Julie’s tour of Europe finished in Amsterdam and we thought it a good idea to meet her there and explore the city. There were two outstanding reasons why this trip to Amsterdam was a good idea. The first being that before leaving Canada, I read a brilliant biography of John Adams which had many details of his time in Amsterdam as the American envoy to France, in particular, and Europe in general. As the anxiety of the impending trip to England began to take hold last summer, it was the Adams biography which served as a moderating influence. Instead of a 6 hour plane ride over, Adams faced a ship’s journey measured in weeks with no guarantee of safe arrival. So, I was very curious to walk the same streets he did. Perhaps re-reading the book when we get home may give new insight.
The second outstanding reason to go to Amsterdam is that Beth’s new sister-to-be is from Amsterdam. Well, as I understand it, her family is from Friesland and she has spent time in Africa, Ireland and Amsterdam as well as other points far and wide. But as far as I can tell, Amsterdam has been her home, on and off, for the last little while before she moved to Canada to shack up with Stephen.
So we headed out on our KLM flight to Amsterdam which took all of 55 minutes from the Leeds airport. Nice. On arrival, Amsterdam immediately shunned us. Well, not us per se, but the train station wouldn’t accept payment for our tickets by debit or credit card. Cash only please. But from that point onwards, Amsterdam was a joy.
The trains which took us from the airport to the city centre were a joy to behold after enduring the smelly jalopies in England. On arrival in Amsterdam proper we made our way with our bags down the main drag towards our hotel. The first thing we noticed were the parking garages, not for cars, but for bikes. Thousands of bikes neatly parked outside. We made our way to an outdoor patio that featured Belgian Fries for Beth and a club sandwich for Brent. Living in England, we hadn’t had the opportunity to eat outside on a patio much. In fact, we had eaten outside exactly once in 357 days. Blimey.
After lunch, we leisurely headed in the general direction of our hotel seeing the canals for the first time, the flower market and other general points of interest along the way. Our hotel, the Hotel Fita, was in the Museum district exactly one block away from the Van Gogh Museum. We would strongly recommend this hotel to all and sundry. It was great and in a great location. Close enough to everything but quiet when you wanted it to be.
After exploring a little more of the city, we left to meet Pleuntje’s friends Ebisse and Bregje for what ended up being a wonderful dinner and gained many insights into both Amsterdam and Beth’s new sister. The dining spot was called Bazaar and was certainly off the normal tourist track and for that experience, plus all the translation help, we must heartily thank Ebisse and Bregje. We had a long leisurely dinner with them which led to gelato and a near picture of Beth riding on the back of Ebisse’s bike. Alas, it was not to be.
The next day I woke up early and met Julie. After settling in and getting our presents from Julie, we headed out on the town. [More later]
