during the night, DH decided to open the window to our room to get more airflow.  In order to keep the window open,  he used the "beer bottle opener" as a wedge.  Whoops - bad move.  When we woke up in the morning, it was gone.  Considering the cost of things in Switzerland, this is probably going to set us back a hundred bucks!  DH went outside and looked all over but couldn't find it.  Hmmm ... should be another interesting hotel checkout!

Today is the day to go to Interlaken and see the Alps up close and personal.  Unfortunately, the weather is pretty gloomy.  The weather report earlier in the week indicated that this was the best day during our Bern stay to go into the mountains.  We're hoping that the clouds clear later in the day.

On the way to the train station, we walked by the Bernina store.  They had the full line of the new 300s in the window.  I'm looking forward to visiting the store later in our visit.

Too beautiful to miss

We really enjoy our rail trips.  The trains are so clean and quiet and the Swiss countryside is just beautiful.  I thought I'd be reading my book or doing my hand sewing during these train trips, but I can't stop looking at the views.  We could definitely feel the increased elevation as we made our way to Interlaken.

A bit touristy?

Interlaken has huge hotels and lots of tourist shops; it is the most "touristy" place we've visited.  We walked the length of the town, found the fondue restaurant that was highly recommended on the Internet, then decided to take the train farther up the mountains to Grindelwald.  The weather was still overcast.  The Alps were out there - somewhere! - but we couldn't see them.

This is the smallest train we've been on, one of the special cogwheel trains that go to the higher elevations of the Alps.  Shortly after we started the trip, the conductor came for our tickets and told us that our Eurorail Pass did not cover this train.  The mountain trains are privately run.  Not only did we have to pay an additional $52 to continue the trip, but we were on the wrong car!  At the next stop, we exited the train and got on the car right behind us.  They split the train at that point, and only a couple of cars continue to twist and turn their way up the mountainside.



Where oh where are you, Alps?

 We sat right behind the engineer and had a fabulous trip to Grindelwald along a beautiful river with rapids.  The Alps were covered in clouds and fog.  It is a strange feeling - you know they are there, but you can't see them.

DH thought he saw one of the military bunkers that Switzerland uses for their defense.  They apparently have a highly sophisticated and secret defense system.

Grindelwald is a bit less touristy than Interlaken.  The weather was chilly enough for us to have a hot chocolate and something sweet:  a schwarzwalmer torte (black forest cake) for me and fruchtekuchen (berry tart) for Doug.

Hot chocolate and sweets - yummy!

We took the cogwheel train back down the mountain looking forward to our fondue dinner.  Unfortunately, the restaurant did not start serving dinner until 6 p.m.

The Berner-Oberland Bahn

While wandering in and out of shops, we suddenly saw skydivers!  People pay LOTS of money to go up one of the mountains and skydive down into the town of Interlaken landing in a large open field in the center of town.  Someone would have to pay me LOTS of money to even think about doing such a thing.

There's a skydiver in there somewhere ....

We took the train back to Bern, had some wine in room, and dined at the Eiger, a family run restaurant near the hotel with excellent service and delicious food.  Clouds, fog, drizzle, and good memories of a special day in the mountains.

Taking the Road Less Traveled

We tried to check out early at our hotel today, but the server was down.  They could not process our bill on Mastercard.  Fortunately, an ATM a few doors down spit out 6 crisp new $100 franc notes and off we were to the train station.  I don't know how the Swiss can afford to live in Switzerland!

Once our train was in the Bahnhof (station), we looke for our reserved seats in Coach 4.  We were separated for about five minutes with me standing on the platform securing the luggage and Doug on the train looking for our seats.  I was getting nervous as it got closer and closer to departure time; these trains wait for no one.  We are so reliant on cellphones to communicate!  We even call one another in department stores to find out where the other one is.  I did not like feeling alone and abandoned at all ....

Fortunately, Doug found our seats, we boarded the train, and sped our way from St. Gallen to Bern along the beautiful, green countryside of Switzerland.  This train was a double-decker, so our views were spectacular.  We should not have spent the extra fee for reservations since the train was only about 25% full.  How do you know?

