Where To Go?

I’m sorry my blog post has been a bit late today. I try to have it posted before America gets up and going, but today, I just didn’t know what to post about. After reading many articles for the day in the news, I found a few that are interesting.

First, I like the ease that the Euro has to offer while travelling. I don’t like that it is stronger than the dollar, but I guess we can’t all get what we want in life. I never thought, though, what implications a currency that spreads across many different countries has. I read this article the other day explaining the issues at hand. You can find the article HERE. The biggest point in my mind is that countries don’t have the ability to adjust the valuation of the currency to affect the prices and attract investments. This one currency floats across many different economies that are very different in many ways as well as the power and stability that they offer. I guess we are seeing the implications what unified money can do to many countries. I just hope the dollar gains some strength.

Another article Kelly sent me about things to do in Amsterdam. The article can be read HERE. Rest assured visitors, we will save the article for you to help you have a more successful and enjoyable visit. We want you all to have a unique experience from the “local” perspective and we will do our best to educate ourselves so that we may offer it to you.

And for those of you who have trouble imagining where to take the next vacation to, HERE is the article from NY Times about the 31 places to go in 2010. Granted, I don’t have the money or time to get them all, but there were a few on there that caught my eye. Copenhagen, Leipzig, Istanbul, Breckenridge, Kitzbühel, and Norway really caught my eye (I would like to point out my umlaut usage, I’m proud of myself for figuring that one out). I have a trip in the works to Copenhagen, I’ve been to Leipzig numerous times, Istanbul I might have to wait on for a few years, and the last 3 just really make me want to go skiing. I had a great time in Breckenridge several years ago with a fun group of people. Below are 2 of my favorite pictures from the weekend.

We went hat shopping! I don't have a better picture with Josh's eyes open, but you all get the idea. We also went for sushi right after so it was a pretty awesome night.

This little room is where we all (all 20 of us) kept our skis, boots, poles, snowboards, and random bicycle. To say the least it was a bit full and the littlest movment had the opportunity to cause a dominoe affect. Karla and Kayla wanted to test it out. I miss you two!

Someday I’ll have my dream ski vacation in the Alps at some fabulous resort. Whether it be St. Moritz, Kitzbühel, Zermatt, or anywhere else I can come up, it’s going to be fantastic. It didn’t work out this year so I guess it wasn’t meant for me to have the ski trip of my life, yet. Can you tell I have high expectations for this trip? I can wait for perfection (and hopefully a slightly larger budget to have it on).


Input from my daily life: sushi was great last night. They also gave us a web site that has a TON of different restaurants that deliver. I think delivery is Holland’s drive through. We don’t even have to say our street name (which is Waganmakerslaan) we just type it in. Another point for technology. For those of you worrying about Kelly and I gaining weight since all you hear about is food, I wanted to give you a rundown of our daily meals:

Breakfast: Muesli with yogurt (I try to find a fruit to put in there with it)
Lunch: Sandwich (or leftovers) with 2 small oranges.
Afternoon snack: Pineapple or another fruit
Dinner: a frozen pizza with fresh basil, vegetable fajitas, Sheppard’s pie, chicken breasts, fish, pasta

We go out to eat 2-3 times a week and generally always take our lunch. To put this in perspective I ate out lunch every day in Houston and most dinners as well. We also have to walk to any food destination we choose (this delivery discovery might be bad) as well as the grocery store, post office, and to get any kitchen utensil that we need (we always forget the can opener. I’m glad I brought my Leatherman).

Don't worry, we're not rolling around Holland just yet.

Is it Worth the Money?

I often ponder many things and today I figured I would present the subject of my current ponder, the Mercedes car. Now, we see them all over the roadways in all shapes and sizes but we often see this one:

Now, I do not find this car cute, or pretty, or cool. It is approximately $25,500. That is a pretty penny. I guess you are still getting the Mercedes name, motor, and luxury but I could think of a better way to spend that money…and get a lot more car for your buck.

Now when most people think of Mercedes they think of luxury, style, class, not the above blob. If I were able to choose a Mercedes to drive around in my retirement days, I would choose this one:

This is a pretty CL Class Mercedes, more of what one expects from the name. Now for $138,000 a person better get the best car Mercedes makes. I don’t even know if it is the best, but it sure does look cool. I guess that is why people get the blob, it’s an affordable Mercedes. I don’t think I could drive one. I prefer our new, black Opel to the blob. I bet it would have more get up and go though. Oh well, speed kills.

So that was my random Tuesday ponder. We are getting ready for Kelly's boyfriend, Stu, to arrive on Saturday. I am very excited for her, I know how much she misses him. I'm also excited to meet him. He seems like a very nice guy. Next week they are headed to Munich for 4 days and I'll be left here all alone. I stock up on groceries before she leaves so I won't have to go out and eat alone....or maybe if I open myself up I can start making local friends. Why worry about it now, I'll worry about it next week when I'm left to fend for myself.