Tulip Time

I'm off to the airport in a few minutes, taking some time to reflect before I go.

The bags are packed. I tried to get away with only carrying on my camera case, but I'm simply not the sort of person who can deal with an 8-hour flight without stuff to read and play with.

And yes, I do have a little bit of knitting in there. I'm not going to say what. Lets consider it my MUFO - Mysterious Unfinished Object.

Chris and I worked out this morning after breakfast and before a gratifyingly long good-bye kiss. Golly gosh, he's such a sweetheart. It was a good way to begin the trip.

I don't see myself blogging much from Europe, so this is the utmost of my report until somewhere around the middle of the month. Amsterdam has Internet cafés, of course, but I don't plan on sitting still in front of a computer screen when there are things to see. And once I'm on the ship, no Internet, and no phone (unless I feel like paying US$7 a minute for calls).

Yes, the ship. The bulk of this trip is me and a lot of alumni of the university I work for, sailing around Holland and Belgium. Me, and about 100 elderly people who mostly start drinking at 9 a.m. and pass out around 7 p.m. What the hell. It's free. It'll be interesting, I'm sure.

Although I imagine the three days alone in Amsterdam - my first trip completely solo anywhere, ever - is going to be more interesting.

Time to go.