Yesterday morning started at 5am Amsterdam time. We made our way to the Schipol Airport where we spent an hour in security before being allowed through to the plane. Apparently the security there is a big problem, and many of their airlines have re-routed to other airports to avoid this one. It's a shame because it was a nice airport and it was easy to get to.
We flew from there to Paris Charles De Gaul where we had a 5 hour layover before boarding the flight home. The flight was delayed an hour, and then we sat an hour on the plane at the gate before leaving to wait for checked luggage and to have a mechanic fix a seat on the plane. The flight felt much longer because of that.
When we arrived in Miami, the kids completed their Global Entry interview and will be able to skim through customs the next time. We loaded up in the car and started the drive back home. We arrived back home at 5am Amsterdam Time (The next day) and 11pm Florida time. Tom took a bath, and then fell asleep on the bathroom rug when trying to dry off. It was a long day.
The Trip...
I enjoyed Paris far more than I thought I would. Everyone warned me about how short the French would be with English speakers, but I didn't find this to be the case. Maybe it is because I tried to speak with them in French first. Maybe it was because we stayed to Tourist locations where English was prevalent. Maybe it was because we were just simply polite as well. I don't know, but I didn't have that experience. The only short, unpleasant interaction I had was with a train station attendant exchanging the demagnetized train passes. I would expect that interaction to be unpleasant in America too. Like dealing with the DMV.
Having the apartment with full kitchen was key to the experience as well. I really was able to feel like Chuck in Paris, and get a decent experience of what it would be like to live there. I had a difficult time understanding the French spoken to me the first time. I had to ask "What?" quite a few times, but I was also convinced that if I had 4 months or so immersed in it, I would be able to get by absolutely fine without falling back on English.
Amsterdam was interesting. The Canals and little shops on the small streets you think of when you think of Amsterdam was contrasted against a modern city right across the river from it. Paris again had this right, forcing the glass high rises and more modern looking buildings outside of the city center.
I cannot smell very well, but the first thing Diana said when we got off the train in Amsterdam Centraal Station was, "Can you smell the weed?" I couldn't, but when we walked to the Maritime Museum two days later, Little Chuck walked by a "Coffee Shop" and said, "It smells like skunks in there." Apparently "Coffee Shop" means Weed, and "Cafe" means coffee. We were so busy, I never had the chance to make the mistake.
Overall it was a great trip, and it was fun to do with the kids. Europe however won't be the same for years. The revolutions set it on fire, and they will fight each other in the Napoleonic wars, the revolutions of 1848, and finally into the two World Wars.
For now, I'm going to pour a glass of water - neither still nor sparkling, just water -- over a glass full of ice, and set that next to my 12 ounce coffee. Things America got right.
-- Fin --
