Fini -- (almost)

We are back in Amsterdam, spending our last night at a really lovely small hotel called The Bridge. The hotel overlooks the Amstel River and our room faces the river. Very nice people, very cute room and reception and free candy in the candy jar. Who can beat that???

We left Florence last night after spending most of the day with my brother, sister-in-law and niece. We had one last meal together and then sat at the palazzo Publico watching the world go by. One last quick stop for some fun gifts and mementos and then my brother walked with us over to the train station so we could start the journey back.

We went from Florence to Milan, arriving at 10:00 pm. The train station is sort of dumpy and the neighborhood a bit questionable. However, we did find a grocery store for some water and a little pizza place near the station. We ordered a pizza and ate it at the station, while we waited for the overnight train back to Paris.

The train car that we were in lost electricity (!) in the cabins after we got underway. No big problem, since we were supposed to be sleeping -- but Hubby and I opened up the shade and watched the Italian country-side go by). Getting dressed in the morning in the dark (before sunrise) was somewhat more challenging, but we managed.

One last pain du chocolat (yummy) and then on to the train to go back to Amsterdam. We arrived at the hotel, freshened up and then took a very long walk around the city. We both really like Amsterdam. We figured that it must have some thing to do with all the canals and being near water.

On the way to dinner, we found a really cute little bistro and there was a CAT sitting on the floor near the entrance. I've seen a ton of dogs over here, but very few cats (inside windows or out on the streets). This cat was very friendly and I finally got a little bit of a "kitty fix" by petting its head and rubbing its ears.

We finally found a restaurant for us to share our last meal here and are now wrapping every thing up so we can have a smooth travel day tomorrow.

Hard to believe that after about 12-hours of travel tomorrow (excluding customs or weather delays), we'll be back in the States, in our little home with the cats and the kids and our family and friends.

C'est la vie.