Netherlands to Ireland

 Since we did the majority of the packing yesterday, we were able to get up, drink some coffee and tea, have a roll and make our way to the train station in a leisurely way.  We had to thank the Aikens profusely for their hospitality and I warned Margaret that if they buy any other houses, we will be sure to visit those too since we stayed for a week at their house in Begadan, France when we were in Europe two years ago.  With friends like these, you stay in touch.  We were able to get some good seats at the top of the train so that I could get my train shots of the Netherlands rolling 

out along the window with more windmills, water, and incredibly flat terrain.  Just like you can’t understand the amount of bikes without being here, it is impossible to overdo the emphasis on flat.  It makes west Texas look hilly, or Michigan look like a part of the Rockies. We kept being concerned that they were going to do something with our car of the train, like send it to Antwerp when they would make long 

 announcements in  Dutch, but we eventually arrived at the airport in Amsterdam and were able to disembark straight into the terminal buildings.  This airport is amazing, I must say.  It is a train station, metro station, and major airport all in one.  If you have checked your bags online, then you put them in 

 these spots with their tickets printed out and they are taken away by conveyer belt.  We went through security 3 different times, but went through fairly fast and the major security checkpoint is at your gate which means a lot of equipment for each gate. 

  They had maps that would tell you how long it would take you to get to your gate and for some, it’s 55 minutes walking.  This place was huge and had everything in the world in it, like a duty free mall. After John drank a liter of water in order to get it past the last security checkpoint in order to keep our bottle, we were able to board our plane easy and get on our way to Dublin.  I became excited again because this is

 another country that I have not been to before and it has been on the top of the list for some time.  John tried to play it cool and said that Dublin wasn’t in his top 25, but couldn’t list the other 10 cities that would be above

 it.  Of course, like every day that you are traveling, everything takes longer than you expect.  By the time we had our luggage, came through customs, and then got a bus to the hotel, it was 5pm.  We went on a walk about to Merrion Square, Grafton Street, and then back up St. Stephen’s to the hotel, eating and shopping all the way.