Roman Holiday

Coloseo, Roma

Written by Bob -

We had no problems getting on the almost full flight and arrived at out hotel in the early afternoon. I had stayed at the same hotel once before in 1964 with my parents and brother on my first trip to Europe. The hotel did not have a warrant out for my arrest for the ashtray I had determined was a souvenir on my first visit and still have at home someplace. The Mediterraneo was built in the mid-30’s and is still a nice hotel.
From the hotel we headed down the street to the Coliseum, about a 20 minute walk. A truly magnificent structure, we walked around inside and out looking for Russell Crowe. There were plenty of faux gladiators willing to pose for photos, but no Russell. From the Coliseum we went by the Arch of Constantine towards the forum and the Palatino. We got to the Forum just before closing time at 5:00 and took the slow road back to the hotel.
Tuesday was a long day. We ended up walking for over 6 hours and covered a lot of sights. We started at the Forum from the Coliseum end and ended up at the Vittorio Emanuele II monument. From the models at the tourist office, it looks as if relatively little of the Forum remains. However, there are arches, some in excellent condition, columns, broken columns laying on the ground along with large blocks of stone almost all with intricately carved flowers, animals and people. It is amazing that this work was done more than 2000 years ago. One wonders how they designed it all let alone how it was constructed and at what human price. It is an amazing sight to see.

The Forum

After the Forum was the Vittorio Emanuele II monument, a very large white stone monument I think was built in the late 1800s. The rear of the monument overlooks the Forum, the front Piazza Venezia. A lot of Victor was covered up in plastic, I believe because he was being sand blasted clean.

Next on our tour was Piazza Navonna, a beautiful 17th century square with pastel colored buildings and two large fountains. The Fountain of Neptune was working, the other was covered up being renovated. The center of the Piazza has the fountains along with lots of “art/picture” vendors, Disneyland-esque caricature artists and vendors hawking everything from purses to magnets to bubble blowing toys. We had a nice lunch on the square serenaded by an excellent solo guitar rendition of Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven.
After lunch we stopped at the local gelato stand and walked to the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain. The fountain was mobbed with tourists of course and was not quite what Nancy had expected. Audrey Hepburn was not there. It was getting late and we headed back to the hotel, stopping to pick up some snacks from a street vendor near the train station which is just down the street from the hotel.
We woke up to a light rain on Wednesday which was our day to go to Vatican City. The Vatican is also the furthest sightseeing point on our agenda. We decided to take the Metro. The Vatican was 5 stops away. A previous trip on the Metro about 9 years ago ended up being very expensive thanks to a group of gypsies. I guess they have moved on to bigger and better things, or institutions, as I did not see them this trip. Although I think I did have a small run-in with their older brothers on the return trip.

St. Peter's Basilica

Wednesday is Papal Audience day, a weekly 4 hour event. We did see him on the big screen TV in St. Peter’s Square but I am not sure where he was. He was not in the magnificent Basilica with the thousands of tourists. For reasons unknown the Cupola (dome) was closed and we opted not to stand in line to see the Sistine Chapel. We stopped for lunch and then took the Metro to the Piazza di Spagna which is where the Spanish Steps are located. They are just that, a lot of steps. Audrey was not here either so we headed back to the hotel. After the obligatory trip to the Hard Rock for yet another shirt, we called it a day.
Rome is very different than either Amsterdam or Berlin. Amsterdam is old, but nothing in comparison to Rome. Berlin is largely modern steel and glass. Rome, or at least the part we saw, has ruins and excavations scattered throughout, few of Berlin’s modern buildings and many stone and plaster buildings set in pastels and ochre. And yes, almost as many churches as Texas.
It also has:

3 people who do not smoke - the Surgeon General apparently not well known here
Legendary frenetic traffic
Vespas, in lieu of Amsterdam’s bicycles, are everywhere and come at you from every direction
More hawkers per square kilometer than any other place on the planet
More French teenage groups than Japanese tourists

It’s a great city. Tomorrow it’s back “home” to Amsterdam to get ready for Sean’s visit.

