Greetings from Haarlem!  We begin our nomadic lifestyle here in the Netherlands.  Our first toast was "Wow!  Can you believe we're here?!"  

First of all, we want to warn our readers not to expect too much -- similar to our photographic talents, this blog may be lacking in substance and interest . . . but then you can always log off!

So we find Haarlem a very pretty and friendly city (except for the check-out lady at Aldi's!).  A favorite mode of transportation here is the bicycle and you see every variation you can think of, which includes: baby in box in front of Mom; baby in box in back of Mom; dog in box in front of rider; and 6-yr-old child standing on a bar behind the seat hanging on to Dad's shoulders (very scary sight).  Tom's favorite was the lazy man's ride, which is comprised of a guy on a motor scooter with his right foot pressed on the back fender of his friend's bike.   This allowed them both to zoom along at about 25 mph.

We have had some wonderful meals and last evening we had a chocolate tart with warm cherries for dessert that was unbelievably tasty. (Last statement posted by Tom . . . I wonder what we'll weigh in December!)  We are here for a total of 4 nights, then on to Amsterdam.  Will post again in a few days.

Happy trails,
TNT