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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Going South

 On the last travelogue post, we were in Andernach, Germany...So Many Castles, So Little Time.

After spending the day in Andernach exploring we met up  with a group of "new" friends for a lovely dinner.  The group consisted of  a Brit, a German, a Canadian, and 3 Americans.  It was great fun comparing viewpoints on so may things. The one dinner companion that spoke German told us the server wanted us to be "aware" that a large party was coming in, so we might want to settle our bills....hint, hint.  No parties ever came in and we staked out our real estate until near closing time.

The following morning, however, we were back on the road to head south to the city of Koblenz.

While Koblenz is only 12 miles SOUTH of Andernach, we were confused why the GPS sent us north.  Huh?? That can't be right.  THEN it sent us to the other side of the Rhine.  As both Andernach and Koblenz are on the west bank, we considered the possibility that perhaps the GPS was trying to sabotage our day. We considered briefly, just turning around and figuring it out without GPS help but figured we'd find it eventually.  The thing about Germany is that it is only about the size of New Mexico.  At some point you are bound to come to a river or road that is familiar.

After a number of  twists and turns,  we drove back over the Rhine and we did, in fact, get to Koblenz.
If you ever take a trip along the Rhine, this city is one to make sure to see, It is a unique blend of historical and modern.

My husband had been there several times and wanted to go up to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. He had been there in September and thought the tour was interesting and the tram ride was great for getting a bird's eye view of the region.

As luck would have it, and by that I mean bad luck...we maneuvered  our way up the winding, twisting roads to the top of the bluff where the fortress sits, only to find out it was closed. There were still plenty of things to be seen in the area but no tours and no tram for me.  In lieu of that,  we made our way over to the St. Kastor Basilica and the Deutches Eck (The German Corner) where the Rhine River and the Moselle River converge.  On the point of the rivers meeting is a monument to Wilhelm I (AKA William I)

Crabby Pants standing next to Le Pouce by Cesar next to the Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art

On the day I was there is was cold and dreary but still very fun to walk around the Basilica, the monument and the promenade. Despite the fact that the fortress was closed, there were still a number of people milling around the church and  the Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art.

After spending a considerable amount of time just looking around, we made our way into Koblenz city center.  There were 5 (at least that is what we could find) Christmas markets to keep us occupied for quite a while.

Are you someone famous?

As I mentioned, Koblenz's city center is an interesting mix of quaint and charming (as most historic European cities are) and very modern as well. After stopping at a cafe on one of the side streets for lunch, we continued on to a modern mall to warm up and have some tea/coffee. The cafe had a lunch crowd waiting for tables or we might of just parked there.

Normally, I try to avoid malls but on the occasion of both of us being half-frozen we decided that would be a great place to hang out for a bit.

I didn't take a pic of the mall so this is off the Internet

One of the things we discovered while sitting at the Starbucks, is that owners can bring dogs into business establishments.  Not just service dogs, mind you.   While we sat looking out the window at the children ice skating on an adjoining rink,several people came in to have coffee with their pets.

kids skating on the mall's ice rink

Sooo...my friends, that's where I will leave you today.  If you are interested in seeing some of the other photos, I have put together another slide show.

BTW...You will notice some of the pictures are clearer as those were taken in September by my husband when he had the good fortune to be there on a sunny day.  

Just When You Thought It Was Over

Just when you thought you had safely put away any thoughts concerning the chaos associated with the holidays, I am here to give you one last nudge of Christmas.  Yes, I realize the cruelty of showing you Christmas pictures. Enough already, you say.

Yeah...well...I will keep the Christmas part of this to a minimum...as best as I am able.

As you know I have been doing some posts about my recent trip to Germany and a big part of going to Europe in the winter is going to the Christmas Markets. (AKA Weihnachtsmarkt in Germany). The Weihnachtmarkt   is a street market associated with the celebration of Christmas during the four weeks of Advent.  The history of Christmas markets goes back to the Late Middle Ages in the German-speaking  part of Europe.