Ryan’s Week-End in Amsterdam – February 23-25

We got word through a reliable source (his Mom!) that Ryan was on his way – seat 6E. We headed out at 7:30 a.m.to Central Station to get the train to Schiphol to pick up our guest. He looked no worse for the wear, having survived his first trip overseas. Of note was that on board working business class was Delta’s senior most flight attendant. The tail winds were over 100 mph. Despite leaving Atlanta late, they arrived early.
We made our way back to the apartment, walking through the Noordemarkt for bread on the way home. Back in the apartment, we had bread, cheese, meat & fruit before heading out for the day.
Ryan forgot his camera at home so Bob handed his over & with little instruction, he was snapping away. We wandered back through the Noordemarkt & then headed to the Dam Square. From the Dam we walked to the Red Light District. There were plenty of windows open & people to observe. As always, interesting area to wander through.
From the Dam we walked toward the Leidseplein, stopping to walk through the floating flower market. We stopped at the English Bookstore to see if I could find more reading material. There were some possibilities but did not find anything worth buying. I did find a nice warm Amsterdam sweatshirt that I thought I had to have. The Leidseplein wasn’t as active as it usually is. Maybe it was too cold or we were too early. We took a canal boat ride that gave Ryan a little too much time to sit still. It was warm in the boat & the ride was over an hour long. I think he zoned out for much of the ride, needing just a little rest.
Ryan, outside the Hard Rock, Amsterdam

After the canal boat, we stopped at Hard Rock for some lunch. Ryan was disappointedthat they only had Amstel ‘light’. He came all this way for the ‘real thing’ and had to wait until we could get to the store. A couple of hamburgers later we were ready to walk again. We headed back to the apartment, diverting to the market for a few essentials, including the Amstel. Spent the evening looking at pictures and reading before he decided 9:00 was as long as he could stay awake.
Sunday was a little sunnier, a little warmer than Saturday. We started out by mid morning with the Van Gogh museum on our ‘to do’ list. As we headed toward Van Gogh, Ryan noticed the Rijksmuseum and opted to go there instead. It’s an interesting museum of Dutch history. The museum covers a small period of time – the 17th century, known as the Dutch Golden Age. After our fill of culture we walked to the Vlaamse Frittes stand where we take all of our guests. This stand sells a variety of things but its specialty is apparently the fries. They are good – and what better lunch than fries! After the fries it was back to the Red Light District. Intriguing place & Ryan seemed to think the souvenir shops there were worth going back to for a second look.
Sunday night we had dinner at home & were joined by Allen, one of the residents in the apartment building. He’s a couple of years older than Ryan & originally from South Africa. He is working here for a few years before finishing his education. He has been interesting to talk to & we thought he & Ryan might enjoy visiting. Allen was particularly pleased to be eating ‘an American dinner with an American family…..’ He mentioned that he wants to go to America so he can see ‘Hollywood’. Of course.
Monday morning all three of us were up and out early as we headed back to the airport. We finally found the infamous bus 18 that takes us to Central Station. It was so much nicer to jump on a bus at 7:30 in the morning & not lug all our bags through the streets. From Central Station, quick train ride to Schipol. We dropped Ryan at Delta after giving him instructions on how to get back to the apartment if his flight cancelled. He assured us he would be on the flight & indeed he was.
We made our way to Alitalia & jumped on our flight to Rome.

Updates....at last!