Bern architecture

We arrived in Bern and made our way to the Hotel La Pergola.  Unfortunately, the street we chose did not have a sidewalk -- we ended up dragging our bags down steps and over dirt pathways through a park.  I don't think rolling luggage was designed for this type of "travel."  I need to be more forceful with DH when he comes up with these schemes.  I ended up with several big, bad, ugly blue bruises from the luggage banging into my leg.  Of course, if we had been more patient (or, heaven forbid, asked directions!), we could have avoided this route to the hotel.  This is a read-between-the-lines message to friends and family who will know exactly what happened!

A small section of Bern's shopping arcade

The hotel is back off the street a few blocks from the Old City so it is nice and quiet.  We checked in and wandered through the streets of Bern.  As the capital of Switzerland, it is the largest city we have visited since Amsterdam.  Lots of traffic, both foot, bike, scooter, bus, tram, and car.  Even the intermittent rain did not stop us from walking through the seemingly endless arcades of shopping.

The most delightful aspect of travel is the unexpected.  We heard live music coming from a square adjacent to the shopping area.  A military band was playing!  We stayed and listened for a few minutes enjoying the music.  Fun, fun, fun!


Toddler enjoying fountain spray!

The fountains of Bern are quite interesting.  We ran across several today; we will try to see all 11 of them in the Old City before we leave.

We slowly made our way back towards the hotel and came across what looked like the American Embassy.  Three soldiers stood outside, with one female soldier holding an automatic weapon.  DH tried to take a picture of the building, and a soldier shouted at us not to take pictures!  We tend to follow instructions when there are weapons involved .....

There's a first time for everything department:  we can't get ice at this hotel!  So, my favorite bartender served our bottle of red wine unchilled.  We ate dinner at a cozy Italian restaurant across the street owned by a Spaniard -- delicious spaghetti a la carbonara for DH and cannelloni for me.  Weather permitting, tomorrow we walk 'til we drop!

Our own walking tour of St. Gallen

DH had a tentative plan to get on a train (again) and head to Appenzellerland, an area not far from here famous for cowbells and yodelling.  The weather was threatening so we decided to stay in town and fully explore St. Gallen.  I think we've walked 10 miles today and seen every street in the old city, some several times.

We started the day with a mishap.  The shower in the hotel does not have a lip on it -- the entire bathroom is tiled on one level, with the floor tilted slightly to the shower drain.  I managed to get so much water over the bathroom floor that it started to seep into the bedroom!  DH had to give me a lesson in European showers ....

"Menschen"

The Hotel Dom offers a nice breakfast.  Coffee was freshly made for us and served in individual pots with warmed milk in individual creamers.  What service!  The coffee was the best I have had in a long time - sorry, Starbucks.  The Hotel Dom is part of an association called "forderraum," an institution which supports handicapped people.  The hotel provides about 50 jobs under this program affording the opportunity to work according to their capabilities in a meaningful way.  Everyone in the hotel has been extremely service oriented, friendly, and professional.  Each room is named after the artwork placed in the room done by an employee, either present or past.  Our room is the "Benjamin Bonjour Menschen" room.  Here is Benjamin's drawing entitled "Menschen."

Things are expensive in Switzerland!  We hit an ATM this morning for a $100 withdrawal.  We got the $100 - in one bill!  That's a good indication that you can spend $100 pretty easily.

Our first visit after breakfast was to the Textile Museum.  St. Gallen is well known for its textile industry and especially lacemaking.  I was thrilled by the displays of exquisite antique lace from all over the world.  One of the gowns on display was worn by Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III.  Unfortunately, you are not permitted to take pictures in the museum - so please click on the link above to see a few.  There is a case in one room with multiple drawers that you can pull out (similar to drawers holding maps in many museums).  Each drawer revealed a beautiful display of hand embroidery, one more gorgeous than the next.  The tiny, tiny stitches on fine batiste took my breath away.  The nicest part of the museum was that DH enjoyed it, too!

Oma Bratwurst and Fries - Yum!

For lunch, we had a local specialty, an Olma bratwurst.  They serve it in a bag and also give you a large slice of bread.  The trick is to take a bite of the bratwurst, then a chunk of bread.  No mustard allowed!  People walk along the streets while eating their lunch in this fashion.

DH is having a blast using his high school German.  He's doing quite well, especially since buying an English/German dictionary a few days ago.

There are four or five stores in St. Gallen specializing in musical instruments.  We have asked about this, but the residents don't think this is odd.  I don't know how far we would have to go to find as many within walking distance of one another.  In the afternoon, we browsed in one such store with six stories!  The pianos are on the bottom floor, including a beautiful Steinway grand with a price tag of $116,000.  I resisted the urge to play chopsticks.

