We made it!

We're in Tilburg. it is noon California time. We've been traveling since 9 am yesterday. Nearly no sleep, too excited, and travel was too loud and chaotic. Here are a few quick impressions.

It's nearly 8pm Monday, we're flying somewhere over Greenland. The plane is full to the brim with us, many Germans, Croats, and assorted other Europeans. It is exciting to feel surrounded by the world where we are heading, so un-Californian already! We watched a movie or two, have been reading on the iPad (Wolf Hall), and doing electronic NYT Crossword puzzles! Fun! Sleep has been elusive - we will lose a bunch of hours crossing so many time Zones. I'm just trying out doing a blog post from the new toy. So far so good! Will add a little to this later to report our safe landing(s).

Tuesday evening. Landed in Frankfurt about midnight Cal. time. Caught a flight to Copenhagen, then another to Amsterdam. It was a big roundabout, but that was how we had to do it to satisfy the company running the Turkey part of the trip later in the month. The last flight over Holland was particularly gorgeous. The pilot flew very low for the last 15 minutes, skimming over miles of dykes and canals, wind farms, house boats, dairies, tulip fields. I thoughy a lot about my brother Tom who flies every day, and teaches people to fly crop-duster planes. He is always flying low, and loves it. I could understand why, tonight.

We went right downstairs in Schipohl Airport and caught a train to Tilburg.
The ride took about 1 1/2 hours, through rich farmland. We saw dozens of rugged little ponies, Clydesdale work horses,






fields full of geese and goslings (domestic), baby lambs, black and white cranes, swans coiled like white pretzels on the electric green meadows, barges on canals, house boat villages, windmills, pretty churches, striking modern architecture, and miles of juicy graffiti painted on every surface along the train tracks. (Oops, the iPAD mysteriously inserted one of Desmond's drawings here!

Although we took some photos, I can't yet download them without involving D's computer, and she is wiped out. But here is a photo from home, showing how we picture the scene at our front door, x2! Off to sleep now.

-- Posted From My iPad