A & A on R & R

Life is not so hard for an expat in Nairobi. Still, we looked forward to our R & R vacation over the school spring break. Here are some of the highlights.

Amsterdam: 1 Historic Haus
Early morning arrival, cold weather (!), strolling the now-familiar canals, and... wonder of wonders...the grocery store. Stocked up on cherry tomatoes, yogurt, deli meat and cheese, baguettes, and drooled over just about everything else. Had a lovely visit to the Anne Frank House.

Bonn: 23 Castles
Stayed in long-time friend Laura's lovely flat in her lovely neighborhood while she chauffeured us and met every whim. Saw castles and monasteries, visited Rhineland, ate great food, drank great beer, and purchased all manner of crazy things like soccer shoes for Andrew and a sling for kiddo's arms. One of us cried when we had to leave Laura's cat behind (poor Andrew just loves those kitties!). We counted 23 castles on hilltops along the Rhine as we rode the train to the Frankfurt airport.

Florence: 500 Steps

Our "attic" room at a B&B afforded views of the famous Duomo created by Brunellsechi right outside our window... you just had to look down the street a bit. 500 steps from our B&B to the Duomo and a center of tourist-action. Also 500 steps up to the cupola...which was more like 1000 for Andrew since he had to carry the kid up most of the way. I did not anticipate how much I would freak out to have my naturally-reckless 5-yr-old jumping about the exterior cupola walkway----way high up there --- nor did I anticipate that she would freak out trying to get down those steep, steep, narrow, dark echo-y stairs (hmmm, maybe I should have). It didn't help that she couldn't hold on to the railing due to the casts. At the Uffizi I was really glad Andrew had taken art history in college - the child had a lot questions.

Rome: About 20 dead popes
We did not count them - the popes interred at St Peter's Basilica - because there was a serious concern that they would outnumber the German castles; simply not acceptable. The adults estimated and worked hard to convince the child the castles won. The Forum / Palatine Hill and Coliseum were predictably and amazingly impressive. We did not take a peek at St Paul's jail cell - apparently the catholic church has turned the formerly free jail-cell viewing into a multi-media event, considered to be irrelevant at best and offensive at worst (according to the all-knowing TripAdvisor).

Home: 1 ginormous traffic jam
It took us longer to take the taxi back to our house than any of the train rides or within-Europe flight. The traffic "flow" engendered by the inexplicably placed downtown Nairobi traffic circles and the brand-new roads that seem to have little concession to how cars get on and off them is mind-boggling. However, reaching our own little garden oasis and all 3 of us collapsing on our extremely comfortable and much-missed bed made me think... maybe home is where the mattress is!