Netherlands
Good morning from Koninkrijk der Nederlanden. I googled that. I did not come up with that on my own. I arrived at 8am Netherlands time (and 2am CST). Believe me I wanted a nap, but you just can not do that when you have only 26 hours to explore a country. After storing my luggage at the airport, I caught a train to Haarlem. The usually 15 minute ride was actually 40 because of construction on the direct route. But that was actually the best thing because the train went out into the countryside, along the green patchwork fields, canals, cows, and windmills. A farmer was spreading compost with his tractor, cows grazing in the green grass, and beautiful strips of flowers on a flower farm is what I saw through my train window. Once I got off the train and into the fresh air, I smelled the familiar smell of Europe. I wonder if every European country smells like this? The smell of foreign colognes and light cigarette smoke mixed with fresh air seems familiar in a way. I wal...