Vitality Stories

Happy Trails & Adoptions

First, happy trails

In October, Ted and I boarded a river cruise to explore the Rhine River between Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Basel, Switzerland.

We began our trip in Amsterdam and spent three full days walking and exploring the city, all the while appreciating it’s Go Green Agenda, the number of bicyclists (an average of 800,000 people–63% of the population–use bicycles daily in Amsterdam–you should see the bike racks!), and the friendly environment. In every restaurant, we heard waiters easily switching between Dutch, German, English, French, and more as they moved from table to table to take orders. The energy was respectful, open, welcoming, and refreshing. I was never made to feel silly or stupid for not being able to speak anything but English.

We had purposely left America during the height of the elections to expand our world and find reassurance that not every country was as xenophobic and close minded as some of America has grown to be (despite America’s humble beginnings). Some of the people who recognized us as Americans and interacted with us would say, in a sympathetic tone, “Soon you will elect a new president.” (We had many discussion with strangers throughout our trip, and I’ll share them as I hit each stop in our journey in future newsletters)

From 9am-3:30pm, a line of people waiting to see Anne Frank’s House wrapped around two blocks. They waited patiently, respectfully. It was gratifying to see families seeking out history.

We lived in a bubble for a few days, staying at the Pulitzer Hotel where, yes, I wished I could sit down at the desk next to the window overlooking a canal and write for hours while munching away on Stroopwafels, and then on the fourth day, we boarded the cruise. We had assumed our fellow cruisers would be a diverse group, an interesting myriad of cultures and worldviews, but alas, 98% of them were Americans. We’d travelled so far but had gone full circle.

Our first stop on The Rhine River was Kinderdijk, The Netherlands, home of the largest concentration of windmills in The Netherlands. We avoided the group outing, put our pedometer on (so I could track how much bread, chocolate, and cookies I could eat on the trip), and took a serene and romantic three-hour walk.

Later that day I emailed my mother at her assisted living center to tell her where we were and she replied,

“I showed my housemate the picture, and she started to cry happy tears. She visited Kinderdijk years ago with her husband. He’s been gone for some time now.”

When I shared a picture of windmills on Facebook, a friend commented that she and her husband were there just last year (and this couple’s Facebook posts always make me smile because they seem to truly enjoy each other’s company and are best friends).

Travel creates happy memories that last a lifetime, and I’m grateful for the happy trails my partner and I set off on together (I sound really sappy, don’t I? What can I say? I’m in love.)

Later that day, we would set sail for Cologne, Germany. I’ll tell you more about this portion of the trip next time, and I’ll even share some insight about our boat companions.

 

Now, about that adoption

I’ve had pet envy for sometime: Friends posting pictures of their pets and getting a gazillion Likes, emojis, and comments, and even taking short videos and dubbing voices.

I’m so excited to share that I finally found a way around not having a cat due to allergies, travel, and frequent moves! My dear friends, April and Paul, are allowing me to become a Cat Auntie.

That’s right. A Cat Auntie.

From this day forth, I have a new niece and nephew, and being the proud auntie that I am, I shall be sharing photos going forward. It’s not clear if I adopted them as my niece and nephew, or if they unknowingly adopted me as their aunt, but it doesn’t matter. And since I can’t save a cat by adopting one, I am making a monthly donation to the SPCA of Northern Nevada in my newfound kitties’ names.

And now introducing Cyanne and Freedom: