London and Valencia...so many places not enough time

Well still no bid list I have about given up and figure I will be in The Hague forever! All is well except for waiting on pins and needles. All mid-level and senior level got their lists last night which makes the waiting even harder! I am having a quiet evening tonight, watching the rain coming down in sheets. Going away parties on Monday/Wednesday/Thursday and then to the Army base this weekend. It never stops!

I just got back from a trip to Valencia, I emailed my travel agent and asked what he recommended. All I wanted was sun, sun and sun! Valencia was recommended as cheaper and just as charming as Barcelona so off I went! I went done on Thursday and one of my friends met me on Friday afternoon. I enjoyed a relaxing day and a massage earlier in the day and then did some exploring. Valenica is a fantastic small city where you can walk almost anywhere. It was fantastic. The sun shone the whole time-I even had to buy sun screen and a hat! On Saturday we went to the aquarium, my cab drive had told me it was one of the best in Europe and it was great, I felt like I was twelve. I watched the penquins, the dolphins, sharks while being in the sun!

Two weeks before Valencia I went to London. I have a friend who lives there and another friend who had never been so off we went! It was perfect timing-Wimbledon started on Monday and it is one of my favorite things in the world to do. It is so nice to stay at a friends house, you can sleep in, take your time getting started in the morning the bad thing is that no one makes the bed for you and no free shampoo! We went to high tea at Brown's on Sunday. I hadn't thought ahead and didn't bring any dressy clothes for tea so I had to wear my jeans. I decided that if they wouldn't let me in because I was too casual, I would just tell them I hadn't arrived that day and the airlines had lost my luggage! Luckily they didn't care what I looked like, as long as I spent my money! It was great fun, they even bring you more scones if you want them (and we did!). On Monday I got up at the crack of dawn and travelled across London to Wimbledon...the first day of the Championship no less! You can "queue" for the 6000 tickets that are reserved for general admission. The gates open at 9:30 and the doors open at 10:30. I was number 2851 when I arrived at 7:00 am! I couldn't believe the queue. People had started queueing on Saturday afternoon.

When you arrive at this giant field set aside for queueing you get in line. An usher comes along soon and gives you were ticket-you have to have this to get your actual ticket. People kept coming and coming and coming. We finally began to move at about 9:00. The field has a great atmosphere, people are happy to be there, the weather was great-everyone was convinced Andy Murray was going to win (little did they know). We were probably a mile back, I met a Canadian couple on their honeymoon and an American mother and daughter who had tickets for center court the next day. Everyone wanted the queueing experience (and we got it!). As soon as I got in the gates I headed over to court 3. I had planned my day around watching the Americans play. James Blake was on court 3 and I was really excited to try and get a seat. Luckily I was early enough to get settled in-James Blake was not so lucky and was the highest seed to lose on day one. After cheering with no luck I headed over to one of the smaller courts to watch Mardy Fish. I finally got a seat, at this court I was literally on the court, it is amazing how close you can get. I was watching Mardy play an Italian, the Italian was not faring well, I didn't realize how poorly until the guy I was sitting next to stood up in disgust and left. As he was leaving I looked at his badge and realized he was the Italian guys coach! All of this fun for 20 pounds sterling! I then wandered over to the practice court-but didn't see anyone I recognized (and no Italian coaches). I watched a few more matches and just enjoyed the fantastic atmosphere. A day at Wimbledon is something I would recommend to anyone and everyone.

Well I am going to continue ignoring my blackberry and continue to hope for a bid list to appear. As soon as I know anything I will post!

So many stories-so little time

So much for my New Years Resolution to be better about my blog! Things have been busy. For Easter I went to Malta with 7 other friends. Can you imagine 8 women and we were all still speaking after we returned home. Then my family came to visit and it was off to Ireland. They left on Wednesday and the following Saturday I was off to Florida for a HRO conference. It was great to hear stories from other posts and meet my colleagues. I got back on Saturday (a week after I left) and the next weekend headed to Florence. From Easter until June 2nd we have so many holidays that we literally only have one 5 day work week in that time! This week is going to be llloooonnnggg!

