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