OK. I think I am caught up enough on my sleep to be able to write something relatively intelligible about our trip!! May have to do this in two or three parts; we'll see. So, here goes:
We took the bus and the Max out to the airport nice and early Wednesday morning (5/21), leaving a blissfully ignorant Marvin lounging on the front doorstep. Got checked in, had breakfast, bought a book for the trip (Atlas of the Human Heart by Ariel Gore - perfect traveling read). Flew to Houston, changed planes, then it was off to Amsterdam - 12 hours.
Much nicer seats, even in steerage; the back of each seat has a little video screen for movies, games, etc, and only two in each row instead of three. We watched The Hours (need to see it again, though; trying to watch in-flight movies is always a trying experience, but it was excellent nonetheless). The food was OK, not great but then it's airline food, what do you expect?? Byron forgot to indicate a preference for veggie meals, so he was forced to eat chicken (not for the only time on this trip). He survived. I couldn't sleep; I think I closed my eyes for half an hour, but that was about it. It was so weird to watch the "trip tracker map" on the monitor, and watch the time changes, and know that we were flying over the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the night.
We finally landed in Amsterdam in the early afternoon of 5/22, took the train into town and stumbled out of the central station into the big, old, bustling city. We got a cab, and of course the driver barely spoke English and ended up taking the circuitous route (with the car speakers blaring some American rapper going on about bitches and ho's all the while); turns out our hotel (the Singel Hotel on the Singel Canal) was within easy walking distance of the station the whole time. We finally got checked in about 2:30 pm, went to our teeny-tiny room right above the street (quiet? no), collapsed on the bed and slept for 6 hours. Woke up around 9 and went out in search of dinner. A couple blocks away we found the Ristaurante Savini, where I had some utterly fabulous salmon ravioli.
Wonder if the owner is related to Tom Savini?? After that we walked around a little bit, getting a feel for the neighborhood. Walking down one alley back to the hotel, we were startled to see several windows lined with red neon lights - it's them! The famous Amsterdam hookers! (and we weren't even in the red light district - they're all over the city, apparently.) They stand in the window, scantily clad, hoping to catch your eye; sometimes they knock on the window to get your attention. The ones we saw then were pretty darn cute! But, we had get back to the hotel and try to get back to a more or less regular sleep pattern. A noble plan that never quite materialized the entire trip. Yep, we spent a lot of time sleeping!
Next morning (Fri. 5/23) we had a nice breakfast at the hotel (breakfast buffet included), then decided to just take a walk and see where it took us. We walked up toward the main square and Madame Tussaud's. Nothing opens til 10 a.m. there, basically. Old tall skinny buildings, small cute "squished" cars, everyone on bikes, cobblestone streets and alleys, shops, cafes, "coffeeshops" (the pot parlors), bakeries. A sex shop displaying in the window all manner of dildos, vibrators, leatherware, and videos, the cover of one video showing a woman being fucked by a big black dog.
I kept having to remind myself that I was indeed in the city of Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Anne Frank... We finally found our way to the Rijksmuseum in the pouring rain; most of it was closed for asbestos repair, but we did see the Asiatic Art room and the Hendrick Goltzius exhibit. After walking for a seeming eternity, Byron snapping pictures all the while (I'll post some, promise!), we headed back to the hotel and a nap. We had dinner that evening at a neat vegetarian restaurant, the Bolhoed (the Bowler Hat), with its own resident cat. 
Saturday, 5/24. More walking took us to the Anne Frank House. It completely floored me to realize that we were standing in the place where it all happened. The room that had been her bedroom really got to me. Some of the pictures that she had glued to the wall are still there - movie stars, then-Princess Elizabeth, little drawings and pictures from magazines. In spite of the millions of people who have tromped through the place over the years, the energy there is still very calm. It is definitely a holy place. Then after that we headed for Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, which was a lot of fun. We got some good pictures of us with the likes of Salvador Dali (and his chicken), Humphrey Bogart, Sean Connery, Harrison Ford, Madonna, etc. After yet another nap at the hotel, we had dinner at Tio Pepe, a few doors down from Savini's; another excellent meal, I think I had the Tacos Santa Cruz.... Yummmm............
OK, speaking of dinner, we're about to have Byron's famous spaghetti, so stay tuned for Part 2!
We took the bus and the Max out to the airport nice and early Wednesday morning (5/21), leaving a blissfully ignorant Marvin lounging on the front doorstep. Got checked in, had breakfast, bought a book for the trip (Atlas of the Human Heart by Ariel Gore - perfect traveling read). Flew to Houston, changed planes, then it was off to Amsterdam - 12 hours.