Six stories - two underground!

Dinner was a picnic in the room:  delicious cheeses from a small shop on the next street, bread from the bäckerie around the corner, wine from the grocery store that we stumbled upon (Coop), and a hunk of Swiss chocolate.  Is this heaven?

Bernina Day tomorrow.  Now that must be heaven ....

Happy Birthday to Me!

One of the many statues in Koblenz

I awoke on September 8, my 65th birthday, moored on the Moselle River at the confluence of the Rhine and the Moselle adjacent to the beautiful city of Koblenz.

Our mornings are quite rushed, since the tours begin promptly at 8:30 a.m. Our cruise director talks about a “German minute" which means prompt, precise, and exact!  So we rush our mornings a bit more than usual so that we are not late.

As we left the boat and walked to meet our tour guide, the church bells were ringing. I hear the lovely sounds of church bells every day. In Koblenz, the bells of the Liebfrauenkirche (Church of our Lady) ring for almost a half hour beginning at 9 a.m. I don’t think you could sleep in if you lived in Koblenz.

We enjoyed a wonderful walking tour of the old city then wandered off by ourselves for about an hour window shopping and taking pictures of the beautiful flowers and buildings. I even found a quilt shop.  I see some of the same manufacturers that we find in the States. This shop also had beautiful wool fabric which is not something that I need in Menifee.

It sprinkled off and on, so DH and I hopped into a café for a coffee and sweet roll. The sweet rolls and desserts seem to have less sugar than the ones in the US. They look, however, so much prettier with the carefully sliced fruit and crumbled toppings. Yum!

Believe it or not, there are two other passengers celebrating a birthday today, Carol and Darryl.

We spent the afternoon cruising through the Rhine Gorge which our cruise director, Andrzej, describes as the loveliest section of the Rhine. There are over 30 castles between Konigswinter and Heidesheim. It was foggy and rainy during part of our trip, but we had wonderful views of many of the castles. They were built on hills overlooking the towns to afford protection. We even passed the hill on which Loreley supposedly sang. Castles on the Rhine -- could there be a more romantic way to spend a birthday afternoon?

Castle on the Rhine (in the fog)

In between the towns, there are large vineyards planted on the hillsides. This area is home to many well known wine varieties: Rieslings, Grauburgunders (Pinot Gris), Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir).

After about two hours, we were through the Gorge and approaching Rudesheim, one of Germany’s best known wine towns. We were treated to a train ride into the city where our group gathered at a local restaurant famous for its special drink. The drink is served in unique china cups shaped somewhat like a womans body. First, you pour a generous amount of brandy into the cup, then you add strong coffee, stir just a bit, and top it off with yummy whipped cream and a dusting of chocolate. It was wonderful! Of course, you can buy a gift pack to take home with two of the cups, the long-handled spoons, and a bottle of the brandy for about 50 euros.

We next walked a block to Siegfried's Museum of Mechanical Instruments. What a surprise! I was prepared for something a bit boring, but I was fascinated with the collection. Siegfried collected a houseful of mechanical instruments from all over the world and renovated them so that they can actually play. There are grammophones, player pianos, glockenspiels, and more.  Just a treasure trove.  In each of the 8 rooms that we visited, our guide played one of the instruments for us.

DH and I walked back along the water to the boat. We sat by ourselves for a quiet birthday dinner. Suddenly, the wait staff came out of the kitchen with a little chocolate cake and a sparkling candle. Happy Birthday to me! We shared the cake with the couples at the next table and then -- another cake and another round of Happy Birthday for a passenger from Canada! And, we later learned, a third passenger with a September 8 birthday was at the optional German dinner in town. No cake for her -- she had to down a bottle of a special wine in one gulp!

We partied for awhile in the lounge with Darryl, the birthday boy, and a group of Canadians traveling together. Boy, they know how to party! Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flash and saw that a town on the other side of the river was shooting off fireworks! What a nice touch on a very special birthday.

On returning to our room, we found a chilled bottle of champagne waiting for us. What a wonderful birthday!

A rainy day in Cologne

Rain.  What can you do?  Fortunately, I was able to grab an umbrella from the few that Avalon put out for our use and off we went.

