Fletcher Hotel Rest Zeeduin Wijk aan Zee

... s not true. Happiness is not inside of us but out there. Or, to be more precise, the line between out there and in here is not as sharply defined as we think. The late British-born philosopher Alan Watts, in one of his wonderful lectures on eastern philosophy, used this analogy: "If I draw a circle, most people, when asked what I have drawn, will say I have drawn a circle or a disc, or a ball. Very few people will say I've drawn a hole in the wall, because most people ...

... as exciting as it sounds. We did see a Dutch man make a pair of clogs from wooden blocks in about 5 minutes which was OK but that was about it. We went and visited the Anne Frank house which is where a family of Jews hid for more than 2 years from the Nazis. They were betrayed, found and deported to the concentration camps and only the father survived. We then went back into the red ...

... as I got to meet many new colleagues, some old colleagues that I only knew by email or brief telephone conversations, and some colleagues that have been with the company several years already but our paths simply had not crossed yet. I think even some new friendships may have been formed during this event :o) The event was held on the western coast in the town of Wijk Aan Zee (http://en ...

... with witlof and mashed potato, and an overly rich & heavy chocolate tart. So then it was a quick nip a few kms down the road to Bruges where I stayed at a buzzy hostel called the Bauhaus. Bruges, like Ghent, is a small city with a well-preserved centre and it's wonderful to walk around and soak in the atmosphere. I wrote an email to my son Michael patronisingly mentioning I was there and did he know where it was (expecting him not to know), and he wrote back saying he'd just ...

... the goo is. Anyway Matt loves them and seems to be able to sniff them out all over Amsterdam. In true Wells fashion we decided to spend the afternoon climbing the highest thing that we could find. This happened to be the tower of Westerkircher. We were initially a little disappointed to find that we would have to do a guided tour, but once we got inside we realised why. We climbed 300+ steps up a tiny staircase that was more like a ladder in some places. I couldn't even ...

... the last time I will write while in Europe! Its very sad. This trip has gone by so fast and theres still so much to see in the next couple days. Maybe it will change my mind about Amsterdam. I'm full of many travelling tips and ideas about places to go now. And I'm no longer afraid of being somewhere where I don't speak the language. Pointing is the best thing :). See you all very soon! And thanks dad for the recent help! Love, Rachel

Places of Interest: Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Red Light District (check those red curtains), Oude Kerk Church, Dam Square, Palace of the Queen Dept Store (back of Dam Square), Rembrandtplein Square (pubs, resto, cafes), Albert Cuyp Market (great finds).

... for not getting stage fright here. Admission came with 4 free drinks. I only stuck around to get through those. Very disappointing. I guess i'll have to see these elusive pussey tricks another time...another place. 5 Hrs on the internet writing to you all today. That could have converted to being 80 Km's or so away. So i hope you're all enjoying my travels from the comfort of your own home or office chair. I'll write again soon. Graham

... and coming down the same narrow spiral staircase. A bit winded at the top, I stopped to admire the view and catch my breath. Almost everything else except the cathedral in Koln was destroyed during WWII, so pretty much everything you can see from up there was rebuilt since 1946. Next, I took a train into my 6th country of the trip, the Netherlands. I know now why they call them the "Low Countries", because they're absolutely flat, no hills and ...

... We had to do all that fairly quickly since our bus was leaving at about 2:30! Once we found out where the bus was, we headed over there with the rest of the Canadian crew and started to head back to Paderborn! The ride went well, I slept for most of it and we arrived back in Paderborn at about 7:50 so I headed home, had a shower, called Marc talked to him for a bit and then called home! That concludes another eventful week in Europe! Stay tuned to more travelling updates next week!! Nat xo