Boarding the plane was reminiscent of an episode of the Amazing Race as we waited until the last minute to board rather than leave the dogs unattended. In the end though we all made it safely to Amsterdam with nothing or no one going astray. The drive to Oosterhaut was uneventful and we settled easily into the hotel. A quick nap later and we hit the shops in the town center - depleting the local grocery store of most of their supply of bottled water. The next couple days before the event bgan was busy with a quick training session on Tuesday morning (we took 7 jumps over with us to work box work and other similar exercises recommended by our coach). We then hit Amsterdam to sightsee that afternoon and then spent the next day trying to find tulips but instead driving around The Hague for an hour following detour signs that led nowhere! We did find some great tulips though in the end. Piper was more impressed by the fact that there was water there and ducks but did consent to having his photo taken a few times... Thursday was the first official day of the Championships as we had our official check in and health checks for the dogs and then our official practice. Everything went really well - the equipment was a pleasant suprise after what we had heard they had at the last IFCS Championships in Spain. The contacts were covered in a texturised rubber that offered great traction and even a certain amount of cushioning. We were told that this material was designed specially for agility contact equipment. We were given the chance to work on the equipment in both rings so that there were no unexpected suprises for us in the following days. It was interesting to watch the different practice strategies from the different countries. The USA team - like us - appeared to have pre-determined exercises to work on, while other teams went out there and used the equipment in situ to proof certain contacts, crosses etc... Thursday evening was the welcome reception/banquet and the draw for the running order. They must have underestimated the number of attendees though as tables and chairs quickly became hot commodities. The music was pretty dire to start with (and loud) but we were able to liven things up a bit with some raiding of the CDs that were there. Team Canada helped to get the party atmosphere going a bit more with some dancing and the 'wave' - the wave sputtered out before it crossed the whole room but the Belgian, Spanish and Japanese teams were more than willing participants! We did not stay too late though and we strategically left all of our left over drink tickets with the Brits but unfortunately they did not have the desired effect - probably too much practice on their part LOL!! Anyway I will try to post the last installment of our adventures in the next day or two. Meanwhile I ahve attached a couple of photos of Piper and I in the tulip gardens. The placard in the photo of the red tulips and Piper actually reads "Worlds Favourite" if you could read it - something that was pointed out to me after I had aready taken the photo!! Was this an omen??? Regards Sue & Piper