Our walking tour was quite interesting winding us through the cobblestone streets of the Altstadt (Old City) before ending in front of the Cologne Cathedral.  The Cathedral is immense; in order to actually stand and look from bottom to top, I had to put my head back so far that I was afraid I was going to topple over!  There is scaffolding covering some segments since repair, restoration, and cleaning is a constant task with an ediface so huge.

Door Knocker at Cathedral at Night

DH and I spent quite a bit of time in the Cathedral trying to take pictures that would illustrate the size of this building.  Very difficult to do.

There are more flowers than we've seen in Amsterdam.  Quite pretty as you walk through the city.

I apologize for the order of the pictures.  We're trying to get them all organized by day, but not always successful!

Flowers by the fountain telling the story of the elves.

Starbucks iin Cologne!

After a brief stroll along the river and short visit to the Chocolate Museu,m we returned to the boat in the late afternoon for cocktails and a lovely dinner with Del and Tom from Texas.  Del is originally from the Phillipines, and she has quite a vibrant personality.

Along the riverbank

I convinced Doug to go back into Cologne to see the city at night.  The Cathedral is even more magnificent at with the city lights as a background.

Church bells chime at all hours of the day, not always on the 1/4 hour, and for various lengths of time.  I love hearing them!

Tomorrow, my 65th birthday, we'll be in Koblenz then sailing through the Rhine Gorge where many castles are located, then stopping in Rudesheim.  What a wonderful way to spend a birthday!

Approaching Cologne, Germany

Our dinner last night was quite enjoyable.  We shared a table with Joan and Ken from Nova Scotia.  There is one sitting for dinner (7 p.m.), and seating is open.  DH likes this setup because we can sit with different people every night.  That part I enjoy, but I miss getting to know individual servers who learn what you like and don't like.  My sister and brother-in-law would be so proud of us -- we are "dining" rather than "eating" and often spending two hours at the table!

Cruising overnight was uneventful, and we awoke late to a very overcast sky.  Rain is inevitable today, but we will survive!  When we visited Gdansk several years ago, it was pouring rain and it turned out to be one of the best days of our trip.  Maybe Cologne in the rain will be the same.

The Felicity offers two choices for breakfast:  buffet in the dining room with made-to-order omelets and a variety of other hot and cold dishes, breads, fruit, etc., or a light breakfast in the lounge with rolls, juice, coffee, tea.  Although the food choices are limited compared to ocean liners, we find no fault so far.  Wine flows freely during dinner.  There is a one-hour cocktail hour before dinner where drinks are 2 for 1.  No complaints there!

The river is wider than the man-made canal leading from Amsterdam to the Rhine, but not as wide as I had expected.  Riverbanks on both sides are lush and green.  There are intermittent industrial areas.  Occasionally, you can see a small village with lovely homes.  Once per hour or so, you can see trailer parks/campgrounds with older, small campers.  Apparently, Germans rent a camping space by the year along this part of the Rhine and leave a camper parked for weekend visits.  Interesting!

The main attraction in Cologne is Kölner Dom.  The Cologne Cathedral is the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe.  Building commenced in 1248.  Although the cathedral was hit by 14 aerial bombs during World War II, it remained standing.  The incredibly tall building was perfect for allied aircraft to use as a landmark from which to calculate bearings to other bomb targets in Germany and Southern Europe so the cathedral was left intact for future missions.  Think of the stone masons and other workers who toiled over the centuries to construct this magnificent edifice.  Never would they have imagined that their efforts would aid a future generation defeat a horrific enemy.

A day of firsts

Amsterdam does not wake up early it seems.  Even the cafe below our apartment, which only serves breakfast and lunch, opens at 8:30 a.m.  Imagine if Starbucks opened that late?  We slept so late in part because we did not hear traffic noise or bicyclists until after 7:30.  What a treat!

I cooked my first meal in Europe!  Fried eggs, bacon (which is round cut), toast, yogurt, juice, and coffee.  Actually, Doug made the coffee in the Philips Senseo.  We watched the canal come to life as we ate.

We planned for the day, which means that DH poured over the maps and highlighted a suggested route while I took pictures of our bedroom.  Isn't it cute?

Off we went on a convoluted route through a maze of interesting streets towards the famous Red Light District of Amsterdam.