Florence is an amazing city. I had a hotel right in the middle of town-the hotel actually had FOX NEWS. I was in heaven! I have to admit I was astounded at the differences between the Dutch and the Italians. It isn't really anything you can put your finger on-but I l saw the first difference as soon as the plane landed. We weren't even to the gate and people were already up, in the aisle and ready to start disembarking! It was willy nilly-no structure for the rest of the trip (except when watching FOX NEWS). The first day I just enjoyed eating gelato, walking around the markets, eating gelato, seeing the churches and then I had a last gelato before bed. Sunday I woke up and headed to the Uffuzi gallery. Luckily I had made reservations, the line is two hours long (that is a lot of gelato). The gallery was amazing. Not only are the pictures fantastic and there is a fantastic view over the Ponte Vecchio. After a couple of hours I was getting the shakes-I needed a gelato. I headed out, got my gelato and wandered over to the Medici chapel, a little church in the middle of town and home to three Michelangelo's. There are no words to describe it....I then headed over to a little trattoria for lunch and a glass of wine. I then made my way over to the Academia to spend a little time with David. Once again I was smart enough to have reservations-no line for me. I headed through the metal detector, into the museum and turned the corner....at the end of the hall-past all of the tourists in their bermuda shorts and black socks was David, in all of his glory. I just sat and soaked it all in. In the hall leading up to David are the "prisoners" sculptures that Michelangelo had started but never finished. I then followed the Italian tradition and went back to my room for a little nap before heading out to dinner. Restaurants don't even open until 7:00-luckily gelato is considered an appetizer by those in the know.

Most of my waking moments are now consumed with getting ready to "bid". This is the list of open HR positions in Embassies around the world. After I get the list I will have about 2 weeks to research, submit my choices. I now have two criteria: labor laws and weather. For instance take Islamabad: great weather, labor laws easy to work with. Do I care if I would have to ride to work in an armored vehicle? Not if the sun is shining and employee's are expected to work....Khartoum-once again great weather, understandable labor laws. I can live with an evacuation or two. One night I dreamed I was sent to Copenhagen-I promise I woke up in a cold sweat and was shaking! As soon as I get my list I will let you know. I am hoping for Africa-where they have.....good weather and.......workable labor laws.

I will work backwards on my Spring trips for my next blog.

Another day at the office!!

So much for my New Year's resolution of writing more often. Life has been very exciting around The Hague. The Hague hosted a conference on Afghanistan, which meant the boss was coming! It was an amazing experience getting ready for a visit. I was the "Kurhaus site officer" the Kurhaus is an old hotel 5 star hotel at the Beach where everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) stayed. The preparation for the visit starts as soon as we hear rumors that the Secretary is coming. There is a movement officer, a luggage officer, a control officer for every VIP (of which there were many), then a site officer for every location that the Secretary visits. As the Kurhaus site officer I was responsible for the book signing the night she arrived and the Embassy Meet and Greet. We began having countdown meetings early on, I consider countdown meetings about 30 hours of my life I will never get back! A week before the visit the advance team arrives, this is the poor soul from Washington who is responsible for everything. Every detail of the visit is discussed, and then discussed again, and then since we have only been in the countdown meeting for 2 hours we discuss the details again. Since I was responsible for the M&G (meet and greet) I had to find a location for it, then plan the 15 minutes down to the last detail.....the podium had to have water and a stemless glass, and we had to have masking tape on the floor so everyone would know where to stand and where NOT to stand, which side does the Dutch flag go on and which side does the American flag go on. There was even an elevator manifest, so everyone knew when to get their VIP to the elevator and who was riding in the elevator. I have decided that my goal in life is to be the elevator manifest operator.....who says a girl can't dream. On the big day as the clock was ticking down towards my 15 minutes of M&G fame, all of the Embassy families were waiting behind the infamous masking tape line and I was sweating bullets. My biggest concern at that point in my life was making sure security told me when the Secretary was leaving her interviews so I could make sure the microphone was on and working (at least one sleepless night thinking...what if the microphone is on TOO early and runs out of juice??? No promotion for me). I was wandering through the hall when I heard a voice I recognized-believe it or not you would to-it was the Secretary on her way to the M&G. I racewalked through the halls, double checked the podium, water and stemless glass and turned the microphone on just in time to slide behind the masking tape, I had about a second to spare! I then got to shake the Secretary's hand as she walked through the crowd (everyone remaining on the correct side of the masking tape) and then "poof" it was all over! Then the best part of a VIP visit-the wheel's up party-which can't start until you know the plane has taken off and won't be coming back! All in all a great experience.

