Here are a few more images...We do more than eat, promise! The image of the bicycles is right outside Central Station...It's a Dutch parking lot. Don't the pancakes look delicious? And...the first image: Well that's a public urinal???
Thursday, May 28, 2009
More Pictures
Here are a few more images...We do more than eat, promise! The image of the bicycles is right outside Central Station...It's a Dutch parking lot. Don't the pancakes look delicious? And...the first image: Well that's a public urinal???
Beautiful Day Continued...
Sorry about the quick exit on the last post. We found a new cafe so we can upload pictures. This photo was taken with Pete's mini tripod at Vondell Park...He did a good job beating the timer :)
We forgot to mention what we had for lunch yesterday...Amsterdam's famous pancakes from The Pancake Bakery. They were bigger than the plate...we should have shared one! Both of ours were delicious...both had homemade whipped cream, icecream, and powdered sugar, along with liquor which made them very strong and hard to finish.
Back to our favorite experience so far...we sat outside a cafe and enjoyed a feast consisting of a kiwi milkshake (a new favorite), 2 glasses of fresh squeezed orange juice, a Bitter Lemon soda (also a favorite), 2 smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels, and an Indo Chicken sandwich. The best part was relaxing in the locals neighborhood, watching its residents go about their everyday lives. Which we must say...the Dutch are expert bicyclists.
Then we headed to the Anne Frank Museum...which was very moving. We actually walked through the secret annex (where they hid). What an experience...if you are ever in this town it's a MUST SEE!
We plan to sight see a little more and take some more photos before sitting down to our Indonesian dinner...called rijsttafel. You get 25-30 small dishes with a giant bowl of rice...we'll let you know how it goes. This is our last night in Amsterdam so we plan on taking in as much as possible, once more before we retiring to rest up for our early morning trip to Bruge, Belgium.
Day 2 continued...Plus Day 3
Well so much has happened since we last wrote, unfortunately we are at the same cafe so unable to load pictures. Where to begin...after we left we toured the cathedral where Rembrant (the painter) is buried under one of its many great pilars. It had an amazing organ which boasted such sound...too bad we can't remember the name of the church. Then, we toured "The Nine Streets" a beautiful, quirky collection of random shops and cafes. To give you an idea of the randomness...there was a shop of toothbrushes!
Off to the flower market...lots of tulips! Next, on to the flea market...about what you would expect from any flea market. We decided to pass on the used dutch clogs. However we did try Amsterdam's famous frittes (french fries)...delicious! The Red Light District...what can you say...we're not in Kansas anymore Toto! New Orleans has nothing on this place.
After hours of touring and taking in as much as possible, the afternoon showers began to pour and the tempature dropped so we decided to seek shelter and returned to the room. A much needed nap temporarily soothed our aching bones! And I mean aching...we are limping around like we are in our late 90s. Boy are we out of shape..hoping that will change soon. Thanks mom for suggesting the muscle cream! Bundled up, about 5 layers of clothing, we headed out to dinner...Unfortunately all the good restaurants close about 9 pm, leaving us with only the overpriced tourist eateries. We ate McDonalds.
Next day, only have 5 minutes left to type. Woke up early...BEAUTIFUL DAY, no jackets! Took the tram to the Van Gogh Museum, what a great experience. The real thing is so much better in real life...the details are breathtaking! We then left on foot (still crazy sore). Took a nice stroll through Vondell Park...beautiful. Tried to find an Indonesian Resturant that our hotel owner recommended...got lost of the tram for about an hour...found it, closed until 6pm. Two hours later, we stumbled upon our best experience yet. By then we were starving so we ate A LOT. Gotta go, time's up. Until next time.
Off to the flower market...lots of tulips! Next, on to the flea market...about what you would expect from any flea market. We decided to pass on the used dutch clogs. However we did try Amsterdam's famous frittes (french fries)...delicious! The Red Light District...what can you say...we're not in Kansas anymore Toto! New Orleans has nothing on this place.
After hours of touring and taking in as much as possible, the afternoon showers began to pour and the tempature dropped so we decided to seek shelter and returned to the room. A much needed nap temporarily soothed our aching bones! And I mean aching...we are limping around like we are in our late 90s. Boy are we out of shape..hoping that will change soon. Thanks mom for suggesting the muscle cream! Bundled up, about 5 layers of clothing, we headed out to dinner...Unfortunately all the good restaurants close about 9 pm, leaving us with only the overpriced tourist eateries. We ate McDonalds.
