A few tidbits...

I'll get Matt's input later, but here are a few things I'll want to remember about our trip:

1. You pay 50 cents for bathrooms in public areas.

2. You pay for water at restaurants, and in Germany, water was more expensive than beer.

3. It is vital to look for "niet" when reading train schedules...that means the train is NOT stopping in the listed city!

4. When you pay to have your clothes washed and dried, you have NOT paid for them to be folded. They will be stuffed into your bag and quite wrinkled if you don't pick them up in a short amount of time.

5. Shopkeepers in Noordwijck are most generous with their city maps and helping you figure out how to get back to your hotel.

6. Your spouse will be impressed with how much of the city you covered on foot, despite you not having any idea where you were until the aforementioned shopkeeper helped you figure it out.

7. Ice cream/gelato/sorbet portions are small.

8. My hair devices did not work, so I (mostly) embraced the short hair sticking out all over style.

9. My wonderful parents urged us to go and came to stay with the kids while we headed over to Europe. When we left, the boys were both fighting colds. A few days after we left, my parents turned up in the Urgent Care with strep throat! I felt so terrible (but they probably felt worse!). Thank you for suffering through that for us, Mom and Dad!!

10. My wonderful friends who were a few time zones away and responded to my pleas to help my parents. Thank you for easing my mind and my parents' load!!