My regular readers might remember that I am not a shopper.  Actually, that is an understatement.  I abhor shopping.  So no one was more surprised at how much fun I had shopping in Germany.  Not the  actual act of buying stuff per se but the atmosphere surrounding the Winter Markets.  

When I last left off  on the post  Next Stop Cologne we had spent the early afternoon touring the Cathedral of Cologne which happens to be the backdrop for one of the largest of the seven Christmas Markets that were in progress in the city of Cologne. Each of the seven had a different theme and unique quality about it.

It was still early in the afternoon on a workday, (Tuesday) so the crowds were relatively light.

This would not remain the case as the day turned into evening.  BUT..even early in the day there is a festive mood that permeated the city as the people milled around looking through the hundreds of booths  containing local crafts and food.

As a person that lives firmly in suburbia surrounded by big-box stores and can only associate Christmas shopping with the aggravation of  increased traffic and long checkout lines, I have to say this was close to shopping nirvana.  Cheerfulness abounding with happy friendly people walking around with smiles on their faces.  Seriously...this might be what it would feel like to be caught up in the Twilight Zone.

There is no way in the space of a blog post to give you an inkling of how pleasant of environment this is but here is a slide show of some of the sights that transpired during the day into the evening.






It's not just the Christmas Markets, however, that make Cologne a fun winter destination.  One could argue that the most perfect time to visit Germany would be in October for the obvious reason: Oktoberfest.  I would of argued that point anyway as prior to this trip I would of said Spring is the absolute best time to visit Germany because of Frühlingsfest.  Frühlingsfest is Oktoberfest's little sister that happens in the Spring....think smaller crowds, prettier weather and non-stop beer. 

I have to tell you though, even the beauty of Europe in the Spring, can't trump the wonderful festive atmosphere that comes with these winter street markets.   And while the beer may not be as free-flowing during the winter festivals, at least not in the same proportion as Oktoberfest there is always Gluhwein. 
Gluhwein is a hot mulled wine that that is sold at numerous booths at every Christmas Market.

"Glühwein," which literally means "glowing wine,"  most often comes in a limited-edition, seasonally inspired and creatively adorned ceramic mugs. For a small additional fee, you can either keep this cute little mug as a memento of a visit to a particular Christmas market - often the year and name of the
town or city where you purchased your cup of Glühwein is inscribed on the mug - or you can return it to get your deposit back.  As the proud owner of a number of these little mugs that will collect dust in the back of my cupboard,  I would be a typical American that thought they were to cute to part with.

Due to the fact I can't drink alcohol, our mugs would of been doling out Kinderpunsch.  Yes...I am in the minority of adults that have the shame of ordering Kinderpunsch instead of Gluhwein.

Outside of the Christmas Market shopping, I find European cities so much more interesting as far as shopping goes.  Most German cities still have a thriving city center...what we would call a "downtown" in the U.S.  I realize there are cities such as NYC or downtown Chicago  still have urban shopping districts but so many of the city shopping  areas around the states have migrated out to suburbia.  The commercial sprawl that has become a mass of chain merchandisers and big box stores, no longer allow for strolling streets and peering into pretty window displays.  It was a huge treat to walk around and stare  into the pretty windows decorated for the holidays.  Even those that didn't have seasonal decorations were fun to see.

Seems like this would be an honest merchant

A cute bookstore with a familiar face..if you are from Kansas

The city centers are very pedestrian friendly

Even during the winter people use sidewalk seating

The merchants provide lap blankets to go with your coffee and pastry

Aside from shopping, eating and drinking,.... there are a number of interesting things to see and do.

If you plan a trip to Cologne,  be sure to bring a lock.  Yes...a lock. Not because you need to protect your belongings but to add the the fence outside the train (Bahn) station. There is a custom there where people put locks on the chain link fence to denote their love...something akin to carving your initials into a tree but decidedly less destructive to trees.

locks of love

Many have little notes attached, nearly all have initials or names.

So...that's it for today.  On a future post, I will be visiting castles and forts but for today we will stop and put Crabby Pants on a Merry Go Round...because in alter-ego land we can and not look foolish...or if we look foolish, we don't care.