Posts from — May 2013

Friday was our last full day in Amsterdam and tomorrow we head off on our Boat and Bike trip. This could be our last post for a few days as we are unsure of Internet connection capability of the boat; last time it was really spotty and we had to catch up with our posts in bunches and not day to day.

Today’s post is some of the sights of Amsterdam.

A park across from our B&B with all the standard playground equipment, however the really interesting thing they added is a ping pong table and people do bring their own paddles and balls and have a match.

A few pictures from the largest park in Amsterdam, it’s called Vondell Park and they have let it grow naturally with just a couple buildings and entertainment areas. However, lots of runners, walkers and bikes.

Bicycles, bicycles, bicycles! In front of every home, down every street and on every corner. Bicycles of every shape, size and description and people riding alone or with friends, children, texting, talking, etc. etc.

QUICK UPDATE

We are now on the Bike and Barge and the internet connection is very spotty. This morning it is good so we are letting everyone we will provide complete updates when we get a more secure connection.

Our 1st full day in Amsterdam we have spent sight seeing, walking around and trying to get our body clocks lined up with this side of the world.

There are lots of sights to see and Amsterdam is a beautiful city. The Eelhouse where we are staying is in the Jordaan district and is away from the real hustle and bustle of downtown Amsterdam. However it is still only about a 15 minute walk to Centraal Station, Amsterdam Centre Square and the Red Light District.

The buildings and architecture is amazing. The majority of the buildings are built with bricks and the facades and roofs are all unique. The residents finish off the windows with flower boxes, curtains or something to personalize their home; and always a bicycle out front.  Obviously many of the buildings have been here for years and are starting to show their age by the lean they have developed and as you would expect it also affects the doorways and windows. A few pictures are attached.

Of course there are all the canals and tour boats and no visit to Amsterdam would be complete without watching the tour boats navigate the many canals in the city.

It gets very busy at times and there is definitely lots for the canal boat operators to watch out for; like this afternoon there was a small flotilla in procession at a major canal junction.

Well after 3 different flights from Vancouver to Toronto to Munich and Amsterdam we made it. All the flights were a little delayed and we had to hustle (run like scared rabbits) in Toronto to get to our Munich flight, but once on board we settled in and enjoyed the luxury of Business Class on an Airbus A330 with pod style seats.  Once in Munich we headed off the plane to be met by a very nice lady who escorted us through the maze and mayhem of Munich airport in true German efficiency; this was all due to the delayed arrival and heavy air traffic on approach. When I say escorted this included ground transportation to a special security check station and then escort through passport control and then finally delivery by van right to the doors of the aircraft which was parked half a kilometre from the main airport.

Once at Schipol Amsterdam airport we cleared baggage claim and headed to catch the train to Amsterdam Centraal Station. From there we walked to our accommodation at the Eelhouse B&B.

After that we headed off to explore and try to stay awake while working to get our body clocks adjusted to the 9 hour time difference.

So, we’re ready to go.

A couple days ago our suitcases and everything we were planning on taking on our trip was  laid out on the spare bed. It was generally organized chaos. However after much panicking and taking things out putting them back in we have finally finished packing. Anything we are missing we can buy somewhere along the way. In the end my suitcase ends up weighing more than Brenda’s, she is more concerned about getting on and off trains, buses, etc while traveling between and in the cities. I am just resorting to “brute strength and ignorance” 🙂

We have taken the pictures with our I-Pad just in case they go MIA along the way. That way can have really nice pictures of them as they travel from city to city. Just kidding, it’s in case we need pictures to identify them to the airlines or border security.

Well we are only a few days away from the start of our next big travel adventure.

We are headed to Holland, Belgium and France for almost 1 month. On Monday we drive to Vancouver where we stay for the night before flying to Toronto, Munich and finally into Amsterdam.

The first part of our trip we are doing another bike and barge similar to what we did in May 2010. This time we are going from Amsterdam down to Bruges in Belgium. So we have been busy training and getting time in the saddle for our posteriors and miles on the road.

Attached is a picture from today’s ride. From Bruges we are going to Ypres, Arras, Brussels and finally down to Paris.

So, stay tuned and keep watching for updates on our Weblog.