Day 1 - Amsterdam

 Well, getting this going upon arrival in Amsterdam turned out to be too ambitious!  So this is the evening of our first full day in Amsterdam.  We will spend three nights and 3+ days in this amazing city and then we take a train to Rotterdam where we spend one night and have some exploring time before boarding our Holland America cruise ship.

Our flight from SFO to AMS was good despite a modest delay and after 10 LONGGGG hours we arrived safely.  The plane was only 2/3 full so we had some room and the service was good.  The food was weird somehow and the wine mediocre.  Ah well, at least we got fed.with enough alcohol to be relaxed.  Sleep, on the other hand, was elusive!  Schiphol airport was about as good as modern airports can be. After some WhatsApp confusion we connected with our assigned taxi and were whisked away to our hotel.  After a long flight, jetlagged, and little sleep it was so nice to be taken care of, arriving at our hotel with little hassle.

Our hotel, the City Hotel, is very well located and is a short walk from both main train station and the town center.  There are multiple parallel and side canals providing an almost constant view of water as we explored the area that afternoon.  Those who know Amsterdam recognize this area as the oldest part of the city, containing (among other treats) the "red light district". We were aware of this, but unprepared for the casual, "coffee, tea or me" approach to displaying the wares.  We understand that the workers are not exploited, but they still seemed less than happy with their situation and not trying very hard to be either exotic or enticing.

One of the most surprising aspects of life in Amsterdam is the overwhelming presence of bicycles.  They are EVERYWHERE!  They appear to be the dominant personal transportation in the downtown area - and are pampered in terms of wide dedicated paths and separated street crossings.  It works well, but is a bit overwhelming for us tourist pedestrians.  The bikes come through in massive waves with much dinging of bells and swerving and careening around corners and woe be it to anyone in or near the bike path!  Few cyclists wear helmets and it is hard to believe that there are few serious accidents.  Automobile traffic is limited, so the streets are mostly free of traffic noise, which is really pleasant.  We could have rented bikes to get around, but suspected that we could become statistics.  We walked a LOT, raking up !5,000 or more steps per day.

Exhausted from the flight and jet lag, we got an early dinner at a wonderful Italian eatery and crashed...only to be up much of the night.  Judy slept quite a bit, but Ben only dosed off and on.  (With 9 hours time difference, night here is mostly day back home.)





Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

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