Without warning, we sighted a scantily clad female standing provocatively in a window.  No doubt, we were there.  The Red Light District actually does have red lights which for some reason surprised me.  I was warned by a friend not to try to take pictures.  Rumor has it that you might have your camera taken and thrown into the canal.  I doubt if snipes.com covers this sort of thing, so we decided not to take a chance.  I have no pictures to share with you.  Considering that we were walking through the area about 11 a.m., there were quite a few girls already at work - young to middle aged, ivory to ebony, slim to stout.  In the middle of this unique district sits the oldest building in Amsterdam, the 14th century Oude Kerk (Old Church).  You can literally stand at the entrance to the church and see the red lights and occupied windows.

Along the streets of the city

We settled in a cafe right outside the Red Light District for a cup of coffee before heading off to the bustling train station.  Doug researched the tram system while I watched for pickpockets.  We tried to find a tour to the windmills and dykes at the visitor's center, but the tour we wanted does not run on Saturday, our only day to explore somewhere outside the city.  The visitor center guide suggested that we just take a local bus to the Zaanse Schans, a nearby town with working windmills.

Letting our adventurous spirits guide us, we tackled the tram system and headed off towards the museum district.  It was raining softly as we exited the tram at The Van Gogh Museum.  Fortunately, the museum has a lovely cafeteria where we ate a "club sandwich" Dutch style - salmon, butter, capers, and thinly sliced cucumber.  Yummy!

The Van Gogh Museum has a security system that could rival any airport.  The museum has over 200 Van Goghs in its collection as well as works from other masters such as Monet, Renoir, Picasso.  We watched an informative short video on the life of Van Gogh then explored the four floors of the museum leisurely for several hours.  I had seen some of the paintings at the Los Angeles Museum of Art when they were on special exhibit, but seeing so many of his works in one collection was quite a thrill.  Occasionally, I would enter a gallery and gasp -- there's a Monet! there's a Pissarro!  a Renoir!

We walked "home" among Amsterdammers finishing up the work day and heading to their own homes.  The grocery store was mobbed with shoppers.  As we got closer to the apartment, we noticed the cafes and bars full of young people sipping after-work beers and visiting with friends.  At our favorite little cafe a block from the apartment (Cafe Wheels), we sipped our own cocktails (Bombay Sapphire on the rocks with a lemon) and asked the bartender about smoking laws.  The Netherlands adopted a no-smoking law in pubs and restaurants only two years ago - the 14th nation in Europe to do so.  If you sit at one of the outside tables, smoking is permitted.  Interestingly, he mentioned that Ireland was the first in Europe to adopt a no-smoking law!

View from our dining table

There are water taxis on the canals.  It is fun to watch people in business attire on their way home from work laughing and talking with others on these taxis.  Reminded me of taking the bus or the train home everyday with the same people and developing friendships.

Tomorrow, the Anne Frank House then more adventures on the streets of Amsterdam!

The longest day(s)

Good morning, Amsterdam!  We left our home on Tuesday, the 31st, at 3:30 a.m. in the morning.  The limo took us to LAX without incident.  There aren't a lot of cars on the freeways at that time of the morning even in LA!  I've never driven so fast on the 91 -- it's usually one long parking lot.

The downside of leaving so very early is that we had a 3-hour wait before boarding the plane.  Even with a leisurely breakfast and a few long walks around the terminal, it was boring.  The plane trip from LA to Philadephia was fine, and the layover in Philadelphia was less than two hours.  We must have missed an incident in Amsterdam the day before.  Whatever happened resulted in extra security for everyone flying to Amsterdam.  Both of us had our hand luggage personally checked and "swiped" with some kind of cloth/chemical.  We passed!  And all of our checked luggage was inspected as well.

4 1/2 hours on the first flight, then over 7 on the trans-Atlantic flight.  My nervous system gave out somewhere over the Atlantic!  I tried to sleep, but with the overhead movies on throughout the entire flight and two infants on board, it was a futile effort.

As we came down through the clouds into Amsterdam, the spacious green landscape unfolded.  Everything is lush and green.  You don't see that much green in Southern California even in the rainy season.  And water is everywhere.  I was finally feeling the excitement of the trip!

The airport is very modern and huge.  If I had been less tired, I would have explored the intriguing shops.  One was just full of Crocs!  Doug was a bit harried by this time and also overwhelmed by the complexity of the airport.  We did manage to find a Starbucks!  Then bought a phone card, contacted Franklin about our apartment, and arranged for a shuttle to a hotel within walking distance of the apartment.