I am off to Malta tomorrow, there are 8 of us going!! Will Malta ever be the same. I am really looking forward to it, a friend is coming from London and she just had the BIG BIG boss for 3 days, so I am sure she will be ready to kick back as well.

More from Malta next week (I promise!)

AAAHHHHH Spa Weekend!

Well I am back from Baden Baden and had a wonderful, if not "eye opening" time. It was a planes, trains and automobile type of trip. I left from Amsterdam and flew to Strausbourg and then took a train to Baden Baden and a bus to the hotel, by this time I was ready to spa. I dropped off my bags and walked around the town, it is a beautiful, cold, snowy town. After some exploring I went to the Fredrichsbad spa-it is billed a Roman Irish bath. When you first arrive you go to the locker room and strip down to your birthday suit-the only suit allowed! You are given a sheet like object, and you can tell all of the non-Europeans, we have that towel wrapped around us as many times as possible! There are 17 stages at the Fredichsbad spa and I was ready for all 17 (on Saturday's the stages mix on stages 7-12)! The first starts with a shower, then on to the "warm air bath" which is a room that is about 129 degrees, so you lay down and relax (towel still firmly in place). Stage 3 is: 154 degrees, towel not as firmly in place. Stage 4 is another shower and they take the towel away from you! Stage 5 is my favorite stage: the soap and brush massage. You get a full massage with either a rough brush or a soft brush, I went for the soft brush. Stage 6 (without the towel-or my security blanket) is a thermal steam bath. Stage 7-is another shower (they like showers) Stage 8 is when the mixing begins, both boys and girls and bday suits is the thermal full bath in hot water water. This is the point, keep in mind I am not wearing my glasses-(after all it is a bit creepy to be wearing nothing but glasses), that I took a wrong turn and ended up in the men's stage 6. The only reason I figured this out is because when I walked in the room it went silent-well there were other issues but they were a bit blurry. So after this awkward turn of events I went back to the whirl pool in Stage 9. The rest of the stages are baths that tend to get colder in nature. The final bath is 64 degrees. I was only brave enough to submerge waist deep, it is obvious I am not a true European. Then on to my second favorite stage, the relaxation room. One of my favorite parts is that you are reunited with your towel! The attendants take you to a quiet, dark room and you lay down on a heated table and they wrap you up like a cocoon and you relax! Of course this was not enough of a German spa experience so the next day I went to the Caracella spa. It is right next to the Fredrichsbad. One of the selling points is the fact that swimsuits are a requirement (on the first floor at least). At the Caracella spa there are more thermal baths, one of best parts is that you can swim from inside the spa to the outdoor pool. It was great fun to be sitting outside in the hot thermal water while it was snowing. There was also an area with sun lamps, you could spend as much time as you wanted under the sun lamps. Since I don't remember the last time I really saw the sun, I spent hours under the sun lamp. Of course I wanted the whole spa experience so I had to go upstairs to the second floor. The second floor is filled with sauna's, whirlpools and sun lamps but no swim suits. I must say I learned quickly to not lay down in the sauna's because if you lay down other sauna goers have to step over you. If you open your eyes at just the wrong time, you could be scarred for life. After venturing outside to the "fire sauna", with towel of course, I decided it was time to join the world of the clothed and I ventured through Baden Baden to the Casino. The Casino in Baden Baden is very well known in this area of the world-men are still required to wear ties and jackets. It is an amazing building, it looks like something out of a James Bond movie. There were a couple of roulette tables and black jack tables going. I bought 40 Euro's worth of 2 Euro chips and took my seat next to the guy with his 500 Euro bill (which I didn't know existed) and his 100 Euro chips. I watched and learned. I learned that if you think you are really going to win at roulette you aren't very smart. I watched my neighbor go through 1,000 Euro's in minutes. I found it all very entertaining and started betting my 2 Euro chips. I was down to 20 Euros and then I won big (as big as you can win when only gambling 2 Euros!!) so I took my 36Euro's and cashed out! I figured 4 Euros for an evenings entertainment wasn't bad! Sadly the next day I had my last spa treatment, last apple strudel and had to head home!!! I have decided that next winter I am planning some trips to places where I can see the sun shine. Sadly we don't have a single 3 day weekend in March. I hope to survive!