Next day, only have 5 minutes left to type. Woke up early...BEAUTIFUL DAY, no jackets! Took the tram to the Van Gogh Museum, what a great experience. The real thing is so much better in real life...the details are breathtaking! We then left on foot (still crazy sore). Took a nice stroll through Vondell Park...beautiful. Tried to find an Indonesian Resturant that our hotel owner recommended...got lost of the tram for about an hour...found it, closed until 6pm. Two hours later, we stumbled upon our best experience yet. By then we were starving so we ate A LOT. Gotta go, time's up. Until next time.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
We made it!
Horray! We made it...let's start from the beginning.
First let us say thank you to everyone who has made this trip possible! We love you!
We arrived at the airport (thanks Lindsey, Holland, and Aiden) with about 3 hours until our flight. They dropped us off at the north terminal, then we were told to go to the south. We tried to get our tickets at the electric kiosk, but Pete's passport didn't match his ticket (even after the booking agent said there would be no problem). We then spoke to a women who was very rude and said there was nothing she could do, go back to the north termina...meanwhile our bags weigh over 30 lbs each (big mistake). After standing in line for over and hour, we got our tickets...and realized our bags were too big to carry on...so we checked them. Had a nice flight, played Tetris, too excited to sleep.
Arrived in the Netherlands about 7:30 Tuesday morning. Tried to buy a train ticket to Amsterdam, Pete's debit card didn't work...had to use the emergency credit card. Went to get cash from the ATM, Pete's debit card failed us once again. Thank goodness mine worked. After solving money issues, we loaded our heavy bags and headed to Amsterdam.
After arriving at Central Station, we found the information booth to get directions to our accomidations (to drop off the crazy heavy bags). To make a long, long, long story short we took a 2 hour walking tour of Amsterdam in the freezing cold rain. Luckily Fredric, the bike/room rental owner, was extremely helpful and kind enough to provide a map and detailed low-down of the city. We got to our room, which we will post pics when we can find a computer that will let us, we are very pleased with the location (which happen to be two blocks from Central Station...urrrg). The room is very basic: a bed, sink, tv, and toilet/shower...but fits our needs. The bed has excellent orthopedic support (hard as a rock).
We were jet lagged and had aching bones (still do), but toughed it out to get a bite. Then returned to take a nap. Woke up about 8pm Tuesday night, got dinner and saw the town. It's a lot nicer without heavy bags and pouring rain.
Time's about to run up...we only paid for 30 minutes. Today is beautiful, and we couldn't be happier in this wonderful city. Lots to do...until next time. Love you all, Loren and Pete
First let us say thank you to everyone who has made this trip possible! We love you!
We arrived at the airport (thanks Lindsey, Holland, and Aiden) with about 3 hours until our flight. They dropped us off at the north terminal, then we were told to go to the south. We tried to get our tickets at the electric kiosk, but Pete's passport didn't match his ticket (even after the booking agent said there would be no problem). We then spoke to a women who was very rude and said there was nothing she could do, go back to the north termina...meanwhile our bags weigh over 30 lbs each (big mistake). After standing in line for over and hour, we got our tickets...and realized our bags were too big to carry on...so we checked them. Had a nice flight, played Tetris, too excited to sleep.
Arrived in the Netherlands about 7:30 Tuesday morning. Tried to buy a train ticket to Amsterdam, Pete's debit card didn't work...had to use the emergency credit card. Went to get cash from the ATM, Pete's debit card failed us once again. Thank goodness mine worked. After solving money issues, we loaded our heavy bags and headed to Amsterdam.
After arriving at Central Station, we found the information booth to get directions to our accomidations (to drop off the crazy heavy bags). To make a long, long, long story short we took a 2 hour walking tour of Amsterdam in the freezing cold rain. Luckily Fredric, the bike/room rental owner, was extremely helpful and kind enough to provide a map and detailed low-down of the city. We got to our room, which we will post pics when we can find a computer that will let us, we are very pleased with the location (which happen to be two blocks from Central Station...urrrg). The room is very basic: a bed, sink, tv, and toilet/shower...but fits our needs. The bed has excellent orthopedic support (hard as a rock).
We were jet lagged and had aching bones (still do), but toughed it out to get a bite. Then returned to take a nap. Woke up about 8pm Tuesday night, got dinner and saw the town. It's a lot nicer without heavy bags and pouring rain.
Time's about to run up...we only paid for 30 minutes. Today is beautiful, and we couldn't be happier in this wonderful city. Lots to do...until next time. Love you all, Loren and Pete
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