Friday, July 4, 2008

Preston and I made it


Tuesday morning Preston and I started out our long plane flight to Brussels. We met our friend Terry Jorgensen in the airport and he gave us some last minute advice on getting my 4 oz. bottle of contact solution through security - just put it in your pocket and walk through! Our plane was 30 minutes late in taking off and with only 45 minutes to change planes in Philadelphia I was a little worried but we made it with a few spare minutes. Preston didn't sleep at all the whole way over despite the new sound reduction headphones he bought before we left.
We ended up getting into Brussels an hour early at 9:30am and they didn't have a gate open for the plane. So they had to bring stairs out on to the runway and buses to take us to the terminal. But once we got through customs we only had to wait a few minutes before finding Anita and her son Jip. Jip is Preston's age and is such a fun young man and he and Preston have had a great time together already. It was so great to see Anita again after six years when she last came to visit us.

Anita and Rob (her husband) live in a small picturesque village. This is the view out their kitchen window. Doesn't look at all like Mesa! It is really a nice house and we are very excited to be here for a month! Our room is upstairs with an outside entrance and we have look at this every time we leave our room! I think I'm in a fairyland each time I go outside.

The first day here we didn't do much, just try to get adjusted to the time difference, shop at the grocery store which was fun and plan our trip to London next week. If anyone has suggestions let me know. Jip and Preston played computer and board games and were surprised how many of the same things they did. Jip speaks great English so communication isn't a problem.

Last night we went to Weert (Anita's home town) to Anita's brother's birthday party. It was fun to see him again and meet lots of new people. Today the weather is beautiful and we rode bikes to Jip's school and had a look around. Then Preston and Jip took the train back to Weert to play basketball with Jip's old friends. We will meet them there tonight and bring them back after a party for one of Jip's friends who made the Dutch national basketball team. Should be fun.

2 comments:

Lonica said...

Wow! I'm glad you guys made it. I remember being floored by Anita's backyard. Everything was just so beautiful! Hope you have a good time in London. Have you planned your other trips yet? What else are you going to do? Dieter is sure sad without you and Prestoon to keep him entertained during the day.

bdrain said...

I think we will be going to Amsterdam, Normandy and Paris while dad is here. We are still trying to figure out if we can get to Florence or Rome, we are hoping to find some cheap air fare.