The apartment is adorable.  We are over a cafe that is open for breakfast and lunch.  You enter our apartment through a door at street level, then climb a flight of very narrow steep stairs to the next floor with a kitchen and sitting room.  There is Internet access and a nice tv/stereo system and comfortable seating.  Susan, the proprietor, left lots and lots of food -- cheese, lunchmeats, fresh fruit, milk, juice, eggs, quiche, butter, fresh bread, coffee, tea.  The top floor houses the bathroom and bedroom - with an iron bed.  Quite cute.  Will post pictures later.

We unpacked a bit then headed out to explore the city and to try and stay awake as long as possible.  The canals wind throughout with bridges every few blocks.  Most people are on bicycles with a motorscooter here and there, a few cars and delivery trucks.  As a visitor, watching the traffic is amusing.  We haven't quite figured out how to cross the streets safely.  There doesn't seem to be a "right-of-way" rule!  Pretty intimidating.  Our best bet is to find someone who looks like an Amsterdammer and walk across with them!  From time to time, you can see personal boats on the canals as well as tour boats.

We found several nice antique stores to roam around in and a terrific lace & trim store.  Hope we can find that one again - I saw something I wanted to buy for the girls.  Also stumbled on a long shopping street with recognizable shops (even Foot Locker) similar to the shopping area in Copenhagen.

The weather is fall like - mid 60s and sunny.  Most people are wearing coats or jackets and long pants.  It's funny how Americans stand out just because of the way we dress!  Most women are very fashionably dressed.  I saw several wearing a new style of pant with flowing trouser legs.  Hard to describe, but very flattering.

We found a nearby corner bar for a beer and a hamburger then continued to explore.  I think we walked 10 miles!  DH and I decided to come back to the apartment to shower, unpack totally, then just eat some of the goodies here for dinner with a bottle of Bordeaux wine we purchased when we finally found the grocery store.  We did just that.  At about 7:30 local time, we both decided that we were desperately in need of sleep.  Believe it or not, we slept about 12 hours straight!

Darci's Dress Up Quilt - Doll #13

We are ending up with lots of pink and yellow fabric as we reach the end of this project.  Once all the blocks are done, of course, I'll be mixing and matching according to the wishes of my little granddaughters (and their momma).  Should be interesting to find fabric for the sashing and borders, too.  Can you just see me with all these blocks strewn about the local quilt stores?  Yikes!  I'll have to rent their classrooms just in order to shop ..... and I'm sure they'll be lovely enough to help me make a great decision.

I used this idea before (see Darci's Dress Up Quilt - Doll #5) with the ribbon down the center of the dress.  I picked up this lovely lacy edging somewhere in my travels and rummaged through all my scrapbook embellishment stuff to find these cute little organza bows with little pearls.  The smaller sleeves seemed to go with this dress maybe because the temperature has been rising steadily over the last days - summer has finally arrived!

The color is showing up a bit darker in the photo due to my poor photography skills.  DH would be happy to do the photos for me, but I hate to keep asking him since he sets up all kinds of stuff in order to do it "his way" and makes me feel guilty!  So, try to imagine this color as a little brighter.

If you've taken on a project like this one - or are thinking about it - here's a site that I found with some cute ideas.  I'm using one of the designs for the next block with a few modifications.  Guess I needed a kick start to my creativity button and these cute outfits just did the trick.

Our big trip is coming up fast -- next Tuesday!  DH and I are working our way through the to-do lists.  More about our trip in the next post.  Here's a teaser:  I'm actually going to tour the Bernina factory!  Whoo hoo!!!!

Better?

I must not have been completely satisfied with the last dress block because I kept it out on the dining room table instead of putting it away with the other finished blocks.  As I was getting ready for our Monday quilt guild meeting, I realized that it needed a little extra zip.  I added 3 small red buttons, and I am much more pleased with the result.

What do you think?  Is it better?

Almost done with the next block, too, which I will share with you tomorrow.

It is hot, hot, hot here today.  Summer has finally arrived.  We've had such a mild spring and summer with few days in the upper 90s let along approaching 100.  We've run the air conditioner the last two nights, which we prefer not to do.  But the house is just too uncomfortable for us to sleep well even with the ceiling fan.  Guess we're just wimps!

Playtime!

Off to see the family today.  We're doing an early celebration for Doug's birthday - his 65th!  We'll be in Big Bear for his actual birthday, so we're combining a birthday party with some babysitting to help out our daughter next week.  Never miss an opportunity to be with our 3 wonderful grandchildren .... oh .... and, our wonderful daughter, SIL, son, sister, BIL, too.  Truth be told, the kidlets are much more fun!

