Front of the Curtain, Behind the Curtain 04/20/2025

 We are off to the Netherlands.  Prior to our departure I received an email from Delta.  I had received a complimentary upgrade to first class from Montgomery to Atlanta.  When we checked in at Dannelly, I asked if Linda had been upgraded.  Unfortunately the answer was no. The flight was full and my orignal seat had been reassigned.  I was then in Zone 1 for boarding, and Linda was in Zone 3.  Linda was a good sport about this.  She said that if I upgraded to first class for the trip to Amsterdam, the upgrade was hers.  I did pass the cookies and chips they handed out in first class back to Linda.

The Atlantic crossing was uneventful.  The airplane flight time was 7 hours and 40 minutes.  Upon landing, We picked took our luggage and went to Enterprise car rental to pick up our car.  We drove to Abcoude and located our home for the next week.  We got there at 11:00 AM.  We had a 1:00 checkin, so we went grocery shopping and had lunch.  We bought food (assorted cheeses, sausages, crackers, and wine). We stopped for lunch at a very good restaurant.  The food was excellent and the staff was very friendly.  The name of our restaurant was De Endracht.  

After checking in our house and unpacking, we all took a nap.  We got up around 5:00, had dinner (sausage, cheese, and crackers with wine). We discussed our plans for the next day,and retired at 8:00 PM. Abcoude is a pretty little town, and we are looking forward to our stay here.

A little bit about our cottage.... It is situated on the "Het Gein Canal". It was built in 1865 as a cattle shed and hayloft, and it is now a B&B. The hayloft was repurposed as an art studio. Queen Beatrice, a former Queen of the Netherlands, received sculptor lessons here.  It is very spacious and has two ensuite bedrooms.

Tomorrow we will take a walking tour of Amsterdam and later a tour of the Anne Frank home and museum.

The pictures below are 1. The windmill next to our cottage, 2. Sheep frozen in time, 3. Linda at our front door, 4. Our cottage, 5. Linda and Amanda, 6. Behind the curtain, Linda in the middle, 7. Harry and Amanda, 8. Jerry and Linda.
















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