Berlin - February 13, 2007

On Wednesday morning we took the train to Berlin, a 6 hour ride through Holland to Hannover, Germany and then to Berlin. We stayed at the Steigenberger Hotel in the center of the city. We arrived at the hotel just as it was getting dark. The train was a nice way to travel and probably didn’t take much longer than it would have to fly by the time you add getting to and from the airport and check-in and security waits. The Berlin Hauptbahnof (main station) is a very modern multi-story glass structure which we found out later was recently completed and is in the part of town that used to be part of no-man’s land between East and West Berlin. Our hotel was around the corner from the Ku’damm (Kurfuerstendamm), the main shopping street in Berlin (surprise). The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is located on the Ku’Damm. It was completed in the 1890s and was bombed by the British in November 1943. A good portion of the church including the steeple is missing. Part of the original church and its intricate mosaic ceiling have been restored. The church’s primary purpose though is to remember. A part of Coventry Cathedral in England, which the Germans had bombed, is present in this church and vv.
Thursday morning we started out at Starbucks for coffee & then started walking. From The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church we walked alongside the zoo and through the Tiergarten, a large park. Some very early Lilies of the Valley coming up through the leaves.

At the end of the Tiergarten we arrived at Brandenburg Gate, where Reagan told Gorbachev to tear down the wall.

From there we walked through Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial,
a haunting park of stone blocks of varying heights in long rows.

The architecture was meant to imply isolation we learned later.

Holocaust Memorial, Berlin

Next we walked to the Potsdamer Platz, an area of town that was also in no-man’s land and is all new.
That evening we had a very nice dinner put on by friends of Karen and Bob, Malte and Tatjana Zeeck. Tatjana met us at our hotel and escorted us to their home. We had an excellent turkey dinner, good wine and great conversations about politics, WWII and other topics. Malte discussed the process of reuniting people with old family property. His family had come from what became East Germany, fleeing west at the end of WWII. After German reunification and a 10 year battle he was able to reclaim part of his family’s property, over 50 years since they had left it. He mentioned that Jews and their descendants who have claims on property that they were forced to leave have priority claims on that property. A complicated method of determining when they left, why they left and what, if any, compensation they were given for that property is taken into account.
Tatjana took us back to the bus and got us on the train back to the city. Friday we headed back to Amsterdam.

Company comes to call – Saturday & Sunday, February 15 & 16

We got back from Berlin on Friday evening. After a quick stop at the market, we got home, unpacked, started laundry & had a light dinner.
Up & out on Saturday morning to the local bakery for some fresh bread & another stop at the flower stall for fresh tulips. What an incredible luxury – having fresh tulips in the apartment. They are about 2 EUR per bunch – about $3.00. We bought a bunch of yellow & another of red. They are gorgeous.

Nancy & Jill - Amsterdam, February 2008

Back to the apartment & within 10 minutes there was a knock at the door. Frank & Jill arrived in Amsterdam on time. They made their way from the airport to the Central Station via train. From the Central Station we are about a 30 minute walk although we’re getting a little faster now, I think. We had coffee, fruit, bread & cheese & visited before heading out. The goal for Saturday was to keep them awake long enough during the day so they could go to bed at a normal time & awake on Sunday adjusted to the time difference.
Saturday the weather was much colder than during the week. There was a cold bite to the wind. Fortunately it did not rain & that’s about the only thing that would prevent us from going out. We walked for about 5 hours on Saturday.

We started out at the Noordkerk Market open air market walking among the stalls. There is anything & everything you might ever want or need at this market. It is set up early Saturday mornings – around 7:30 as best we can tell. It is all packed up & gone by later in the evening. On Mondays the same area is another market this time specializing in textiles. At the Saturday market there are flowers, fresh bread, clothing, toiletries, fresh fish, fruits & vegetables, pottery and LOTS of people! The stop we could not resist was the stall selling crepes. We devoured fresh crepes with lemon & sugar. MMMM! !!

From Noordkerk we walked to the Leidseplein & the floating flower market. The flowers are incredible. The people watching not bad either. There are always interesting characters at the Leidseplein. We stopped at our favorite French fry ‘restaurant’ for a quick snack. After our snack we headed wandered toward Vondel Park via the Zuiderbad Park in front of the Rijks Museum, opting to stop at the museum shop rather than the museum itself. Nearby was a man made ice skating rink with several families out enjoying the cold afternoon. A quick stop at another bakery for hot chocolate (for me) & we were on our way again. After Vondel Park we headed back to the apartment. We rested, regrouped & headed to the market for dinner ingredients. We had a good pasta dinner, some nice wine & everyone was in bed early having spent a full day in the fresh air.

