babymoon

At the end of next week, Josh and I leave for our final vacation before this baby is born (you can't see me, but I just spit and knocked on wood). I'll be visiting my parents in San Francisco for Labor Day, and hopefully we'll be doing an overnight leaf-peeping tour in New England in October, but as far as real vacations go, this'll be it. I was in charge of planning our escape, and I thought long and hard about what I'd want when I was 21 weeks pregnant.

Beach or touring?

Lazy or active?

Cold or warm?

Josh has been harassing me to take him to visit my family in Argentina, but it is the middle of winter right now in South America, and our Boston summers are so short that I couldn't fathom having to pull out jackets and pants in August. Our last vacation was a beach one, and it was a fantastic time, but I've been craving some real sightseeing and touring. So I started narrowing down on location.

I had important criteria to satisfy also. We needed first class medical care, just in case. I needed air conditioning and safety. I wanted an area small enough to be visited in a week by a pregnant woman that can't walk that fast. Oh, and I wanted to be able to shop. A few visits to websites, a few discussions with Josh later, we settled on Belgium and the Netherlands.

I didn't tell Josh this until after he'd agreed, but it just so happens that Amsterdam is the baby capital of the world. Tons of baby designers are located there, and it also just so happens that I'm in the market for baby stuff. Shocker, I know!

After some research, I planned our itinerary as follows:
Day 1: Fly into Brussels, spend the day exploring the city if the red-eye flight hasn't made me keel over with exhaustion
Day 2: Explore Brussels in the morning, move to Bruges for the next two nights (via train)
Day 3: Bruges (and chocolate! Lots and lots of chocolate!)
Day 4: Bruges (and french fries! And Belgian waffles!) Leave in the afternoon for Amsterdam (via train)
Day 5: Amsterdam (does Amsterdam have chocolate? How about french fries? They must have something, right?) Visit museums, take canal tours, look longingly at the people on bicycles because your husband has forbidden your pregnant self from riding one.
Day 6: Amsterdam and more sightseeing. I know you can't wait to see pictures of my pregnant belly in the red light district, right?
Day 7: Amsterdam and shopping! My sources confirm that Amsterdam has some of the best strollers in the world, and if I can find one that opens and closes easily, doesn't weigh too much, and complies with my other crazy requirements, I'm hoping that one of my return luggage will be a stroller!
Day 8: Final exploration of Amsterdam, fly back to Boston in the afternoon. Sob.
Day 9: Spend day in bed crying because you don't want to go back to work tomorrow, and this is your last vacation day until your maternity leave starts in 4 and a half months. Sob again.

I'm trying not to focus too much on Day 9.

I've been looking forward to this trip for months, and I'm itching to jump on that plane, even though it is still a week away. I suspect that we'll look longingly on this last adventure away, come December 25th. I also suspect we'd never want to go back in time once this baby arrives, but still, the memories of freedom will be nice.

My parents are watching our pooches at our house, so this will be real freedom, unlike our trip to St. Croix when we had our sidekicks along for the ride. So any suggestions? Favorite spots? Recommendations? We'll be doing the typical walking tours, visiting Rembrandt's museum, Anne Frank's house, marketplace visits, and whatever else our guide book says is a must-see. But if you've been there or have heard fantastic things- please please please tell me! I'm sure I'll be bringing back some Belgian chocolate, and if you can wrestle it away from the hands of a pregnant lady, I'll even share!