And we're off

Well, London's been good but it's time to really get rolling.

Since Feroz and I are both windmill enthusiasts we thought one of the most important countries to see on this trip would be Amsterdam. So in about an hour we're leaving his family's place and hopping a flight.

London's been good. We did a site seeing pub crawl of central london yesterday. Drank next to Big Ben and the EYE OF LONDON. Seriously people around here are very impressed by ferris wheels.

That's been about it for London, we're off the beaten path so it's been tough to go out at night. We've spent time with his family which is great, though they've almost killed me with kindness. Seriously.

So here's what happened at the start of the trip in more detail:

We got in to customs and because Feroz's family was picking us up at the airport we didn't have their address. There's a form you have to hand in at the border and we left that spot blank. The agent did not appreciate this. So she starts grilling us: 'how long will you be here?' 'where's your return ticket?' 'where else are you going?' 'how are you getting there?'

Unfortunately Feroz and I decided not to plan this trip at all, so we're looking at her a little bleary-eyed and confused and she starts getting more intense 'how much cash do you have in your pocket?' 'what will you do if the family doesn't come?

Really bizarre questions just designed to screw us up. At this point she says she can refuse us entry if we can't get more proof that we plan on leaving England. I'm thinking that if this is how the English are, I'm ready to ship out today so I don't think that'll be a problem.

But after taking a page of notes on us and constantly berating our planning skills she stamps us through.

We get to Feroz's family's place and they are just wonderful. Unfortunately they're a little too wonderful. They just won't stop feeding me. I'm not trying to be rude so I eat everything set in front of me. That means for lunch: A huge amount of pizza, some lamb and rice and baked beans. Yeah, that's a great combination for someone who spent the last 17 hours traveling and hasn't slept in longer. Top it off w/ a cup of black tea filled with creme and I'm feeling great.

We take a nap and get up, and of course it's time for dinner. At this point I'm in the bathroom trying to do some push ups or something just to burn a few calories. I am completely terrified to go down and eat.

Dinner is two plates of amazing lamb curry. It was very good, but it was amazing that I could keep any of it down. Unfortunately I couldn't for long.

Yup. Ouch. I had to sneak off to the bathroom a few times. My best efforts to channel those hot dog eating champions just didn't work out. But nobody found out and everybody's happy we came.

For last night Feroz taught me a few tricks and I was able to eat substantially less. Still way more than I'm used to but at least I didn't feel like passing out.

Alright, we're off to the airport.

Next blog will have much more interesting content.