Wassenaar - Fri Jan 23rd

Journaled by Karen:

Our last day in Holland arrives. David is still not feeling great. We get him all settled and off we go the the Pancake House with William. Wonderful, quaint restaurant in Wassenaar with a sweet black cat winding around our legs then lounging in the middle of the floor. It is cold and raining, but we carry on.

Walked though the shops of Wassenaar and admired the very quaint village that it is. Bricked streets and tiny houses with lovely little shops everywhere. I bet it is beautiful in the spring.

Drove to the Hague for a visit to the Maurits House which is a museum that houses Vemeers (including the famous Girl With the Pearl Earring), Ruebens, Rembrandts. It's a beautiful estate converted to a museum.

Then off to the big grocery store. Nothing is easy there - you have lots of people, long lines, pack your own items and rent the grocery carts. (you get your money back when you return them) Very different from the little specialty shops like this beautiful little chocolate shop. William calls it musuem chocolate because each candy is a little masterpiece.

William made a lovely dinner and after wine and Scrabble we are tired. It has been a whirlwind week and we are ready to go home. Our pictures will tell the story for many years to come of how much we enjoyed our time here and how much we appreciate all William and David did for us.

(post script) We find out after we get back home that David actually had pneumonia. Poor guy - no wonder he felt so miserable.

Au Revoir Paris - Thurs Jan 22

Journaled by KD:

We woke up to another wonderful room service breakfast served with fine china on a linen covered table. Wonder what the room service thought of us Florida gals? We giggled and lounged in our jammies.

Although we had hoped to strike out to visit the Eiffel Tower this morning, the weather has worsened from drizzling rain to a full downpour with gusting winds. We decided to just hang out at the hotel, read and watch a little TV until the guys picked us up at noon for the ride back to Wassenaar. David's fever is gone but he said he still feels awful. I feel so bad for him - he hasn't been able to enjoy the trip at all.

We stopped at a McDonald's on our way back - David LOVES hamburgers. After arrived back home, we enjoyed coffee and wine, played Scrabble, ate a wonderful pasta dish that William cooked then watched some dubbed Comedy Channel shows before hitting the sack.

Parlez-Vous Francais?- Wed Jan 21

Journaled by Karen:

We awoke to a lovely breakfast in bed (we could get used to living like this) with fresh squeezed juice and all!

David is ill with the flu and is staying in. William is visiting some modern art museums and we will connect later this afternoon. Armed with a map, we set off to the Louvre. Spent all morning wandering through the French sculptures (all anatomically correct) in marble and bronze along with renditions of Napoleon III's objets d'arts - unbelievable furniture, tapestries, porcelain, in the Richlieu section. We then walked down to Notre Dame where we met William by chance at a charming shop where we bought lots of little presents. Then on to the church which was built in the 1200's. The stained glass and carvings were unbelievable! They had an antiquities room where you could see various head dresses for some high church monseigneur along with chalices, etc - jeweled and all. Also a complete display of cameos of all popes, past and present.

Lunch at a quaint little place with fabulous onion soup and then we strolled through more shops on the left bank and stopped in for coffee and gelato. We hiked down to the D'Orsay Museum to see the impressionists - beautiful Monets, Renoirs and Degas. We had to rush through the museum because it was actually closing - but our brash William just barged right on through a door for reservations so they had to let us in. We didn't have to pay either !

We are tired, got salads to go at a little corner brasserie, Le Victor, and will call it a day. We've seen so much; the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomph, the Obelisk. We have had a wonderful albeit chilly time in Paris!

Tues - Jan 20th - Oui, Oui...Off to Paris!

Journaled by KD:

I set the alarm to get Karen and myself up by 5 am because David wanted to leave for Paris by 6. We ran just a little late and headed out around 6:30 - 6:45. David mentioned that he feels like he's getting sick.

The 5 hour road trip passed very well with all of us swapping stories. We stopped for coffee and a potty break in Belgium at a little roadside dive. It was kind of weird walking in and hearing no English spoken. They charged 50cents to us the toilets if you didn't make a purchase.

