Our second flight on Monday afternoon was cancelled, so we took trains on Tuesday & Wednesday to get back to the NL. Valencia → Barcelona → Marseille (stopped to sleep) Marseille → Paris → Rotterdam → Utrecht

We really didn’t know how far into our trip we were going to get until we were stopped in our tracks. We made contingency plans to stay in Paris at a colleague’s place and then possibly in AMS if we couldn’t get back to Utrecht. But we kept on going one stop and then another and then another.

January 5 – Day 5

We had our second flight - this time on KLM - scheduled for Monday afternoon at 5 pm, so were mentally prepared to leave the apartment at 2 pm. However, yet another email arrived in the morning informing us that our flight had once again been cancelled. Buuuuuuu 👎

Over the weekend we had been looking into train options but didn’t act on them. This time we bit the bullet and bought several different train tickets on different lines hoping it would all work out. 🤞🤞🤞

Having made the decision and bought the tickets we decided to do something fun and semi relaxing, so we went to see Zootopia 2. We walked across town, but were a bit hampered by the Reyes Magos Parade and the streets being blocked with barriers, but we managed and had a fun late afternoon out downtown and a super delicious dinner at a Mexican fast food place with teeny tiny tacos - in a similar vein to “slider” hamburgers. It turned out we were super close to where Tia Mecha works. David suggested we go for one last goodbye and it was super sweet.

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January 6 – Day 6

Valencia → Barcelona → Marseille

We got to Valencia del Nord train station for our high speed train at 9:06 which didn’t actually leave until 10:50. Luckily, we had four hours between our trains in Barcelona, so it was okay that we lost two hours with the first delay. But, it was bitterly cold waiting in the beautiful old open air train station, so we did our best to stay warm with some exercises and warm drinks.

We arrived to Barcelona around 14:00 and found a restaurant for lunch and then another cafe for an afternoon caffeine/sugar pick-us-up. We then returned to the train station and made our way to the right area for the second high speed train to Marseille. This was a longer trip - about 5½ hours, arriving at Marseille around 23:00. I had booked us hotel rooms at a place right next to the station so we didn’t have to travel far. However, it was just a bit confusing to get to as there were literally three different levels of streets on top of each other and Google Maps doesn’t know how to deal with 3-D navigation. But we made it, checked in and got to sleep.

January 7 – Day 7

Marseille → Paris → NL

We woke up early to get to the train station on time and after having a buffet hotel breakfast, we went to the station to wait and it was FREEZING! The train opened up shortly before departure and we got on the TGV from Marseille to Paris. The train stoped every so briefly at Aix-en-Provence and I waived to my old stomping ground. I went to Institute of American Universities the spring and fall semesters of 1993. There was a large urge to stop and get off and show my guys the town that was so formative for me. I was 19 and 20 years old and trying to figure out how to grow up. Not easy.

As the train travelled northward you could see the weather getting more and more wintery. Amazingly there was a bit of sunshine as well, so it was briefly gorgeous. The TGV was a bit late getting into Gare De Lyon but again there was enough wiggle room between the trains that it was okay. But the line to buy tickets for the RER trains was insanely long which caused a bit of stress. You can use their app, but it only allows you to have one person per phone, so not useful with kids.

We got to Gare du Nord and breathed. We got some delicious French baguette sandwiches and quiches for lunch and waited. I was texting with a colleague who had generously offered us his apartment to crash in if we found ourselves stuck.

First our train was announced as being on time, but no platform. Then the train was announced as 10 mins delayed, and then 30. But, it was never announced as being cancelled. They kept on dealing out that sweet sweet hit of hope. An online friend called me a “hope junkie” and I had to laugh and agree wholeheartedly.

The train left just before 3:00 pm and we couldn’t believe our luck! As we got further and further north, my anxiety that we would be stuck just kept on increasing, but each step brought us closer and closer home.

We briefly flirted with just riding the train all the way to Amsterdam and spending the night at the IAE HQ, but decided to chance it getting off at Rotterdam at 18:30. Thankfully we found a train going to Utrecht and didn’t have to wait too long, it was only 5 mins delayed, leaving just before 19:00.

That train arrived 5 mins after the train to our station had left, the next train was in an hour. As everything was so chaotic, I decided to go to the platform and have a look and there was a train going in the right direction. It stopped at Leidsche Rijn and then traveled 15 km on to Woerden. We decided to take it and walk home from Leidsche Rijn. Trudging 2km in the dark and the snow, we walked through our front door at 20:40 - just twelve hours after being in Marseille. We were able to reunite with Pica who was very happy to have us home and sleep in our own beds.

January 8 – Day 8

Thursday we started back into the routine of life in the NL. I walked with David to school to ensure he got there safe and sound with all the ice. I then took trains to Amsterdam to work at IA HQ and have an in person meeting I had tentatively postponed. Was super glad to make the in person connection and hope for a good collaboration going forward.

Once we were done, I finished up at the house and made my way to Schiphol to pick up the car from “extra” long-term parking. I was somehow expecting the car to be under a mountain of snow, but it was warmer at Schiphol than in Utrecht and it wasn’t too bad. The only problem was a back tire that needed to be inflated and I had to find a nearby gas station. The first one was open in Google Maps, but in reality closed for construction, so had to go to another one via the highway which was a bit nerve wracking, but no blow-outs, so all good.

Then I went to IKEA in Haarlem and bought some containers for our drawers. Sometimes people poke around in the kitchen drawers and we wanted things to be a bit more organized. It actually makes our lives easier too. :)

The last errand was to get groceries at our local Albert Heijn and that mostly worked, but because of the weather there hadn’t been consistent deliveries, so I got what I could to stock us back up for the weekend.

January 9 – Day 9

Friday was getting David to school once more, catching up with a ton of work, organizing the kitchen drawers and then finally cozy family time in the evening.

That evening I joined a call with other concerned Americans living in the NL and we started to plan a vigil to honor the people killed by ICE in the US to coincide with the Women’s March Free America Walkout on Jan 20th.

The slide to into full blown fascism in the states is here with the occupation of Minnesota and specifically Minneapolis. People are “escaping” Minneapolis and still being pulled over and detained. Everything about this is absolutely horrific and yet I am heartened to see people standing up for their neighbors, community members and the “midwest nice” has reached it’s limit. This seems to be a massive wake up moment and I hope for positive social change.

January 10 – Day 10

Saturday was FREEZING. The temperature during the day was -4C with “feels like” -9C. We got out to enjoy some sledding and it was fun to meet up with friends and the kids had a blast with one tiny “hill” nearby.

David then went to their house to play and then they all came over for dinner of pizza, faina and salad. Santi seems to have finally mastered making faina which is made from chickpea flour and hot oil and eaten together with slices of cheese pizza. It was a lovely evening and it was even extended as their son stayed over for a sleepover.

January 11 – Day 11

I went downstairs to make the boys breakfast and the first thing I saw was the clean kitchen. It is such a good feeling to see a clean kitchen first thing in the morning, something I get from my Mum. Having to deal with a mess before you even have morning coffee just ruins the day, so this was delightful. Even though last night I was not thrilled with cleaning everything up, but I knew that “future me” would be thrilled by “past me”.

Instead of music this week, I strongly suggest you listen to this episode of the weekly chat between historians Drs Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman to help make sense of what is happening in the US.

Actually, while I was looking for this video, I saw this one, have a listen. I have linked to him before, but this one is topical and sadly on point.