Bernd & Jodi

Below is a long, detailed log of our events in Amsterdam.

Friday

Today was a travel day. We spent the day in airplanes and airports. We arrived at Salt Lake airport this morning. We saw a lame movie on the flight to JFK, Bridge to Terabithia. We arrived at JFK airport a little early and went to find our gate. Since we had some time we decided to get some lunch at Chili’s Too, a smaller version of Chili’s with a smaller menu. After we ate and got on the plane we sat on the tarmac at JFK airport for over an hour in the line to take off, that was a little annoying.

We took off for our flight from JFK in the late afternoon and landed early in the morning in Amsterdam. We saw another movie that we didn’t really enjoy too much, Music and Lyrics. I also spent a lot of time looking through a book about Amsterdam and watched some of the shows they were showing on the plane. Some of the shows were weird, like the one that talked about several scientists’ ideas of what is going to happen with ocean life in the next 200 billion years.

Our flight took us over New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and along the western edge of Canada for a few hours until we finally went out over the Atlantic Ocean and flew just south of Greenland, over Ireland and England to land in Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Getting through immigration in Amsterdam was pretty easy, we just had to show them our passports and tell them why we were here and for how long, no forms to fill out.

Saturday

Once we made it through the airport, at about 8:30am, we called our apartment office and arranged to meet them at 9:30am at the apartment. We hung out at the airport for a few minutes and then found a taxi to take us to our apartment. A man named Tom brought us our key and introduced us to our apartment, he arrived on a bicycle. He was very nice and spoke good English. The apartment is two floors, on the second and third floor of the building. There is one bathroom and two bedrooms on the first floor. The second floor has a living room, dining room, and kitchen. It also has a nice balcony area with a table.

After we got situated in our apartment we went to the market to find some food. The market was a combination farmers market and flea market. We didn’t buy anything there but ended up buying some things in a small supermarket close to our apartment. It was a bit difficult to know what some things were since they were all in Dutch.

We walked around the city a bit and saw Centraal Station, stopped in at the VVV travel office, and through Centrum area. The city is kind of dirty, lots of cigarette butts on the ground among other trash. The water in the canals also does not look too clean. There is a frequent smell of marijuana around the city, the coffee shops are the main place to smoke it. We unintentionally walked through the Red Light District for a bit, it was dirtier than other areas and there were a few scantily clad women behind glass windows with red lights on both sides that we saw. After our first day adventures in Amsterdam we went back to the apartment and slept, we were all very tired.

Sunday

We got a late start today because our friend, Jodi, was not feeling too well in the morning. We tried to go to the Anne Frank Huis first but the line was really long so we came back to the apartment and made some plans for the rest of the week. We then went to the VVV(Travel Office) by Centraal Station and made some reservations for activities for the week. After the VVV we went to the Torture Museum which was located in this dark and dungeon-like building and had several pictures, devices and descriptions. It was interesting. Then we tried to go back to the Anne Frank Huis but the line was even longer to get in so we went to the Homomonument instead since it was close. It was not very exciting, just three large pink stone triangles, mostly just interesting because of its name.

We had dinner at a pancake place that was pretty good. There was a family in a blue car outside the place we ate that had a boot put on their car, they did not look very happy. While we were eating the people came to take it off. After dinner we tried to go to the Anne Frank Huis again but it was too late, but we did find out that if we get tickets online or at the VVV we don’t need to wait in the line to get in. We then went back to the apartment and watched Casino Royale on the TV.

Monday

Today we used our “I Amsterdam Card” that we bought at the VVV to get us in to a canal tour and several museums. We started off our day with a canal tour which lasted about an hour and took us through the harbor and several of the canals in the city. It was interesting to hear about the history of the canals and see the city that way. The canals use to be used as open sewers and have been used to help dry out areas of land. Even though they are no longer used as sewers, the water still looks gross and the locals have told us that we should never get in them.