I've got my fingers crossed that our gardener will visit while we are away and finally put some annuals in the empty space in our backyard.  I am a TERRIBLE gardener.  I have neither talent nor interest in playing around in the dirt, but I do like the yard to look presentable.  I'm going to run out and take a "before" picture in hopes that I'll also be able to share an "after" picture with you next week.

I've had a lot of blog traffic lately, and I can't quite figure out why.  It may be due to some lovely comments about my doll dress blocks.  Love to have readers and love to have comments!  Two more doll dress blocks are on my agenda for next week after we return.  Let's see if I can get them done, or at least one of them, before we take off for Big Bear Lake next Friday.  I'm not planning on taking the Featherweight with me this time since there is so much to do at Big Bear.  Doug likes to keep on the go.

Have a great weekend!  Hope the heat has subsided a bit in the rest of the country.  Southern California has been remarkably cool this spring and early summer.  There is a warming trend on the horizon.  Should be in the 100s soon.  Ugh.  Double ugh.

Disarray - once again!

We had the carpets cleaned this morning.  It was way overdue .... when I still see coffee stains on the carpet after the vacuuming and spot cleaning, I know it is time to bite the bullet and call the professionals in.

Unfortunately, this means moving everything out of the bedroom and guest room, which also doubles as DH's office.  So the other rooms in the house are chock full of furniture that shouldn't be there and we do not have access to all of our STUFF!  We tried to anticipate needs, but you can't think of everything.  So DH went to the pool this afternoon, came home and took a shower in the guest bathroom, then realized he would have to walk across the "damp" carpet to get to his toiletries!  I decided to research European temperatures in September in anticipation of our big trip then realized that all the travel books were in the "damp" guest room!  Ah, ha!  I still had access to the Internet even if DH did not have access to his deodorant.

Hopefully, we will put the house back in order tomorrow and both of us will feel more relaxed.  What is it about firstborns?  We don't take to change or disorder very easily.

The good news is that September temperatures in the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Switzerland do not invite swimming.  Yippee!  No bathing suit is going into the luggage .... doing the Happy Dance!

How to make lemonade!

You know the old saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade?"  Well, today was a perfect day for making lemonade.

I was so excited about the paper doll book for my granddaughters (see this post).  I read the directions twice, carefully cut out all the fabric for the pages and for the dolls.  According to the directions, you need at least 13 paper dolls.  If you are lucky (and I wasn't), the fabric in the kit will be cut so that you can get even more paper dolls out of it.  If you get more dolls, you can put more than one doll on a page.

Another timeless saying comes to mind:  Plan ahead!

The cute, cute, cute picture on the kit label shows two dolls on the cover of the fabric book.  I think, "Perfect!"  The gift is for both of my granddaughters, who are sisters, so two dolls makes sense.  I happily start fusing the dolls onto the fabric and get to my Bernina right away to start stitching the buttonhole applique.

The cover came out great, and my machine buttonhole stitching was the best I had ever done.  Wouldn't it be nice to have another page with two girls on it?  They could be sisters, they could be friends, schoolmates or playmates.  Adorable!

You know where this is going, don't you?

I don't have enough dolls for every page in the book!  Stupid with a capital "S."  How do I keep doing these things?  Arghghghghgh .....  I'm not particularly fast when I sew.  I take my time.  In fact, I think it takes me lots longer to complete projects than the average sewer.  I still make dumb mistakes.  I've been sewing for over 50 years - I shouldn't make these kinds of mistakes!

Thought process on the road to making lemonade:

1. Run out and try to find some more of this fabric.  Nope - not enough time and it's raining in Southern California.  Don't want to be on the freeways in the rain unless you're going to the hospital to have a baby.
2. Cut out the remaining pieces of the dolls from the fabric and piece them together trying to match head to body to feet.  Nope - would look horrible!
3. Wait - there are a few "bodies" left on the fabric!  I could cut out those bodies, print a picture of the grandbabies on printable fabric, cut out their heads, and stitch them to the doll bodies!  Last night, I really liked this idea.  This morning, I said to myself "no, no, no, no - too much like a Grade B horror movie!"  My daughter would kill me .....
4. Go with two blank pages in the middle of the book.  Who would know it wasn't in the original plan?  Hmmmmm ... nope, that's like a flashing arrow saying, "Look here to see the mistake!"
5. Cut out all the little flowers on the doll fabric and fuse them to the blank pages in the book.  Tell Talia and Tasha that the paper doll friends are playing in the garden together looking for lemons to make lemonade!

