It's crazy that we are half way through our trip. The first half was full of a lot of traveling from place to place. The second half we will have more time in each place.

On our second day in Prague, we walked around and saw Prague castle. I honestly think we were a little over museums at the time, but we did our due diligence. Amsterdam could not have come at a better time.

On the 28th we got on a night train heading to Amsterdam. We went to a market before hand and picked up some wine and cheese and crackers and had a picnic in our little coachette. We were scheduled to arrive at 10:00 am the morning of the 29th. But if there is one theme of our trip, it's that arriving in a new city means something is going to go wrong.

I mentioned a few but not all of our difficulties every time we arrive in a new city, so I'll briefly fill you in. In both Rome and Venice we got majorly lost trying to find our hotels (as mentioned in earlier posts). When we arrived in Germany the airline dropped Kevin's suit case when transporting the bags to baggage claim. This delayed us at the airport for over an hour while they looked for it. For our arrival in Prague, I had Emailed the hotel about a service they offer for pickup from the train station. They had it all arranged for us, however our bus was late and the driver left. Finally, this brings us to Amsterdam.

We aren't exactly sure what happened, but we have our theories. Somewhere on the trip, our train got majorly delayed. We think it's because around 11pm or so, the power seemed to shut off while we were stopped. We didn't think anything of it, but I know when I went to sleep, the train was not moving. Anyways, we didn't give it a thought until an announcement was made the next morning that the train we were on was not going to stop at Amsterdam Central Station. When Kevin went to speak with one of the employees, they said that the train was delayed and was no longer stopping there. We were to depart the train at their final stop (which I can't remember the name) and another train will take us to Amsterdam CS. However, we were not scheduled to stop at that final stop until 11:30am.

Once we arrived at that stop, our next train was not leaving until 11:55am. We didn't arrive at our stop until 12:30pm. But, we made it and that is what is important.

After going to the hotel and checking in, we hit the town. We decided to start with the House of Bols. What a fun tour/experience it was. Plus, we got cocktails at the end of it, so it really was an epic win.

We followed the House of Bols up with the Heineken experience (yes, in the same day!). Heineken was also really fun, and we got to taste and drink some beer, another epic win.

After Heineken we walked over near our hotel to grab some food (as you can imagine, it was definitely needed). Then we strolled up and down the red light district while it was alive an rocking. I'll tell you, the Las Vegas strip is kids stuff compared to the red log district. Prostitutes in windows, strip clubs, porn shows, drug dealers, and bars all up and down the streets. We decided to stick with the normal sports bars and found one that was playing American football. We met a fellow American and talked about football over a few beers before stumbling back to the hotel for the night.

In hindsight, I wish we would have had more time in Amsterdam. If I could go back and replay the trip, I would give Prague only 1 day and Amsterdam 2. Because this morning we woke up, packed up our bags and checked out of our hotel. We got some lockers at the train. Station (which was conveniently close) and headed over to the Anne Frank House. What a moving experience! I think I choked up a few times, and it inspired me to read her diary again. It was a great recommendation from Cindy and Carlene (as was the house of Bols- they know us well!)

After Anne Frank it was time to make our way back to the train station. As I write this I am actually sitting on the train on our way to Paris, although it won't be posted until we already arrive.

We will have four full days in Paris, and I think I speak for both of us when I say we are happy to be a little more settled in a city for a while.

Another fun theme for our trip, is my husband is a hero. Twice he has caught elderly ladies as they have fallen. The first time was in Munich when and older lady carrying a few grocery bags full of wine tripped and in trying to recover kept adding momentum to her fall and Kevin caught her by the arm (and though she was definitely going down) he was able to slow the fall and she landed very softly on her back. He suffered a whine bottle to the knee in the process, but she was so grateful.

Today as we were boarding the train to Paris, another elderly laying carrying a backpack (that had to be bigger than her) and a very large suit case came falling backwards out of the train. It was really lucky that Kevin was right behind her and caught her. She could have been seriously injured. He had her walk into the train and he carried her bag on for her. She was also very grateful.

Now, to see what awaits us in Paris.