After our canal tour we went to this really old church called Oude Kerk. There was a World Press Photo demonstration going on there which distracted from the church, but the church was nice, very old. The ground of the church is filled with tombstones. It has some huge stained glass windows that were very impressive as well as a large pipe organ and a very interesting vaulted ceiling.

After the church we took the metro to the Joods Historisch Museum (Jewish History Museum). I had no idea that Amsterdam and the Netherlands had been such a big place for Jews through history. I learned a lot from the museum, but there was too much information there, we could have easily spent an entire day there going through everything that they have. Next we went to McDonalds for lunch; it tastes the same as in the U.S. After that we went to the Amsterdams Historisch Museum which was also huge! That was also very interesting, but there were a lot of exhibits, so we went by most of them pretty quickly. Amsterdam and the Netherlands have been around for a long time, the Dutch people use to be very innovative and powerful in the world through trade and exploration.

After the Amsterdams Historisch Museum we went to the Rijksmuseum to see some of Rembrandt’s work. We were kind of disappointed since there were only a couple of rooms with Rembrant’s art, most of the art was his pupils and other artists, however we did still enjoy it. We then tried to go to the Van Gogh museum but we arrived a couple of minutes after the ticket office had closed so they wouldn’t let us in. We then took the Tram outside of town to see some more stuff and noticed a Hard Rock Cafe while we were on the move and decided to have dinner there. To end the evening we took our time walking back to the apartment. We tried to see Amsterdam at night but it stays light later here so we didn’t last long enough outside to see the city with all of its lights.

Tuesday

Today we took as bus tour to Belgium. We started off near Centraal Station in Amsterdam and rode to Antwerp where we drove around a bit and were let off for about an hour. We walked through this alleyway that use to be where the poorest people in town lived and now there are some of the nicest restaurants in town there. In Antwerp we had some Belgian Fries. The Belgians claim that they invented fries, so they don’t call them French Fries even though they are the same thing. We also bought a lot of chocolate, our tour guide told us that chocolate is cheaper in Antwerp since it is less touristy than Brussels so we stocked up.

After Antwerp we went to Brussels, this city seems a lot more modern and larger than Amsterdam or Antwerp, there are actually skyscrapers and a lot more cars. Our tour guide told us about a story of a young man called Manneken Pis who the people of the city look up to for hope. I guess he got lost one day and his father eventually found him while he was urinating, and now he has a fountain built for him. The actual story is a little more dramatic than that, but that is the basics of it. We ate some Belgian Waffles while we were in Brussels, they were good. I had some with strawberries and whipped cream and Jodi had some with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. We spent most of our off-the-bus time in Market Square. It was this huge square surounded by very old buildings, it was very cool.

Our tour guide was very good; she kept things fun and interesting even with the several hours that we spent on the bus. I think it is about three hours between Brussels and Amsterdam on the bus. She was nice and made a few jokes and she did the entire tour in English.

Wednesday

Today we went around North and South Holland and saw several of the local sites. First we went to a flower auction called Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer. The place is huge, they move millions of flowers and plants through their facility every day. We didn’t see any auctions but we did get to see thousands of flowers being moved around all over the place. They have carts that they transport them on, all kinds of flowers and plants. They do a little business with the United States, but most of their growers and buyers are in Europe, Middle East, Africa and some of Asia.

After the short stop at the flower auction we drove to Rotterdam and saw the seaport and some other sites there. We were hoping we would actually get to walk around in the city, but we stayed in the bus the entire time. Rotterdam seems larger than Amsterdam, but we were told Amsterdam has quite a few more people. I think Rotterdam just has more large businesses and a larger seaport so there were more skyscrapers which made it look bigger. It also felt a little more spacious and spread out than Amsterdam.

After Rotterdam we went to Delft where we visited an earthenware factory where Delft porcelain is made. They make the porcelain in a mold to shape it, the process is actually kind of interesting and when it is all finished it is ready for hand painting and is very strong. We were planning to purchase something there in their shop, but it is all very expensive!

