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On our way to Europe

Friday 13^th of July, 2001

On this auspicious day we left Moose Jaw for Regina as our plane was to leave at 7 am the next morning.  We were to be in Regina for supper but didn’t get there until 10 pm.  Stu’s parents had planned a b.b.q. for us with his family and a couple of family friends.  Karen’s parents had driven down as well.

We didn’t get to bed very early even though we were to be up at 5 a.m. and we had already had weeks of very late nights getting ready.  We were starting out very tired.

Sat. July 14, 2001

Going to Winnipeg!  Karen had won some tickets on Air Canada and I guess they route you the most inexpensive way.  The first plane was a large Dash eight, turboprop – 50 seats, only 7 filled.  We had to walk across the tarmac to board.  It was a great flight.  The flight attendant, Bonnie, took the girls to the cockpit for a visit with the crew.  We had about an hour layover in Winnipeg. 

The flight to Toronto was fine.  Once in Toronto we laid over about 7 hours. Since we pre-booked our seats we were able to check our luggage with Canada 3000 early.  WARNING: be sure to check your gate for changes!  Our gate number changed after checking our luggage and receiving boarding passes and we almost missed our flight waiting at the wrong gate.  I hope this will be the most negative comment we make, but the food sucked.  If you fly Canada 3000, do it for the price.  Between movies and food carts we caught a couple of winks on the plane. 

Sunday July 15 – comes a bunch earlier flying east!

HELLO EUROPELAND!

Clearing customs before your pick up your bags!  I guess nobody smuggles drugs into Amsterdam.  After waiting about an hour for all of our bags, we were off to meet the people that rented us the van and relatives of friends that we had briefly met at home in Canada.  The first people we met through the gates were Jan , Sasha, Robert and Suzanna.  Jan and Sasha had thoughtfully shopped for sleeping bags for us and had already located Nandor, our driver.  By this point we were feeling pretty worn out.  The first sight of our van was a bit discouraging.  We couldn’t imagine fitting into it for three months, but we knew better than to worry about it until we had some rest. 

Nandor drove us into Utrecht.  Driving through the town looked treacherous.  The roads were very narrow, no intersections were 90 degrees and cyclists were everywhere. The cyclists don’t seem to follow any rules, though there are roads and lights just for bicycles.  We have since found that scooters are even more treacherous because they use the bike paths, sidewalks and roads, without helmets and in some cases brains!

Donna’s place is behind a gate and continues on back some distance.  That would be home for the night since we could not make arrangements for the van on a Sunday. On Donna’s recommendation we wandered through the old neighborhood to a pancake house on one of the many canals for supper.  We had a wonderful meal and really felt like we were in Europe.

We were off to bed early, feeling really tired, but we were up at 5 AM Netherlands time or 9:30 back home time.  Who can figure jet lag?  Not wanting to wake the neighbors, we set out on a search for coffee and to see the neighborhood.  Utrecht turned out to be a wonderfully pretty little place with canals running all through it.  (Hard to find any thing open early though, Europeans get going a little later than would be normal in NA.  We have since found that it is important to remember that most places close on Sunday.)  There are little streets going every direction and canals in between.

Keep an eye out for dog poop.  Europeans love their dogs and they seem to be very well behaved.  We finally found a shop opening just before 10:00 and had coffee, milk and croissants in a café by the tower.  Quite amazing.

We wandered back to Donna’s by 10:00 to settle up and be on our way.  Sally, our van, was not yet ready and it appeared that a part for the fridge would not be available as promised by the supplier.  We took the opportunity to switch to a van with a diesel.  It had a bit different layout than “Sally”, but looked like it would do very well.  These vans are well used, but in good working order.  The kids named the van “Willow” after their dog. 

We got on the road for Spaarnwood, north of Amsterdam, a place Jan had recommended as being near to their village.  Jan had given us detailed instructions, but we had our first occurrence of what has become commonplace, circling our destination in an inward sort of spiral until we find it.  We seem to spend quite a bit of time lost, but almost always see some really great stuff. 

  We arrived at the campground (Weltevreden) during the supper hour and had to wait until it reopened.  We registered for two nights with electricity for 92 guilders.  In Europe you seem to pay for the vehicle and each person.  In the Netherlands there is also a small tourist tax.  The campground was very nice, but we learned quickly to carry your own toilette paper. 

Dishes are done at the bath areas at sinks with hot water provided.  It’s a nice custom and it means you have little waste water at your campsite.  Also, you often seem to see the husbands off to do the dishes.  After a quick meal of cooked chicken, fries, buns and Heineken from the little shop in the campground and a visit from Jan it was time for our fist showers since leaving Regina.  A shower costs 1 guilder for 5 minutes and doesn’t always buy much more than a weak dribble!  It works however and the dirt comes off. 

Still jet lagged, it was time for bed.  Hope that some of these details are useful to others planning camping trips to Europe.

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