I AMsterdam

Sunday August 25 - first full morning in Amsterdam!

We arrived yesterday morning after a 6.75 hr flight via Arkefly. Traveling in "Premium Comfort Class" on Arkefly is equivalent of getting business class type seats on any North American flight operators (I don't know what else to call the likes of Air Canada and Porter, etc.)

We were very comfortable on the plane and felt very smug and giggly due to where we were sitting... remember that Seinfeld episode when Jerry and some model chick were in First Class and Elaine was trying to sneak in from economy?! We even had our own "entertainment system" which is a fancy term for portable DVD player with select first run movies and TV shows pre-loaded. Champagne helped set the mood and I swear Greggy and I couldn't stop laughing.  I booked Premium Comfort Class in advance for a modest sum on top of the plane tickets... no regrets here!

When we arrived at Schipol airport we waited a bit before we went to the meeting point for our private airport to apartment transfer (Rudy's Taxi and Tours). We were mid-drink when I happen to hear my phone and the person on the line is none other than Rudy, who said he was there an hour early as he was monitoring our flight and indeed we arrived 1 hour earlier than ETA.

Rudy was uber friendly and hyper - a welcome fit for royalty - as he took us to the parked Mercedes Benz so we can go be driven to our apartment in style. Schipol is 30 minutes from Amsterdam Centrum and we enjoyed looking at the buildings while engaged in friendly banter with Rudy.

We called our apartment host and Desiree arrived with her daughter Roxanne - such lovely people. We navigated very very steep flights of stairs up to our apartment and we barged in to another guest yet to check out (he was supposed to be out by 11AM). I don't think he found that as funny as we did but we were grateful to be able to get the keys and drop off our luggage.

Semi jet lagged we wandered around a bit until we found a very touristy Mexican restaurant where we had the most expensive burrito ever and killed some time... had to wait for our apartment to get cleaned.

Navigating our way back to the apartment was a breeze.... but by that time the toll of the long flight and the time change has definitely kicked in full gear. I was tired but not too jet lagged - Greggy was dead on the couch, snoring, within 10 minutes of our arrival.

I chilled and tried to get oriented with the map, setting up WiFi, etc. Roxanne came by later in the afternoon with fresh linens.

Eyes very droopy I finally prepped for bed around 6PM Amsterdam time and took my sleeping pills Heath Ledger like. Blissful sleep.

6 hours later I woke up to the sound of people laughing. Our apartment is in the perfect location - quiet street of Groenburgwal but just minutes away from the action of Nieuwmarkt and Waterlooplein. I didn't want to look at my watch as I'm always paranoid that if I knew the time I will stay up and not be able to sleep again. My body clock was still on Toronto time so read for a bit and took a couple more pills.... ended up checking the watch anyway and it was 3AM here (9PM Toronto)... I just relaxed and tried to sleep again.  Was successful cause I woke up at 7AM refreshed.

I didn't realize that Amsterdam will have San Francisco bay area weather during the summer - it's like that, but warmer. Actually PERFECT weather for me as: 1) I can run comfortably and 2) Reminds me of Jason Bourne getting off the boat in Marseilles. Very character like weather for me and I love it.

Greggy and I wandered over to Nieuwmarkt square around 9AM and it was still early enough so not too many people or tourists walking around. I wanted to figure out how to get to Amsterdam Centraal train station so we're prepared when we go to Paris this Tuesday on the Thalys hi speed train.  Very convenient location as it took only 20 minutes or so... we got to Centraal and now we know exactly where to catch our train to Paris (line 15a).  We also got 48 hour multi day transportation ticket which we'll use starting Friday when we return from Paris.

From Centraal Station we meandered our way to Oude Kerke (Old Church) and the Dam (Dam Square) until we found the Red Light District!  Very cool how it's close to the Church. Windows were not full of girls enticing patrons yet (it was only 11 AM after all) but we still saw a few of them getting an early start. We'll go back later tonight so we can see what it's really like.

Had lunch at Poco Loco on Nieuwmarkt square... pleasantly surprised! Sat on the patio and Greggy had the Mexican chicken sandwich while I had lentil soup and the BEST CAESAR SALAD EVER. Super garlicky and fresh with fried chicken breast and egg on top. Sooooo delicious! And we can tell it's a local place (we were probably two of the handful of tourists there).  While eating lunch we were people watching and saw some action - a guy getting arrested, another mentally disturbed man shouting Dutch obscenities.... why he was refused entrace at the Albert Heijn supermarket I don't know (do you detect the sarcasm here?)

Nice segue to my final bit - went to Albert Heijn and bought some groceries for today / tomorrow. I LOVE going to other cities/countries and checking out their markets and grocery stores. That is one of the best ways to get to know the local culture.  Couldn't read anything in dutch but I figured if it looks like what it is (cheese, lemon, some type of cured meat, yogurt, etc) then it's probably the item that I was meaning to buy.

On our way home from Albert Heijn we followed one of the main canals south to Groenburgwal and we were again pleasantly surprised by an outdoor opera concert underway. Imagine walking down cobblestone streets, by a canal in Central Amsterdam, on a moody foggy day with Opera singers' voices echoing in small alleyways?  Sounds like a movie scene, no? That pretty much sums up our first full morning in the Netherlands.