First month in Cameroon

Well I am not quite sure were to start. It has only been a little over a month since I arrived here in Douala, and so much has happened in that little span of time!

Arriving into Douala was unlike anything I ever could have imagined, To fly out of Amsterdam Schipol in the morning and to land in Douala in the evening I felt like I had completely left civilization behind. I have never been to any where that was remotely considered third world, and landing at an airport that is a concrete building, with no window panes, rude flickering light, no AC, and a million corrupt customs agents all wanting your money, was probably one of the rudest shocks to my ideology I have ever had!

My first Impressions of Douala were that it is UGLY!!!! Here again I can blame my western ways for making me think that all major metropolises should be aesthetically pleasing. Douala is crazy. The roads a crappy, they look as if a major meteor strike had obliterated 80% off all the roads in town. There are pot holes that could swallow an entire Hummer! I would say that most of the town is covered in shanty homes and small kiosk type businesses. Most of them built of that corrugated plastic in lovely shades of blue and green. You really start to feel as if you have left modern conveniences behind.

Once you become accustomed to the dilapidated state of Douala, you start to find  a little bit of beauty in all the ugliness. For example, all of the fruit and vegetables that grow here! My neighbor has a mango try, and on the road outside of my house there is an avocado tree, a banana tree, and a papaya tree! I am in fruit and veg heaven :)

Neighbors Mango Tree

There is also an amazing array of Flora and Fauna

Flower from my patio

On top of all of the green vegetation, there are a million little lizards roaming the streets! They are so super cute! I have tried to catch one but they are fast little suckers, and amazing jumpers! I have seen one jump from one rooftop to another!

My lizard, he lives on my fence

So that is what it is like in Douala... Life is crazy and hectic, there is always something to do. After looking past the ugliness, this city becomes quite charming and actually starts to grow on you!

 Beach in Limbe

On a last side note before I leave you... We did manage to escape the city one Sunday and venture out to the Beach at the base of Mt. Cameroon. This is Limbe, it is a volcanic black sand beach, and I love it!

Next time when I have more time to actually sit down and write, I will tell you all more! Until then Happy wanderings and wonderings to you all!

Goodbye Holland, Hello Cameroon

Although it is always sad to say goodbye, this time our sad goodbyes made way to very happy hellos!

The time I spent in Holland was amazing, I had so many adventures with Holland as my "base camp." Most of those adventures I have already shared with you, but there are quite a few that I have never gotten around to sharing with you. ( In other words I had a motivation issue!)

I had all the best intentions of keeping this blog up to date and sharing my stories with everyone, but you know about intentions... So here I go again, and I am aiming to be more successful with my newest of adventures, Africa!!!

Before I get to far ahead of my self, I had some amazing adventures in the last half of my time in Holland, and I think I need to share them, and give those who shared them with me a little credit!

The first of my missed adventures was a visit from one of my best friends, Jamie. Jamie is brave, adventuresome, and easy going... So we had a great time! I got to show Jamie all around Paris, we stayed in a new neighborhood for me, and we ate some amazing food! Then I got to explore Amsterdam for the very first time with Jamie. I will never forget walking down the worlds skinniest corridor in the "red light" district and after getting to the end, how uncontrollably we giggled as we squeezed through all the other "Lookie Loo's". I am sure Jamie and I will have many more adventures together in the future!

Jamie in crazy corridor

After Jamie's visit, Mikkel, myself, his Sister, and Mom, all went on a short holiday together, to the Champagne region of France, for Mikkel's birthday. We stayed in a cute little cabin, over looking a lake, and really close to a pretty medieval village. The first half of our trip was amazing, we had great food, lots of cake, and even Champagne! The trip had to be cut short do to me catching the Flu... Can you imagine, the flu in the middle of June... It sucked, but at least we made it past the birthday boy's special day, before we left! 

Mikkel's Birthday Cake

My next trip was a trip back home! You don't know how great home is until you move away! Mikkel and I had a great time being back in Seattle. We had an added bonus this trip of having both my Brother Ben and my Grandfather being in town at the same time! As well as getting to spend time with my family, we also got to spend time with our friends, drink lots and lots of great coffee, go on a few road trips, see some amazing places, stay at some amazing places, and do some good shopping! Lastly I got the pleasure of taking Mikkel to his first Seahawk's game! We had such an amazing time at the game, and we cannot wait until we get to go to another!

