The Great European Adventure 2025: Almost at the End

Friday, May 30, Day 6, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam has too many tourists for my taste. I felt overwhelmed by the people, and it made me realize even more how I would like to concentrate on small towns with interesting histories. But, regardless of the tourists it's a beautiful city and I enjoyed the museums. 

Miranda and I woke up late after a late night out on Thursday. We had brunch and then we met up with the boys at the Van Gogh Museum. It was another great museum experience with all the art organized in chronological order as it told the story of his life. 

After the museum, we sat in a cafe and enjoyed a coffee and conversation with a couple from Italy. We walked around a lot and ended up at the Torture Museum that early evening. A total tourist trap, but it was actually interesting, and Miranda loved it. 

We met the boys again that evening and went out for a couple of drinks with them because they were going to head out the next day. 

Saturday, May 31, Day 7, Amsterdam Netherlands

We went to the Rembrandt House and Museum. We walked through some great neighborhoods to get there, but there were crowds of people everywhere we turned. 

The house and the story of Rembrandt's life was very interesting and sad. I had no idea he had such a sad life and lost his home. Ironically, it was towards the end of his life, when he wasn't in this house, that he made his most famous masterpieces.

Later that day we went out on a canal tour about the history of the canals and Amsterdam. We had a fun group of Americans on our end of the boat and a great tour guide named Roland. Miranda and I ended up really enjoying it and we were glad we did it. 

We did one more touristy thing before leaving Amsterdam. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner, and we bought a shot glass in honor of Rey, who used to collect their shot glasses. It was a cool one and we had a really great waitress. 

Sunday, June 1, Day 8, Trains from Amsterdam to Hamburg, Germany

See my previous post for what happened when I got to Hamburg. We ended up staying in the hotel after dinner and I did some writing. It was really nice to take a day off from sightseeing. 

Monday, June 2, Day 9, Train from Hamburg to Copenhagen

Even when you try to do everything right, things still go wrong. I kept lecturing Seth on the importance of planning ahead and having an itinerary. I had one of course. The other thing that was important was that we had to make reservations for long train rides. I went to the train station in Amsterdam for something else and went ahead and made reservations for us to go from Amsterdam to Hamburg and then Hamburg to Copenhagen. 

We got to the train station early enough to have coffee and breakfast. When our train arrived, we found that a train before ours had been cancelled, so there were people sitting in our seats. Technically the people from the cancelled train weren't supposed to sit in those seats. They should have been our seats, but the people sitting in ours had a baby and we couldn't tell them to get up.

Miranda ended up standing up at least two of the five hours. I got up a couple of times and had her sit down so she could have a break. Toward the last half of the trip, we were both able to sit down. It was absolutely insane.

What was really sad about this trip is that I chose a train ride, even though I knew it was a long trip, so I could have the wonderful experience of the train. I wanted to write, look out the window and meditate on life. It just goes to show that life is what happens when you're making other plans. 

We arrived in Copenhagen that evening exhausted and it was so good to see my childhood friend Monique and her partner Henning at the train station. They took us to dinner and then back to their house where they hosted us for the next four nights. They have been wonderful to us. 

Something interesting that I've realized after this trip is that 10 days are the perfect number of days for a vacation. Not too many and not too few. The only exception would be if I stayed in one or two places for the duration of my vacation. Sadly, by the time I got to Days 9 & 10, I was all traveled out and too tired to keep walking daily. 

To be continued... 

The Great European Adventure 2025: The Halfway Mark

I originally started writing this on Thursday, May 29 on my way to Amsterdam from Brussels, but I didn't finish. Now here we are halfway done with this vacation, and I want to savor every last minute of these last days. We arrived last Sunday and Miranda and I leave on Friday morning. 

Vacations are like this. You go, go, go and find the days slipping by so fast. I originally said I was going to adopt the "slow travel" approach on this vacation. My definition for this term, as regards this vacation, was that I was only going to see one main tourist site per day and the rest of the time I was just going to go slow and savor the visit and the moments. I've been successful for the most part, but old habits die hard. There have been some days where I've tried to do more than one thing.

Today I'm doing something that I would have found unfathomable in the past. I'm in Hamburg and I'm not doing anything...But sometimes you need a rest day.

We took the train from Amsterdam to Hamburg to cut our trip to Copenhagen in half. We arrived this afternoon to a very stressful situation right off the bat. First, we couldn't get an Uber. They would accept the ride and then decline it immediately. We didn't understand why, then we found out. After several attempts and a potty break, we went to the train station and took a cab from there. It turned out that there were several road closures around the station and a 20-minute ride took over an hour. There was a terrible storm in the middle of the trip, including hail. We were just at a standstill, sitting in our cab during the deluge. The cab driver finally gave up when he saw the street to our hotel blocked and told us in German that our hotel was just down that street. We got out and walked the rest of the way. 

