Wednesday May 6, day 4 in Amsterdam

Wow. Today we were locals just walking around the city having a beer in a local pub and talking to everyone.  The weather is cool and there were two major storms that passed through. Very weird summer type storms where the skies darken and then there was thunder and lightening and buckets of rain and then sunshine again.  All of which was perfect for our day of walking the streets of Amsterdam. When the sky's got dark we found a pub... Had a beer and resumed our walk after the rain passed. Some of our shots of the day.

The Prinsensluis canal with house boats. 

The canal boat cruisers.

Typical buildings  along the canals..

One of our beer stops because of rain..

The Dam Square Royal Palace. 

Tuesday May 5, day 3 in Amsterdam

Yesterday was Van Gogh in flowers at the Keukenhof Gardens and today starts with Van Gogh at the Rijksmuseum. We purchased the multimedia head set tours which gave us over 10 different tours to choose from. We could take as many or few as we wanted.  We started with the 90 minute highlights which included this Van Gogh self portrait. We also took the building highlights tour which was interesting.

On the Asian exhibit tour we see Steve admiring a medal sculpture. 

The Rijksmuseum Great Hall has a long history which was talked about in the building highlights. The stained glass windows have remained but at one point the walls were all painted white with a tile floor. During the 10 year restoration of the museum this area was restored to its original design. It was very impressive.

So after a somewhat rainy morning spent in the museum we saw clearing skies, grabbed a bite of lunch and headed to Vondelpark. This is a large green space similar to New York Central Park. We walked the paths and since it is a holiday in the Netherlands today the park was full of families. There was a outdoor theater with a children's program taking place and as we walked around there were so many different kinds of bikes. Here is the Momma version of an Amsterdam bike. 

And live chess matches in full size.  Something Steve thinks he and AJ can do in our backyard since AJ has taken a liking to chess. 

We are staying outside of the central city ( old town) and have found some great eateries. Tonight was no exception. Great food, a little wine...vacation is great. Tomorrow the old city and the RED LIGHT DISTRICT!

Monday May 4 day 2 in Amsterdam

We woke up this morning refreshed and more attuned to the local time. Breakfast was included in our hotel stay so we had a nice meal to start the day. Unfortunately when we checked with the hotel about where the Rotary dinner meeting was being held we learned it had been cancelled due to the Rememberance Day holiday in the Netherlands. So the saying goes "let no battle (travel) plan go unchanged". We will have to find a place for dinner tonight and perhaps check the Rotary International site to see if we can find another meeting to attend.

Our next adventure of the day was to get to The Keukenhof Gardens. A walk, a local bus, and the express bus to Keukenhof worked very smoothly. We got to see some of the tulip fields on the ride in and they are quite spectacular but nothing could quite prepare you for the Keukenhof. Sensory overload at its finest.  We had debated all along about bringing the Nikon and decided not to because we felt Keukenhof would be the only place it would really be an asset over a basic IPhone. Well these are some of the iPhone pictures we took so you can imagine what the Nikon might have produced. 

It is truly an amazing place and I am so happy our visit coincided with the 8 weeks it is open. Viewing the grounds both Steve and I marveled at why such a beautiful park like setting would only be open to show off the early spring flowers. The theme this year was the 125 birthday of Vincent Van Gogh and a planting of over 250,000 bulbs highlights this at the garden.

Popsicle trees.

Day One in Amsterdam

We arrived right on schedule at 8:05 AM. I fell asleep on the plane after dinner service and I am sure I slept for a good 4-5 hours.  Right through breakfast service. I was surprised at the bright sunlight flooding the plane at what was 1:30 AM on our Toledo body schedule.  I was still able to get a cup of coffee but then it was off the plane through immigration and customs and to the trains.  Here we learned the value of a non American Express card with a chip and a pin.  The automated train ticket machines were easy to use but only accepted Euro coins (we had bills) or visa or master cards with the chip and pin ( we had the card but no pin). So we then proceeded to the the ticket counter and purchased our ticket to Amsterdam Central.  The train was a snap and we were at Amsterdam Central Station in less than 20 minutes. From there we walked across the street to the Tourist office and bought a map. The employee at the counter told Steve the Hilton was only about a mile away so we decided to walk and get some exercise.  It turned out to be more like 3 miles of pulling a suitcase but hey! We got our workout for the day.  The room at the Hilton was ready by the time we had a snack in the bar and we were checked in by noon. It was a pleasant morning but it had started to get a little overcast by this time. We still decided a canal cruise with an overview of the city would be a good way to spend some time and the boats were covered.  Another short (about a mile) walk and we were at the canal with the cruise boats. The trip through the canals was informative and fun. It probably would be lots more fun on a hot day in an open boat but we can't control the weather.   Back to the hotel now struggling with how long we can stay awake versus how early will we wake up tomorrow. 

My first impressions of Amsterdam are favorable.  The people have been delightfully helpful and kind. It is a clean city and very walkable. The architecture is fantastic. The public tourist attractions are popular. There were long lines at both the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum.  The picture is the Amsterdam Central Station.

The next picture is from the canal boat ride ..

And finally in front of the Rijksmuseum at the I AMsterdam sign

Ok Today is THE DAY!

YI am sitting at the Detroit airport (in the Delta Crown Room) awaiting the boarding of our flight to Amsterdam. I was still making arrangements as late as this morning picking an airbnb for our extra days in Amsterdam. But everything is settled now. We have lodging for every night we will be away. We talked about staying somewhat flexible but I feel like I did not want to be researching bed and breakfasts and hotels while I was in a foreign country on vacation. So the travel schedule is somewhat set but there is flexibility in how any individual day will be spent. Other than  the D-Day tour on May 13 which is booked as an all day tour.  Our 5 nights in Amsterdam will be divided between the Amsterdam Hilton (where John Lennon and  Oko stayed and wrote a song) and the airbnb I booked last night. It will give us two different views of Amsterdam. We chose the Hilton because Steve and I will be attending the Amsterdam English Speaking Rotary meeting on Monday night and the meeting is held in the Hilton. It seemed like an easy choice for a first destination.  Interestingly the price of rooms at the Hilton were very reasonable for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. When I looked at the additional 2 days the price was significantly (100 euros) more expensive. So that is why I originally only booked the first 3 nights. I called this week asking about extending our visit and was quoted an even higher rate for the extra nights. We love staying at bed and Breakfasts and have had good experiences so I was happy to look at this option. I have heard great things about airbnb so I thought it was a great time to give it a try. More on that next week obviously. 

Off to the boarding gate. Let the adventure begin!

Trying to add a picture..

T minus 1

Ready set almost go!  Lots of stupid little errands today but we are in great shape to leave tomorrow.  Mail is stopped, paper is stopped. Friends are looking after the house. Mike has everyone's number in case he needs any help. Almost all of the packing is done.  I am going to special Olympic area meet with mike tomorrow for just the opening ceremonies and maybe Mike's first race.  We leave for the airport about 3. Bon voyage!