Eurotrip: Day Three - Intro to Amsterdam

AMSTERDAM

As I walked around Schiphol Airport, I thought to myself: "If the city is any thing like this airport, I am going to love it here." It was a glorious place. It was like a shopping mall, but more. If I were Tom Hanks in that movie, The Terminal.... I wouldn't have cared if I were stranded there. There were gigantic grocery stores (more than one), food stands everywhere, clothing stores...you name it they had it.

In the airport, I experienced my first Hollandaise cup of coffee. Every time you order a cup of coffee in Holland...they give you a cookie. Always a different cookie...but always a delicious cookie. I love coffee, I love cookies...they were on the right path to winning my heart. I'm pretty sure we toured the airport for a good 2 hours...it was so vast and there were so many things to see. Then, it was time to figure out how to get from the airport to the hotel. We stooped at the 1st booth we saw, asked the nice lady - who spoke better english then me - and how convenient: €23 for a van that would take us right to the hotel. Excellent...we follow the lady's directions right to the stop where we were supposed to wait, and the van was already there. The guy loaded up our luggage...and there were only 2 seats left in the van. Ugh. The front seat and a back seat. The driver couriered mom to the front...I knew that would be a problem, due to her trust and control issues when it comes to someone else driving. She made it know that she wasn't happy, and she was a bitch to him as per usual, but we were the 1st stop, so 15 minutes later, we arrive at the hotel. Right on the Amstel river, and my 1st sight was of a skuller, rowing down the river....what a treat. A little home, away from home.


We walk into the hotel, all the desk workers are helping someone, and 2 minutes later and crowd of like 7 people come in, also wanting to check in. They totally cut in front of us. The one thing I notice about Europeans, is that they don't like to wait their turn. I think its probably because they spend tons of time wasted waiting for stupid things like the check at a restaurant. But just then the hotel manager said that there were no rooms ready yet and we would all have to wait, so we should just check our bags. Whatever.


We checked the bags and then just went to the desk to get our bearings and find out where we were and how to get to the city. The manager then said, "Oh, I have a twin room available, its on the 2nd floor is that okay?" Ummm yeaaa....who cares what floor its on? So we get the keys, we get our bags back and then we get really awful directions on how to get to the city. People in Amsterdam have a terrible sense of direction...and I think they rubbed off on me while I was there. Because I kept getting turned around. We also purchased a 4 day metro pass, which is good on the trains and the trams and were only €15 each! That was beyond worth it....we used those passes like there was no tomorrow!

They have a really cool system called the: Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf or the GVB. I love Dutch words...lol. So on the GVB, you don't swipe like for the NYC MTA...you tap. You tap to check in and you tap to check out. If you take a train, you check in and out when you enter the station, and when you get on a tram you check in and out directly on the cable car. Oh, and to get on and off a train or tram...you have to press a button to open a door. I really loved their mass transit system. It was awesome. The trains were quick and really quiet and the trams were a good way to see the city, though they ran with cars so there was street traffic and when they switched tracks it was a bit of a jerky ride.

GVB Tram

So the hotel lady doesn't paint a pretty picture or draw a pretty map directing us to mass transit near the hotel. "Make a right, go down the street and go over the bridge to get tram #25." So its about 12pm and we walk...and we walk and we walk....its a very long way to "the bridge," which turned out to be 2 bridges. One to the left and one to the right. The one to the right looked like a pedestrian bridge and the one to the left looked like a highway. I said we should go to the right.....I was WRONG. So we walk...and we walk and we walk...the bridge is freakin long...while walking we ask people and they're like "Umm, there is no metro anywhere near here," great. We continue walking, and we pass the Amstel Rowing Club...awesome. Then there is some huge corporate-like building. We stood there for a bit, rested, because I think we were approaching our 3rd mile of walking, then we stop a lady leaving the building...how nice, she was goind to the metro too! So we followed her the "short distance," she said it was. It was like 3/4 of a mile from the office, up a hill. Aak.


We finally get there...go up the steps ::flashback to Spain:: and we're on the elevated platform. We grab the 1st train that says Centraal Station (I wished I had taken audio of the way it is pronounced on their loudspeaker...I love it...so I searched for it...hahaha). 10 minutes later we are in the heart of the city. Though the trip was short, and like any other subway trip, I enjoyed it. I mostly enjoyed the various station names. Sparklerweg, Niewmarket, Weesperplien, Waterlooplein, Wilbautstraat, and our hotel stop Overamstel. Oh I miss it. Its sad that I miss the subway announcements. So, we step off the train...leave Centraal Station and the 1st sight was of the various tram lines stopping in front of the station. It was the tram hub, and pretty cool. The different boards told you which track to wait a to get which tram...and here were are introduced to their crazy crazy traffic patterns. The cars and cable cars ride the same roads, their motor scooters and bikes ride on what is usually a red path in between the street and the sidewalk. Every 2 blocks, there is a canal and a bridge. There are places to tie boats up all along the canals. Boats are the 2nd largest choice of transportation there, bikes are the 1st...and the bike riders are sick. When crossing a path...you must look either way 4-5 times before stepping out, those bastards ride fast and they don't care if they take you out or not. I had all intentions of renting a bike there, but when I saw the way they rode...I opted out...I would have gotten murdered.

Just a few bikes parked.

We did a lot of walking. We went down one of a hundred tiny alleys, and found a shopping strip...not my cup of tea, but it was pretty cool. We grabbed some Vlaamse frites (aka Flemish fries, aka Belgian fries), that was the 1st thing I insisted on eating in town. We sat, ate, were attacked by pigeons at the drop of a frite. Then we walked and walked and walked until about 5pm, when we decided to go back to the hotel to wait for the call letting us know everyone else had arrived. So we locate tram #25, figuring we'll take it back to the hotel so we could figure out where we went wrong. It took about 50 minutes....WOOF. We get off, locate "the bridge," and cross it. But we crossed it without crossing the highway 1st. We were stuck. So back over the VERY LONG bridge, across the street and over the bridge again to the hotel. By now, everything hurts. Due to the insane amount of walking that day, Spain the day before and only 3 hours of sleep in a 60 hour window...I was ready to die. We go up to our room and I sleep for 4 hours. I woke up and still hadn't heard from our travel party, and now im starving and its 11pm. We decide to eat in the hotel lounge. It was adorable, dark wood and all...I got veal cutlets and some more frites, yummy, and a bottle of water (mineral water...which did not agree with me...after that I switched to beer and juice). Mom got a burger...bad choice...not at all like an American burger. It was a pleasure to charge it to the room and then just go up and go to sleep again. For about 12 hours........