Eurotrip 2006 - The Proposal

Trying to sum up the past few days in a post is tough. They are some of the most amazing days of my life (and I think Amanda's too). I could write a novel about them.

Most importantly, I'm ENGAGED! I've been planning this event since before Christmas and it's finally come together perfectly. How did it happen you ask? It started when I bought tickets to Europe for Amanda and I and presented them to her for Christimas 2005. I arrived in Europe a week early and she's been trying to move her flight up a bit so that we have more time to spend here together. Tuesday morning (2am here in the Netherlands) I got the call from Amanda that she made it on the early plane. That morning I was up at 7am planning a surprise trip to Paris for Amanda and I. When she landed (Tuesday night) I told her we'd be off to Paris the next morning. A few, emphasize few, hours of sleep later and we were off in a shiny new five speed Opal for La Ville D'Amour. 6 hours, 3 countries, and many coffee later we arrived in Paris and promptly got lost. My french paid off and I got directions to the Rue St. Cler district where we were staying. On the way I got to drive, more like battle, around the Arc de Triomph and along the Champs D'Elysee. We checked into our small but swanky hotel and took advantage of the electric blinds to catch a nap. At 5pm we were up getting ready for the night. Amanda wore a simple but elegant black dress and I doned a black suit and tie. She looked amazing! A taxi wisked us a couple of blocks away (it was raining) and we arrived at the restaurant. Dinner was fabulous and not too expensive. I impressed Amanda with my french by ordering the wine and our food in style. We ate our fabulous three course meal slowly and talked with the couple next to us in french. They are from Switzerland but own a villa in Paris! After dinner the real fun began. I hailed a cab and we began a tour of 'Paris at Night' by taxi. If you want a copy it's in the 'Rick Steves Paris 2006' guide-book. Our driver gave us a private tour in French as Amanda understands it fairly well and I speak it fluently. We viewed breathtaking sights such as the Notre-Dame, Napoleon's tomb, and La Louvre. I had him drop us off in Trocadero square and we had tea and freshened up a bit. At five to 11 we walked across the square and beheld a breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower! Next you can imagine what happened. I'd be happy to tell you in person. Most importantly she said yes! We're super happy and are looking forward to celebrating with everyone.

With an amazing night behind us and breakfast in bed we decided to take advantage of a sunny day in Paris. First of all we went up the Eiffel tower for some amazing views of the city. After that we took the metro over to La Louvre and had lunch in the Carousel shopping mall. We toured the museum and saw many things including the Victory and Venus de Milo statues, and, of course, the Mona Lisa. We were impressed by much of the art in the museum and it was very educational. After the museum we grabbed the car and drove all the way back to Utrecht. The most fun part was another battle through the Arc de Triomph and along the insane streets of Paris.

The next few days have been almost as amazing. Friday we toured Utrecht (my second home). We climbed the tallest church tower in the Netherlands (486 steps), ate in a beautiful street-side cafe, walked amongst the canals, and did some shopping. Saturday we took the train to Amsterdam and walked over a hundred bridges. Amanda's brother Tristan and wife Jen flew over from the UK to spend the weekend in Amsterdam and meet up with us. We viewed the Van Gogh collection, drank at the Heineken brewery tour, visited the Dam Square, saw a million street-side cafes, and walked through the famous "red-light district". At the end of the day we took a pizza and ice-cream cruise tour along the canals and had a few brews. FYI, the train back goes until 4am and the 'intercity' snelltrain only takes 30 minutes. We got home around midnight and passed out in exhaustion.

Today was our first day to sleep in together. We relaxed and Oma, Amanda and I visited my cousin once-removed Hank and his wife Elke. Their whole family got together to meet Amanda and we had a few hours of good discussion and excellent snacks. Tonight we'll head into downtown Utrecht for a few drinks and to see the old-city at night. Tomorrow is our second to last day here and we're taking a tour of the Netherlands by car. Tuesday we'll visit my Oma's brother, Leo, and his wife, Grete and spend some more time with my Oma. Wednesday we're off to Canada. Interestingly, our flight leaves at 3pm from Copenhagen and arrives in Seattle at exactly the same time! That's gonna be a loooong day. Tot siens!