Exciting day today

It was a very exciting day today in The Hague-for about 20 minutes the sun shown!! There was frolicking throughout the Embassy, we made plans to have lunch al fresco, I wondered where my sun screen was and then......it started to rain. Sigh....but of course if my biggest worry is lack of sunshine and worry that my umbrella won't last a winter I guess life isn't too bad! We have a three day weekend coming up and I am off to Baden Baden in Germany (hoome of many famous German spas, all of which I will be trying out) I figure if I am going to have to get naked in front of strangers I want to be in another country!

All is well here, I keep wanting it to warm up so I can practice riding my bike. So far bike commuting has been the monkey on my back. When I first arrived I bought a bike from a neighbor, it was stolen (before I could even ride it), so I bought another bike, but it seems to be too tall, so I bought ANOTHER bike. The last bike is my pride and joy. It is a three wheel orange bike with streamers. When I first arrived at the Embassy I spotted this bike from a distance and knew it was the bike I had been waiting for all of my life. The purchasing transaction went something like this: ME: "I have always wanted a three wheel bike as a yard ornament for my house" awkard pause from owner of forementioned three wheeled orange bike "so where is this yard and house that will house my bike" longer even more awkard pause from me "I don't own a house or have a yard, but can't we all have dreams?" very long awkard pause from owner of three wheeled orange bike "just give me fifty euro". So I am now the proud owner of two bikes, neither of which I want to ride! But someday the three wheeled orange bike hopes to grace the cover of home and garden! So my goal when Spring comes (which should be a weekend in April) I will find a bike to call my own and begin riding. I am very nervous about this, I have seen more people get tickets on bikes than I have seen for cars, but biking is a way of life here and when in Rome....

I am hoping I can make it through March-can you believe it is the only month we don't have a holiday? I hope I can make it! In the month of April and May we have 2 or 3 weeks that aren't 4 day work weeks! I love this country.

More after spa time in Baden Baden (no pictures I promise!).

Finland is Fantastic!!

Well, I made it back from the Arctic Circle with all ten fingers and toes!! It was a fantastic trip. I went with a friend from work, and we left on Saturday. We flew Finnair from Amsterdam to Helsinki and then on to Ivalo-the Northernmost airport in Europe. For some reason I thought we would fly a puddle jumper with about 5 passengers (3 of them Reindeer) into Ivalo. I was amazed that we were in a plane with 6 seats across and it was 90% full! When we arrived in Ivalo we were met at the airport (with its one gate) by a bus from our resort. We arrived at the resort and loaded our own sled with our luggage and drug it through the snow to our log cabin. We had our own sauna-talk about the height of luxury!! After a good nights sleep we were up and at them before the sun was up (which is about 9:15!). We were off to the husky farm to try our hand at "mushing" after bulking up in our thermal gear we were given a quick lesson in how to mush. There were 142 huskies at the farm and EVERY one of them wanted to be on my team! We final got going and I was a passenger for the first portion of the trip. It was an amazing trip-we went through the Finnish countryside. It was too hot for the dogs (about 3 degrees) so they had to stop every 30 minutes. After lunch in a wooden teepee we were off again. I gathered my wits about me and jumped on the sled with a loud and confident HOOVAH (Finnish for good job) we were off!! It was fantastic! An amazing experience-sadly we only had about 45 minutes until we were home, but what a fantastic trip! After returning back to our log cabin-just in time for "sunset" at about 3:30 it was time for sauna, cribbage, a nap and dinner! Talk about the life-I think the Finns are onto something with the whole sauna thing. I read that in Finland there is one sauna for every three Finnish citizens. The next day we got up and rented cross country skis. After a few false starts, I think I could be a gold medalist in the newest event: sliding backwards down the hill that you really wanted to go up" I finally got a good pace going and was enjoying the fantastic scenery when we turned a corner and up ahead was a herd of Reindeer! They were right in our path, I remember thinking "these are Santa's friends surely they won't charge us!" After a few minutes of mutual admiration (I think) they moved on and we went skiing past. After a few more kilometers I headed back towards the hotel. Sure enough around another bend were 3 Reindeer calves. They were amazing! Very clumsy on land and very graceful in the snow (polar upset of yours truly!). So after some more skiing it was back to the cabin for sauna time, nap time, cribbage and dinner! I could have gotten used to that! All in all a fantastic trip and something I would recommend to anyone! Sadly it was too cloudy for any northern lights.

Next trip is to Germany-Baden Baden for some more resorts!

