From Here to There

Amsterdam...Part Twee (Dutch for the word two)

I am committed to wrap up my travelogue today....yes, I am sure you are eager for me to get back to my normal nonsense (with the word normal being used in the most broad spectrum sort of way).  The problem for today is whittling down this last post as I still had a number of things I originally planned to talk about. Things like cell phone usage in Europe, acquiring health care coverage for when you are overseas and buying media minutes for your tablet and/or computer.These things have changed considerably since our last trip abroad. BUT...I sense that it is time to wrap this up.  

 For the sake of expediency, I have opted to talk about lodging and transportation to and around Amsterdam.

Thought Number One:  Getting TO Amsterdam

We went to the  Andernach train station early for our 9:00 AM train anticipating arriving in Amsterdam around 1:00 PM.  What is the old Robert Burns poem about the "best laid plans of mice and men often go awry"? 

Although...just a quick sidebar:  Are we sure that is what he was saying?  That Scottish brogue being more than a tad indecipherable doesn't exactly say that. 

But Mousie, thou art no thy lane, 

In proving foresight may be vain;

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men

Gang aft agley

And lea'e usnought but grief and pain

For promised joy!

But, as I was saying, our plan was to leave Adernach and arrive in Amsterdam in time for a late lunch.  But...in a far less poetic rendition..Our plans went to shit.

We arrived at the Andernach Bahn station with time to spare, only to find out that the Regional Express train was running 20 minutes late.  No problem (yet) except for the fact that train stations in Germany aren't heated and that left an extra 20 minutes of freezing out bums off.  

Tick, tock, tick, tock....20 minutes comes and goes.  

After 40 minutes, it became exceedingly clear, that we would  miss out Dusseldorf connection for an ICE train into Amsterdam.  

Last one on is a rotten egg

Sorry...but I have to have another sidebar:  There are several types of trains in Germany. The smaller towns like Andernach have either  Regionalbahn or Regional Express trains to service their commuters.   (there are other types, as well,  but for the sake of this discussion...we were waiting for a Regional Express train.  The Regional Express train was to take us to Dusseldorf to catch an ICE train.  ICE trains are the super-fast trains that have fewer, if any,  stops between the larger cities. They reach speeds up to 320 MPH.  

Dusseldorf station..looking for a heated place to hang out

OK...back to the train.  The Regional Express train finally showed up in Andernach about an hour and 20 minutes late thus getting us into Dusseldorf around 12:30.  Needless to say the ICE train was long gone. We make our way to the Bahn counter to find out that the next ICE train out to Amsterdam is at 5:00 PM which would put us into Amsterdam at around 8:00. 

Despite the set back, we found a cafe  in the station and bought some Wifi for our Ipads and settled in for 4.5 hours. (I had bought European plans for our Iphones but not our IPads.) The 5:00 train was right on time, letting Bahn earn back a portion of my lost respect for them. 

Once we finally made it into Amsterdam it was raining, but thankfully, Hubby had picked a hotel that was less than 5 minutes from the train station.

The Sint Nicolaas...If you ever have occasion to travel to Amsterdam there are a lot of lovely hotels, but you would be hard pressed to find one as charming and as friendly as the Sint Nicolaas.

Looking toward the train station
from our window.

The building was once a harbor office that sat on a point where two canals met.  The canals were filled in at some point in the 19th century, leaving it in the heart of the city center and within walking distance of most of the major tourist destinations.  We booked the top floor room where the original hoisting beams remain.I am sure it is probably one of the smallest rooms in the hotel but it is the only room (out of the 27 rooms) that has a little Juliette balcony. This would be where the freight door would open as cargo was lifted into the harbor office back in the day.

After we got checked in we went out for a late supper at an Argentinian Steakhouse and walked around the city center for awhile

I was surprised to see how nice the Amsterdam Christmas Market was.  I expected that the German Markets would be superior as they are more widely advertised. but while the Amsterdam market is considerably smaller, the booths had things that I hadn't seen elsewhere.  With just 2 weeks before Christmas there were a lot of holiday shoppers out in both the Christmas Market and the Amsterdam shops.

Thought Number Two:  Getting Around Amsterdam

The following morning, we were excited  to wake up and  see sunshine...at least for the time being. It not only rained from time to time but at several points, it snowed.

As for getting around Amsterdam...you can walk just about anywhere but if you need or want other options there are trams, water taxis, (car) taxis and bicycles.

