Off to the Hague
Well, we have arrived at the Hague. Our trip was a long adventure. We departed Austin by Amtrak. The train arrived 2 hours late and we learned that Amtrak trains must pull over for freight trains because Amtrak doesn’t own the tracks – causing them to be late often. Besides this, train travel is a great alternative to cars and planes. We saw beautiful scenery not visible from the highway, watched a Shirley Temple movie, ate in the dining car and enjoyed the spacious seating. All 4 of us road the train for a grand total of $69.00. I can’t stress how much our train system is an invaluable asset and needs our political support in the US.
Overnight in Fort Worth was not too exciting but worth the savings in airfare. We met our friends at DFW the next day and boarded the plane to London. The kids were most excited by the socks provided by British Airways. I enjoyed the free wine and ability to watch the flight progress on my seat screen. After a 2 hour layover in London we proceeded to Amsterdam and were met by my friend’s brother in law who took our luggage and as many people as would fit on to the Hague. We followed by train.
Trains in the Netherlands are not an easy thing to navigate. There is very little signage to tell you if you are on the right track. Moreover, there is no signage at stops to tell you if you have arrived at your destination. After two bum steers by locals we did eventually arrive at our destination and finished our trip with a quick taxi ride to our friends’ home.
Kids immediately take to their surroundings and ours quickly found the neighborhood "skeletal" which they enjoyed riding up and down the sidewalks. This is a toy that is jointly owned and shared by neighbors here in a great example of cooperation.
Obviously, I have found my way onto the internet after a bit of configuration help to join the household computer network. A skype call home to my husband, Tony, yesterday had sufficiently good reception.
I take my first client call today at 1:00. So great to be able to maintain my income while we see beautiful parts of the world!
