OK tie to wrap this up since it's now been 3 months since i came home!
we continued to have a bangup time in Carcassone with Jesse and Georgette and Koos, and then used a HUGE old suitcase of Georgette's to avoid any more luggage traumas (again had a cheap fare and were only allowed 1 bag each - with the big one we were able to cram all our stuff into 2 bags, with 1 being a monster - the Air France agent at Toulouse gave us a bit of a break and ignored the extra 1 kilo in weight of the monster bag that was supposed to be 'only' 23 kgs.)
we stayed at the Andaz Hotel in Amsterdam courtesy of my Hyatt credit card and it was FABULOUS - a very young and edgy hotel with design by Marcel Wanders, which can get a little too much sometimes but was more fun than i had expected from the online photos - best thing is that each staff member seemed to be personally invested in making sure our stay was as perfect as possible - truly amazing service
we were there for the first Kings Day (Holland hadn't had a King since Queen Wilhelmina came to the throne as a 10-year-old in 1890) - Queens/Kings Day is pretty much a huge party for the whole country and i wasn't sure if it would be fun or just a bunch of drunks - it's BOTH - we (Kelly's friend Charley came over from Kentucky to join us here in Amsterdam) had a great time during the day and when it got to be a bit too crowded, we took 1 of the free ferries from behind the Central Station to a restaurant and had a nice meal chatting with a lovely Dutch couple - proof of the drunken not so nice side came the next morning, when i took the tram to the apartment Kelly and Charley had rented - and all the sidewalks next to the canals were filled with garbage - yuk
we went to the newly renovated (had been closed for 10 years) Rijksmuseum, and then went out with my wonderful friends Diana and Charles and their daughter Eline and friend to Thai food
and then i got a taxi to Schiphol and flew to Frankfurt - Lufthansa as usual did an incredible job with food, serving a full lunch during the 45-minute flight
i checked out the Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge at FRA and it is really as nice as everyone says
the United Airlines flight to San Francisco was also good and i got some great photos of San Francisco Bay as we came in for landing just before sunset
and now i'm home after a fun-filled adventure - even the luggage travails did not ruin this fabulous trip and many thanks to my great cousin Kelly for being a fantastic travel companion!
