Renaissance
Today begins my travels to the other end of the world. Dulles to Schiphol, a 10-hour layover in Amsterdam whereupon I will ride into the city and gallivant around the cobbled streets and explore the canals and brown cafes, no maps, no itinerary, just me intentionally getting lost in yet another European town--my favorite kind of travel. Then Amsterdam to Beijing, and Beijing to Changchun. I will meet up with my family around 1pm on Wednesday the 11th. A total of 31 hours of travel time.
Yesterday I boxed up my entire life in preparation to move after this summer's travels are over. I was up until 4am, but [almost] everything is now stored away. Last night Mark and I went to Maggie's Farm, a restaurant specializing in local, organic products (much of their stuff is grown right on their patio, three feet from where we were sitting) and supped on crispy Brussels sprouts in a candied balsamic-grape reduction, fried oysters on steamed buns, sweet pea falafel, seared scallops in soy broth on a bed of corn hash, and a fan-effing-tastic chocolate strawberry shortcake with a couple generous scoops of homemade ice cream. Our cocktails were also lovely, but I don't remember what was in them. Mine had whiskey.
Now time to grab a quick shower, pack up the last few essentials for the trip, and begin the frustrating toll-laden trip to Dulles. Luckily, I have Mark and Pat for company, and we will break up the trip by stopping for lunch at the best burger place in DC. I doubt they have a veggie option, but I'm all about the fries anyway. Mmm. I guess I'm hungry.
I probably won't get a chance to update this twee diary while I'm in China because Holy censors, Batman!, but I will see what I can do. Au revoir, les enfants!
Fun fact: The movie Reservoir Dogs got its name from a bastardized combination of "Au revoir, les enfants" and "Straw Dogs". *the more you know -----*