Sunday morning we headed out once again. We headed a different direction this time as we went to the Dam Square. At the Dam we saw horse drawn carriages, bag pipe players & human statues as well as the obligatory tourists. From there we ventured to the unique Red Light District where the windows were active & the girls on display. An interesting & a sad place.
We found a Chinese restaurant & stopped in for an early dinner. The food was so so but a couple of interesting things happened. The first, as Bob was eating his hot & sour soup, Jill looked at hers & told him to stop eating….she had found shrimp in her soup. Bob is highly allergic to sea food. I (not so) kiddingly told Bob he was beholden to his little sister in law for saving his life & owed his life to her.

Nieuwmarkt. near the Red Light District

There was a large group of people eating in an adjoining room when we sat down. Frank noticed they were loudly discussing their bill. The discussion got louder & louder with more & more employees joining in. Finally two police officers showed up & broke it up. Not sure what happened but kind of a side show to our meal.

Sunday night found us back at the apartment with some bread, cheese & wine to have as a light dinner. When we realized Frank had not seen our New Zealand/Fiji pictures we had found another sucker….uh, person to show them to. He was a good sport about them, start to finish. I’m sure the wine he was drinking helped him endure all 2000 plus pictures!

A Day of Good Intentions -February 18, 2007

Monday morning the 4 of us were out the door at 7:30 a.m. headed for Central Station. The cobble stones & bridge overpasses were slippery with ice. That should have been our first warning……..

We got to Central Station & headed out on the train to the airport where we would pick up a bus to take us to Aalsmeer Flower Auction. We’ve been there numerous times & it was on Frank & Jill’s ‘to do’ list. Our bus diverted at the end of the airport. When we got off, another passenger translated what the bus driver had told everyone. There had been an accident on the icy roads earlier in the morning. Roads were a mess and buses off schedule. We continued on, taking a bus that we thought would take us to Aalsmeer and the flower auction. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aalsmeer_Flower_Auction

Once there we stopped again. No driver for the bus. The auction house closes at 11:00 a.m. At 10:00 a.m., we asked about walking & were told it was at least a ½ hour. At 10:10 we made the decision to forego the flower market & head back to the Central Station. The 2nd part of our day was to go to Delft. We waited for what seemed like hours (probably a half hour) in the cold.

Eventually a bus came that was headed to Amsterdam & we grabbed it. It turned out to be one of our original bus drivers. A half hour into our journey (stopping every 2 minutes) Bob & I recognized the area we were in as where we usually stay. We jumped off the bus to try to regroup & go with plan ‘C’ which essentially was very simple……find a bathroom at any cost. We walked to the Hilton where we usually stay – walked in like we owned the place & for the first time all morning, something went right. We found bathrooms!! We got a map from the concierge & were on our way again. This time we wandered toward Albert Cuyp Market. http://www.amsterdam.info/shopping/albert_cuypmarkt/
It really is just another flea market but we were in the area so figured why not. The buildings on our walk were very pretty & the scenery was enjoyable. The air had warmed up a little so the walk was pleasant.

After our fill at the market & trying unsuccessfully to find lunch we decided to head back to the apartment. Frank saved the day by finding a pancake house (traditional Dutch, we’re told). We stopped there for a wonderful first meal of the day at 1:30 in the afternoon. The pancakes were filling & hit the spot – enjoyed by all. After food & drink we headed for the apartment. Naps reinvigorated all of us & then we thought about dinner.

Frank found what looked like a good place to eat – by Central Station. It had been recommended by Bruce, the owner of the apartment so we figured why not. We sent them an e-mail asking for a reservation & enthusiastically looked through the menu online. We set off at 6:30 for the ½ hour walk to Central Station only to be met by a closed restaurant! It was an appropriate end to our not so perfect day!

Back to the apartment, with a quick stop at the market. We picked up some wine, some sauce to enhance the leftover pasta, some just from the oven bread and a few other essentials. Came back & had a feast. Why didn’t we think of that to begin with? Guess we needed that extra walk last night.

Housekeeping - February 19, 20 & 21

The wakeup call was way too early for our company Tuesday morning. Reality kicked in for them as they left the apartment at 6:30 a.m. to head back to the train station, on to the airport & back to Atlanta. As I write this, their plane has just landed. Ryan tells me they were seated in business class so hopefully they had an enjoyable flight.

After Frank & Jill left we had a stay at home, catch up on everything kind of day that included catching up on sleep, reading, email, laundry & housecleaning. It was a quiet day & the kind we really have come to enjoy during our stay here. We can look out the window at the canal. Watch the heron & ducks & the canal boats that come by occasionally. We ventured out for a walk to the market & that was about it for the day. Came home & cooked dinner a fairly decent chicken cordon bleu on top of the stove for dinner!

Dinner is served!

Wednesday we went looking for Magna Plaza – a shopping center we had passed a few times previously. It is a shopping center inside a building built in 1899 that originally housed the central post office. The architecture is gorgeous, the shops high end. We found a belt for Bob but nothing else of much interest. Walking back out in the street toward Central Station, I found several stores worth looking into. After several stops, I found the travel purse of my dreams. It is big – can hold hardback books, umbrellas, Ipods & all those other necessary purse things. It is awesome. I’ve even included a picture so you can admire! Back to the market for some bread, cheese & dinner ingredients. The menu for the evening was roasted garlic, cheese, salad & homemade potato soup with ham & cheese. It turned out pretty well considering I have to improvise, make up for lack of ingredients & either use the stovetop or microwave for everything I do!

Yes, you may admire...it is the travel purse of my dreams. LOVE it!

Brugges, February 22, 2008

Thursday this week was train day and we were off to Brugge in Belgium. This was our third visit to Brugge, a beautiful medieval city full of old buildings, canals and horse drawn carriages. A tourist trap no doubt, but a beautiful one. We changed trains in Brussels and 4 hours later arrived in Brugge. We walked from the station to Minnewater area of Brugge, which has small lakes complete with swans, an old nunnery (the Beguin), cobblestone streets and lots of old buildings and houses.

Minnewater, Brugge

Speaking of cobblestone streets, every street and sidewalk in Amsterdam seems to be cobblestone or similar. Looks great, doesn’t feel great after several hours of walking. The Minnewater area is also one of the starting points for the horse drawn carriage rides. A horse fountain is appropriately located in the square.

A nice fondue restaurant, closed at this time of day, is located on the far side of the square. We took Sean & Brian to this fondue restaurant many years ago. They may have memories of it.......enough said!

From Minnewater we headed toward the town square. Fairly easy to do, just follow the church spire and the familiar Belfort clock tower. The weather had been warmer on previous trips and the square was full of open air restaurants and lots of tourists. Not as many tourists this trip and eating has moved indoors. We stopped for lunch and made our way back toward the train station. Brugge is very much a tourist town and streets are full of chocolatiers and lace shops. We indulged in both and headed back to Brussels and Amsterdam. A good 4 hours to read my book, “World Without End”, which is about England in the 1300s. Complete with references to the wool merchants from Brugge.

February 22, 2008 -TGIF

Walking home from the station last night there was high wind & had been raining. This morning we woke up to mild temperatures, high wind and rain. We made our way to the market & I have a version of stew on the stove cooking away while I catch up on some writing. We’ve had a visitor this afternoon. Allen is South African, living on a work visa in Amsterdam. He manages the apartment building. I think his intent for visiting this afternoon was to inform us a workman would be in the apartment later today. He and Bob (& I to a lesser extent) have been visiting for the last couple of hours. He’s a fascinating person with an interesting perspective on life. We think we’re going to have a party this week-end and maybe next and have invited some of the people who live in the building. I think Sean (next week-end) and Ryan (tomorrow) would find them very interesting as well.

