Four Day Traveling Frenzy

Hello again, everybody. Many of you may have wondered if we had fallen into one of Amsterdam's canals and drowned or got hit by a bicyclist since there's been a lack of postings these past four days. Rest assured, we are both alive and well... in Chicago, IL at the moment. Yes, the trip is almost over, I'm sad to say. Due to a lack of Internet access and a few odd hassles these past four days, I wasn't able to keep up with the blog. But now I'm back to fill you in on the gaps of our travels, and I better hurry... the jet lag is starting to set in. Here we go with the nitty gritty:

Tuesday evening: Violet, two Australians and I explored the Red Light District of Amsterdam. It was quite comical seeing slutty hookers in bikinis standing behind glass windows and knocking at you to get your attention. Honestly, I felt sorry for these women to have to stoop to this level to earn a living. I felt like giving them some good career advice, but it's kind of hard to do through a pane of glass.

Wednesday: We headed to the Amsterdam airport on a train. Five minutes after arriving, Violet realized she left her coat on the train... containing all her money, credit cards and passport. It's a total freakout. We ran back to the train, only to find it gone. We reported this to the train attendants, who said they'd have someone look for the coat on the train. Thirty minutes later, we rushed back down to the train that returned (which was supposedly our train) and looked for the coat. No luck. More freaking out. We reported this to the police, who shooed us off to catch our original flight to Frankfurt (amazing how Violet was able to board a plane without ID. Try to pull that stunt in America). In Frankfurt, we set up an appointment with the U.S. Consulate to get a new passport, and we spent the night at the downtown hostel (right next to the World of Sex. Very classy).

Thursday: We took the train early that morning to the U.S. Consulate and spent 2 hours getting a new temporary passport. The U.S. Consulate is like an international DMV. You get a number, wait for your number to get called, and after going back and forth a few times with the people at the counters, you come out with a new passport. Unbelievable. We both can't believe that all it took to get a temporary passport was raising your right hand and swearing that everything on the forms was correct. Feeling like we just got the Golden Ticket in a Wonka Bar, we took the next train to Boppard, Germany to have an adventure along the Rhine River. We stayed at a cutesy place called Hotel Bergschlosschen, ate well and drank beer and wine. A perfect way to end the entire passport fiasco.

Friday: We rented bikes and rode north along the Rhine River, hitting the towns of Spay and Rhens. It started out foggy, but cleared up, revealing the changing colors of the leaves. We found a castle just south of Koblenz and took a tour of it (completely in German. Other than "schloss," I didn't understand a friggin' word of it). We then biked back down to Boppard, took the Sessenlift (or chair lift) up the mountain and got a great view of the Rhine valley. Then it was back down in the Sessenlift and into town for more good food and wine.

Saturday: It was back to Frankfurt, then over to the airport to catch our flight to Chicago. We were stuck on the tarmac for over an hour as the flight crew tried to figure out an electrical problem. Then it was a nine hour plane ride into Chicago (oh, the insanity). Word of advice: don't ever, EVER watch the movie "Speed Racer." I wish I could get those two hours of my life back. Now we're here in Chicago at a cheapie hotel, but we just love the jacuzzi tub with the jet streams coming out of it. Makes it even better.

Catch ya back in Phoenix tomorrow!