Family Photo in the  Hoh River Rainforest

After our trip to Seattle, we came back to Holland, moved into a new place, and then Mikkel had to leave town for business for 3 weeks... Those were some very long weeks, but I did get to go and visit him after the first 2 weeks, for a long weekend!  Luckily he was staying in a town in France I had never visited before. Fountainbleau is not the most direct of places to visit, one plane, three trains, and a taxi to get there, but once there you forget about the journey there, you can really enjoy the beauty you are surrounded by. I had lovely weather, the Chateau Foutainbleau, and the national forest to explore. It was a great mini break, and a recommend for anyone wanting a nice side trip outside of Paris!

Chateau Fountainbleau

My following adventure included a visit from my Aunt Vickie! My Aunt Vic was touring around in Belgium with her friend, and decided to extend her tour to get in a visit with me! We began our visit in Paris, and I walked my Aunt all over Paris! I had the biggest blisters on my feet... Ouch! The following day, we went to Versailles, I had never had the pleasure to see it before, so it was a great to see something new! After Paris I had my Aunt in Holland with me. We saw Amsterdam, Alkmaar, Schagen, and Den Helder. We also spent a lot of time playing with our new puppy, Lulu!

Chateau Versailles

Speaking of Lulu, I haven't had the opportunity to properly introduce her to you. Mikkel and myself had been looking into adopting a puppy for quite a long time. We finally decided on a breed, French Bulldog, and then were lucky enough to find a really great breeder. Lulu was born on Sept. 24th from a litter of 8 puppies. She was able to come home with us the week before Thanksgiving, and she has quickly stolen our hearts! She is our monkey-bat-pig-dog, and the biggest princess in the world!

Lulu the Pillow Princess

Not long after Lulu's arrival we headed to Denmark for Christmas! I have always enjoyed all of our road trips to Denmark, and Lulu was such a champ, 10 hours in the car and she slept for 9.5 of them! We all had such a lovely Christmas, Especially Lulu. She was a spoiled rotten little girl, who always had someone to pay attention to her. We enjoyed a few Christmas parties, meeting up with friends, great dinners made by Mikkel's Mom, a Christmas Cabaret, Tivoli alight with Christmas decor, and an overall amazing Christmas!

Tivoli at Christmas

On top of making all of out preparations, we also had a string of visitors coming to say good bye. Mikkel's Dad came to visit for a week. Then the following week we had our friends and their family come to visit, and lastly Mikkel's Mom came for a visit, and made us our last Danish dinner for a while! It was really nice having all of these visitors, and Lulu really appreciated Louise and Torbin bringing their kids Freda and Lauge! She thought they were the coolest toys ever. On top of all of these visits, Holland also got a good snow, and then slipped into a deep freeze! It was lovely to see, but no one should ever have to experience -18 Celsius...

Freda and Lulu playing in the Snow

Our final weeks in Holland were so busy that they flew by in such a blur. We had to say goodbye to all of our friends, and we had a lovely party put together by Mikkel's colleague Monita! I also had some very fun outings with Jan and Miek. I got to visit a water fowl breeding farm, and also a tulip farm, as well as saying goodbye to all of my farm friends. My farm friends got me a Frieisan horse pendant necklace to remember them by, it is lovely and I will remember them always!

Mandarin Ducks at the water fowl farm

We have had an amazing time living in Holland, and we miss all of the friends we have made, but so far we absolutely love it here in Cameroon! Just wish we could have brought all of you with us! I have lofty plans to try to regularly maintain my blog, don't hold me to it, but I will promise to do the best I can! I look forward to sharing all of my new adventures with you all! Until then, happy wanderings and wonderings to you all!

<3 Chelyn

Queen's Day 2011 and a new pony

     Hi Again! I must be on a roll, because this is my second post this week!!!! This is also a tab bit late, but better late then never!

     First off, lets get to the cutest thing ever... A new baby Friesian horse! While away on vacation, Gerjanneke gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. His name is Jorick, and I got the joy of meeting him when he was only 3 days old. He is the cutest thing I have ever seen, and I feel so lucky to be able to spend time with him and watch him grow, every week!

