Greetings from the future

Not much to report from the future, except that it's very green here. I think that may have something to do with being below sea level and about 5 miles from the ocean though, rather than the rapidly advancing season. Hard to say what Hoopdorf was like 7 hours ago.

I got on the plane yesterday at 9pm (US Eastern time zone). We all filed on and glowered up at the business class. We become so used to certain luxuries, like upgrades to first class. When I learned that Northwest doesn't upgrade on international flights, I was highly indignant.

Thank god for Ambien. Sat down and popped 15mg of zolpidem while they served our dinner. We had a choice of chicken alfredo pasta and chicken stir fry. Definitely went with the latter, though I can't really account for the name. As the ingredients (sauce, chicken, diced red peppers, and rice) were served in neat, well-defined piles, the "stir" part refers perhaps to the method of consumption? The latter half of the name is equally unaccountable, as hot steam is the only cooking method any of this dish saw. Nevertheless, it was delicious, mostly on account of the sauce, which was a pretty solid imitation on the Three Cup Chicken sauce available at my favorite restaurant Nattspiel.

While waiting for dinner and the arrival of the drug in my brain, I watched the movie Taken. This movie stars Liam Neeson as an ex-CIA "preventer" (reference was made to the standard generically ominous and exciting Beirut) whose teenaged daughter is kidnapped by human traffickers during a trip to Paris (to follow U2 around Europe, of all the dumb reasons). This comes, of course, after her world-wise father agreed only reluctantly to allow his baby to leave the country, after protesting that he knows "how the world really is." A very somber fellow, this Brian. Fortunately, the kidnapping happens while Kimmy (they ladel the diminutive form on thick for extra sentimentality) is on the phone with her father (back in LA). So he gets very angry, flies to Europe, and kills like 327 Albanians. Maybe not the best movie for before bed, but pretty good I'd say. I fought against increasingly leaden eyes through the last 10 minute or so, and fell thoroughly asleep within about 12 seconds of the credits rolling.

Holland is green. Lots and lots of green. Our hotel, a standard issue Courtyard Marriott, is in the middle of a damn park! I can see horses going by out my window! So that's pretty cool. Before we could enjoy that though, a trip to the nearest town was in order. Not much is open on Sundays around here (damn lazy Europeans), but we needed food. So we found the awesome tapas place. Then wandered around a cozy dutch town that I'm sure is like many others. Can't wait to see more.

Now, I must focus on staying awake for 3 more hours. Oy!

Until next time, enjoy some pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/joelamartin/Europe09#