Holland, holidays and potatoes

The best part of a week in Holland with the sister and am feeling slightly refreshed. The heat was unbelieveable. I don't think I could ever live in a country that hot. I prefer the cold to the heat. The sun sees me and decides aha, she is white, I must make her feel as uncomfortable as possible.
The flight over wasn't as smooth as I would have liked, I got to bed around 1 after being out trying to dispell the ominous certain death feeling that was beginning to crawl over me. Up at 4 and out on the street at 4.30 to hail a cab with kid in tow. Thankfully, she went easy on me. My nerves must have been showing. As we were sans Mammy2, who was still curled up in bed, the whole check-in process only added to our stress levels. The self service check-in at the start looked way too complicated for us. By the time the 3245435 oriential people in front of us had opened most of the their luggage and asked 23 questions, I was en-route to the self service check determined to make
it work. I got the boarding passes and turned around only to be greeted with an empty check in desk and a smiling woman behind the counter. Still, for future reference we know we can do it without Mammy2's help.

Airports and me don't agree. Airplanes and me don't agree. 20 minutes delay before takeoff also helps settle the nerves. Takeoff sorted and nothing but clear skies. Excellent I thought, no turbulence. Thirty minutes later we still weren't allowed take off our seat belts because of the 'clear air' turbulence. I mean WTF? Clear air turbulence? By the time we landed in Dusseldorf I was a shell of my former self. Add to the stress levels the heat when we arrived. I won't go on about it. It was too hot. But once we got back to the sisters house, I was relaxed a wee bit. Got some sleep and explored the house for a while. They have a hammock in the back garden which I was wary of.

I've heard stories of hammocks. The kid of course was totally at home, having been over to the sister a lot more then we were. She was straight onto the X-Box and making herself tea. The sister arrived home that evening and they cooked a lovely meal for us. It was a mates bday so we headed down to the town for a few drinks. I met with loads of the sister's friends. One or 2 of them thought my tractor fetish was strange. I had to answer questions for most of the night on tractors. The conversation went thus:

"Shelly, can I ask you a question about the tractors"

10 minutes later

"Shelly, about the tractors?"

15 minutes later, I'm in the bathroom and I can hear a voice being shouted under the door.

"Shelly, can I ask you a question about the tractors"

Which made me think about keeping quiet about it in future might be a good idea. The kid was delighted as she was allowed beer. The legal age for drinking is 16 in Holland. Of course, where we got her a glass, when our back was turned one of the sister's mates, who the kid gets along well
with bought her a large pint. All I could see was a huge smile behind the massive glass. Mammy2 flew in the following day and I attended my first barbeque. Everyone including Mammy2 was shocked that it was my first. I mean, how well do these people know me? Its no big deal. I come from the country and with our climate its not a huge surprise! We also met some of the boyf's family.
I had to slow down my speed talking.

The rest of the holiday was nice and relaxing. Although I got slagged for going online. Apparently, the concept of it being something I enjoy was wasted on them. The kid claimed I was working. Trying to explain that sometimes emailing and browsing for me doesn't involve work was fun. She shrugged her shoulders, continued straightening her hair and pretending she didn't have a hangover.

Holland is not a fridge magnet country I am convinced. After searching all off Eindhoven and most of Horst, its amazing to think they have a tourist industry at all.

The flight back was even more entertaining. 20 guys returning from a stag weekend. Our seats were bang in the middle. It doesn't require any more description.

Except that the groom was behind us. And entertained the air hostesses the whole trip. With stories of his life. He was married twice. He has a 7 year old. He's getting married on August 18th. He's had a rough time of it lately but his mates have been there for him. The air hostess has a 6 year old, and from the way she was talking the kid is way cuter then his. She does something with fairy dust when the child loses a tooth. He hires someone to trample on the roof on christmas eve and dress
up as Santy. I can't remember what came next from her, I was too busy rocking back and forth.

Getting a taxi from the airport proved impossible. We got the bus. And then the Luas and then we were home. Yesterday I had off to chill. The kid was in great form. Her man was calling up and she was a happy camper. When he arrived yesterday evening, he was nearly knocked over with hugs. They headed off to the cinema and I pondered cooking the new potatoes I've been having potato foreplay with for the past week. Mammy2 was working late, so by the time I met her, had a pint and a chat and started cooking it was 10 o'clock. Potatoes at any time of the day is good though.