     So, now onto Queen's Day. From my limited knowledge of this holiday, it is a day to celebrate the Queen.... ( Duh, stated in the name...) So, how does one spend Queens Day? Well according to my friends, you must wear orange, gather with friends, and drink copious amounts of alcohol! We had the ingenious idea that all of us should get together in Amsterdam, and off we headed.

     I also  should take a moment here to mention that I had my baby brother (19yrs old) visiting, and we decided he should come along with us! I was some what of a mean big sister, and I allowed him to get completely inebriated, and then laughed at how silly he was. He was great entertainment, and he now has a memorable experience! Plus according to him, he had a great time!

     We had a fantastic day. There was people every where and all were in orange.  Every street was lined with tents and booths, there were beer gardens every where, and so many music stages that I could not even begin to count them all. It was nice, and although chaotic, everyone we came across was very pleasant!

     I know that this post is short, but I am running low on time. Instead of blogging this earlier, I went wake boarding with our friend Mark instead. It was really fun, and a new experience for me. I have never tried to wake board with a cable system, only ever behind a boat. Let me just say, it is not any easier, only difficult in different ways. I am now exhausted!

     I will not be posting for at least the next 2 weeks because my friend Jamie is coming to visit me! I am so excited for her to arrive, she will be here in less then 2 days! We are going to do and see so many things! I will of course blog them, so keep tuned in!

Until later, Happy wanderings and wonderings to all!

An Easter Adventure: Denmark and Sweden

     I know that it has been a while since I have last updated everyone, and for that I apologize. I have been a combination of busy/ lazy. It seems to me that the only free time I have had since leaving on our Easter Adventure has been spent relaxing and trying to recover from the past few crazy days. I am sure I will get along to all of that later, but now onto the interesting parts, and the reason behind this post: A road trip to Denmark and Sweden over the Easter Holiday weekend.

     Our adventure started days before we actually left home. Of course there was the typical packing, checking fluids and tires on the car, and getting the house ready for our absence. This last step ended up being a catastrophe that I have just this week finally gotten rid of. It is very difficult to do dishes, wash laundry, and even shower, when none of the water required to do these activities will drain down the pipes. The water instead chose to run out all over the floors, and brought all household chores to a complete halt.... Oh the Joy! This all happened the day before we were slated to leave... we had nothing else to do other then call the owner, and leave on vacation. With the knowledge that I could do nothing about it, I forgot about it and went to bed, knowing the following day would be long, and just the beginning of our journey.

Day One: A Drive Through Germany With a Detour to Visit a Ship

     We were up at our normal time and out the door by 9am to start our latest adventure. We were in good spirits due to the beautiful day we had awoken to. The sun was shining and the temp gauge read 60F before we even stepped out the door. It was an easy drive through North Holland, and even across the border to Germany, traffic was light. It was light enough that on a restriction free zone Mikkel got the BMW up to 220 km/h!!!! It is so fun to drive the car that fast!!! We made it to Emden by lunch time, which was nice, because that meant we got to eat lunch on his ship that was moored there! I got a little tour of the ship, and even met the Captain and some of the crew. It was all new to me; therefore I find it very interesting. As an added bonus, we got to eat a nice lunch. One thing I came away from this visit with is a little jealousy; the seafarers on that ship eat amazing meals. Due to the side trip and its consequential delay, we did not reach our cabin in Hundested harbor until midnight. It was about a 14 hour journey that day, and the following day was going to be busy, so no time to rest and relax, but you can always sleep when you’re dead right?!?! (Especially since there is always too much fun to be had!)

Day Two: Brunch, Drinks, and Hanging With Funny Kids

     What a great day our second day was. I was so exhausted the day before that I slept like a log and awoke completely refreshed! Since we had a busy day, we showered and got dressed and then headed out the door. We met up with Louise and her family for a wonderful brunch. We had a nice meal, and our entertainment was the wonderful (although slightly under the weather) Frieda. She is such a little doll, and she got me laughing, and I think my laughter slightly encouraged some naughty but lighthearted misbehavior. Brunch ended with a good bye hug from Frieda, and we were off to our next adventure.

     After Brunch we headed back to the cabin and then walked down the street to meet p with some of Mikkel's friends and have a beer. A beer turned into several as we all walked back to our cabin and drank the case of beer we had brought with us. Mikkel’s friend Rune had his daughter, Natasha with him for the day, and she is such a doll. I spent the remainder of the day trying to learn Danish from her, and she was so eager to learn all the English I could teach her. Sadly for me, I didn't pick up nearly as much Danish, but Natasha was a quick learner (and a very patient teacher!)

Day Three: A Car Tour of Copenhagen

     Day three started with a wonderful breakfast eaten on the beach. Then we said goodbye to Hundested, and headed towards Copenhagen. We had a stop to make before we got to Copenhagen. Mikkel's friends Anders and Laura had just welcomed their baby girl Emily into the world, and we had gifts to deliver and a baby to cuddle! After a fantastic visit with a very adorable baby girl, we were on our way again. Seeing as how this was my first visit to Copenhagen, I had the pleasure of seeing some of the sites from the car. I also got to get out and see the little mermaid statue, and have my picture taken with it. With Mikkel's inability to handle crowds of tourist, I was so happy to be able to do this with him. After the quick tour, we headed to Mikkel's Mother's house. It was my first time meeting his mother, and it was nice. It was nowhere near as stressful as I had imagined it would be. His mother is a lovely person, and our stay with her was very pleasant!

Day Four: Brunch, Beers, and Dinner with Nikoline

     Day four began with a lovely brunch at a nice little cafe with Mikkel and his Mother. After a lovely brunch enjoyed out in the sunshine, I was eager to spend more time out in the sun. ( It was truly the first day that I felt like summer was on its way!) Luckily my best friend's little sister Sam is currently studying in Copenhagen, and met up with her. We found a nice sunny place to sit along the canal, enjoyed several beers, and enjoyed catching up. It was nice discussing home with someone who knows it as intimately as me.
    
     Immediately after meeting with Sam, we headed over to Mikkel's sister, Nikoline's house for dinner. Here again I was severely nervous, because it was the first time I was meeting his sister. Again, I had stressed way more about this then I needed to. Nikoline and her boyfriend Kim are fun, energetic, friendly people, and we had an amazing night. It was a great way to spend our last night in Copenhagen.

Day Five: More Driving, Sweden, and a Canoe Adventure

     Day five we began by saying goodbye to Copenhagen and Mikkel's mother, and climbing back into the car for our drive to Sweden, and his Father's house there. The drive there took us about 3 hours. Here again I was nervous for our arrival, because this was my first time meeting his Father. His father and his wife were very welcoming, and put the last of my nerves at ease. Even their dog Tango quickly became my friend!

     After introductions and a quick tour, Mikkel had the brilliant idea to take to canoe out for a quick paddle. It was a combined effort to get the canoe down to, and into the lake. That was where the team work ended. Mikkel decided he was better at "supervising", and left the major paddling and steering work to me! (Good thing I knew what I was doing!) After our canoe trip we headed back to the house, where we enjoyed a nice dinner of traditional Danish dishes prepared by Mikkel's Father. It was so relaxing there, that we didn't notice how quickly the time was flying by. At the completion of dinner so much time had passed that we all ended up heading straight to bed.

Day Six: Black Granite Quarry and a Long Drive Home

     Day six began with a decision to drive home in our sweats. We figured that with all the hours of driving ahead of us, we might as well be comfortable! After we packed and got the car loaded, we had breakfast out in the sun! Thinking back now, I just cannot believe how lucky we were to have so many days in a row of beautiful weather!!! After breakfast, and a discussion about a bad habit of picking up cool stones, we decided to delay our journey home a few hours, and take a detour to a local rare black granite quarry, turned museum. It was really interesting, and nice to see some sort of site, even on such a short visit.

     After about an hour of walking through the quarry, we headed off on our journey home. It was a long drive back, but seeing as how I got to drive back through Germany, I got to see how fast I could take the car. Sadly there was more traffic, so I only got to go 200 km/h, but that is still really fast, and really fun!!!!

     Twelve hours of driving later we arrived home, close to midnight, and still no working plumbing. We were exhausted, and had busy days ahead of both of us the following day, so we ignored the plumbing and headed straight to bed! I knew that the following day I would get to meet the baby horse that was born while I was away, and that was enough to get me through.

     I hope you have enjoyed my trip to Denmark and Sweden! I have another adventure to write about within the next day or so, that will pick up here, where this adventure leaves off! I am glad to share my adventures with you, look for more to come very soon! Until then, I wish nothing but happy wanderings and wonderings to all!

My Monday Friends

As many of you know, I am not the sort of person to sit around and be idle, so coming to Holland with nothing to do, has been a real challenge for me. Between the language barrier and not having my residency permit yet, my options for occupying myself are very limited. Thankfully Mikkel has a colleague who's parents own a farm, and they wanted a little help!

The little farm is located in a town called 'T Zand ( meaning: sand) and it is about 15 minutes down the road from Den Helder. The farm is owned by Jan and Meik, and they are both veterinarians as well. On there farm they specialize in raising Friesian Horses. Friesian Horses are the only "Dutch Horse" and they are bred in an area of Holland that was once Friesland. These are large horses that have many uses, and over the centuries have been used as everything from farming horses to war and cavalry horses. They average approximately 15 hands, and are docile yet responsive, with a balanced carriage, now a days you will see them used mainly as harness horses. ( oh and the Dutch word for horses is paarden!)

Gerjanneke, the soon to be mama, after a day of grooming!

On their Farm Meik has 5 Friesians, 3 mares and 2 geldings. One of the mares, Gerjanneke (pictured above), is pregnant! In addition to the Freisians there are also sheep, and luckily for me, right now all of the mama sheep are having little lambs... They are absolutely adorable,but not as soft as you would think... The mom of the first set of lambs could not produce enough milk for the both of them, so Meik has to hand feed one of them. On Mondays I get to help in doing this as well, and it is so fun. Now that the lambs are a week old, they get to go out in the pasture for a few hours, and I can tell you, nothing is cuter then the two brothers prancing around, exploring their new world. I have gotten a message from Meik saying that when I come out on Monday there will be 3 more babies!!!!

One of my favorites on the farm would be the pony, Kneppie. He was seized by the Dutch authorities from his previous owner, who was starving him to death. He was brought to the farm where he was nursed back to health, and now leads a very happily life. Kneppie is so sweet, happy, and believe it or not, he is incredibly soft!!! He is my special buddy :)



Kneppie the pony and Weitske the youngest mare


In addition to all of the farm animals, there is also Toshie, the Farm dog, an 11 yr old shepard, and 3 farm kitties.



Farm kitty wanting a little attention



Spending Mondays out on the farm has really helped to combat my boredom, and has really helped to keep me sane. I enjoy the company of Meik and the animals, and I am slowly learning more about all things Dutch!

I hope that you all have enjoyed meeting my Monday friends. As always, I wish for happy wanderings and wonderings for you all!!!

London, Part 2: a truly touristy event...

It was only a short few weeks since I was last in London, and then I found myself there again. This trip I was really looking forward to though... I did not have to play tourist alone this time!!!! I had partners in crime :) They were my crazy sister Jenni, her mother Carolyn, and Mikkel... I was sure good times were going to be had.

Day One: Getting into London, and getting Jenni from the Eurostar through the tube, to her hotel...

Getting into London was easy for me, although it did require me to get up before the sun, in fact I was in the KLM airport lounge, at Schiphol, before the sun had even fully risen... other then that, getting to the hotel in London was a breeze... But by the time we had checked in and dropped our luggage, it was 2pm, Mikkel and I had not eaten, so first thing was to find some food, and we did... We ate huge hamburgers with fries and beers... we ate so much we made ourselves sick... So after a huge lunch, a little nap was required... It was not nearly long enough though, because we had to meet Jenni and Carolyn at St. Pancreas train station, and help them navigate the tube system, and also find their hotel. Note to all future London Tourist... the tube is not meant to transport mass amounts of luggage... It makes minding the gap nearly impossible, and well it almost always results in ruined luggage... just ask Jenni about her broken wheel. After the exciting adventure of navigating the tube with copious amounts of luggage, we found their hotel and got Jenni and Carolyn all checked in... At this point they wanted to grab dinner, but Mikkel and myself were still full from lunch so we all settled on a good old Seattle tradition instead...STARBUCKS!!!!!!! After some good coffee, and fun conversations... it was time to say good night, and get some sleep. The next few days were going to be busy, and I am nothing if not ferociously cranky if I am tired!

Day Two: The worlds coldest hop on hop off bus tour....

Yeah, I am in London, I understand what is being said around me, and I get to go sight  seeing with my family!!!! But first some food, so Mikkel and myself found a nice little cafe and enjoy some tasty breakfast and even a beautiful and decadent fruit tart!!!! Then we meet up with Jenni, and then headed off for Baker Street... (That's right, the home of Sherlock Holmes!) Snap a quick picture of the Sherlock Holmes Museum, and then purchase our tickets for the Hop On Hop Off bus.

It shows up and we hop on, go to the 2nd deck, and then sit for a few freezing hours seeing London... I was so cold that it was a slightly miserable tour.The tour bus drove all over London, and we saw everything from Oxford street, to Westminster Abby, Trafalgar Square, Tower bridge, Tower of London, etc...

We hopped off the bus near the tower of London, and then we headed for some tasty lunch, in a toasty pub :) I had the best steak and ale pie, and a nice beer!!! After warming up and filling our bellies we took stock of all we had seen that day, and then decided that we wanted to catch a boat tour of the Thames... It was just short boat ride, but it was heated, and the guide was hilarious... London is really viewed best from the river!!! Day 2 was a very long, cold and exhausting day, so we again decided to skip dinner and head for bed...

Day Three: Oxford Street shopping, a football match in a pub, and more sightseeing...

Day three begins the same as day two, except that for breakfast we find a little cafe called, "The Muffin Man" and I just had to eat breakfast there... They made tasty scones, and I had a great breakfast!!! Then to meet up with Jenni and Carolyn, and head off for Oxford Street, and some shopping!!!! The first store we happened upon was a huge dept store called "Selfridges" and it was amazing, they had all kinds of American goodies, and I was so excited, because I have had to go without since moving to Holland. I missed American syrup so much that I payed close to $12 for a bottle of Aunt Jemima Syrup.... Crazy, I know, but you cannot even get maple syrup in Holland. We spent a few hours walking up and down the streets, and then we found a pub to watch the Liverpool football match (they won!!!!), get a beer, and get some lunch. Today's lunch was not as great as yesterday's, but it was still OK... After Lunch we headed for Trafalgar Square, and popped in real quick to the National Gallery Museum. After we closed down the museum, we headed for London's "Red Light District" (Not a legal one, but it still exist non the less). This is in the middle of the Soho area... It was interesting to see, and we also got to walk through Chinatown. We then ended up near Oxford Street again, and decided that tonight we would partake in dinner. We found a cute little Mediterranean Restaurant and had a great dinner: a few appetizers and a main course of stuffed aubergines, all accompanied with a nice bottle of white wine!!!

Day Four: Girls morning, Tower of London, and a Jack the Ripper walk....

So seeing as how Mikkel use to live in London, he was no way no how, going to be talked into seeing the Changing of the Guard with us at Buckingham Palace... So us girls decided to go for it on our own, and meet up with him at Harrods at noon... So off I headed, went straight to the tube, got there and the reader board claimed that my train would be there in less then 1 minute, and I smugly thought to myself, "I rock!!!" and then all of my plans came crashing down around me... the 3 main lines that run through High Street Kensington were all indefinitely suspended... and I would have to walk to my sisters hotel... Lets just say, an hour later and 3 different sets of incorrect directions, I finally made it to Jenni and Carolyn... We formulated a new plan, found a tube line that was running, and headed off... At least it was a sunny day... It couldn't get any worse could it??? Hahaha... wrong again.... Showed up late to the changing of the guards, barley got to see anything, almost got crushed in a crazy, cranky, and pushy mob... man that was enough for me, I think I will agree with Mikkel, and say no thanks to the changing of the guards the next time...

After watching the changing of the guards we had to rush back into the underground and head towards Harrods... and guess what.... we got lost, and missed our lunch meet up, and consequently skipped lunch.... (I know, never a good idea for me to skip lunch, I get so cranky...) I was not in a mood to shop, didn't get anything in Harrods and was really starting to dread how the rest of the day was going to turn out...

