Flying out in 10 hours.

A., M., and I had a most wonderful Sunday. Liesurely breakfast (fresh apple bread with butter and cheese, black tea and juice of mango blended with water of tap). No walking to lunch, cycling to M.'s rowing club because his test was at 1:30pm. We had lunch at the club (very informal, not country or yacht-ish). Now that he's passed the test, he is allowed to take out boats without an instructor (with others - they must have a full crew of four rowers and a steerer). It continued to be a brilliantly sunny day. The terrace of the cafe at the club overlooks a point where two canals intersect in a sort of waterway plaza. Beautiful.

For dinner we cycled to a fantastic vegetarian restaurant called De Waaghals. Oh, such beautiful food. We started with spicy olives and fresh country bread with butter. For my meal I chose the the "Waaghals Classic" and for dessert, banana creme pie and coffee.

A better way to close out my trip I do not know.

On a more practical note, I am packed but for toiletries and my pjs. I have borrowed a huge suitcase from A. and M. with which to bring things home (better than buying an appropriately sized piece of luggage). I filled only half of it with the stuff and then got all my clothes and my pack into the case. Damn, I thought, this is great. I set the sucker upright and wasn't quite so pleased with myself. Can't very well take the train to the airport if you can't lift the suitcase up the one step into the train.

So. I took out what paper, books, Delft tiles, and things that are the heaviest and have put them into my pack along with fragile things. I'll take the pack as my carry-on. The suitcase is still too heavy (for my liking), but I can lift it about 18 inches without tears. I just hope my pack isn't too heavy for a carry-on. Well, worst case is that I'm one of those pathetic people who have to step out of line to repack and then pay the charge for overweight baggage. At least I'll be able to get all the stuff to the airport.

I am so embarrased. I hadn't thought I'd accumulated that much stuff. So much stuff. I believe it is mostly for other people, but there is still too much stuff. I, not twenty minutes ago, packed it for the second time and still I'm not certain of all that is in my bags. Thank god there is a lift at the first station. I'm not certain about the station where I change, but I've got four whole minutes to get from one platform to the next and it's going down, not up the stairs.

The next post will be from Atlanta. Hopefully my blog will continue to be interesting/entertaining enough for you to check in occasionally (though, don't expect much the first week as the return jetlag always gets the better of me).

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my trip for I have been happy to share.