Away From Home

Fly on the Wall is a monthly challenge that I share with my blogging sisters, Karen and Marcia, where we invite people into our lives and recap our past month.

This is my glimpse into mine...

I'm a homebody.
There, I've admitted it.

I do like being in familiar surroundings. 

And especially in my own bed. With my own bathroom (something that grows increasingly important with the passage of years! But I digress...)

And my own stuff around me.

But Husby loves to travel.

And I love to be with him.

So I travel.

It's actually quite funny. With numerous health concerns between the two of us, much of what we pack consists of...pills.

Yeah. We pretty much resemble a traveling pharmacy.

Fortunately, pills are fairly portable. Thus far.

Where was I?

Oh, yes. Traveling.

And enjoying it.

Recently, Husby and I and a couple of close friends, Bill and Judy, left our aforementioned comfortable surroundings and did an Amsterdam/Belgium/Italy loop.

It was cold. I've never quite witnessed the cold like Amsterdam when it's +3 C, blowing a legitimate gale. AND raining.
Yep. There's no cold quite like it.

And I live in Canada!

But we enjoyed every single minute.

Let me 'briefly' tell you about it...

First Amsterdam (Or Hamsterdance, as Granddaughter #11 called it!). We were there for the tulips.

And wow! Did we see TULIPS!

(Just FYI: None of my pictures turned out, so most of what follows came from my artist/photographer friend, Judy White.)

Husby and me!

Keukenhof- a must-see!

Of course, being in Holland, we had to see windmills in Kinderdijk:

And museums: The Rijks Museum is beyond stupendous:

I want this library so much!

Now THAT's a model!

Nightwatch by Rembrandt. Just one of thousands!

And churches: 

Grote Kerk, Haarlem

We could have spent a month there!

But we had a schedule to keep, so on to the First World War Sites in Belgium. 

Just outside of what was known then as Ypres:

Of the 12,000 graves in this cemetery, only 4,000 were identified. The rest were 'Known Unto God'.
I've never cried so much...

Hill 62 Battlefield. Preserved just as it was. The divots and swales are from artillery blasts.
And now "sheep may safely graze'.

St. Julien Canadian Memorial

And then Florence and the surrounding countryside:

David.
So many works of art. So little time!

And SO many people!

We also took a bus trip out into the countryside of Tuscany. Pisa, Siena, San Gimingano. Fantastic!

We're not sure how many of these trips we have left in us, so we toured and ate and talked and laughed and absolutely enjoyed ourselves. There are thousands more pictures and an equal number of memories, but at least you got a glimpse.

Thank you for coming along!

When you start to look like your passport photo, it's time to go home.

Now go and see what Karen and Marcia were up to this month!

Trust me. You'll be glad you did!

Baking In A Tornado

Menopausal Mother