George, Carol, a Mom and I landed in Amsterdam at 8:15 am, so with the six hour difference that is 2:15am EST. Mom and George slept on the plane but neither Carol or I did. Fortunately it was an uneventful flight. But let’s just say that I won the award for not packing effectively. I weighed my bag at home and it was under 50 pounds. But at the airport it came in as 58 pounds. So fortunately mom had space in her checked bag. Let’s just say it was a lot of scrambling at the check out counter and passing around my shoes. I was a little concerned because I was unsure if the shoes that were shuffled were in pairs. But it all worked out.

When we landed, got our bags, and purchased train tickets to Amsterdam Central where we’d part ways for most of the day. We were all surprised when we stepped on the escalator that took us down to the platform, that it didn’t have steps, it was a moving ramp with a steep decline. So if you didn’t hold onto your bags they would  fly down the ramp without you. Fortunately no casualties on day 1, just close calls. Then the train didn’t have a place for luggage so we had to pile our bags on top of each other on the seats. All of this was making for an interesting first few hours in the Netherlands.
Mom and I took a cab to our hotel, but the room wasn’t ready, so we dropped off our bags, and decided to do some exploring around canals. The Hotel,Pilitzer is right on a canal…the Prinsengracht only one block from the Anne Frank house, the beginning of the Nine Streets area, and the Westerketk church. Fun fact – gracht means canal in Dutch. And danke belle is how you say thank you. The weather was fabulous. It was in the high 40s when we landed and it warmed up to the mid to high 60s and sunny all say. Fall crisp weather.

Many people have told us how walkable Amsterdam is, and we now completely agree. We walked towards old town and on our way found the Bloemenmkt – the flower market, where I fell in love. Thousands and thousands of bulbs…tulip, crocus, daffodil and almost any bulb you can think of. I controlled myself, though it was quite difficult. I did buy some bulbs, but took more photos than anything else. We also found a cheese shop that specialized in Gouda, and bought some for our trip. I for got to mention the bicycles. There are more bikes then cars, they are everywhere, and some are quite unique.  And I was almost run over twice by bikes today.

We stopped for a glass of wine, hot chocolate, a snack to rest out legs. We also walked by the Munttoren (“Coin Tower”) or Munt stands on the busy Muntplein square, where the Amstel river and the Singel canal meet, near the flower market.Then we had to make a decision…the Van Gogh museum or the Jewish historical museum. So we chose the Jewish museum. It took us a bit to find it, and had do lovely walk along the Amstel Canal, saw the national opera and ballet. Here’s the catcher, it was that Portuguese synagogue we wanted to see, but tourists are not allowed on the sabbath. (Sorry Loretta, we mixed them up, but if we have time tomorrow, we may try to fit it in.)

We went back to the hotel to check in, take a power nap and meet up with George and Carol for 5:30 tickets to the Anne Frank house. We were very glad to have purchased tickets ahead of time because the cue line was very long. The tour was about 1.5 hours and very well done. The Annex where 8 Anne spent two years living secretly with her family and friends was really amazing and you could feel what it would have been like for them.

Afterward, we found a cute restaurant in the Nine Streets area for dinner.  We had mor traditional Dutch food and it was delicious. What a wonderful and long day.

Tomorrow mom and I go on a canal tour at 11, Carol and George are going to the VanGogh museum,many were hoping to join them. The we get on the boat, and hope to see the red light district tomorrow.