Nov 1 - 4, 2013 -- October was not our favorite month here in Amsterdam, but November started us out on a better foot. With the weather turning cold and rainy, as well as our attitudes, it was nice to have a warm(er) weather trip on the books. Madrid was our first trip on a plane since we arrived back in August, which seems weird with all the travel we've done.
We got to the airport much earlier than we really needed to [European travel is not nearly the hassle that US travel is] and sadly we missed my Uncle, who had a layover on his way to Poland, just a couple gates away.
When we got into Madrid we followed the [much easier to read] Spanish signs toward the Metro and hopped on a train to our hotel. When we finally arrived at our stop and made it up to street level [our train was 5 escalator below ground], we were blown away! The city was so happy and bright, full of social people and sunshine. We tried our usual tactic: check in at the hotel and then quickly escape to see the all the city. We'd just not really factored in the Siesta, the Spaniards do take it seriously.
Fall 2013 -- They say bad luck typically comes in threes, but looking back at this past month I would say we've far surpassed our quota. Sarah and I were finally starting to feel settled and we were figuring out all the little nuances of Dutch life when the past month seemed like a huge setback. As we look back at our fun experiences we can’t decide whether to chalk it up to bad luck, bad karma or bad decision making. In reality it’s probably just a bad lens for viewing everything because, in reality, we are living a pretty cool life here in Europe.
It also took me a while to finally start writing about this. I kept telling myself that one day I would be able to look back and laugh about some of these events, so I wanted to find that moment before eternalizing it in writing. I think we've reached that spot, for the most part, although we still have the bruises and battle scars to remind us of the misery!
1.  Broken bones 5, 6 and 7: For arguments sake I will count these as a single tally in my string of threes (although I would challenge anyone telling me I was deserving of two more surprises after this!). It all started about four weeks ago as Sarah and I were riding bicycles through Amsterdam, much like any other day, and much like any normal Dutch person. The bikes belonged to a coworker, and the irony stems from the purpose of our journey. Sarah and I were borrowing the bikes to “demo” them before buying. We quickly learned the bikes were not worth their weight in anything (broken gears, worn brakes, rusty chains, missing kickstands, faulty lights, loose baskets, and probably the most important factor: deteriorating fenders. The irony is that we had already done the math and decided it would be easier (and cheaper) to just buy new bikes so we were actually on our way to return the bikes to their owner.
Sarah took this picture in the ER as I was getting casts
on my arms. I was still processing the nurse's comment
that my arms would be immobilized for 2-3 months.
As we rode along a normal bike path, at a normal speed and much like a normal Amsterdam resident, my mud fender (which had been repaired and likely re-repaired by duct tape) jammed in the spoke of my front wheel. The rest was more of a blur than a memory, but the wheel immediately locked and Sarah tells me I flew over my handlebars like superman. I remember thinking to myself I had two options: land on my face or brace my fall. It was a difficult choice given my broken bones 1-4 all stem from bracing previous falls, but I still stand by the decision that left me with a fractured Radial Head in each arm and a fractured Scaphoid in my left hand. One day I should write a book on recovering from broken bones, but first I should probably read a book on how to fall more gracefully.
I suppose it could have been worse. My quick reaction spared my head from hitting the pavement and I'm hoping to be fully healed by Thanksgiving. But as we sat in the emergency room and watched the nurse applied plaster casts spanning from my wrists to my shoulders, I had an extremely hard time seeing the bright side of my situation. Fortunately, the full length casts were more precautionary than anything, and a week later I was back to work with a simple plaster cast stabilizing my left hand (this was much to our surprise because the nurse told us I would likely be immobilized for 2-3 months).  The best part of this experience was having an AMAZING girlfriend. Sarah was great through the entire experience, from distracting me when my spirits were low to hand feeding me as I recovered in bed. I really don't know what would have happened if I didn't have her. It was also great having a physical therapist for a sister! Jennifer helped make sense of my predicament and shared some tips to help expedite my recovery. It seems like I've turned into a recurring patient lately.

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