Karen Sandler

Category: Travel

  • Ambling through Downtown Utrecht

    After a shorter than expected flight (that pilot must have had the pedal to the metal during the Minneapolis to Amsterdam leg), we arrived in the Netherlands yesterday around 10:30. Felt pretty jet-lagged/zombiefied for most of the afternoon/evening, despite a nap. The weather has been a bit damp, but that han’t stopped us from getting out.

    Rather than post the pictures on WordPress, which is usually fraught with peril, I’ve set up a Flickr account and posted the first set of pictures here. And here’s a short video to enjoy from the Museum Speelklok:

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weT5V_eOh2k]

  • Leaving on a Jet Plane…

    And so our exciting European vacation begins. Okay, we won’t be visiting a lot of Europe–just the Netherlands where my brother-in-law lives, plus Belgium and Luxembourg and a bit of Germany. By the way, one of my goals for this trip is learning how to spell Luxembourg. I think I can tick that one off my list.

    We will be celebrating our 30th anniversary at a B&B in Luxembourg, in what I’m told is a lovely little town. How cool is that? We’re also planning on a day trip to Köln, Germany and certainly traveling around the Netherlands. And we’re hoping for a chance to do some folk dancing with one or two local groups. It’s great that dance is international.

    I’m hoping to blog a bit here and there and post photos. We’ll see. I don’t want to spend too much time glued to a computer screen.

    I already miss my kitties, but we have a great housesitter staying with them. I’m sure she’ll give them lots of scritches and ply them with lots of treats.

    Next post from the Netherlands!

  • Birthday in San Francisco

    I had a lovely time celebrating my birthday in San Francisco. As much as I love living in a rural area, it is so cool going into the city for the Christmas holiday. We took the cable car down to Union Square (well almost to Union Square–we had to walk part of the way) and had dinner at the marvelous Kuleto’s. We did a little shopping at Macy’s afterward then caught a cab back to the hotel. Even the cab was an adventure–nothing like jetting up the steep San Francisco hills, then hovering at the top where you can’t see the road on the other side. Talk about a leap of faith.

    A very cool motorcycle decked out with Christmas lights

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    The tree in Union Square

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Macy's all decked out

     

    The interior of Kuleto's
    Kuleto's very cool ceiling