Return of the Gypsies

After a two-month long bout of writer's block, we gypsies are finally back online.  I'm not sure why I've had such trouble deciding what to say...I mean, it's not like we haven't been busy.  But for some reason, nothing I've tried to write seemed very interesting.  And frankly, if it's not interesting, then no one really wants to read it, and I don't blame them.  I don't like reading boring stuff either, but ergo, the writer's block...and my apologies to anyone who's been wondering what we're up to.

Anyway, so much has happened in these last two months that I'm going to jump way back into July to catch you all up to speed.  We spent a weekend in early July in Amsterdam (details found in my previous post), and then followed that with a day-trip the next weekend to the Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam.  The zoo is listed as one of Europe's most beautiful.  I don't disagree, but it was pretty much like any other zoo I've ever been in, with one major exception.  I have never been so close to the animals on exhibit as we were in this zoo.  There were times we could've literally touched the animals so long as we were quick enough.

  

Yes, that's a guinea pig Sara is looking at.  I'm not sure I've ever seen a guinea pig exhibit at a zoo before, but this shows just how close we could get to some of the animals.  There was no one around to stop us from climbing in and trying to catch this little guy either...

And yep, that's raccoons in the picture above.  I just had to take this picture because I thought it was so funny that a zoo would not only have a raccoon exhibit but place it at the front of the zoo as if they were some sort of special feature.  Cute as they may be, I've experienced first-hand how much of a nuisance they can be, so I found it odd that the zoo would want to show them off.  What was even more interesting was the number of other zoo patrons oohing and aahing over them and taking their pictures.  Then I saw a sign for the exhibit and realized...North America is the only place on earth that has these little critters.  For most of the other people at the zoo that day, it was likely the first time they'd ever laid eyes on one.  I'm sure there are plenty of folks back in Louisiana who would gladly ship some more over for them...but for a nominal fee, of course.

I have lots of other pics from this trip that I'll post separately on Facebook for anyone who's curious, but I gotta move on.

The weekend after our zoo trip, we took our first trip out of the Netherlands since moving in late May.  We had several potential places to visit, but we finally decided on Luxembourg.  Of the countries bordering or in close proximity to the Netherlands, this one seemed to be small enough that it could actually be covered more or less in a weekend, so that's what we did.  We drove ourselves Friday evening as it was only a 3 or so hour drive, or at least it should've been had it not been for the traffic jam in and around Antwerp, Belgium.  But we crawled along and eventually made it to Luxembourg city sometime Friday evening.

One of the things I decided I like best about Luxembourg is how much it closely resembles the images I have in my mind of what old world Europe probably looked like.  Saturday morning, we drove into Luxembourg City, the country's capital, and came up out of an underground parking garage to this.

Street vendors selling everything from fresh cheese and sausages to the flowers you see in the picture.

Markets modernized by food trucks, but they are still in the city square as they've been for hundreds of years.  I didn't realize it at the time, but since this trip I've noticed that most European cities have these types of markets on Saturdays.  Very cool!

After a day in the city on Saturday, we took a drive into the countryside on Sunday.  We visited Beaufort Chateau

and the city of Echternach on the border with Germany.   We ate pizza al fresco at one of the cafes near the ones you see pictured below.  Pizza made by REAL Italians, yummm!! 

We really enjoyed our time here, and the only negative aspect of the entire trip led me to my own personal epiphany.  This trip was hot! Obviously, we were traveling in July, so it was bound to be quite  warm outside.  What we didn't realize was that there would be no air conditioning in ANY of the buildings.  My personal revelation was that this must be why Europeans are known for being outdoors so often, especially when they eat...because it's too hot to go inside!  Some of you may have already known this, but until I had actually experienced suffocating heat indoors, the thought had never clicked for me.  What I don't understand is why they don't just install some A/C and join the rest of us in the 21st century, but I suppose that's a topic for another blog.

Anyway, in the 6 weeks that followed this trip, we celebrated Keith's birthday with a big Rowan bash and then took a trip home for a month to attend a family wedding and visit friends and family. We were so busy and did so much, that there's just not space enough to cover it all, but I just had to share this pic (courtesy of one of Elizabeth's friends) from the wedding.  Very sweet photo of an awesome newly married couple...even better is my daughter's reaction.  ;)

Upon our return to the Netherlands in late August, we all settled in and tried to get back to some sort of routine.  Both kids started school this fall (I can't believe Levi's in kindergarten!), so most of our days are spent buried in the many textbooks and projects they work on every day.  Keith's job is as overly frustrating as always, but thankfully most of our weekends are still free. We are trying to make the most of our time and enjoy these last beautiful weekends before it turns frigid over here.


And alas, as this only brings us to the end of August, there is still so much more to be told, but I think this post is long enough.  Hopefully my bout with writer's block is over so the rest of our traveling tales can be told.   So as the Dutch would say, "Tot ziens!"