Finally back in Thun

Wednesday morning, my last few hours in Amsterdam before returning to Thun.

I got out of the hotel after packing with about 2 hours to kill before the 10:30 check-out time. Enough time to hit the streets one last time.

Hoists

Most of the old buildings in Amsterdam have these hoists at their uppermost level used to haul heavy objects up or down to this very day.

The Westerkerk Bell Tower

The BEST Pancake House in Amsterdam

I had eaten here twice already but was disappointed to find out that they were not open on Wednesdays.

Damn.

The Magna Plaza Shopping Center

I never did go in there.

Cappuccino and a Chocolate Croissant

With Sara's Pancake House closed, it would have to suffice.

It hit the spot quite well, thank you.

I just love the Dutch architecture

I wish Laurie had been with me

What the . . .

It is perfectly obvious that the Dutch are an extremely tolerant people to other's lifestyle choices, but they might have to draw a line somewhere soon.

Kerk means church.

The Power of One Finger

How old is this bike's headlight?

Cavemen are always in style

The entire trip home was smooth and uneventful which was great after a hectic week of traveling.

Back in Thun, it was time for two practices in the evening.

The U-16s warming up . . .

With the Alps all around the field

I had a great session working with the U-16 linemen. We have a long ways to go but we're getting better!

After this 90 minute workout, it was time for the two hour Senior team practice. We had a solid turnout and a spirited team session as we continue to prepare for our second game Sunday at home against the 1-2 Luzern Lions.

WEIGHT ISSUES

My weight is always a big concern no matter where I'm living, Europe very much included.

As you all know, I have a passion for food but I thought that on this trip to Switzerland that I would borrow a page from Paul Petrich's weight control plan.

When Paul was our Defensive Line coach in Catania, Sicily, we shared an apartment. Paul bought a scale and weighed himself every morning to see how he was doing. It worked for him and if you know Paul, you know that he is in great shape.

I bought a scale, on sale, on February 25th and weighed in that day at 131.0 kilos/288 lbs. I am happy to report that today, even after all of my feasting in France and the Netherlands, I tipped the Toledos at 125.9 kilos/277 lbs.

I've been eating my face off in Europe for 63 days and have still lost 5.1 kilos/11 lbs.!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reading is FUNdamental

On the train and plane trips this past week, I've been able to devour two interesting books.

The Women's Murder Club series is set in San Francisco. This series was introduced to me by Koreen FitzGerald a few years ago. This edition was good in the crime solving area but a bit far fetched in the area of character development.

Still, it was a good read overall.

This novel is based on a true story that happened only 90 minutes from Thun in the town of Payerne in 1942.

Chessex is a Swiss writer who grew up in Payerne at the time when Swiss Nazi sympathizers opted to kill a man named Albert Bloch in Payerne simply because he was Jewish.

This was a short but riveting story about things gone terribly wrong in this tranquil/neutral country.