When we finally got to paris, David took us to our hotel first, The Plaza Athenee, to check in. (Karen's good friend Janice, who is a travel agent, won two night's free and amazingly gave the free nights to Karen and I - THANKS Janice !) David bought us all a glass of champagne while we waited in one of the hotel restaurants called the Gallerie. The hotel was so over the top that I was VERY uncomfortable and felt totally out of place which is not usually like me. I got over that after just a little and totally loved living like the rich & famous.

When our room was ready, we freshened up quickly and went with David and William to their hotel, The Bedford, not too far away. Oh yeah, while we were sipping champagne, William recognized a US actress named Amy Adams sitting across from us. I wouldn't known who she is but recognized her after William said she starred in "Enchanted".

The guys took us to lunch near their hotel at La Table D'Hediard then David decided he'd better go lie down as he was feeling worse. Karen, William and I walked to an art gallery that was showcasing the work of Jackson Pollock who was/is a famous American modern artist. William is a art history major along with being an accomplished artist himself.

We walked from there to the Paris Opera House, but it was already closed for the day. William headed back to his hotel on foot while Karen and I caught a cab back to ours to get warmed up and watch Obama's Presidential Inauguration ceremony on CNN.

David and William stayed in because David was steadily getting sicker, so Karen and I walked about 5 blocks to a lovely restaurant called Laduree on the Champs Elysees for dinner. If I haven't mentioned before - everything here is pricey - just a coffee anywhere is about 4 Euros. We enjoyed our leisurely dinner of scallops and a decadent dessert before heading back to our room to call it a night.

Our room was awesome! It had marble counters, a crystal chandelier, a real orchid on the dressing table, heated bathroom floor and even a pillow menu.

Monday - Jan 19th - Home Office Visit

Journaled by Karen:

It's midnight in Holland and the AFC Championship game is about to begin. We are going to try to hnd with David William to cheer the Steelers on. However by half time, it's 2 am and I am exhausted (KD went down about 45 minutes ago). David will have to leave early for an 8:00 am meeting, but we are lucky...Janus' driver will not pic us up until 1:00pm. We sleep very late and the first words out of my mouth are..."did the Steelers win?" Knowing that David will be very happy if they do!

The driver, a young handsome Dutchman, comes and we travel to Almere for a tour of PEPS. ( A part of PON Holdings our Dutch parent company). We arrive to meet Marjorie and are surprised to see that the receptionists are al dressed alike. They actually buy their clothes together and call each other to coordinate the next day's outfits! Marjorie introduces us to Monique and Sandra as well as Leonie DeJong. We take a tour of this very modern and open environment, where no one has offices and privacy is non-existant. I think it would be very difficult, but Janus wants the open collaboration.

We go next to Motrac Linde and it is the same there as well...the one other difference is that each company has a bar where you can have a drink on Friday afternoons and socialize with your co-workers. Sandra then took us through the countryside to visit Pon Automotive in Leusden, a huge complex where all the cars are received for the dealers (the VW's and Audi's) and all the repair parts and pieces as well. A rail track runs right into the warehouse. The warehouse bustles all day with activities. We learned that the pickers for the small parts are all women because they have a better attention to detail. We then toured the showroom and saw all the gorgeous new cars - not for the general public - but for the various dealers. As luck would have it, I ran into Olaf, Marjorie's boyfriend who I met during their visit to Jacksonville last April.

Then on to NijKerk to meet Corrine, Henk Rottinghaus' assistant and tour the castle. Pon Holding will be relocating to Almere so it ws wonderful to get the opportunity to visit this very eclectic combination of old and new.

Monique, Sandra, Marjorie, KD and I then had dinner at Salentein, the restaurant of Mr. Mynard Pon. The fellowship was wonderful and the food and wine marvelous. KD and I were gifted with lovely bottles of wine from Mr. Pon's vineyard.

