for Chewy. 1/2/2019

 

We awoke early to catch the Metro to Gare du Nord, The busiest train station in Europe for our train trip to Amsterdam.

We arrived at Gare du Nord with the news that Chewy, our beloved dog was coughing badly and gasping for breath. Bettina, at home in Perth was messaging us asking what should do. We told her to take chewy to the vet. Chewy had been coughing for months and over the last few weeks he was eventually diagnosed with late stage lung cancer. We didn’t know how long he’d last. I felt confident we had a few more months with him. The vet rang me and confirmed our biggest fears. Chewy was struggling to breathe and was deteriorating fast. She recommended we send him to heaven.

It was a heartbreaking moment and relating that to Bettina over the phone was extremely sad. Bettina loved Chewy dearly and I knew this was probably the hardest thing she has ever done. To her credit she knew what had to be done and her and Bianca were there with him at the end. It was hard for Jane and I to be so far away during this time. Out train ride to Amsterdam was very solemn.

We arrived at Amsterdam about 11 am and caught an Uber to our AirBnb north on the city. Our host Rene, met us at the door and explained how to get into the city and suggested nearby shops and restaurants. He showed us to the apartment, which was the lower level of their house. It was a beautiful space, with lots of room and a nice garden outside. As we were unpacking it started to snow, So beautiful.

We then walked down the canal to catch the free ferry into the city.

My first impression of Amsterdam: I smells like marijuana. I knew it was legal here, but I never expected to smell it everywhere. It was mostly when you past people on the street you can smell it on their clothes. Very odd!

We decided to do a canal cruise straight away to get a feel for the city and get around with walking so much. It was quite interesting with lots of bridges and buildings.

We walked around the city and bought some cheese, meats and bread to take home for dinner. We stopped at the Centraal station to have a beer and reminisce about our old mate before Ubering home.

Rest in peace little buddy.