Sunday, July 02, 2006

Guests arriving, must travel ... writes the smiling Kiwi

So here I am, sitting down for the first time all day ... well that's not quite true, I sat down for small amounts of time through the day, resting from cleaning, hoping death wasn't as close as it felt in those moments of pure exhaustion.

Note to self: Never attempt to clean the apartment from top to bottom in 30 degree celsius heat again.

We have guests flying in from America ... ML is an old friend of mine; a travelling companion from two trips through my South Island world back in New Zealand ... veteran of an Istanbul and Gallipoli trip with Di and nows she's arriving in Europe to check out my new life and the Belgian bloke who lured me here, bringing her lovely new partner Al.

Gert is down emptying the car as I type, in preparation for picking them up from their Amsterdam train meanwhile I'm investigating the restorative powers of Appel Jenever (apple-flavoured Dutch gin) from the fridge.

It's not bad, highly recommended in fact however one must be careful as it's 20% alcohol and an egg cup-sized glass is more than fine when mixed with an adult portion of cleaner exhaustion.

We spring-cleaned the apartment today, slightly late and yet perfectly timed for our guests. They have two days here then we're hitting the road for a few days ... wandering through a little of France and Luxembourg, then on into Germany ... Strasbourg, Heidelberg, the Black Forest, the Rhein and Mosel Rivers (with wineries) then home.

Al flies out early from Amsterdam, leaving us in the city exploring. We have Paris, Flanders Fields, Brugge and Antwerp on our to-do list so yeah ... let's see how it goes.

We're heading into a heatwave (= 5days over 25 degrees celsius) - hot until Wednesday at least ... so there's the chance of a suntan on this small Euro tour.

I hope to write from the road as there will be more than one computer chick in the car. If not, my blog may idle along for a few days.

Tot ziens.

8 comments:

Haddock said...

Whats about my house in Antwerp?
Its to sell.
Lange Leemstraat 173

(I'll pay a comission)

http://maharal.blogspot.com/2005/09/ik-blijf-thuis.html

Thanks Kiwi, its a nice blog, yours!

Sal DeTraglia said...

That's a great photo. I hope that I will be smoking a hookah (or is it a shee-sha?) when I'm in my seventies.

Have a great trip, and don't forget to bring your camera.

Sal

Di Mackey said...

Lol ... good luck maharal.

ML is magnificent, I'm sure you'll be doing just fine at 70, Mr Detraglia.

The camera is packed first, all else goes round it.

Anonymous said...

Di! I'm thinking you are currently enjoying this lovely Monday afternoon with ML and Al. Have a wonderful time on your trip, and I'll keep checking your blog for updates.... did ML bring a digital camera? I would love to see a pic here and there along your travels.
= )

PS I already forgot my login info for Blogger, hense the anonymous comment.

Kay Cooke said...

Great piccy! Have a lovely trip - wander - look around! I looked up the dancing guy - so cool - made me feel happy. Thanks for that _ I will passit on to our son in Japan he'll love it.

Lotus Reads said...

Have a nice time, wandering woman - I will be leaving on a trip myself shortly, but I hope I can catch your blog again before I leave. One quick question - do you know of any Bali blogs? I will be visiting there for a week in August and would love to have some more information about the place - hotels, what to do in Bali, etc.

See you when you get back!

Lever said...

Apple gin... mmmm, sounds like it'd be good on ice - we're near 30° here too. I wonder how Le Tour riders are getting on with this heat?

Di Mackey said...

Hi anonymous Shannon ... :)

Photos from the road will happen I hope. Let's see if we pack all that we need to do it lol.

Thanks chiefbiscuit.

Travel safe lotus, and I don't know any blogs off the top of my head. Maybe check out the 'Boots n all' travel site ... I'm sure they have blogs located all over the world ... good luck :)

Appel gin is simply delicious in this weather lever. I wouldn't want to be biking in this weather and we've been told to expect 34o tomorrow ...