Amsterdam to Middleburg

Have to apologize for repeating myself for some of you, but I have to finish uploading the Europe trip.

 The train ride that was trouble

Once we had a great seat on the top section so that I could watch the Netherlands unfold before us, a conductor came to punch our tickets and told us that we had to move up a car because the train was going to split and we would not go to Middleburg if we didn’t move.  Because we couldn’t be 100% sure of when the train would split, we decided to move at the next stop, which was when everyone getting off from work also got on the train, so it was a half hour before we were able to get seats again.

The rest of the train ride went along without incident and we did make it to Middleburg ahead of schedule.  As we stepped off the train into the rain with all of our luggage, I thought that David and Margaret would most likely come meet us because of the rain, but would expect us on the next train and if you have paid attention to this narrative before now, you know what’s going to happen next.  As we’re getting lost in another canal ridden, circular city with street names that are RIDICULOUS!!!!, David and Margaret leave there house to meet us and take a different route.  So, we make it there finally with a nice boy who looks up their 

address on his iphone to tell us that we are surprisingly close to find no one home.  So, in the mindnumblingly cold drizzle, we stand outside David and Margaret’s house while they wait for the next train 30 minutes later to make sure that we weren’t on that one either. 

We were able to ascertain that it was their house from a neighbor who asked if we needed a lift to the train station, we discussed going back to get them because we knew where they were, but John was pretty sure that he would get lost going back and he didn’t want me to walk back in the rain and wind, so we just stayed and waited.  John was able to finish his cigar and the laughter related to the situation started which caused several Dutch people walking past to look at us like we were crazy and drift further away from us.  We were able to feel better about the family that circled around us at least 10 times, but did not stop to ask us any questions most likely because we looked crazy.  After being in Middleburg a couple of days, we realized that they were most likely not lost, but waiting for the people who would obviously be driving us somewhere because of all of the luggage we had to pull out of the parking spot so that they could have it.

John lights up a cigar and we settle down to wait it out and joke about how the discussion is going on at the train station with Margaret saying that they should check for us at home and David 

saying that we’ll have been late and wait for the next train.  Which is one of the reasons that John and I continue to travel and find such joy and fun in it.  Someone on the ship said that it’s not the things that go well that you remember when you are traveling, but the things that go wrong that become 

memorable.  And this is true.  I remember the things that went wrong in Venice and Florence when I was younger, but when things go wrong with John, we just laugh about it after some ranting.  So, you remember what went wrong, but it doesn’t ruin the rest of the experience anymore.  The Aikens came walking up the road soon after the next train arrived and we weren’t on it and we were welcomed in to their new house with some wine, steaks, and a bed.  I don’t know what else could be asked of anyone.  We had a great dinner, some great conversation and have a place to just hang out without killing ourselves seeing a ton of things for a couple of days.