Some time with Mom

Last Monday, I managed to eat breakfast in Barcelona, lunch in Paris, and dinner in Amsterdam, followed by fish 'n chips and cider in London on Friday.

Let me bring you up to speed.

For my birthday, I got the best present ever-- a visit from my Mom! Since the sun only shines once every ten days here in Holland, we decided to head south and cruise the Canary Islands.

Our holiday quickly turned into an adventure as KLM lost our luggage and we nearly missed our ships departure from Barcelona.  But, we made it in time, and like I said, it was an adventure!  After getting over the devastation of the thought of having to wear the clothes on our back for 4 days until our suitcases arrived, we started to enjoy the luxury of the ship (especially the 24 hour ice cream station. Mmmm).  It was a quick two days at sea before we were in Funchal, Maderia (part of Portugal).

It was here we did our first tour.  We were taken by a bus to the very top of the mountain to visit a beautiful lookout point.  Here's the proof:

We then went back down and took the cable car on the other side of the island to the top, and rode wicker toboggans back down.  This mode of transport has been used since the early 1800s. It's more or less a tourist attraction nowadays since most people have cars, but it is so much fun!  

That's our ship in port.  It was ginormous!

And I have no idea who those people are, I just really wanted a picture of the sled in action.

Our next port was Santa Cruz, Tenerife which is part of the Canary Islands.  It is a very quaint island with not a lot of touristy things to do.  It was also the day after carnaval so things were pretty quite. Mom and I spent our time roaming the city, being amazed by cool street performers like this: 

The next island we visited was Arricife, Lanzarote, another port in the Canary Islands.  This was my favorite port of them all, and I can't quite pinpoint why.  It was so picturesque, warm, and just nice all around.  

Our next port was Malaga, Spain.  We didn't actually spend much time in Malaga for we had another tour booked, but we visited the Caves of Nerja, and the small town near it.  It was so cool and beyond explanation, and picture truly do the caves no justice.  They were discovered only in the 1950s by five children who were playing in the area and fell through a sinkhole leading to the caves.  

All in all, the cruise was a fantastic adventure.  We met a few really nice people, and did a lot of catching up and relaxing.  There were many laughs, and many memories made. 

However, the adventure didn't stop there!  On the weekend, Sander and I ventured North to London for a weekend of backwards driving, Broadway and visiting.  

After having some delicious, fresh, fish 'n chips with Mom and Joanne, Sander and I ventured out to the Museum of Natural History and the Science Museum of London.  Following that, we went to the play "The Madness of King George III".  It was a fantastic play, and the theater itself made the experience so much more!

On Saturday, Sander and Vince went to a football (aka: soccer) game while us ladies enjoyed High Tea at Fortnum and Mason  (which happens to be where the Queen and Kate had tea last week).  It was so pretty and girly and absolutely fantastic!

Oh, and while we were out, Joanne got a call on her ridiculously awesome cellphone!

On Sunday, Sander and I embraced our Dutchness (aka: were crazy) and rented bikes to tour the city....in the pouring rain.  It was super fun though, and driving on the wrong side of the road made for a very interesting adventure! 

So that's what I've been up to for the last month or so.  I've been seeing the world and visiting with Mom. =)  I have some travel plans in the works, but for now, I'm looking forward to some down time in Holland.  Sander and I have been so ridiculously busy since Christmas so it'll be nice to just sit back and relax for a bit.