Yes, the bicycles are the normal mode of transportation in Amsterdam.  Depending on the website, the numbers vary but I've read articles claiming everything from 80,000 to 881,000 bikes are in the city. (click here for Amsterdam a City of Bikes )

a portion of the bike parking in front of the train station

 You probably would never need or want  a car (thankfully) as parking is a hassle. Our hotel offered a valet service if a person opted to drive into town,  but I never quite figured out where a person would park, even for that. 

On our first morning, we decided to walk to the Anne Frank House.  It was a lovely walk and was less than 15 minutes to the museum. The lines are usually lined up around the block so it is a good idea to buy your tickets online. 

Yet another sidebar:  As with all things dealing with the atrocities committed and  endured in WWII, visiting the Anne Frank House isn't meant to be cheerful.  It was interesting and informative and heartbreaking.  It had been years since I read her diary, but it was gut wrenching to see the actual diary and walk through the hidden annex. I re-read the book when I got home and found it more meaningful with an advantage of seeing the actual location. 

Upon leaving the museum there was a canal boat station within just a few yards from the museums exit. We had purchased 24 hour passes prior to our arrival so, it was just a matter of boarding one of the boats.

The boat tours are a wonderful way to get around Amsterdam.  You can buy boat passes for various lengths of time.  Within whatever time frame you purchased, you  can get on and off the boats as often as you like to visit museums, or any of the cities districts. The boats will pretty much get you to any part of Amsterdam. BTW...all the different companies follow pretty much the same route.

Because of time and space limitations as far as this blog post goes,  I won't give you a play by play of every museum, church, monument, shop etc. that we toured.  (I hear you collectively sigh the sigh of relief). We managed to see most of the districts with enough time to go back to Dam Square and hit a couple more shops for souvenirs before it was time to retrieve our luggage from the hotel. (We checked our bags at the hotel after checking out earlier in the day.)

On the day of our departure, we were scheduled to catch a 5:00 ICE  train into Cologne.  Once we were back in Cologne we would catch a Regional Express back into Andernach.  Again...Gang Aft Agley.  That Robert Burns really knew what he was talking about.


This is the second part of the video that is a compilation of photos from  my husband's 2 prior visits and my visit into Amsterdam.  The first video that includes the hotel and Anne Frank House pictures was on my last post  Two Sided Guilder.  

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Two Sided Guilder

Already, I have misled you about Amsterdam.  They no longer use guilders so the title should of been "Two Sides of the same Euro" I guess..but then it would be less "Dutchy".  I am all about "Dutchy."

I know that my regular readers are aware that I am married to a Dutchman.  His grandparents were part of a  group of Dutch that came to America and settled into a community made up of other Dutch. Then those Dutch families had lots of Dutch babies.  So, in other words, he is a pedigreed Dutch person compared to me being somewhat of an ethnic mix, of sorts. My family is predominately Irish, Scottish and a few dozen other things...none of which were from the Netherlands.

 His family still has roots in the Netherlands in the area northwest of Amsterdam.  Anyway...I was excited to get a chance to go to a country where all the natives pretty much look like my husband and his family. Yes, I can identify a Dutch person at 50 yards.

As for my trip...today's post is a little bit of a precursor to explain a few things prior to the second post I will do that is specifically about my visit to Amsterdam.

The weeks leading up to my planned departure I  noticed an interesting reaction when I told people that I was going to Amsterdam. They sometimes get that curious look, that knowing half-smile on their faces. "Amsterdam," they say with a mischievous grin, "lucky you!" I sometimes am hesitant to tell people that we sent our youngest child to go to the University of Amsterdam for a year as we thought it would be a great experience.  No!! Not the experience of recreational drugs and hookers. He could of gotten both at his state party schools,..... of course, I choose not to know about any of that.  (fingers in my ears...lalalalalalalalala)


 Yes...there are great things to experience in the Netherlands...specifically in Amsterdam.  Let's talk about the museums.  There are at least 89 museums. [click here for list of museums]

I could of (and would have loved to) spend another few days just visiting more of the museums around town. 

 Undoubtedly, millions travel to the Netherlands to see the just re-opened Rijksmuseum and its famous "Night Watch" painting, along with many other attractions of this truly charming city. But, let's face it, often the first thought that pops into people's brains is the acceptance of soft drugs and legal prostitution in the Netherlands. 

That is not to say other countries do not have a liberal attitude toward recreational drugs and prostitution. But the Dutch, with their history of practicality and compromise, decided to deal with these matters in a pragmatic way. In the process, they created a whole new world for tourists craving tolerance and a brush with the forbidden.

Still, there are great misconceptions about what is and is not legal there. Just to clarify some of those misconceptions, the Dutch do have rules and laws. 

 So what, precisely, is legal in the Netherlands?