Next adventure was the Tour of the Tower Palace... That's right, a guided tour of the tower grounds by a beef eater, and a viewing of the crowned jewels!!!! (I just love sparkly things!!!!) To bad I was so cranky that I did not even enjoy the crowned jewels, and I didn't even laugh once at any of the Beef Eater's jokes... Thankfully after the tour of the Tower, we had dinner... (Cherry Cheesecake counts as dinner... right???)

After dinner we grabbed a Starbucks to go, and headed to the meeting place for the "Jack the Ripper" tour. Seeing as how I had eaten a bit I was perking up, and starting to return to a good mood. I was so very excited for this tour. It was night time, and we were walking around London seeing spots relevant to the Jack the Ripper case, and hearing all of the details of the story. The only down side was that it was so ridiculously cold out... I would definitely do this tour again in much warmer weather. The Jack the Ripper tour brought day 4 to a nicer ending then I had hoped for during the crazy day.

Day 5: A nice breakfast before heading home...

Seeing as how we had not managed to have breakfast with Jenni and Carolyn once while we were all together in London, we decided to make the most out of our last few hours here, and meet up with them for breakfast. We went back to the same little cafe we ate at on day 3, and we all enjoyed another tasty meal. It was nice to get to see them one last time before I headed back to the land of the Dutch. It was a sad parting because I was saying goodbye to my sister, and also saying good bye to London, and all the people speaking English around me. 

After a nice long breakfast, and a hasty goodbye, we set off on our way, back to Heathrow airport, and the beginings of our journey home. I have to say that for being such a major world airport, Heathrow is not a very nice airport. It is also my opinion that the counter attendants have never been as friendly as they are in other airports. The one thing that Heathrow has going for it though, is the KLM lounge. It is the nicest of any of the KLM lounges I have been in yet. (Yup, even nicer then the one at Schipol). It is multi leveled, and they have amazing food, comfortable seating, and plenty of entertainment. (Several PS3's with all sorts of games, newspapers in every language, etc...) Seeing as how we never know how long it is going to take for us, (An American, and a Dane) to get through security, and border control checks, etc. we always allow plenty of time at the airport, and on the good days, we spend a fair amount of time in the KLM lounges, and the saving grace of Heathrow would be the KLM lounge. We enjoyed a nice lunch in the lounge, Mikkel played some PlayStation games, I logged on to the free WiFi and tooled around a bit, and I even read a Cosmo. Then we headed to our gate, boarded our plane, and 45 minutes later we touched down in the land of the Dutch. We were exhausted, a little cranky, and ready to go home and relax for the rest of the day!

This is the last planned trip I have for sometime, now I just need to get into a routine of daily life, and I will start blogging more on what it is like being an American girl living in the land of the Dutch. I am also going to be puppy sitting for a friend while she is on vacation, so look for some crazy Chihuahua pics!!!!

I hope everyone enjoys reading about my wanderings and wonderings, and until next time, happy adventures to all!!!!

Chelyn

Catch Up: Adventure 5 - Rotterdam

Rotterdam was the last trip I took before I started this blog. It feels finally nice to be caught up!!! (Just in time to fly out to London at dawns first light tomorrow!!!)

Rotterdam is a city located to the south of Amsterdam. It is a fairly new city seeing as how it all had to be rebuilt after WWII. I was in Rotterdam accompanying Mikkel on another work conference. This one would be short, just an overnight trip, but I got the pleasure of joining some other women on a boat tour of the Rotterdam Harbor. It was a great tour. The weather was amazing, the tour was in English, and I learned so very much!

After the tour we had a company dinner to go to, and it was a blast. It was located on the top floor of the Hotel and it had a stunning view of the harbor. There was drinking, dancing, and lots of great conversation. I met a lot of interesting people and got to see a new city, if only briefly.

To date all of my adventures have been amazing in their own different ways! I am extremely relieved to be all caught up and current with the blog. From now on I plan on trying to post once a week. Sometimes they posts will be about travels, some times they will be able life and the "Dutch", and all the other times they will be about anything and everything I have on my mind!

Until next time, I wish nothing but Happy and Adventurous Wanderings and Wonderings for everyone!!!

-Chelyn