Next stop Amsterdam

After a long, long time in the DC area, I've packed up my possessions -- retaining few and furnishing many apartments and houses of family and friends along the way -- and sent a POD to Seattle. Before I am reunited with the clothes, bed and art I sent ahead, I'm going to take a last trip to Europe while it's still only 7-8 hours away. Once I'm living on the West coast, I expect I'll travel less and maybe plan a future Asia trip. My plan is for 5 days in Amsterdam, then 7 days in Madrid. When I head back to the US, I'll stop overnight, pick up my dog and she and I will fly to Seattle. It's been such a hectic time the past two months that while packing my last boxes, I looked at a wallet with euros from past trips and couldn't imagine what I was going to do with them. Oh right -- I'm going to be in Europe next week. I have many great recommendations from friends for things to do and places to eat on my trip. And I have the very exciting good fortune that my younger daughter is going to join me for the Amsterdam part of the trip. I think United Airlines routed me through Newark just to make the trip irresistable to my NY-based kid.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Old Vermouth, Guernica, Goya Frescos, the River and the Best Lunch

Image
 Just a few blocks from my apartment is Casa Alberto, a restaurant established in 1827, that serves its own vermouth on tap (vermut al grifo).   Yesterday, I had a late afternoon plate of manchego, olives and glass of their vermouth, while sitting in the beautiful historic bar area with a nice view of hanging jamon Iberico. Today I got to the Reina Sofia museum right around when it opened.  I got the audio tour in part because the beautiful building with high ceilings is an echo chamber and school groups were out in force — it was a way to shut out the clamor and focus on the art.  Although works by Antonio Lopez Garcia are in their collection, they are not on display right now, so one goal I had was thwarted.  However, the collection of works by Dali, Bracques, Picasso, Miro and many others was really spectacular.  I particularly thrilled at seeing Picasso’s Guernica, a painting I’d last seen in Paris in 1999 when it was on loan to the Picasso Museum. ...
Read more

The Wrap-Up, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

Image
 I’m close to the end of the last day of my trip! I saw this Edward Hopper painting at the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum today and I can relate! My early morning was spent on logistics, doing some laundry (thankfully it dries quickly, even on a drying rack, here) and realizing I needed to schedule the delivery of my worldly goods in Seattle on Monday (I had the movers, just hadn’t requested an access time for them with the POD company — not an immediately obvious issue, not covered in their FAQ page and their need for a phone call created hours of low-grade stress waiting for the East coast of the US to wake up and answer their phones). I’d considered making my last day a daytrip out of Madrid but decided instead to focus on the things I haven’t done here.  It is a little chilly so indoor activity made sense.  Top of the list was the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum.  My usual thoughts about crowds, tour groups and noise aside, it’s a beautiful collection and contained surprise...
Read more

From the DMV to the PNW

Image
We arrived yesterday --  Dr Scott was a great flyer, who knew? -- and I have to say that I didn't want to see the sunrise .... but if you have to be up because you have no idea if you are in Europe or Bethesda or Seattle, I got lucky with a sunny day. So (sorry) Sleepless in Seattle.  But happy to be here and I'll report in with blog updates once things are a bit more settled.
Read more