Vacation...Day One

Well, the first day was an interesting one (I promise I won't be sending blogs every day of our vacation...just from time to time...but I have to tell you about the first day!)

Our flights were good. They were smooth and quick. Christie and I both slept for a couple of hours on the flight from Detroit to Amsterdam. (the picture of the plane's shadow is our landing in Amsterdam)

We arrived in Amsterdam at 9:00 AM local time (3:00 AM Eastern Time) but God graciously gave us the energy to make it through all of Wednesday...We then drove an hour and a half to Krimpen, the town we are staying in (see picture of the front of the house...we'll show you more of the house and grounds later). We enjoyed a morning of relaxing and visiting with Gerard and Hilda (his son's fiance) as they prepared for the wedding this weekend.

During the afternoon we decided to freshen up and get ready for a nice dinner that evening. As Christie was drying her hair, our converter blew a fuse and (possibly) destroyed the hairdryer. The converter doesn't work either anymore. Christie stood up to get something from across the room and as she came back she stepped on her glasses and cracked them right in the middle. It was still early enough in the day that Hilda took us to a local eye doctor to try and fix them, but Christie just ended up getting re-fitted for contacts. She's been looking for an excuse to go back to contacts, and here it was! The doctor was quick and they had exactly what she needed (praise God!)

Lunch was a good hard bread, cheese (the cheese's are stronger here...and better!) and salami with Water (without bubbles...or "gas" as some people say...for me).

We spent the afternoon outside (the weather is beautiful) helping here and there with odds and ends and then sat down for appetizers before going to the Windmill Restaurant down the street for supper. We both had Beef Carpaccio (topped with bacon, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, and more) Christie had fish and chips (in a gourmet way) and I had a steak with Gorgonzola cheese "spaghetti" and fried blue potato chips on top with a side of beans on some sort of spinach tart. Not to mention God presented us with our first opportunity to share the Truth of Christ with Sandra (Gerard's girlfriend). God is faithful...pray that we too will be faithful and for Gerard's family and their response to the Gospel!

Back to the house and lots and LOTS of sleep last night. Ready for today...we'll see what happens!