Sunday-Jan 18th - Amsterdam

Journaled by KD:

William and David are such gracious hosts and a LOT of fun to hang out with. First off, they insisted that Karen and I take BOTH of their beds. No matter how we protested, they would have none of it. William took the couch and David made a pallet on the floor.

We woke up this morning to a grey, misty, blustery day, but we were prepared with rain coats and scarves. William had loaned me a wool sweater and David had given Karen and I t shirts and boxer shorts to wear to bed. David made another call to the airport and discovered that our bags FINALLY showed up. Karen, who had been highly distressed at the loss of her clothes and especially her shoes, did a little happy dance. YAY, we won't have to wash out undies tonight. We headed out to Amsterdam with a stop along the way at the airport.
Amsterdam is lovely. Apartments line almost every street - 3 & 4 story brownstone type buildings with small cars and bicycles parked along the narrow streets. We discovered quickly to watch out for bicycles. LOTS and LOTS of people ride bikes at breakneck speeds with just a little ding ding of their bell to warn you out of their way. We had several near misses!

We started off at the Van Gogh museum. I was amazed how close we were allowed to get to these wonderful original paintings. They checked our coats and belongings for free and then we had to pass through a metal detector. We saw paintings from all stages of his short career. I was not fond of his darker early work.

Next, we continued to walk through downtown, admiring the scenery, shops, people and canals. We stopped at the world famous Bulldog where they sell weed legally. Patrons can buy and smoke it in the cafe. Karen made a few purchases for for the men in her life. (not the herb) :)We were quite hungry by then and walked down several colorful streets and alleys to David's favorite little burger spot called the Burger Barn. Fries and mayo are a big favorite here. I had a 120 kg burger with fries and a hot mayo sauce. It was a narrow store with just a few seats and it was well worth the walk.

Our next stop was the Anne Frank house/museum and on our way the rain came down in earnest with strong, icy cold winds. David kept saying that this was typical weather for Holland. It sure didn't stop anyone from going about their business. Mom's were riding bikes with infants strapped to their chest or in seat attached. A lot of people carry passengers sitting sidesaddle on the back of the bike. Children are wrapped up, zipped up and scarfed. Everyone wears scarves around here! Anyway, along the way to Anne Frank, we walked down one red light district street. David said we can't photograph the girls, so I got one quick shot of the street. Girls sood or lounged in picture windows. It was kinda weird and creepy. The Anne Frank house was VERY MOVING. We walked though the actual building and rooms that the 8 people lived in hiding. Ican't believe that I've never read Anne Frank's Diary. I'll get a copy when I get home. It was a very sobering journey through that house. The scary part is it all happened not so long ago.

Now we've headed home to get comfortable and watch football on David's computer live from the Us via Sling Box. We're going to use some of David and Williams's photos because David is a fabulous photographer with an awesome camera. The weather is so grey that my camera isn't capturing exactly what I want.

Saturday - Jan 17th - Touchdown

Journaled by Karen:

Arrived in Amsterdam after a long flight and David was at the airport to greet us....unfortunately, our luggage was not. We waited for about 30 minutes and then had to file a claim. Needless to say, KD was calm and I was pissed!

We went to David and William's house (very charming) in Wassenaar. Lovely, upscale neighborhood. Took a nap and then we all drove to Delft, Holland - home of the world reknown blue and white porcelain. We walked around this cozy town of canals and shops and went to Nuewe Kerk (New Church) where William of Orange is enshrined. The stained glass windows were spectacular! We witness the Dutch custom of leaving the curtains of their window wide open so they can see out because they are "nosey". Of ourse this means you can see them as well.

We then drove to Rotterdam to meet Ton, a colleague of David's and his family for dinner at Las Palmas. Las Palmas is a fabulous restaurant where they picked the wine and surprised you with a four course seafood dinner that was superb. Our first day in Holland is done - we are so tired - off to bed in David's t-shirts and boxers (what a sight!) because , of course, we have no stinking luggage. Off to Amsterdam tomorrow - pray for luggage.