Sunday, October 23, 2011

Arrived!!!!! What's today?

I left Washington, D.C., on Friday at 6 p.m., and thanks to the tail winds, I got to Amsterdam before 7 a.m.   My main suitcase was checked through to Bucharest, but I still had my laptop and carry bag to put into a locker for the day.

Train in Amsterdam took about 15 minutes.  I started out (after having one or two large coffees) at the Centraal Station and walked to the Anne Frank house.  One of the most moving and emotional experiences ever for me.

I also toured the palace, got a free hug from an Occupy Amsterdam protester (they were marching through the Dan square), went to the Flower Market,  had a  beer in a cafe by a canal, looked at the oldest church in Amsterdam, which meant I had to walk through the Red light district.    Yes, women were on display.  There was also a funny smell wafting out of some of the coffee shops, and it was not vanilla latte.

Left Amsterdam at 8:30 p.m., and arrived in Bucharest after midnight.  The trip did not take three hours:  I gained another hour.

It is overcast on Sunday morning.  More guests are expected today at the hotel including Prince Hassan and Princess Sarvath of Jordan,  Queen Sofia of Spain, and Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine. 

Further updates later.  I am going to the pool.

(I just tried the spell check .. all my words are wrong, apparently, as Blogger has converted to Romanian.)

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