Two Beers and a Pretzel

Oddly, ‘Going Home’ is the name of one of my favorite movement’s of Dvorak’s New World Symphony (no 9).

Ingrid’s work Christmas party (including a fancy, expendive dinner) was Monday evening.  I tried to meet up with Mandy, but the trains were still basically at a standstill with more snow falling…  so I stayed at Ingrid’s place, played guitar and watched movies all night.  Around 4AM I had figured she’d passed out and was staying with one of her co-workers, so I went to sleep.  A very short while later, she woke me up for an after party with her boss.  The boss had decided to let everyone come in after lunch on Tuesday, so it must have been a no holds barred night of partying.  They were all quite inebriated and demanded that I play guitar.  It was actually quite fun, but the kitchen was a complete mess the next day.

I just chilled out all day Tuesday, thinking I would leave after dinner for a hotel near the airport.  That plan changed when I saw the prices of hotels over there – $150 a night…  So I decided to stay one more night and just get up really early to be sure I didn’t miss the plane, even if the trains were screwed up.  So that icy, slippery night Ingrid took me out for a going away dinner at a nice little place her family frequents.  They had some very good steak…

I was also recruited to help Ingrid move an old couch down the stairs.  We couldn’t make it fit, so I had some fun making a few very slight modifications to the couch…

Then I had to get to bed around 10PM because I was waking up at 3:30 AM.

Early and still dark, I said goodbye to Ingrid at 4:00 and walked to the train station to catch the 4:30 stoptrain to Rotterdam Central.  Then I had to wait half an hour for the intercity to the airport.  I arrived at the airport at 6 AM, and found the Burger King still open, so in contrast to the great dinner the night before, I had a fast food breakfast.

Then I saw the oddest thing that I never expected to see in the Amsterdam airport…

And that was not about Chris Henry, but the Bengal’s surprisingly good season.

It was just after 6:30 AM, and I had 5 hours before boarding began for my flight, so I bought a pretty good book Vulcan 607 – about the British long range (8000 mile) bomber attack on the Falkland Islands in 1982.  I got into it, then on the plane and kept reading for the 8 hour flight to Chicago.

Once in Chicago, I got the 9th degree from immigration and homeland security.

Them:  Where have you been?

Me:  Holland and Belgium.

Them:  Why were you there?

Me:  Vacation and visiting a friend.

Them:  Where did you stay?

Me:  Her apartment in Dordrecht.

Them:  Is your friend American?

Me:  Nope – a smoking hot Dutch girl.  Wanna see a picture?

After a grimacing look from the agent, I realized I was being a bit too casual, but figured I’d roll with it since I had 6 hours and nothing to do.

Them:  Have you brought any plants or seeds back?

Me:  Oh, you mean weed?  Come on man, how dumb do you think I am?

Another mean look.

Them:  When was the last time you left America?

Me:  Well, I just got back in July.

Them: From where?

Me:  Well, almost everywhere.

Them:  Where specifically?

Me:  You may have noticed that my passport is completely full; but if you want the list…  Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Peru, New Zealand, Australia, Malasia, Thailand, Cambodia, India, U.A.E., and then back home.  Then I drove Route 66, went to Europe for 3 weeks, and now I’m here.

Them:  And why did you do that?

Me:  I chose to sit out the recession.

Them:  What do you do for a living?

Me:  Nothing – I quit work 14 months ago – thus sitting out the recession.

I realized that they really have trouble figuring out someone who is relaxed, more honest than necessary, and doesn’t care if he gets searched, so that’s where they sent me next.  They opened everything and sent me thru the x-ray.  The guy did a thorough job, but completely wrecked my packing.  At least this guy was a bit nicer.  He asked what I did to tick off the agent.  I told him that I apparently didn’t look scared enough and had a full passport – which is very odd for an American.  After unpacking my stuff, searching between book pages, opening gift wrapped items, etc… he told me to gather it up and move along.  I told him that unless he wanted to help me repack, I preferred to stay at his table and put everything back where it belongs.  He was nice enough to let me – probably because some lady at the next table was throwing a complete hissy fit about being searched and that agent needed assistance.

