All planes landed safely, and the trains too

Off we go from Tucson to Phoenix (wow), Phoenix to Washington Dulles, Dulles to Schipoll Amsterdam. Then the short train ride from the airport to Central Station in the heart of Amsterdam (my second favorite European city, Rusty's number one). It's a short walk to our accommodations, a really cool houseboat on the canal. On our walk to the houseboat we walk right by our friend Mark's hotel the Black Tulip, a very sexy gay friendly place with slings and erotic everything everywhere. As we turn the corner there is our boat on the canal, first boat from the bridge, and surprise, Mark comes riding up on a bicycle. Mark is a friend from here in Tucson that loves Amsterdam like Rusty does, and knows it just as well, I'll never be lost with them around. It was arranged to meet him here, he arrived a few days before. Our hostess greets us on deck, shows all we need to know about the boat, then tells us that the view has been voted third best in Amsterdam, we believe her, it is beautiful! She says enjoy your stay and off she goes, bye-bye! After settling in Mark takes us to rent bikes, this is the mode of transportation in the city that is the most popular and by far the smartest if you can ride. We have never rented them before and it is so easy, we always walked or took the street car (tram) to get around, but not anymore, bikes it is. When in Amsterdam, do as the Amsterdammers do!
Now off to Berlin for three days (it is just a taste), we were just flying through on Air Berlin to get to Barcelona and decided to spend a few days there to check it out. It's an interesting city, but I will have to spend more time there to have any real opinions. The Checkpoint Charlie Museum kind of freaked my out, and put me in a weird space.
Barcelona on the other hand brought me back. We rented an apartment in the old part of town and then found out that our credit union has cut off Spain for transactions, so we could get no money, but we needed cash to pay for the apartment. Therefore we had to move out to a hotel that took credit cards which we could still use, this turned out for the better because the apartment was the pits, we rented it from the U.S. before we took off, without seeing any pictures, always get pictures if you reserve accommodations on-line, trust me, this place was bad. The Hotel on the other hand was fantastic, brand new. An older building that was gutted and redone to a very sheek and modern design. And Barcelona is a wonderful city with a definite sense of style and confidence. I was talking to a French man living in Barcelona, and he said it is great, you're not in France and you're not in Spain, you're in Catalonia! and they don't let you forget it, they are proud of that. I will surely be going back! Once we got American Express to wire us cash we were fine, but we called our credit union and read them the riot act. They said in some countries they have had too much fraud and that they are not big enough to cover all the losses so they cut off Spain, the Philippines, Ukraine and even Canada. They could have let us know! It was scary at first to think that we were broke on vacation.
After the third week I was terribly home sick and missed our kids. I kept seeing people with their dogs and I felt sad. I was probably driving Rusty nuts. All I could think about was going home. We awed at the Gaudi architecture, and the city in general, but I was ready. Then we got on the overnight train to Paris, had a very nice dinner in the dinning car and retired to our sleeping quarters where the porter had pulled down the beds and we where rocked to sleep by the movement of the train, it was so cool we woke in the morning, had breakfast, then arrived in my favorite European city Paris! I was instantly cured of my need to go home. I AM IN PARIS AGAIN, YIPEE! This city is magic. We took the subway to our hotel, a charming place in the Latin Quarter, checked in, then walked to the plats (plaza) on the corner had a cappachino and chocolate cressant out front on the sidewalk cafe with the sound of the fountain in the center of the plats, then went next store to the wine shop, bought a bottle of champagne and some plastic cups, walked further down the street to the Luxembourg Gardens and drank it. We did this each morning. The Gardens were just coming to life, everything budding, the spring bulbs blooming. AHHH SPRINGTIME IN PARIS. There is nothing like it. Rusty planned it perfectly. To concluded in Paris is brilliant. This time in Paris we thought that we would go to the Pompidou Center Museum, we had a great lunch on the top observation floor, with all the sites of Paris laid out all around us, then went to check out the modern art of the museum. All I can say about it is; I wonder when the art is to arrive and they can through out all the junk they have laying around. I have heard Rick Steves criticize it on his show, and now I know why, don't waste your time. For this city to have such a failure it's a shame. I guess they make up for it in other ways. Everything else I love a lot! Spending the last couple of days there, after a long trip, is ideal, and the food! Really the food was great all over. Mark knows the best restaurants in Amsterdam and I guess we got lucky everywhere else. We ate well. Walking back to our hotel, we had just gotten to Notre Dame and my planet phone rang, it was our neighbor here in Tucson Sally, I felt like such a local getting a call right in front of the church, it was perfect, and I got to share where we were with Sal. We live in a wonderful time! We can travel to far away places and even be reached by our friends back home. Sally was calling to confirm our return info, and update us about the kids, and the heat we will be returning to. Great I can jump in the pool when I get home, and I have.