Busy week-end with Ryan here. He leaves on Monday. We head to Rome, back Thursday.

Playing House

This apartment is so much fun. It is fairly small (& I suspect will shrink even more with all the upcoming visitors) and reminds me of a dollhouse - playing house, something I loved when I was a kid.

This bouquet of tulips greeted us on arrival

We have managed to conquer the combination washer/dryer. When all else fails, read the directions. They were actually quite well written. All laundry is washed & dried. I am attempting towels tonight. Washed this morning - so far the dryer has taken over an hour to dry them.

The combination washer/dryer that caused so much angst!

Yesterday our trip to the market included ingredients for dinner. It was a little bit of a challenge to figure out what to cook for our 3rd meal 'at home'. I have not yet mastered the oven. That meant cooking food on top of the stove or in the microwave. We ended up with a good dinner. I had 1 pot & 1 pan to use so had to figure out the order to cook things but in the end it worked fine. It really was fun - like playing house!

The kitchen sink & counter - to the right of the counter is the stove top/oven/dishwasher combinaton unit....further right, the bathroom!

I've included a tour of the apartment in pictures. Tried to show the stairs - the first staircase goes straight up, the 2nd is winding & a little more challenging....especially with bags in hand.

The two flights of stairs to the apartment

Off to Berlin tomorrow, back here early evening on Friday.

Looking forward to the week-end when Frank & Jill arrive.

Living room sofa / pull out bed
Entertainment center!

Bathroom sink Shower

Dining room table with view of the canal & 5 herons who live in and around it - great spot for watching the world go by.

Life is just a Day at the Beach

We are having incredible weather in Amsterdam. The days are close to 50 degrees, sunny with no wind. Surely the city will get hit with their worst winter storm ever while were here....but until then, we are having a great time being outside. Sunday morning we were out the door by mid morning, headed to Scheveningen a beachside resort town. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheveningen We walked the now familiar route to Central Station & took the snel train (fast train although the information person at Brussels airport told us the tracks were not laid in full for the snel train....so therefore it really doesn't exist) to Scheveningen. It was a very pleasant 50 minute train ride. From the window we could see blurs of the countryside & on occasional windmill.

From Den Haag http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hague we took a tram for another 15 minutes to the beach. En route to the beach we passed Madurodam which is Holland done in miniature. A place Sean & Brian will remember well from their visit to here several years ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madurodam

We apparently had the same idea everyone else had - sunny day, bundle up the kids & head to the beach. There were families picnicking, children playing on the beach, one swimmer, a kid who obviously told his parents 'it's sunny out, I want to swim', dogs with tennis balls & people out just enjoying the sunshine. Lots of people on that beach. There is a boardwalk pier that ends at a bungee jumping platform. You can walk it from above, in the fresh air or below from a glass enclosed area.

At the top of the beach was a long line of places to shop, tourist stuff, places to eat & vendors selling ice cream, snacks & general must have junk. After wandering the beach for awhile we walked by restaurants trying to read menus & figure out where to have lunch. We settled on one that looked promising & enjoyed omelets while we people watched. There were two women behind us that Bob had full view of...one rolled her own cigarettes (yes, tobacco), the other did not stop talking or laughing for about an hour. She was quite large, gray hair with piercings & tattoos....interesting. Dogs came into the restaurant with their owners to hang out while the owners ate. The food was fine & the people watching was great.

We headed back to the tram stop & made our way back to Amsterdam, stopping at the market for a few essentials. 'Home' early in the evening, in time to try to figure out the combination washer/dryer. It took us most of the evening to 'almost' dry one load of underwear....obviously we're doing something wrong. We realized we didn't have to struggle with Dutch labeling on the machine when 3 hours into the washing/drying adventure we remembered the directions were in the booklet provided to us by the owners of the building. That only added to our confusion.

