First post-retirement trip, in the bag

We’re back from our first trip without work to come back to. We went to Amsterdam, Belgium (Brussels, Bruges), and Germany (Hilden, Hombug,  Achen, Frankfurt). Leaving town 3 days after retiring was a great break between work and the new world.


Brr... Bruges!

I found that I expectations that were upset (some good, some bad): 

  • Americans are not as relatively tall as I thought. On average folks in Amsterdam are so much taller! I’ve never seen so many 6’ + women and even taller men.

  • Smoking is not as rare as I expected. So many cigarette butts and clouds of smoke. 

  • I am not good at ordering coffees. In Europe, one should sit first, not go to the counter, and I should order a doppio cappuccino, not a latte macchiato.


As I anticipated, the most recent history was the hardest. We visited the Anne Frank museum (at the Secret annex) and the Dutch resistance museum on our second day, knowing we would want time to reflect. I was impressed both by the content and the presentation at both museums.


The rest of the trip was art and architecture--so many artists taking advantage of their sponsors to show off their skills (perspective, landscape, translucent veils, musculature). Each city had its own flavors in food, drinks, walkability, transportation, and liveliness. At the moment, if I were to try to rank places to live that we visited, I lean toward Amsterdam and Aachen.


Part of the trip was to see friends, and that too was lovely. They are folks who Brian has known nearly his entire life, and who we’ve kept in close touch with (3 brothers on each side, all of similar age spreads, growing up and visiting each other in Moline, Germany, and Canada). We visited a castle where they all played as kids, which has since been excavated. Brian’s joy in the visit was wonderful to see. It was also lovely to get to visit Aachen, a very active medieval city. 


I'm posting photos on Google Photos, and trying the Insta too (@skyppylapres). Let me know if you can get to them!


Amsterdam

Brussels

Bruges

Koln

Aachen Homburg

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