Much nicer seats, even in steerage; the back of each seat has a little video screen for movies, games, etc, and only two in each row instead of three. We watched The Hours (need to see it again, though; trying to watch in-flight movies is always a trying experience, but it was excellent nonetheless). The food was OK, not great but then it's airline food, what do you expect?? Byron forgot to indicate a preference for veggie meals, so he was forced to eat chicken (not for the only time on this trip). He survived. I couldn't sleep; I think I closed my eyes for half an hour, but that was about it. It was so weird to watch the "trip tracker map" on the monitor, and watch the time changes, and know that we were flying over the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the night.
We finally landed in Amsterdam in the early afternoon of 5/22, took the train into town and stumbled out of the central station into the big, old, bustling city. We got a cab, and of course the driver barely spoke English and ended up taking the circuitous route (with the car speakers blaring some American rapper going on about bitches and ho's all the while); turns out our hotel (the Singel Hotel on the Singel Canal) was within easy walking distance of the station the whole time. We finally got checked in about 2:30 pm, went to our teeny-tiny room right above the street (quiet? no), collapsed on the bed and slept for 6 hours. Woke up around 9 and went out in search of dinner. A couple blocks away we found the Ristaurante Savini, where I had some utterly fabulous salmon ravioli.
Wonder if the owner is related to Tom Savini?? After that we walked around a little bit, getting a feel for the neighborhood. Walking down one alley back to the hotel, we were startled to see several windows lined with red neon lights - it's them! The famous Amsterdam hookers! (and we weren't even in the red light district - they're all over the city, apparently.) They stand in the window, scantily clad, hoping to catch your eye; sometimes they knock on the window to get your attention. The ones we saw then were pretty darn cute! But, we had get back to the hotel and try to get back to a more or less regular sleep pattern. A noble plan that never quite materialized the entire trip. Yep, we spent a lot of time sleeping!
Next morning (Fri. 5/23) we had a nice breakfast at the hotel (breakfast buffet included), then decided to just take a walk and see where it took us. We walked up toward the main square and Madame Tussaud's. Nothing opens til 10 a.m. there, basically. Old tall skinny buildings, small cute "squished" cars, everyone on bikes, cobblestone streets and alleys, shops, cafes, "coffeeshops" (the pot parlors), bakeries. A sex shop displaying in the window all manner of dildos, vibrators, leatherware, and videos, the cover of one video showing a woman being fucked by a big black dog.
I kept having to remind myself that I was indeed in the city of Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Anne Frank... We finally found our way to the Rijksmuseum in the pouring rain; most of it was closed for asbestos repair, but we did see the Asiatic Art room and the Hendrick Goltzius exhibit. After walking for a seeming eternity, Byron snapping pictures all the while (I'll post some, promise!), we headed back to the hotel and a nap. We had dinner that evening at a neat vegetarian restaurant, the Bolhoed (the Bowler Hat), with its own resident cat.
Saturday, 5/24. More walking took us to the Anne Frank House. It completely floored me to realize that we were standing in the place where it all happened. The room that had been her bedroom really got to me. Some of the pictures that she had glued to the wall are still there - movie stars, then-Princess Elizabeth, little drawings and pictures from magazines. In spite of the millions of people who have tromped through the place over the years, the energy there is still very calm. It is definitely a holy place. Then after that we headed for Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, which was a lot of fun. We got some good pictures of us with the likes of Salvador Dali (and his chicken), Humphrey Bogart, Sean Connery, Harrison Ford, Madonna, etc. After yet another nap at the hotel, we had dinner at Tio Pepe, a few doors down from Savini's; another excellent meal, I think I had the Tacos Santa Cruz.... Yummmm............
OK, speaking of dinner, we're about to have Byron's famous spaghetti, so stay tuned for Part 2!
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
max16characters:
When i was there i got to see the ENTIRE Rijksmuseum. And let me tell you, it's an amazing place. Full of artwork as far as the eye can see and so many things older than our coutnry i was floored. I was dissappointed with Anne Franks House (too modern to give the right impression i thought with glass and steel and plasma screens everywhere or so i seem to remember). The Van Gogh Musem was definately my favorite, though i suppose it helped that i was really high at the time. I think the most amazing thing though was just experiencing the culture and the peope everywhere...very enriching.
pucabul:
You seem to remember things with a remarkable clarity. I wish I had that ability. Not to mention the time and money to take a vacation in a rad foreign city.