Christmas in the Netherlands

Can you believe it two posts in one week!!! At least one resolution I have kept! The countdown to Finland continues, I was questioning my sanity in choosing such a trip in the middle of winter until I heard the following story. In Finland they have a wife carrying race-in which.......(this is the good part) the winner gets his wife's weight in beer!! After hearing such a snippet I wondered how I could get Finland on my next bid list. I digress...back to Christmas in the Netherlands. On December 16th it is Sinter Klaus day-this is the day Sinter Klaus (a distance cousin of our own Santa Claus) arrives at the beach, of course Sinter Klaus does not arrive alone. He arrives with his friend from the Moors known as Scharte Pete. There are two tales of how Scharte Pete became Scharte (Black) Pete. First is he comes from the Moors, second is that he is black faced because he slid down the chimney. In anticipation of Scharte Pete's arrival all of the Dutch folks line the streets and wear black face. As Pete and Sinter Klaus (who arrives on a white horse) parade down the street Pete throws candy to the good children (one of which would be me). But on the other hand he collects all of the bad children in his giant bag and takes them back to the Moors with him! Unfortunately I was in Portugal (close to the Moors) on December 16th so I didn't get to partake in the festivities. I will be ready to collect my candy next year. I had a great time in Portugal, the sky was blue and the sun actually shone. I went with one of my neighbors from the building and we did quite a bit of shopping, eating and sight seeing. Well that is enough for today. I promise more to come.......

New Years Resolution-more blogging

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated. So many trips so little time! Since I last blogged I have: jumped into the North Sea with 6,500 of my closest Dutch friends, gone to London and worked in the Embassy for a couple of days, headed to Portugal for some sun and fun, and increased the coffers of every Christmas Market throughout Germany!

I'll start with the craziness that was New Years day. Every year at the beach (which is only about 15 minutes from my house) they have a New Years day dunk where as many as 10,000 crazy people run into the North Sea for a refreshing start to the New Year. There had been talk of some of us joining in and I wasn't interested but then....I found out you get a free hat if you dunk and to sweeten the deal the free hat is ORANGE! I needed no other incentive (but when I found out you also got free pea soup there was no stopping me!) Of course this year happens to be one of the coldest years in recent memory, but orange hats and pea soup prevailed. At about 11:45 we made our way onto the beach and picked up our bag of goodies. To prove that I had made the right decision there were ORANGE gloves in our goody bag as well. Does life get any better than orange gloves, orange hat and pea soup as you dive into the frigid North Sea with 6,500 of your closest friends? As we gathered Dutch Techno music was blaring over the loud speakers and the beach was packed with both people watching and the dunkers. Everyone was wearing the orange stocking caps and jumping up and down to keep as warm as possible. At about 11:55 the stripping down commenced (just to swim suits I promise, this IS a family event!), at 11:59 we got into our ready to run stances and at 12:00 we all started towards the beach. The tide was out so we had to run further than I thought we would and I just kept laughing at the whole crazy situation. By the time I got to the water people had already been in and were heading back out to the warmth and free pea soup. After a waist high dunk I ran back and starting layering back up as quickly as I could, there was no frolicking and splasing around for me! On the way home that afternoon we all wore our new hats and gloves as a badge of honor (as if the blue lips weren't sign enough).

I had a great Christmas, a friend came to visit in December and we went on a Christmas Market cruise through Germany. It was a fantastic time, we were worried there we were going to be the youngest on the cruise but it was not to be the case! We met up with some other women traveling on their own and we became fast friends. There was much frivolity surronding table number 14 in the dining room (I'm afraid we may have even gotten a reputation as being a touch rowdy!). This was a great way to travel, we only had to unpack once, all the food you could eat (and great food at that) and we docked blocks away from the Christmas Markets. Luckily on the first day we discovered the charms of chocolate covered strawberries on a stick! That was our first goal each new market we found, the chocolate covered strawberry stand. On the trip back we resembled pack mules as we made our way back across Germany and home to the Netherlands. Luckily I still have about 3,000 lbs I didn't use in my household effects, but it is filling up quickly.

My next trip is Finland in a couple of weeks. We are flying into the Northern most airport in Europe and have already signed up for a dog sled adventure. From what I understand it is dark for 24 hours a day so it is going to be a very interesting trip. I have my Stillwater Newspress front pages so I can get my picture taken and hopefully be famous.

All is well here, I can't believe how fast time seems to fly. I promise to be better at blogging in the New Year.