This morning we have another load of laundry in and at the rate we're going may have 2 pair of clean socks by the end of the day. Even though our washing/drying skills are not up to par, we have discovered another invention of the new millennium - Skype. What fun! As Jill & I were talking, Frank turned on a video camera. I could see her new haircut & Frank acting goofy behind her. Mom doesn't have a camera but to be able to call & talk just to catch up was great!

Still having a great time just living life! Plans for this week include a trip to an airplane museum (an hour or so away), an overnight adventure to Berlin & then later in the week company when Frank & Jill arrive.

'dam days

This trip is a bit different from the last one to New Zealand and Fiji for which we had an itinerary. On this trip, we don’t have much of an itinerary. We don’t have anything scheduled to do until we go to Morocco in a month and some weekend stateside company saying they will drop by.
And it probably shows. No daily blog updates so far. I’ve taken less than 250 pictures.
This is a different kind of travel for us so far. Sleeping in late. In the 3 full days we have had here, today, Saturday, was the “busiest”. We started out after noon for the small park, Frederik HendrikPlantSoen, across the canal and the street from the apartment.



A small neighborhood park with some grass and a good number of crocus that have come up already. From Fred’s we headed for the open air market at Noordkerk (North Church). We were there last year with Mike and Vanessa. It’s a large open air market selling everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to meat, bread (yes, Vanessa there were 2 bread stalls with great selections), clothes, and sundry other junk. Popular place. Bikes, of course, were everywhere. Horse drawn carriages brought the lazier tourists to market.
From Noordkerk we headed out along the Prizengracht (gracht = canal) and headed slowly toward the Leidseplein area for our ritual Vlaamische Frittes (Flemish french fries) and mayo snack. From there we went through Vondelpark, a large park in the middle of the city that was “all tore up” last trip.
We wandered back toward the apartment via another open air market which occupied the entire street. Lots of women in hijabs at this market…not sure if we were in a Middle Eastern neighborhood.

We got back to the apartment a little after 5 and after awhile went out to the local Pizzeria for dinner.

An interesting place was Ben Cohen's Shawarma. Discuss.

Tomorrow? We’ll see when it gets here. Maybe a train ride to the beach.

Departure, Arrival and Life in Amsterdam

Missed a few days so am taking a few minutes to catch up on everything since we've been gone.



We left home on Tuesday, February 5, 2008. Our original plan was to fly from Dallas Ft. Worth to Frankfurt. From Frankfurt it was either a 3 hour train ride or a 1 hour plane ride, depending on what was available when we got to Frankfurt. Unfortunately in checking flights for those 1st class seats we demand, it wasn't looking good for Frankfurt. Quick change of plans & we were off to JFK airport in NYC. Three and a half hours in the air, 2 hours on the ground & we were off to Brussels. American no longer has first class overseas on any flights but London or Frankfurt. This was business class & was very nice.

The first hour and a half of the flight was filled with turbulence & bouncing. So much so that meal service was suspended as flight attendants had to stay seated. Not my favorite but we got through it. Finally had a nice meal, good wine & watched a movie (The Jane Austin Book Club) before sleeping on and off for a few hours. Declined breakfast when we were informed that due to the late dinner service breakfast would be served 2 hours after dinner was finished! Opted to try to sleep a little more instead.

We arrived in Brussels, cleared customs & went directly to the train station. With our 1st class EuroRail tickets in hand, we boarded the train. I love that the train had a 'real' conductor who came through & punched tickets. So cool! The first train took us to Brussels Nord Station where we changed trains for Amsterdam. The 2nd train took about 2 -1/2 hours & went to Amsterdam Central Station. Upon arrival, with bags in hand & directions to the apartment (& not finding bus #18 that would take us to the front of the apartment) we headed off on foot for the 15-20 (OK, 30 or so) minute walk. The weather was cool & cloudy but not cold. The cobblestone sidewalks provided a little bit of a challenge for our wheel bags but we managed. Fortunately Bob has a good sense of direction.....when they say turn at the canal, I just can't do it, all canals look alike. OK, I guess he read the signs on the streets but regardless, he can follow directions - my hero!