Interestingly enough, I was watching an episode of Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting tv show and they were talking about how many mistakes they make.  They said they think one of the reasons they rose to prominence is because they made more mistakes on camera than anyone else!  These things do happen.

Okay, I'll stop beating myself up.  The goal is not perfection.  The goal is for two little girls to have a special gift from their Oma who loves them best in all the world!

Male Logic - or When did I say "yes"?

We are now the proud owners of a brand new 42" Toshiba HD LCD TV.  I'm not quite sure how this happened, so I guess I'll blame it on one week of nonstop rain which pretty much kept us housebound. My DH had all of his meetings cancelled, couldn't hike or birdwatch or work in the yard.  For the man I love, boredom leads to research on the Internet which inevitably leads to "what can I buy and how can I get her to agree?"

This is a strange purchase for people who don't watch a lot of tv.  DH watches the nightly news because (1) I have it on during the dinner hour, and (2) frequent attempts to get me to turn it off have led to various threats none of which he particularly likes.  It's one of those "you knew this when you married me" kinda things.  I am a news junkie.  Deal with it!

I record and watch sewing shows like Sewing with Nancy, America Sews with Sue Hausman, Fons & Porter, Martha Pullen, etc.  NFL football is a given - any day, any time, any team.  A woman is entitled to her passions!

And, we try to have a weekly movie night.  Our son calls us Netflix' favorite customers.  We've gone as long as six or seven months without watching any movies although there are always 3 rentals in the house.  Pretty expensive movie!  Anyway, one of our New Year's Resolutions was to reinstate the weekly movie night with the agreement that either one of us can walk away if the choice just doesn't cut it.  (Note:  He'd watch classics every week whereas I opt for the new releases.)

During the first rainstorm this week, DH mentioned that he's enjoying movie nights and wouldn't it be nice to have a bigger screen and HDTV.

While I was looking for the emergency flashlight during the second storm, DH gave me a rundown on his research and listed the "finalists."  Huh?

By the onset of the third storm, he told me which stores had 12-months-same-as-cash.  He knows this makes or breaks a deal for me.  If we can't pay for it out of monthly income, it ain't gonna happen.

DH saved his best for last.  In the middle of the fourth storm while watching the horizon for signs of tornadoes, he said, "You'll have your new tv in time to watch your games on Sunday."

How does he do this?  How did a vague idea (his, not mine) become both a reality and a gift for me?  Gotta love the guy ....

Seems it never rains in Southern California ....

... but girl, don't they warn ya, it pours man it pours!

Remember this great song, written by Albert Hammond, and sung by the Mamas and the Papas in the 60s?  I've been humming it off and on all week as the rain has continued to pummel Southern California from the beach to the mountains to the deserts.  The storm today, the fourth this week, has been the most severe.  As I write, we are under a severe thunderstorm warning and a tornado watch.  Pretty unusual for us -- we're used to sun and heat and are weather wimps at heart.

Such downpours cause problems all over the world, of course, but particularly for us since we are also prone to raging wildfires.  The burn areas from last fall's devastating fires were evacuated early this morning in the San Gabriel foothills.  All we can do now is wait to see if the oversaturated earth will hold or begin slipping down the slopes into whatever stands in its path.  Once the slippage begins, it'll take out everything - homes, businesses, freeways.  The pounding waves of the Pacific are threatening several homes along the coast.

I ventured out yesterday to run a couple of errands but quickly decided only to do the necessary ones - bank, milk, bread.  The freeways here are bad enough when the weather is good.  They are deathtraps when the weather turns ugly!  We usually only get rain a handful of times per winter; the raindrops evaporate before we can remember how to turn the windshield wipers on.  The youngest drivers on the road today were learning how to skateboard the last time we had this much rain in such a short time back in 2005.  Inexperienced drivers more interested in texting than driving = deathtrap.  Time to stay home and hunker down!

We really need the rain, but not all at once!  Let's just hope that the storm passes without further damage.

In between listening to weather reports and watching the color of the sky change, I've done lots of sewing, listed a few more items at my Etsy shop, and baked peanut butter cookies.  And hummed a few more songs from the Mamas and the Papas!