Day 84, Wednesday, July 9th, 2014. The days are going by quickly now. I was up early and worked on my computer and then had a shower and tea with Dick and Carla. It was another rainy, windy day. I'm glad that I didn't have many days like that while I was moving around the country.and my project this morning was to bring Silver to the bicycle store to be boxed because they had asked me to bring her in a few days before my departure. When I got to the bicycle store, they said that they didn't want the bicycle now and I insisted because I had come through the rain and wind to do so. I was disappointed that they did not have a new box for me because the box that Silver came in had been banged around and had a couple of rips. I left them with instructions for what I would like--chain off, front rack off, pedals off, padding and packing exactly like when she came. Then I took the bus from the mall area to the train station (10 minutes) and the bus from there to Schiphol Airport (20 minutes) . I asked about taking a train to Amsterdam if I would have time over the next few days. I also went up to the KLM area and checked in so that on Tuesday, I would just go through the line and all the paperwork would be done. Marnix had suggested that I go to see the Panorama viewing area and when I got there I realized that I had forgotten to bring my camera today. That was a first! I would have to come back another day to take photos of the airplanes. I had my lunch at the airport, and then using my bus pass again, I returned to the area of Dick's home but walked to the Floriana centrum where Carla had shopped yesterday and I bought some tape to seal the bicycle box and some almond cookies. Then I walked home and had a nap. After that I Skyped Dave and received some very SAD news. Maggie, the sister of my friend,Caroline Pouw, whose relatives I had also visited in the Netherlands during my trip, had been hit and tragically killed by a truck while riding her bicycle to work in her homeland of New Zealand. She had been in Sault Ste. Marie in the winter and we had visited together a few times. I was in shock to hear about it and then read about it in a newspaper article. I had tea with Marnix and Dick and then Skyped Dave again and also Silja in Germany. I was having trouble with the computer mouse again which was frustrating. Later in the evening we went to Dennis' tent again to watch the Netherlands, Argentina World Cup soccer game. It was another close game but this time the Netherlands lost on penalty kicks 4-2 and they are now in the game against Brazil to determine 3rd place while Argentina will meet Germany in the final game. The game didn't finish until 1:30 Netherlands time and it was AMAZING how busy the roads were with cars at that time of the night tonight. We passed 3 bicycles and 1 scooter all with no headlights. Another late to bed night.
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| In Memory of Maggie -our last goodbye |
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| Dick and nephew Barry enjoying some of Dennis' dessert pastries at the soccer tent party. |
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