At the apartment, we entered the code to open the door & were greeted by very narrow, very steep steps. The first flight of stairs was bad enough, the second took us into total darkness with extremely winding narrow steps. 30 steps in all.....I always count stairs. Into the Marokko apartment. Marokko we assumed & were later told assumed correctly is Dutch for Morocco. The theme of the apartment is Moroccan....interesting considering this trip will include a visit to Morocco & was the original intent of the entire adventure!

The apartment is very nice. Big windows that face a busy sidewalk, canal & street. There is activity going on all the time. Herons (we're told there are 5 of them) jumping all over the cars parked below, houseboats on the canal, bikes everywhere, buses & people going by at all hours. You can sit & people watch for hours.

The apartment is fairly large & has everything. A table & chairs for eating (& blogging), wireless internet, sleeper couch, TV, DVD, separate bedroom, kitchen with washer dryer (same unit!), stove, microwave, dishwasher (on the bottom of the stove!), refrigerator. The bathroom is very small. If you drop the soap while you're in the shower it is not easy to retrieve it but the water is hot & plentiful. The bed has a nice down comforter and is king sized. The first two nights we've managed to sleep 12+ hours so I'd say the bed is fine!

The kitchen was well stocked when we arrived - cheese, bread, meat, wine, milk, fruit, yogurt, tea, coffee, eggs, butter, cookies, nuts, cokes, beer - enough for a small meal or two & lots of snacks. There was also a gorgeous bouquet of tulips to greet us.

Shortly after we arrived, Allen came to greet us. We assume he works in the building. He lives on the 4th floor & had been one of our contacts prior to arrival. He showed us the ropes & told us where to find him if we needed anything. After Allen left we decided we were awake enough & hungry enough to go in search of food. Knowing we could get to the Hard Rock Cafe & that they would be serving meals at any time of day we headed that direction. We are staying in a different area of the city than we nornally do - in the Jordaan district. This is very much a residential area with small shops, places to eat, bars all along the neighborhood. Not knowing the area, we opted to walk the 35 minutes or so to what we knew. After a nice dinner (ahhh food!!) we stopped at a druggist for toiletries. It was really very cool shopping for them & feeling like we actually live here....if only for awhile! Back to the apartment, up the winding stairs & tried to read for a little while. Did not last long & I at least was asleep by 7:00 at the latest. Did not get out of bed until after 12:00 yesterday! But, I must say, I was awake for about 3 hours during the night, just couldn't stay asleep. Of course, as the sun came up, I fell asleep!

Around noon there was a knock at the door. Allen had lugged the 25 pound box of clothes that Fed Ex delivered up the stairs to us. YEAH - everything got here! Shipping the box of things was a great idea!

We had scrambled eggs, coffee & toast for 'linner' before heading out for a walk & in search of the market. We never did not find the recommended grocery store but another one sufficed for what we needed. Bought some wine, cheese & bread, along with a few other odds & ends & came home to have a light dinner.

We met Bruce, one of the owners of the apartment building & someone we had corresponded with in setting up the rental when he stopped by after work. He had a glass of wine with us before heading back to his apartment. He grew up in Annapolis & has lived here for many years. His mother is Dutch but lives in the states.

Managed to stay awake until about midnight last night - reading a book called Hollywood Station by Joseph Wambaugh, an author I used to read a lot & have really enjoyed in the past. This morning did not start early....again, managed to stay awake for a few hours during the night & fall asleep at sunrise. Did get out of bed by 10:00 though which is at least a little better. We've had coffee, bread, fruit & meat, the sun is shining & my computer says it's 45 degrees at just past noon. I think it's time to head outside to 'play' and Wilson is demanding to see the city.