Sep 24 -- Amsterdam day 1

There is so much that I’m leaving out, it seems, from our two days with Allan and Christine. The days went by quickly. Allan is quite the character – schoolmaster par excellence – constantly teaching, testing, organizing. Their three children are scattered around the globe – Helen close by, the two boys in Australia and Cyprus. The house is very organized, every picture on the wall has some family significance; memorabilia everywhere. They are very well travelled, both from visits with their children and from their side tours. Years ago they spent a lot of time with my mom and dad, both up north and in Florida. They remember me from a trip that I had to Florida where I had Jeffrey in tow, leaving him with his grandparents and seeing Allan and Christine briefly before heading off to some business meeting. I remember bring Jeffrey but not meeting them at the time.

I do not expect that we’ll get them back to North America though. They are keen travelers but will maximize their time with children and grandchildren.

Here is an interesting fact – Allan and Eric are both Canadians. Harry was the only one born in the UK before their parents emigrated. My grandparents emigrated at the same time and stayed with them, marrying in Canada. Neither Allan nor Eric have ever taken out their UK citizenship, although they are clearly entitled and have lived in the UK since they were small children. Dealing with the bureaucracy and paying the fees have deterred.

Back to Amsterdam – we took the train to the Amsterdam south station – only about a 15 minute ride – but we spent more time than that in line for tickets. From the south station we took Tram 5 towards our destination. I have to admit that I was not in a good mood – very short tempered from the short night and the travel – and I hate asking directions. However, with guidance from the info booth at the airport, the train ticket agent, the Tram ticket kiosk, someone standing by the ticket machine, the Tram conductor, the Thomas Cook store by the Tram stop and a lady on a bicycle … we finally arrived at our hotel.

At one point on the Tram I went up front to point at the map for the driver asking where we should get off … he said that we heading in the wrong direction … duh … should get off at the next stop, cross over and head the other way. That was a humorous moment, I have to admit. I had not even realized that the Trams from the train station went both ways, but that should have been obvious.

I have to say this though – it was easier to understand the English spoken by the Dutch – all very clearly enunciated – than the English from the English. Having said that though, the English people in service positions – ticket takers, you name it – were all seemingly well educated, efficient and enjoying their jobs – not what I’m used to experiencing in the US where people in these positions seem to be uneducated, bored and uncaring.

Back to Amsterdam … after an hour or so in the hotel room organizing and showering (me) – we headed off for lunch and to check out the ballet ticket situation. We are located right by all the expensive shopping – like being on 5th Avenue in New York – and found a good restaurant for lunch – an excellent roasted veggie pannini. While there it started to rain so when we set off again I stopped in a store and purchased a throw-away umbrella. We walked for 30-40 minutes, first checking out the half-price ticket location which had nothing worth purchasing for the ballet and then on to the concert hall itself where Sandy got some reasonable tickets on the balcony for the programme that she wants to see. We will be going on Wednesday night.

We were fairly wet at this point but the rain had mostly stopped so we continued wandering for the next hour or so, hitting the flower market – how many types of tulips are there anyway ???? – and then back to the hotel. This city is for walking or cycling. Bicycles are everywhere and have their own roadway on each street. It’s hard to describe the vast number of bicycles – think yellow taxis in New York and you get some idea but not even close. Bicycles probably outnumber cars 20 or 30 to 1, but perhaps even more since they take up so much less space.

Shopping and eating – and living – it really is an amazing city. Our hotel is a tall building at 4 stories. More later on this as we continue to explore over the next two days.

Back at the hotel we both fell asleep watching TV. I awoke with a start and mis-read my watch, thinking that we were late for dinner but still had time to get ready. Dinner was with Kasper Bijlsma who I had ridden with across the US this past spring. His wife, a journalist, was originally going to join us but could not because she was covering something “hot” going on in the local politics. He lives within a few minutes walk from here and we went to an excellent Italian restaurant, similar to the Victor Café in Philadelphia where the waiters sing. Good food, good wine, good conversation over the next few hours and then back to our hotel.

It was after midnight before we went to sleep ...