Middelburg

 We rested for a little while and got to make some calls on skype to let people know that we were at our final destination for this trip and then walked around town to reacquaint ourselves where the grocery store was, etc.  We stopped in the square for a late snack as this place was  now hopping with hundreds of people at these restaurants, bars, etc and they all appeared to just be drinking.  John mentioned that there is a university here and if you’re going on spend money as a student, it’s going to

 be on alcohol not food.  John is in his element where he can  order a different Belgian or Dutch beer every round and try them all. 

It was nice to get into a bed that we will be in for a while and wash a load of clothes for the first time since Amsterdam and Florence.  I want everyone to 

be aware at home that there are things that you are taking for granted every day.  That time that you get home and you don’t really want to cook, so a peanut butter sandwich is perfect, the times when you just put on a load of clothes even though it’s a chore, you take clean clothes and not living out of a suitcase for granted.  Now, you might say, “but Jo, you asked for this, 

what are you complaining about?”  It’s not complaining per se (okay a little), it’s not homesickness per se (okay a little), it’s having to eat out every night, it’s having to wear the same clothes again because they’re all you brought that’s warm enough, it’s getting tired of having to be constantly on the go because you don’t want to miss anything while you’re here.  That’s a lot mentally more than physically (and that’s with climbing every dome and church spire that John can find that will let us up).  So, take some time to just appreciate the little things that are part of your life that you take for granted because they are the things that make home “sweet home”.