Amsterdam

It's almost 7 am on Sunday morning although the time on the iPad says almost 1 am. I guess it's still on US time. It's so hard to believe that we'd be sound asleep if we were at home. I'm thinking we aren't going to have much trouble with the time zone change - thanks to an 11 pm flight, sleeping most of the flight (at least I did - Dave not so much) and sleeping aids.

Yesterday was a very full day. The flight was very smooth. The airport is huge. 95 percent of the signs were in English with hardly any Dutch anywhere. Dogs are allowed in the airport! We picked up our rental car - a Citroen - cute as a button and not a lot bigger than that. The trunk barely exists - so much for putting our suitcase in there. We went straight to our hotel which is very modern and new. The parking spaces are tiny and if you park on the white line, your car will be towed. It's tricky opening the door without hitting the car beside you. We're picking up on that theme here - many things are "smaller" here. Like this cup of tea I'm drinking. Literally 4 sips and it's gone.


We left the hotel about 3pm and got back at 10:30. Driving here is an adventure. There are bikes everywhere and they pretty much go where they want. Yes there are bike paths everywhere but you always have to watch for the bikes. The roads are narrow and speed limits are suggestions. It took both us carefully watching the road to make sure we could follow Flo's (the name Dave gave the gps lady) directions. We couldn't drive here with out her!!!

We parked downtown and then walked about 5 miles during our time there. We took a canal boat ride. Not on one of the "new" glass type boats but on an old creaky wooden one. It was great! I had a hard time staying awake near the end of it. We saw homes on the canal built in the 1500's that are starting to lean to the side. We learned the houses were built to lean forward so things being hauled up to the upper floors - with the hooks at the top of the buildings -don't hit the house.

We had pannekokken for supper -a real treat. Girls - they had the best pancake plates and I tried to buy each of you one but there were custom made for the shop so I couldn't. Disappointing. After supper we wandered around the streets/canals and then stood in line for tickets to see Anne Frank's house. It was great to go through it after seeing several movies about it. We went behind the famous bookcase into the apartment. We could see the rooms were these people lived in hiding. Amazing. By the end of the tour, I was having a hard time keeping upright as fatigue was hitting hard. We were able to find the car again - it was a bit of a walk through many alleys crammed full of bikes (all old and in tough shape - so people won't steal them was our guess), flowers trailing up brick walls, and people everywhere.

The bed felt good - even though it was 2 single beds pushed together.

Each day I'll try to fill something in under each of the following categories:

One thing I learned today - there are more bikes in Amsterdam than people.
One new thing I experienced today - walking through clouds of smoke (not your "average" smoke) as people openly smoked and drank as they walked the streets.
Most powerful moment of the day - standing at the sink in Anne Frank's house.
One pleasurable experience - hearing Dutch being spoken. I think it's a beautiful language, especially coming from little blond, blue eyed children. :)

We're off to Paris now. Hopefully it's a warmer day. Yesterday was mid 50's and windy. Until tomorrow. Hugs and kisses for the grandkids.