We rested for a little while in our hotel room and then we went out for dinner. I remembered that there's a lot of Indian food here, so Miranda found a great restaurant nearby. It was delicious and a great change. Now I'm in the hotel restaurant writing. 

Here is my recap of Days 2, 3, 4, and 5. This blog post is already going to be long, so I'll leave it at that for now and write more tomorrow. 

Me at the Museum David & Alice van Buuren-Brussels

Monday, May 26 and Day 2 in Brussels, Belgium

Miranda and I woke up a little late, had a quick coffee and croissant and set out to visit the Museum David & Alice van Buuren, recommended by our friend Linh. It was a beautiful home donated by this couple, similar to how the Rienzi and the Bayou Bend Collection were donated to the MFAH in Houston. The museum is beautiful exhibit of art deco furnishings and rugs. The gardens and the artwork inside are beautiful.

Afterwards we went to the Ixelles Ponds area to look at Art Neveau and Art Deco homes. Then off we went to meet up with the boys in the historic African part of town. The Church of Saint-Boniface in that area is gorgeous. 

By evening we found ourselves tired, but I didn't want to go to sleep. Instead, I went to a restaurant across the street from the hotel and had a couple of drinks while journaling and writing the first blog post of this trip. 

Tuesday, May 27 and Day 3, Brussels, Belgium

We met up with my friend Linh again. She's my college friend Tod's wife and we had dinner with them on our first night. We had breakfast with her, and then we set off and she gave us a walking tour of the area around the Magritte Museum and the history of the Brontë sisters time in Brussels. 

After our personal tour, Miranda and I went to the Magritte Museum, which is great, and I highly recommend it if you're a fan of Magritte and surrealist art.

We were so tired from waking up early and all the walking that we fell asleep when we got back to the room and then woke up and enjoyed a really nice dinner at a restaurant down the street from our hotel.

The boys checked out this day and went to Cologne, Germany.

Wednesday, May 28, Day 4, Ghent, Belgium

We got up fairly early, ate in our hotel, and set out to Ghent. We arrived in just enough time to check into our cute little hotel Flandria, We set off quickly to visit St. Bavo's Cathedral to see the Ghent Altarpiece. Amazing doesn't even start to describe it. It was so special to see a piece of art with so much controversy and history. I also saw the famous altarpiece by Rubens, "The Conversion of St. Bavo."

After St. Bavo's I made the mistake of choosing to walk to the museum of fine arts of Ghent. It was a really strenuous 30-minute walk, and I wore flats instead of good walking shoes, I was so tired by the time I arrived, but I soldiered on. We saw the panels of the altarpiece that are being restored, and we were amazed to find that it was all of the top panels! I had to go back and look at my pictures to see which ones were copies and which were the originals. They are in the last phase of a restoration project that has been going on since 2023.

The museum, called the msk, has quite an impressive collection of its own. Whenever I see artists I know I feel like I've bumped into an old friend. I felt that way when I saw the Magritte, Max Ernst, van Dyck and Rubens. 

The town is super charming and so walkable. We found a cafe where we had some great sandwiches for a late lunch, early dinner. That evening we had a drinks at a cute bar nearby and I watched a show before bed. 

Thursday, May 29, Day 5 Ghent, Belgium/Amsterdam, Netherlands

We woke up, had breakfast at our hotel, and set out to walk around town to some of the shops. We found a shop that had stamps, coins and old ephemera, like post cards. We also bought a few souvenirs in a couple of nearby shops. We had the elusive hot chocolate that we hadn't had a chance to try. We had to try it right before leaving Belgium. It was great!

Then off to the train station to catch a train, first to Antwerp and then another to Amsterdam. We met up with the boys in Amsterdam and stayed in the same hotel for a couple of days. They have been playing their music everywhere they go and meeting interesting people on the way.

After napping, we got up and went out for drinks and snacks with the boys and stayed out until 3:30 a.m. like I was young. I paid for it and had to sleep late the next day! 😂

Side note. One of the things I love the most about Europe is the architecture and I've been really enjoying the buildings and taking a lot of pictures. More tomorrow. 

The Great European Adventure 2025 - Day One, Sunday, May 25

 When Miranda and I went to Germany in 2017, I created a whole separate blog for that trip. I called it "Miranda's Sweet Sixteen." In 2017 I was blogging on average 12 blogs that year. I had already started my decline in blogging, but nothing like 2024, when I blogged twice. Therefore, I didn't feel the need to create a whole new blog about my trip with Miranda and Seth. I figured I'd dedicate a few blogs of Shoegirl Corner to the Great European Adventure 2025. 

