A couple of things have kept me away from my blog lately. The bad news is that I was without a computer for a couple of weeks. The good news is that, previous to that, I was away on a great vacation. Gary and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary by taking a cruise down the Rhine River with an extended few days in Basal and also Amsterdam. The weather was marginal, but the food, people, and sightseeing were great.

One of the fun things about travel is that it gets you out of your comfort zone, and you’re always comparing what you’re experiencing to how things are at home. So, I started compiling a list.

You know you’re not in Rochester when:

1. You have to pay to use a public restroom. I paid between 30 cents and 1 euro, and the 1 euro experience was definitely not better than the 30 cent experience.

2. You  are more in danger of getting run over by a bicycle than a car. Everyone travels by bicycle in Amsterdam, and they pedal fast.

3.  Lunch meat is served for breakfast, and cheese is served at every meal. There are many shops that just sell cheese, and they take it very seriously. Gary actually asked for American cheese once and didn’t understand why they looked at him funny.

4. There’s a bakery on every corner, and they keep the doors open even in October. The Germans pay no attention to the dozens of bees covering the kuchens.

5. You’re listening to a lounge singer named Lazlo from Slovenia singing “Country Roads.”