... and so the travel begins

 I told NO one I was traveling, so if you didn't hear from me it's because we had such limited time.  If you see my schedule you WILL question this as we had a few days at each spot, but if you lived in my shoes, you will discover this was not NEARLY enough

The flight to the states I paid for the upgrade to comfort.  It was nice to have the extra leg room on the trip.  The plane was EMPTY.  Comfort had Butch, Me and ONE other soul on board.  It was nice, but really not necessary on the daylight flight... but I digress 

first flight was in coach, but not horrible... and EMPTY!

Waiting to take off

YUMMY macaroon's  Butch does not like coconut, so these were all mine :)

We had to do the OJ Simpson run through the airport as they changed the gate for our next leg of the trip.  I had stopped to buy a few things on the way to the gate... the gate was empty when we showed up and Butch didn't read the gate that stated it was moved... which isn't horrible, but it was from one gate series to another...as in Fxx to Exx - and for those who have been to Schiphol Airport is a LARGE distance.  UGH.  I do NOT run through airports, and Butch walks fast... I told him to go FAST and tell them to wait for me!  It was awful and we truly didn't have to rush were I looking at my dang phone or checking the gates.  ugh.  lesson learned.  it was a tight connection regardless.

Pretty landscapes flying into Amsterdam, however most flowers have been beheaded to allow the bulbs to grow bigger and healthier for sale and dividing 

This is the overseas flight and we're in the comfort rows... note that there is really NO ONE up with us... you'll note in the picture below that just past Butch there is ONE other person up there who's in comfort with us!

I did want to note how BIG the windows were and the fact I was excited that they were electronically controlled for dimming.  There was no shade, it was all dependant on pushing the "up" or "down" window to dim or brighten the window.  I'm excited by the technology :)

leaving the Netherlands... the northern coast line.  watching the boats and the clouds roll in....

Until most of the clouds were covering the whole of England.  I don't think that the clouds eased until we were well into Ireland.

Our first stop was Washington to see Robin and Donald for a few days.

What I didn't mention was getting out... the debates on what tests were required, what was needed etc..  To leave we had to go to Tubingen to get PCR tests 72 hours prior to the flight and antigen tests at the airport to ensure we could pass through the Netherlands without issues.  They didn't ask for the antigen test, but they did ask for the PCR test to get on the flights.  You'll see why I mention this on the way home...

ICE in the northern part of Nova Scotia.. burrrr  

NYC in the distance in the haze....  and with that we were on the last leg of the trip to head on down to DC.