I took Miranda to Germany for her 16th birthday and Rey was going to take Seth on his first trip to Europe when he turned 16 in 2020. We all know what happened in 2020. Seth got a truck instead. 

Life had changed so much in the past eight years. The kids are adults now and it seemed to happen in the blink of an eye. This is Seth's first trip to Europe at the age of 21. This trip is so special for that reason and because I have both my children with me. I'm traveling for a short period with both of them and for the entire two weeks with Miranda. 

Seth's good friend and bandmate Ethan joined us, and he and Seth are having the time of their lives, and we've only been here two days. 

Me and the Kids

A Picturesque Street in Brussels

We arrived in Brussels on Sunday and spent the day exploring central Brussels, not far from our hotel. Miranda and I met up with the boys at an Irish pub after brunch. We started feeling the jet lag bad, but we were waiting for our room to be ready at the check-in time, 3 p.m. We were exhausted, but we finally made it into our room, and I was able to take a shower and a short nap. 

We forced ourselves awake and traveled by metro southeast from where we are staying to have dinner with my college friend Tod, his wife and son. We had a wonderful time with them and the kids enjoyed meeting them after hearing so much about them. 

The boys went back out after dinner and enjoyed the nightlife in Brussels and met musicians who had been performing in a music festival. Miranda and I went back to the hotel to go to sleep. I was determined to get my sleep cycle back on track.

It was all around a great day, and I was ready for Day 2. 

You Left Too Soon

The end of 2024 was not what I expected. 

I lost my friend, my co-parent, the man I couldn't be married to, the man I couldn't live with, but the man I still relied on, on Sunday, November 17. 

He celebrated his 54th birthday on Saturday, November 16, went home around 2 a.m., went to bed, and didn't wake up the next morning. 

I couldn't write anything about it at first. I didn't post anything to social media until two days after he passed. On the first Wednesday after he died I didn't have anything written for my writing group, so I wrote something about him. I think I summed it all up in that piece, down below. 

I started writing this blog post at the end of 2024 and never finished it. Now here we are mid-March of 2025 and my daughter asked me if I ever wrote a blog about him. 

I think about all the blogs I've written over the years. When I started this blog in November of 2004 Seth was six months old and I talked about Rey and being married to him a lot. I talked about the challenges of being the parents of young children and having to juggle all that we had to do. 

Later I blogged about my upcoming divorce in 2011 and about the challenges of being a single mother. We had our ups and downs, but we found a way to work around the tough times. In the end, we were great co-parents and we raised good people. 

This is not how I thought 2024 would end or the blog I would be writing. I really didn't. So instead I wrote nothing. 

I mourn that loss. I'm still mourning my children's loss and pain, but I also mourn with my own pain. He may have been a very difficult person with many imperfections, but he was still my co-parent, my partner, and the person I called first. 

We had a very private viewing for only immediate family at the end of November. Then we had a celebration of his life the first weekend of January. The mariachis ended their set with "El Rey" and we all took a tequila shot in his honor. We also invited the guests to sing their favorite karaoke songs, because that's what he loved doing.

The children each said a few words about him, as did his partner Leisa, his grandson, his best friend, my best friend's son, and me. 

When I spoke, I shared the piece that I had written for my writing group a few days after he died.

You Left Too Soon

I loved you. I hated you. I had all the feelings in between. All the time…

You were my husband , my lover, my friend, you were the father of my children. You gave me the best parts of you to make them and I grew them in my body. You were a part of my body too, your DNA mixed with mine to make them.

They say that when a baby is growing inside a mother, the cells travel to the heart. Their cells had your cells too. So if that’s the case, then parts of you traveled there and I’ll carry you in my heart forever…

At this point, at the age of fifty-four, we had known each other more than half our lives and you were such a big part of mine. You took up so much space and I was constantly trying to fight it.

We couldn’t work out as a married couple, but we chose to be good parents. I knew this came with a cost and I was willing to make that sacrifice for our children. I knew that meant having you inserted into every aspect of our life and I allowed it. Even when it was too much. When you were too much. 

I let it happen because I worried about you. I worried about how fragile you could be and I think I was one of the few people who knew that.

I chose to look at the good parts of you. The parts I loved and what made us better parents together and the parts that made us good friends. I know that was hard for others to understand. 

We loved our children and were so proud of them.

We still loved all the same music.

We still liked a lot of the same shows.

We still laughed together.

We still knew one another better than anyone else. 

We still carried regrets.

We still knew how to say “I’m sorry” and you were still saying that to me.

I accept your apology. 

Now that your life was cut short, I don’t regret anything at all. I understand that you were always meant to be a part of me.