A Word From Olivia!!!!!

Hey all!!!

I know some of you are dying to hear from me! Well, here's a bit about what we've been doing to keep you alive a bit longer.... (be prepared for a 100+ picture post when I get back 2 weeks from now...)

I'm having a marvelous time in Europe! We've toured pretty much everything in Paris except the Louvre, the Museum d'Orsay, and.... something else, I think. :-P We're headed back to France in a few days to see the rest.

Holland is a beautiful country. If I had to pick a place to live on a farm, I would pick here. Everything is so well thought-out, and you could pretty much get everywhere solely by boat!

The World Triathlon was a unique experience. I really (really! seriously! not sarcastically!) enjoyed sitting there watching the athletes for almost 9 hours. I've got the sunburn (my own fault, I was sure that it would mess up my make-up and that the 30 spf already in my make-up would do just fine....) and the bug bites (NOT my fault!) to prove it. I will never, ever, ever compete in a triathlon, with absolutely no offense but rather respect to those who do.

I really apologise for not communicating better. The entire country has free Wi-Fi (computer lovers drool), but there's no place with computers to use. Thankfully our current hotel does have this computer in its lobby that I can use. I just have to share with Grand Dude... :-D

Public transportation is a great thing-- in huge cities. We've ridden on/ in a car, plane, ferry, subway, train, bus, and funicular each many times.

I have a new appreciation for laundromats. There is only one in the city of Amsterdam. We opted for the laundry service-- they even folded them!

They played the "West Virginia, Mountain Momma" song at the Holland Triathlon yesterday. How strange. Every place we've been they only play American music. It's rather weird to be sitting in a cafe' in the middle of downtown Amsterdam hearing American rap (granted it wasn't understandable) playing.

The things I miss the most are washcloths. They must not exist in this portion of our planet. None of the places we have stayed have supplied them. I probably have week old mascara still in my lashes. *sighs* It is rather annoying, and using bath towels is next to impossible. I miss home, too, but I'll see it all too soon. :-D

GPS's are either absolute life-savers or death sentences. Gabby, our GPS over here, got us out of Paris alive and with little headache on Friday. Saturday she took us on bike paths trying to get home from the Noah's Ark that wasn't there (long story short we didn't see it because, rumor has it, it's in the middle east for a bit) and Sunday she almost got us run-over sticking us in the bus lane in downtown Almere. **sighs** She makes us laugh, though. :-) And these driving times will go down in Howard history, I predict.

Oh, and for the (at least) one person who I know wants to know, I've only taken 500 good pictures so far. And for everyone else, about 400 or so of those pictures are of me. I've perfected my self-portrait. :-D

Aaahhh! Just got another bug bite that popped up from nowhere. Off to sleep (I'm posting at about 12:30 on Tuesday morning) and hopefully a full day of touring Amsterdam (the Rembrandt museum, Anne Frank house, etc.) by canal boat tomorrow (or rather today).

~Me, Myself, and Olivia who now likes mustard on GIANT meatballs and thinks mayo on fries does not sound good....oh, and FYI, yes, we have eaten at a McDonald's or two. More on that later....