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Taipei at 4 AM

Arrived in Taipei about 4:00 AM, but God only knows what time our bodies think it is.   Everything shuttered up, no coffee or tea to be had.   Super clean, and at this time of night, pretty empty.   The girls immediately wanted to know if there was Wifi, and calmed down as soon as they were online.    Signs are in both Hokkien and English. Hokkien is a dialect of Chinese, but unintelligible to Mandarin speakers.   Ella slept about 10 hours, but the rest of us slept little as there was a lot of turbulence. The food on the plane was 50-50.   We were served dinner even though our flight left at 12:05 am, and mine was rice with beef, carrots, some interesting sort of coleslaw, and a tiny piece of Toblerone chocolate. However, the breakfast was weird.   Some sort of noodle, with some kind of “fishy” tasting meat, yogurt, and a banana. Strong, strong coffee, too. Exhausted after a 14-hour flight, we now boarded yet another plane for a 3-hour flight to Bangkok.  Fortunately
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Countdown - Before You Go

So, it’s finally here. One more day til our adventure in Thailand begins.   In addition to packing, there are a few other things I’ve learned are important before you take off. The first is to go to your bank and order some currency of the country(ies) you’re visiting.   You can always get more when you arrive, but it’s nice to have a bit so you can tip your driver or others for services. Also, it’s important to either go online or call your credit card issuer and tell them your travel plans, so they don’t think your card has been stolen or lost and put a hold on it.   While you’re at it, make copies of the front and back of the credit cards you’re taking and of your passport(s).   We met a man once in Costa Rica who had been robbed at the market and didn’t have copies of anything, so was in a panic waiting til Monday morning to see someone at the American embassy. Even though it’s not mandatory, I advise you to download the apps for whichever airlines you may be flying.  
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Off to Thailand!

To celebrate my 70th birthday, my darling daughter treated me to a trip to China, fulfilling a desire from my early childhood.  We chose Friendly Planet to guide us, and they did not disappoint.  It was the best trip of my life, and I've taken more than a few. Our family Mother's Day tradition is for this same daughter and her two daughters to treat me to a mani-pedi.  While enjoying being pampered, she mentioned to me that the latest brochure had arrived from Friendly Planet.  She and I had also just read "This Is How It Always Is," by Laurie Frankel, a book we both genuinely enjoyed, in which Rosie, a doctor, goes to Thailand.  Laurie Frankel's descriptions made us both want to hop on a plane right away. In this latest brochure, Friendly Planet offered a tour to Thailand which was unbelievably inexpensive.  And it included airfare!  She encouraged me to take my husband and go.  My granddaughters overheard us and asked, "Go where?"  When we said &qu
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Scent of Hyacinths

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  Leaving Haarlem we continued south along the coast passing Den Haag (The Hague) where the international court holds its sessions.   If I could do this trip again, I would allow time to learn more about the International Court of Justice located in the Peace Palace. As we drove, we passed fields of tulips - acres upon acres of them.   We stopped on the side of the road just to hop out and take some photos.    We were near the Keukenhof, one of the world’s largest and most beautiful flower gardens, but it was already after noon and we had to find a place for the night, so we regrettably made the decision not to explore Keukenhof - a mistake I would remedy the next time.   The beauty of fields of tulips cannot be described - at least not by me - and the fragrance of the hyacinths was overwhelming.   I’ve mentioned that we didn’t make reservations at name hotels during this trip, and for the most part that was a good decision since we were able to take our time whe
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"Stinking Rich" in Haarlem

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After picking up our car and being somewhat discombobulated by having to drive on the “wrong” side of the road, we set out with no plans other than to stop whenever we wanted to explore.  Our first stop was only eight miles from Amsterdam, but, since we never got underway til mid-morning, it wasn’t long before it was time to stop for lunch! Haarlem has a unique claim to fame.  A recent study found the Dutch to be the most content of the Europeans, and those folks living in Haarlem were found to be the happiest in the Netherlands.   As we were soon to learn, the steeple of the church marked the center of town, so we parked and headed there.  We were delighted to find - as had happened for hundreds of years - an open-air market in progress. While we all were shopping for scarves, shoes, and whatever, Ron found a hardware store.  In this store, he found a coffee pot!  The pot was only $15.00 and cups were about $2.00, so just for the two of us it would only take 5 cups of coffee
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See Amsterdam by Boat

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According to the guide books, you can’t go to Amsterdam and not see the Rijksmuseum with its collection of the Dutch masters, and the Van Gogh museum.  Verda and I wanted to do those, Bill is a flea-market aficionado, so he wanted to explore the street markets, and Ron, ever the sailor, wanted to take a boat ride on the canals. Sunday morning we had juice, fruit and croissants fresh from the bakery in our rooms rather than pay the almost $30 for the two of us to have breakfast in the hotel.  It turned out that having a restaurant in the hotel didn’t matter since it was too expensive for us to want to eat there.  Another lesson learned: don’t make your choice of hotel dependent on its having a restaurant on the premises.  In Amsterdam, there are many bars and restaurants within walking distance of wherever you stay.  And, if you don’t want to walk, you can hop on the tram and hop off at any of the “pleins” for refreshment. After breakfast, we took the tram to Museumplein, the
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How Much is That in Euros?

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In 2007, there were not as many websites available to help travelers find flights, hotels, restaurants, and everything else you need to know when you travel.  After searching the few sites online I found a relatively inexpensive hotel with a restaurant and that advertised shuttle service to and from the airport.  We booked a room for 3 nights and Bill and Verda booked into the same hotel for 2 nights. The idea of guest reviews was not as popular then as it is now, so there were not very many reviews to check.  But I sure wish someone had mentioned that the shower leaked all over the bathroom floor in our room.  We had to roll up our pant legs until it dried up.   Another unpleasant surprise was that, when we arrived at Schiphol airport, we discovered that the shuttle cost 12.5 Euros per person, or about $33.00 for the two of us.  And, it was my mistake that I assumed that the shuttle would be free if we stayed at that hotel.  When the cost of the shuttle was added in to the
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