Driving with two of the Hens by Linnea

1. Getting up at 6 am sucks!

2. Standing in 100 degree hot sun is stressful.

3. Driving without a GPS in Florence will not work.

4. One needs to know how to drive a stick shift if you are going to drive a stick shift.

5. Speed limit on the A1 is 80 KPH not 60 KPH so if you want to stay with Maggie Andretti, step on it.

6. Food at Italian gas stations is much better than American restaurants.

7. Big hills in Cortona with a stick shift are hard. Smoking engine is not a good sign.

8. Fire very bad.

9. Italian men can be of help. WATER WATER WATER!!!!!!!!!

10. Donetella is an angel from heaven and it helps that she speaks Italiano!

Leaving Holland, Italy here we come!

1.Maggie Rorke makes a wonderful travel companion!

2. Getting up at 5:45 AM, Holland time or 11PM Minnesota time, is really difficult.

3. The Hotel Toren on Keizergtacht in Amsterdam, is a hotel experience one can only hope for when traveling abroad!

4. No matter how easy going, sweet, darling a 13 year old girl is, she is still 13!!

5.The alps are pretty impressive from the air!

6. The Dutch take Gay Pride week very seriously. We were lucky to be there and experience what tolerance and acceptance really means! Wake up America!

7. It is really a big treat to have dinner with some of your closest friends who happen to be in Amsterdam at the same time. Thanks Lor, Herbie, Charlie and Jazz. See you in a week!

Observations August 1

8/1
1. A beer in Vondel park is 2.20 US
a water 4 dollars!

2.N Y lawyers are no less annoying abroad. Their kids are just as obnoxious. I swear I've seen this family on the Tewinott chair lift in Jackson Hole!

3. American teenagers are a big part of the reason Americans are not well liked in other countries! Spoiled, entitled, complaining, whiney, loud!

4. A KLM 747 flying down Prinzengracht canal is an amazing sight! 2 in a row even more impressive!

5. Sitting in a cafe, reading The Diary of Anne Frank, across the street from her hideout house, tells me that 70 years is not that long ago!!!

6. It also tells me that we have not evolved as far as accepting religious freedom! I think the Dutch have!

7. Bees sting in Holland same as home!

8. It would be a lot of fun to have an old wood Chris Craft boat, a bucket of Champs, and a load of great friends with which to cruise the Amsterdam canals !

9. Most people in Holland can fit all their belongings into a 4 or 5 room flat....I can barely fit my belongings into 2 large houses!

10. When you sit down to dinner it is 70 degrees without a cloud in the sky. By the time you get your first course, downpour!!!! By desert, sun out again!

12. Dutch guys are ruggedly adorable! Who needs to shave, really?

13. Leave the beef to Americans, stick with fish in a country surrounded by water !

14. We cannot even begin to complain about humidity in MN, the Dutch get that honor!

15. Europe has the greatest sunscreen anyplace!!!

Observations 7/31

7/31
1. When you are young And skinny, you can wear a white Mini skirt with black leggings!

2. There is no surgeon general in Holland. Smoke up everyone you have national health care to take care of you!

3. One never need ask for a side of mayo for your fries. Waiting patiently while your fries get cold, soggy, eaten. Fries always come with mayo in Amsterdam!

4. The Dutch do amazing things with tomatoes. Always get the tomato soup!

5. It is difficult to truly experience Amsterdam if you are unwilling, unable or afraid to ride a bicycle!

6. Embrace frizzy hair. It drizzles, sprinkles, rains or pours several times a day. Everyone looks a bit disheveled!

7. When the sun comes out, it is blinding!

8. Whining babies are just as annoying when whining In Dutch as they are whining in English!

9. If you have frizzy blonde hair, ride a black granny bike, and have on dark colors, you will be stopped multiple times a day and asked directions in Dutch!

10. No one actually speaks Dutch besides the Dutch!

11. Stoned teens are just as stupid here as they are at home, maybe more so!

12. I regret never having had a bachelorette party in Amsterdam!

13. There is a plaque on the side of the hotel where Chet Baker died of an overdose!

14. Never ever ever stand in a bike lane in Amsterdam! Always look before crossing a bike lane. Getting hit by a bike that weighs 40 lbs traveling at 20 mph is gonna hurt you a lot more than the rider who jumped off long before hitting the ground!

15. If above happens to you, you will be the one at fault. Bicycles ALWAYS have the right of way over pedestrians!

16. This is the perfect city in which to have a Gay Pride Parade! As it happens this Sat, I am sorry I am going to miss it!

17. You can ride a Vespa with a huge Chocolate Lab.He will sit on the floorboard with his tail dragging along on the street!

18. There is a bike with a cart on the front. In the cart are 3 small kids, in the back of the bike is a child add on bike, and a baby seat on the handle bars. This is a Dutch mini van. Add another bike for mom w 2 kid seats and 9 people travel in style with no emissions, no cost, and they are ALL smiling! Go figure.

19. There is no such thing as a bike helmet here. I wonder what the statistics are. No one seems very worried. I guess everyone knows the bike rules the road here.

20. Flowers are everywhere. They sure have figured out horticulture!

A note from Linnea

I am so excited to go to the villa that I have once been before as a little cell in my Mom's stomach. I don't quite remember it, but I am sure it will all come back to me (just kidding :)). I can't wait until I can step outside the airport in Amsterdam; it will feel so different to be on another continent. To experience a different culture will be a new reality for me. Everything will be different: clothing, language, food, arcitecture, and art. Although the most exciting thing will be to sustain my incredible relationship with my Mom's family and my loving Godmother. Although I will miss my Dad, I am happy that I get to have this great experience.

Could be Anne

It is moments like these that let me know with certainty that Anne Marie is here with us!

Santa Margherita, Patron Saint of Cortona

As Linnea said at a party recently, "I was made in Italy!"  Cortona is where Anne and Larry went on their honeymoon, and we all know what happened on Anne's honeymoon. We also know who showed up 9 months later. We return 13 years later to the exact same house where she was" made."

It's not a coincidence that St. Margaret is the patron Saint of Cortona.. Santa Margherita had a very saucy start before devoting her life to God.. She also lost her mother at a very young age. So it makes sense that our beloved Maggie(Margaret) Nea's Godmother, is joining us as we head to Italy.

I know as we all prepare to go we are excited and joyful, but we also have heavy hearts... We all know that there is a huge hole here, that Anne should be with us......Maybe she will be there,,stay tuned ;)