You may be surprised to learn that recreational drugs are illegal in the Netherlands. Yes, even pot. But an official policy of tolerance emerged and in 1976 the Dutch parliament decriminalized possession of less than 5 grams of cannabis. That gave rise to a type of establishment found only in that country. In hundreds of "coffee shops" across the country -- not to be confused with "cafes" where you, in fact, go for coffee -- you can select from a menu of cannabis products and light up in full view indoors or at a sidewalk table.

Things got a little complicated in 2008, when the Netherlands, as other countries, imposed restrictions on smoking in public places. A great battle ensued as coffee shop owners complained the ban would put them out of business. Dutch compromising ensued. So, today, you cannot smoke in most public establishments, but you can still smoke marijuana in a coffee shop.

So, to recap: No cigarette smoking in public; yes to pot in small quantities and mushrooms are OK in very small quantities. Keep in mind their laws concerning banned drugs are harsh. 

And then there is the  Red Light District of Amsterdam.  The Rossebuurt, as the locals know it, is unlike any other place. (Yes, there are other Red Light Districts in other cities around the world but Amsterdam's is one of a kind.) Certainly, the RLD that everyone knows about is the one where women, of all nationalities, parade their wares in red-fringed window parlours.  There job is totally legal and is regulated as any other type of employment. 

Any tourist that wanders over to take a peek...and face it, what tourist DOESN'T do that?...what they will notice first (or at least in the top five  things they notice) the groups of voyeurs that are made up of packs of men, couples holding hands, giggling groups of women out for a "girl's night", or a bus load of Japanese tourists with their cameras.  The cameras, however, can not point toward a working person in one of the windows.  Taking pictures is strictly banned. (You do realized there are both men and women that work in the RLD, right? ...and at a few windows you might have to ask if they are man or woman...if it matters to you.)

What you might not think of when you think of this part of Amsterdam is how very charming that part of the city can be.  There are long winding cobbled streets with 14th century architecture.  The Gothic Oude Kerk (The Old Church) and Cafe' Pacifico. for example, are both in the Red Light District.

If you look close, you will see the windows trimmed in red.

Same street after dark..easier to see the red windows.

My next post will cover our arrival into Amsterdam, albeit several hours late...thanks to the ICE train delay out of Dusseldorf and some of our activities.

Here are some of the pictures of our visit to Amsterdam.

Happy Halloween

Some of you who know me personally, know that my hubby is working over in Europe for a few months.  If you aren't aware, it means you have been on Facebook with the same frequency as me.  ( close to never). He will be leaving Germany today and heading over to Amsterdam for a few days, then back to Germany then onto Paris.  

Anyhow...I decided to get into character for my own upcoming trip over to Germany and the Netherlands.   I haven't quite mastered any of the foreign (well..foreign to me) languages yet but I am great at universal sign languages.

 Not only have I practiced extensively on my sign language but have also taken to driving on the wrong side of the road to get a feel for it.

Note to Overland Park, Olathe and Leawood Police Departments...Hey guys!   You have missed more than a few opportunities to issue "improper lane usage" tickets.  I am just curious if you guys are OK? 

My long time readers might remember my husband is Dutch. His Grandparents (on both sides) brought their families over to the U.S.  and settled in an area of Illinois where several other Dutch families had settled. Then they all set about marrying each other and having a few hundred kids.  My husband being one of those kids has 100's of  Dutch Aunts, Uncles, and cousins.    For those that aren't familiar with some of my previous stories...let's just say that 1st and 2nd generation Dutch aren't keen on their kin marrying 1st or 2nd generation hillbilly...errr..I mean Irish that happen to have ties to the South.  While things have loosened up nearly 50 years later, it used to be that Dutch people were highly encouraged to  marry Dutch people. 

 BUT...Over the following 42 years,  I have worn them down.  I am the acid rain that chips away at their porous limestone.  I have gone from not being allowed to hold my babies within the Dutch church to being able to be buried in their cemetery. Yep, there is going to be one little Irish lass layin' among the resident (albeit dead) Dutch. Talk about making big strides in ingratiating myself.   But, it's sort of a  shame really, that for total inclusion, I have to die.  But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.   (BTW....I came to really like his family and assume they reciprocate on most days.)

As to my upcoming trip...I have, in fact, been to both Germany and the Netherlands before but not for an extended period of time, nor have I gone to the area of the country where his relatives still live.  I think maybe that sign language might come in handy. 

So for today...Crabby Pants and I are morphing into being more Deutsch-like  wishing everyone here:

And to hubby...over in Germany/Netherlands: