Third Trip of the year is happening

[twinkles]

I visited Amsterdam in February and August this year. I had also booked a flight for December 2-12. But shortly after I booked it, we learned that my wife has a heart issue that will eventually require open heart surgery. The doc wanted to do another test in October to see whether the issue was getting worse or was stable. It is stable and surgery is probably years away. So travel plans are on.

I invited my wife to go with me to Amsterdam. But since she works, she does not smoke. Since she knows that I would want to smoke, she figures that we would have different objectives which might cause conflict. So, we have agreed to go on an eating/nostalgia trip to New Orleans and southern Louisiana the day after I get home from Amsterdam. My wife grew-up in southern Louisiana. She wants to visit her mother's grave (her mother died when she was 12) and see sights that she remembers from growing-up.

Back to Amsterdam. On my August trip, I spent 8 days, smoking, drinking, and eating. You want to know the truth, I got a little tired by the end. So...on this trip, I am going to get off the plane in Amsterdam, and do a mini-version of a touring style trip like I used to do. I am going to take a 10:00 am train to Frankfurt (that will breakup what would be an 8-hour train ride). The morning after that, I am heading to Switzerland for a couple of days. After a couple of days in Switzerland, I have booked an overnight train from Zurich back to Amsterdam. I got a private compartment with a shower and toilet. I have taken several overnight trains in these compartments and it is really a lot of fun.

I will arrive in Amsterdam for four days of hedonism, which will probably be about right.

I haven't yet booked any hotels, but I mentioned in my trip report from the August trip, that I was thinking about moving my base from near Amsterdam Centraal to the other end of Damrak. I am looking at the Hotel V Nesplein. I had breakfast in their lobby bar on my August trip and enjoyed it. It gets good reviews. And it will be a change of scenery. But I am so used to staying on or near Warmoesstraat (Barbizon, and Luxer are my favorites) that I am not sure that it will feel like Amsterdam to me. As of now, there seem to be plenty of rooms, so I will ponder for a while.

I need to get a new cooling unit for my Mighty, a new grinder and new cleaning brush, so that everything is fresh and clean.

[LLMReb]

I've never visited 3 times in a calendar year. I visited 3 times in a 12 month period from 9/2015 - 9/2016.

We expedited the newborn's passport, so we may very well visit over Chrismas.

Have a great trip to NOLA and AMS! I look forward ro the report.