We then went to The Hague / Den Haag where we saw the royal palace and several government buildings. Amsterdam is the official capital of The Netherlands, but Den Haag is where the seat of government for the country is located. In Den Haag we again stayed in the bus and just got to look at the city through the windows while our very monotone tour guide told us about things. We then went to the seaside town of Scheveningen where we drove by the beach at the North Sea and then continued on to the miniature city of Madurodam. Madurodam was the highlight of the day. We actually were able to get out of the bus and walk around for a couple hours and it was really cool to see all of the sites of The Netherlands in 1/25th their actual size! I guess the Dutch people are known for making miniatures.

Our tour today wasn’t our favorite, we spent way too much time in the bus and our tour guide had no personality and she spoke like a robot. She also gave the tour in two and sometimes three languages which made it difficult to follow. She did almost everything in English, Spanish, and Dutch.

Thursday

Today we did a bike tour starting in Amsterdam and then out in to the country a little bit with Mike’s Bike Tours. A guy named Shawn did the tour that took us through the streets of Amsterdam for a bit until we went out past an old windmill and to a cheese factory. We then rode back in to town through Vondelpark. Our tour guide was really good, we enjoyed him a lot. There were about a dozen of us on the tour, which he said was a pretty small group. It was kind of fun to ride a bike through Amsterdam like everyone else does, have to pay attention all around through, the streets are narrow and there are people, bikes, and cars everywhere going all directions. Street lights also seem to be more of a suggestion than a rule.

Our tour guide, Shawn, was very knowledgeable about Amsterdam and it’s history. He told us about Rembrandt and Van Gogh, about windmills and marijuana. His favorite place to smoke marijuana is in Vondelpark. He has a master’s degree from a school in England, was born in Japan, lived in California for a few years, Spain, England, and now Amsterdam for the past eight years. He moved from the United States because he didn’t like the school system there, he was a public school teacher, and also likes the more lax laws in the Netherlands. He was an interesting person, but very nice and did a great job with the tour.

Friday

Today we checked-out of the apartment we have been staying at and went to Hotel Zuiderduin in Egmund. We took a train from Centraal Station in Amsterdam to Heiloo which lasted about thirty minutes and then rode in a cab to the hotel. The cab was a Mercedes sedan so it was fun fitting all four of us and our luggage in that. The hotel is nice, nothing fancy though. We arrived here before we could check-in so we went to the pub in the hotel and had some lunch, they didn’t have an English menu, only Dutch but we were able to read enough to order a hamburger and fries. I’m pretty sure the hamburger wasn’t real meat but a vegiburger. I prefer real meat.

I spent some time walking around outside while my wife did some stuff for work and then I came back and sat on my computer for a bit until she was done working for the day. After her and her co-worker, Jodi, finished working we all went down to the beach and saw the North Sea and found a place for dinner. Finding a place for dinner was difficult because it was 9:30pm and most places there were closed. After we finally found a place that was still open we found a place that sold ice cream and had an ice cream cone.

Saturday

Today Matt (my wife’s co-worker’s husband) and I came back to Utah. We took a cab from the hotel at 5:30am to the train station where we took a train in to Amsterdam and another to the airport. The train probably took about an hour including the transfer waiting time. We then flew to JFK airport and waited around for seven hours. We couldn’t even check in when we arrived here because you can only check-in up to six hours early! While at JFK airport we saw some headlines on TV for a terrorist attack planned on the airport, luckily it wasn’t too far along so it wasn’t a big threat but still not a good thing to see “terrorist” and “JFK Airport” while in the JFK airport.

Our plane was all loaded up at JFK airport at 7pm but we didn’t take off till almost 9pm. It took us about 45 minutes just to make it to the taxi way and then another hour wait on the taxi way, the airport was very busy. Everyone was happy once we finally made it in the air and we only ended up being about 30 minutes late on our landing. I am glad to be back home and now excited for my wife to come home in a couple of days.

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