Vacation Day 7, High Speed to Brussels

Last night Mary made an interesting observation, as long as alcohol is involved, I seem to be able to make new friends fast. At dinner another American couple, from Dallas, sat next to us. We had a great time drinking wine and taking in the sites. After the cruise we stopped by a pub near Centraal Station for a couple beers, where we made fast friends with a German couple from Fussen.

This morning we woke up groggy with our stomach's slightly out of place. We had quite a bit of wine at last night's dinner cruise, followed by several glasses (.4 litres) of Wieckse Witte. But we feel much better after the B&B host, Carlos, made us a delicious breakfast.

We check out at 11AM, so we will be losing our internet connection until we check into our next B&B in Brussels. We are off for our high speed (TGV) train trip to Brussels. Tot ziens from Amsterdam.

Nightime update - Well what an interesting day. We arrived into Brussels and caught a cab to a popular tourist site near our B&B, the Albert Square. Unfortunately, our host never arrived and we waited for an hour before we were able to convince a neighboring business to contact them. Come to find out, we were to be placed in a different building altogether, which is where our contact was waiting. Once everything was smoothed out we found out we would be staying on the third floor of one of the guild houses overlooking the Grand Place. When we arrived, the Grand Place took our collective breathes away and the location of the room could not be beat. The detail and stonework of the buildings in square is unimaginable (so look at the pictures).

After settling in, Mary and I walked up to the Grand Sablon to sample chocolates at Pierre Marcoloni, Leonidas, and Nuehaus. A month earlier I made reservations at Les Clefs de Champs (Keys to the fields), which was highly rated on TripAdvisor and featured in the Michelin guide. Our meals were very good, but the best part was at the end our server presented us with two small boxes of chocolate (a royal approved brand) and some terrific apple brandy/liquor.

On our way back to the B&B, we saw the Mannekin Pis and bought four Belgian beers (two Hoegaarden Rosees', a Tremens Delierium, and a local Gueze). We drank them as we watched a music and light presentation on City Hall at the Grand Place (22:30 and 23:00). We are thinking about taking an excursion to Bruges/Brugge tomorrow.

Vacation Day 6, Amsterdam Sites

We were able to wakeup this morning without any effects of jetlag. That means my tried (twice before) and true method of staying up as late as you can on the first day and having several drinks before sleeping, does consistently work. We had an excellent breakfast of scrambled eggs with herbs, toasted rolls, asparagus wrapped in meat (mine in bacon and Mary's in chicken), coffee with steamed milk, tea, raspberry and pear smoothies, and freshly squeezed orange juice. After eating, we walked to the Dam tram station (as in Damrak, not damn) and took the number 5 tram to the Hobbemstraat stop. We admired paintings by Rembrant, Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Gaugain, and Loutrec and learned about Dutch history at the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh museum.

When we finished our Dutch art admiration, we decided to stop and try hot waffles with ice cream, which tasted even better than you think. The waffles were completely different in consistency than any I have ever had. They were flaky, Mary thought they were more like a pie crust, but chewy.

Later in the afternoon we decided to go to the Het Grachtenhuis, a museum about the design and construction of the three outer canal rings and a restoration of a classic canal house. This museum was fantastic, it was unlike any prior museum experience I had ever had. Mary believes this is the best museum, by far (she is an urban planner). They used some interesting audio visual techniques to bring the story alive. On a American history note, John Adams had spent some time negotiating with the owner of the house, a bank owner, to help finance our developing nation. When we finished with this museum we returned to the Damrak.

Before heading back to our B&B, we decided to stop off at a convenience store where I ended up buying a pair of €14.50 scissors to trim my beard. Unfortunately, they were not clearly marked and I handed over a €20 note. As I was counting the change and reviewing the reciept out on the street,  I realized my mistake. To make matters worse, I did a hack job on my burgoning beard with the scissors and ended up shaving it all off.  I was really starting to enjoy people thinking I was Dutch before they started talking to me. Oh well, now I am clean shaven for our fancy dinner cruise on the canal.

As a note to fellow vacationers, always come prepared. A pidgeon relieved itself on my shirt and Mary's purse. Luckily she had wet wipes, which did a great job of cleaning the mess. Once we got back to the room, I washed the shirt. Well that's all I have for now, so Tot ziens (goodbye).

Vacation Day 5, From New Amsterdam to Old Amsterdam

After 8 hours of flight time, a layover at JFK and more than 29 hours since we wokeup in Syracuse, we've finally made it to our second layover in Dublin. The trip from JFK was uneventful, but I was unable to get any real sleep, leaving me in a slight stupor for our arrival into Dublin. After clearing immigration we proceeded to the connection terminals for a look around. We were able to sit down for an Irish breakfast at Harvest Market. I ordered eggs, toast, a rasher of bacon, grilled tomato, and mushroom, while Mary had the porridge (Irish oatmeal). We should be departing within 2 hours for Amsterdam. I can't wait because I really need a shower.

Afternoon update - We've finally arrived! On the flight from Dublin to AMS I sat next a Irish Coast Guard helicopter pilot. We talked shop, I recommended he look into ERAU for some.further collegiate level education (he said he wanted to start a degree), and he told me about Schipol airport. Upon entrance to the Netherland the immigration officer asked how long we would be staying, I responded "two days and then we will be going to Brussels." His response, "So you think they're better than we are huh?" You have to love immigration with a sense of humor. After that interaction we proceeded to the VVV office where we bought our Iamsterdam cards and one-way tickets to Centraal Station. When I presented the sales agent with my credit card she remarked, "Your last name is very Dutch, did your grandfather go to America?" My response,
"More like my great, great, great, great grandfather in the 1600s." My family came from Utrecht, but my surname, Terwilliger, was created in the 1600s in New Palz, NY. Anyways, we are now all checked into our B&B, showered, changed, and ready to start exploring Amsterdam!

Evening update - We decided to set out and see some sites. The first, the Het Grachtenguis, was not open on Mondays. The next stop, the Amsterdam Tulip was a non-site with very little to see besides the gift shop. We walked by the Anne Frank Hius (House), but the line was four people wide and wrapped around the corner. We eventually found ourselves on a tram back to Centraal Station for a boat tour included with our Iamsterdam card. Mary and I had to keep waking each other up as the slow rocking movement of the boat was putting us to sleep. Next up dinner at the highly recommended Seasons.