H/B/F 2017: we moved in

…and then out again. I’ll spill the beans on how we got a newer, nicer room, but first, our hotel:

The Lion d’Or faces the square for the train station, so it’s both conveniently located and easy to find (both ideal qualities for a directionally challenged girl like me!). In all honesty, we searched high and low for a place to stay in Amsterdam (to no avail) and Haarlem was plan B. Now that we’re here, I can’t imagine staying anywhere else!

We arrived Saturday morning and we’re given one of the first clean rooms they had available:

We thought it was more than adequate and promptly moved in. This was the first time in our seven (!!!) European trips that we completely unpacked our bags–it felt so good.

My bedside table held my reading material and running stuff, as well as my nighttime creature comforts, like my lavender lotion.

However, this morning the gentleman behind the desk approached me after breakfast–shocked–and asked if I’d like a better, bigger room. He’d noticed we were staying for two weeks and wanted to offer us one of the renovated ones. I jumped at the chance and ended up schlepping all our stuff downstairs to the new room.

While it’s not a lot bigger, it’s way nicer and even has a small fridge!! We’re unpacked again and already dreading all the bag-packing that will start again in a couple weeks!

Holland/Belgium/France 2017: an introduction

Yet again, Andrew and I are across the pond, this time in the Netherlands!

This trip was not planned as a vacation; in fact, back in January we decided we wouldn’t take a trip this year. However, just as we resigned ourselves to staying home and finishing our projects, Andrew found out there was a possibility he might need to travel to Amsterdam for work. For months we felt like we were in limbo, wondering if the trip would happen and for how log it might be. Finally, about three weeks ago (!!!) Andrew got the green light that he would be needed in Nieuw-Vennep (Moog’s division outside Amsterdam) when the piece of the surgical arm he designed arrives.

We immediately threw ourselves into trip-planning mode, decided to tack on two additional weeks for some travel afterward (might as well, right?!) and arranged for a house sitter for our fur babies. Needless to say, these last couple weeks have been nothing short of INSANE; Andrew put in almost 80 hours at work just last week ensuring his design prototype was ready to ship and I ran around with a to-do list a mile long.

We landed at 7 am Saturday in Amsterdam and, after a leisurely breakfast at the Schiphol Airport, jumped in our rental car and headed for Haarlem. We’re staying at the Lion d’Or, a business hotel about 20 minutes from both Nieuw-Vennep and Amsterdam, and we couldn’t be happier.

We spent the next day recovering from jet lag (it’s for real) and getting acquainted with our new home for the next two weeks. More to come!

master bedroom maps

Andrew and I recently (finally!) decorated (a.k.a. hung something other than a mirror) our bedroom.

Back in November, Andrew stumbled upon a website with some amazing prints of old city and country maps. What began as a quest to find Christmas presents for some of our nearest and dearest ended with us ordering a whopping eight (!!!) prints…none of which arrived in time to be wrapped under the tree.

Andrew and I almost exclusively decorate with photos or items that reflect our travels, so we chose maps of places we’ve visited. So far, the bedroom contains Seville, Vienna, Rome, Nice, Florence and Prague, and there is an open wall just screaming for ~~drapes~~ more. (Anyone get my Ernest Scared Stupid reference? My mom does the BEST impression.)

I love that while the maps aren’t centered over the bed, they create a ‘banner’ of sorts between the windows.