I’m really looking forward to this vacation – work has been hard recently (but also rewarding to me) and taking a break now is a good thing I think. As usual, I’m bringing some books along, as I love to read while on vacation:

• Angels & Demons
• A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Penguin Classics)
• A History of Sparta, 950-192 B.C.

I’m bringing my Sony DSC-S75 digital camera and my Apple PowerBook – I have an N-Charge travel battery so I’m hoping I can use the laptop for most of the flight; I hope to work on my time tracking software and on adding printing to my favorite IDE, Eclipse. With any luck, I’ll be able to post this travelogue shortly after my return, thanks to bringing the laptop along; Aviva returns a week later, and she may have some notes and experiences to add from her time in Firenze (Florence) with a friend, Heather.

We’re lucky – we had enough miles with Northwest to get a business class ticket for Aviva and upgrade my coach ticket to business class.

Our flight left on time – travelling business class is so, so much more comfortable than coach. We got to Schipol in Amsterdam about 1/2 hour early.