Once thru customs, I discovered my flight to Cincinnati had been cancelled.  Luckilly, another commuter flight was 3 hours late and had room, so I switched to standby and got on that flight.  Oddly, that got me home 3 hours earlier than planned.  I finished the book on the short flight to Cincy.  The nice surprize was that my checked luggage made it even after the change in flights; especially since the last time my luggage went thru O’Hare (5 years ago) $1000 of stuff was stolen and a nice bag was ruined.  I got lucky, because the next available flight was 1:30 PM the next day…

I got home and my buddy Bill picked me up and got me to my truck.  I was going to get him a big bottle of booze, but it’s darn expensive in Europe…  so I’ll probably get him a bottle of Scotch from he Party Source next week.

When I finally got home, my camera was still on Holland time –  4:30 AM.  I’d been awake and travelling for 25 hours.  I went straight to bed.  …Only to wake up and drive to Jackson, Tennessee to spend Christmas with my parents, sister & bro-in-law, and most importantly, my twin neices and one month old nephew!  It even snowed a little here, so we got a White Christmas!!

It’s nice to be back.  I’ll miss the fun I had with Ingrid, and I owe her a huge thanks for letting me crash at her place – especially since it would otherwise have been about $40/night or more… but next time I go to Europe it will not be winter (unless I go skiing).

And now, a Christmas treat for everyone:

…a picture my friend Tabitha sent on Facebook of skinny me, 20 years ago at a high school band concert.

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Today was a cold day, but that didn’t prevent me from taking a walking tour of the capital of the Netherlands.  The trains were back in order, so it only took 40 minutes to get to The Hague.  The Tourist Information center had a booklet of a self guided walking tour that highlights the architecture of the city.  Since most of the museums are closed on Mondays, I opted for the walk – which was fine, there’s plenty to see…

The tour takes you by new and old government offices, churches, and shopping centers dating as far back as the 1300′s, and as recent as 1996 – with most of the interesting buildings in the 1700′s and 1800′s.

The skinniest house in the Netherlands.  Similar to CIncinnati in the 20′s, The Hague taxes property based on lenght of street frontage…  So owning a house on an inside corner (max frontage for minimal area) was a sign of extreme wealth.  In the meantime, people crammed small houses in wherever they could.

The Hague is 750 years old.  There has been a lot of growth since the 1800′s.  In 1850 the population was 75,000.  Today it’s almost 500,000… so there’s a constant mix of old and new…

Below, the gold fountain is from the late 1800′s, but the ‘Knight’s Hall’ in the background was started in the 1300′s and is the largest Gothic building in Europe that isn’t a church.

From the back side of the administrative complex (including the spire from the Knight’s Hall) – looking over the lake toward the Grote Kerk  - supposodly one of the prettiest city views in Holland.

The Grote (big) Market street.

I made it from CVG (Cincinnati) to CDG (Paris) a half hour early on Delta/KLM/Air France – so I was sure my luggage would actually make the transfer with me this time (unlike 3 years ago).  The only bummer was that I had gotten used to the awsome entertainment system on international flights with airlines like Emirates, Air New Zealand, and others.  This plane had a few yellowing LCD panels around the cabin, and everyone had to watch the same movies.

After a nearly 3 hour layover, It was a quick 45 minute shot to Amsterdam.

A few of the more surprising things I found in Amsterdam were:

1) The plethora of Argentine Steak Houses where a Bife De Chorizo costs about three times more than it costs in Buenos Aires.

2) It’s not exceptionally easy to find a SIM card that works with the phone I got in India.

3) It’s very easy to take the wrong train, but also easy to figure it out and take the correct one.

Beyond that, the expected was also fascinating:

1) You can get a 2nd hand buzz just walking down the street.

2) Bicycles are more plentiful and more dangerous than cars for pedestrians.

3) It’s very picturesque

I caught the train to Dordrecht to find Ingrid.  Once there, I still couldn’t use my new SIM card, so I broke down and called her on my $1.40/minute US cell phone.

Just outside the train station in Dordrecht.

After meeting up and dropping off my bags, we headed out to a nearby Spanish bar for a few beers, finger food, and some pretty good Caparinia’s (made with real Cachaca).

Sorry for the blurry pic, but after 28 hours with no sleep and a few drinks, nothing was in focus for me anyway…

Today we’re leaving to visit Erinn and her family in Frankfurt after Ingrid gets off work – exactly 1 year to the day that we all met in Costa Rica.