Frankfurt to Amsterdam

So the Labor Day weekend gave me some free time. Here is the first part of my European adventure.




To Amsterdam

We woke up really early in order to get to Amsterdam for Gay Pride. I think we ended up leaving around 7:30. I rode with Carlos in his BMW with Sally his GPS. I have to mention her because you will hear about her again. The 4 ½ hour trip took us at least 6 hours. Hao and John were extremely tired and had to make several stops for coffee and the bathroom. I couldn’t help drive because I don’t know how to drive a stick shift. Someone is going to have to teach me for future travels. The car ride seemed to take forever because Hao and John drive much slower than Carlos. I had a great time trying to decode the road signs. I did like the autobahn and the no speed limit but it would last for such short periods of time. Sometimes only 30 seconds!
Upon arrival in Amsterdam Carlos began to stress out. Driving on cobblestones in the narrow lanes is frightening. Sally had us all confused but we ended up finding Victoria Park Place easily. The only problem was there was no space to unload the cars so we parked in the bus/taxi lanes illegally. Carlos somehow forgot his passport and sent me to check in. That did not work but his German driver’s license did. The bellman took our luggage to our rooms and we were off to the P+R, which is Park and Ride for 8 Euros a day versus hotel parking for 50 Euros a day. Sally got us to the P+R easily but of course we still had to make a U-turn. Then we rode the tram to the hotel. On the tram we were yelled at for having 2 strollers because only one was permitted to be open but they let us get away with it.

Amsterdam
Day 1-So we decided to walk the city since we had all been here before and see if any Gay Pride celebrations were still happening. Our first stop was a Tapas restaurant where we had a bite to eat. Traveling with this crew is a totally different culinary experience because we share ALL our food. When the food arrives we immediately start cutting in to whatever looks good to share the flavors. After lunch we did some window shopping and some shopping. Both Ha Lien and Hoang Linh left with a Miffy purchase. (Thanks for teaching me about Miffy, Toni!) We attempted to walk to the west park but we didn’t find it so we walked to Vondel Park in the south part of town. I, of course, was a wealth of knowledge since I had just done a walking tour in April. In Vondel Park we watched some crazy rollerbladers and fed the ducks. For dinner we had some Italian food with a super rude waiter. I had to get the high chair and carry it downstairs. John did not like the waiter one bit! We had pizza and calzones then headed back for the night. We walked and walked and walked that day. If only I had worn my pedometer.

Amsterdam
Day 2-Ha Lien really wanted to ride on the canal so we got tickets for the Museum hop on hop off boat. As soon as we bought the ticket the captain led us to the boat. It was perfect timing. Hao, John, and the kids were off to the zoo. Carlos and I went to the Resistance Museum using Toni and Jesse’s museum card to get in free while John, Hao, and the kids went to the expensive but very nice zoo. Carlos and I learned that the Dutch only fought the Germans for 4 days. The museum had many pictures and items from WWII. When we finished at the museum we sat at the café next door and had a beer. Who knew that the café was in my Amsterdam Top 10 book! What a bonus! While sitting there I read the museum canal bus schedule and it looked like the captain told us wrong so we tried to text and call the zoo clan but did not get to them but it did not matter because the captain was correct. Never doubt the captain! We took the boat back to the hotel for them to recommend a place for us to eat. They suggested a Chinese restaurant in Dam Square called Asia Dam. It was up on the second floor overlooking the square. The waitress was not patient and had a blue tooth. Literally she had a blue tooth. We made jokes that she was on the phone so much that she couldn’t serve us. She was not Carlos’ favorite. We had fried rice, a tofu dish, beef and Chinese broccoli, and ribs. It was delicious. Afterwards we walked the Red Light district, had dessert, and went back to the hotel.