Off to the Netherlands!

Friday, November 19th
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Work on Friday was slow.  And by slow, I mean dead slow.  Other than a few tiny projects that took me a matter of minutes to complete, my day was spent attempting to figure out what to get everyone for Christmas and making the rounds on all my favorite sites (I finally figured out how to access the American Anthropologie site, I was so excited!  I'm pathetic, I know).  In the afternoon we had a taste testing of preserves and savory biscuits, which is always fun and a good excuse to eat!  The preserves were delicious, biscuits not so much (if you're wondering, a smoked biscuit tastes as bad as it sounds).  When my coworker told me I could leave at 4:30, I jumped at the opportunity, politely of course, and ran back to Courtfield.  I met Ashley there, and after a little rest we made our way to Gloucester Road to catch the tube to Heathrow.  This weekend, we're going to Amsterdam; our last official weekend trip of the semester!  Lauren took a half day at work today and caught an earlier flight, with Maggie being on the next one out, so Ashley, Allie and I were the only three on the 8:15.  After a long tube ride to Terminal 4, Ashley and I whisked through security and found a cute place for dinner.  Allie met us just as we had ordered, so we all enjoyed sandwiches together.  After a quick pit stop at W.H.Smith for magazines and chocolate, we made our way to our gate where we were called to board only minutes later.
The flight was very nice - only 45 minutes!  When we arrived in Amsterdam, I was greeted with texts from  Lauren giving us detailed directions of how to get the train into the center of the city; apparently she spent quite a bit of time trying to figure it out.  After purchasing our tickets and a little train confusion, we finally hopped on one that brought us to RAI station, only a 5 minute's walk from the hotel.  Exhausted, we arrived in the room to find Lauren and Maggie already in bed enjoying the BBC Telethon for Children's Care.  All five of us managed to fit comfortably into a double bed and pull out couch, and before long we were all sound asleep.  Saturday would be an early day - we want to make the most of our weekend in Holland!!
   xo Carolyn