Rotterdam

Up late, not gonna lie, a little hungover.  Up, shower, quick coffee and off to train station to go to Rotterdam. Biking in Amsterdam on a Sunday morning is surreal. No traffic, quiet city, sleepy. Different from our past days of bicycles. Yogurt and croissant save us both. A little late for train but we do make it. Time to relax and enjoy the ride.  Beautiful countryside, so green.  Rotterdam is big and confusing to the Americans.  Looking for old brewery( Stradsbrouwerij Dr Pelgrim), take the tram, which one?, any tram we can stop and recalculate from there.  Not sure where we are but it is cool, although windy. Checking out the boats on the canal, very cool, wind mill.  Trish gives a couple guys a show as we pass a bar and a wind gust takes her skirt, embrace Europe and vacation!

Find the brewery, crazy old place. They are hand labeling their bottled beer. A couple rounds of beer and gin rummy in the cozy pub.  Score wasn't close but there is a chance Trish cheats.   Back onto the tram to hit the Markthal. Or tram back to the train station. Now we got the right tram to Marktal. Or maybe not. Hop off tram ,catch tram in opposite direction. Yeah, now we got it.  Find the Markthal. Wow, cross between a open air inside market and a food court.

Crazy. Stop for drinks and a huge plate of medditerrian Pappas fair. Way too much but a great call. Getting dark I guess back to Amsterdam.  Intercity train but direct, fast. I barely have time for a nap.  Back in town, searching for our bikes we find advertisement for canal light cruise. Alright we are in. Time for a quick beer, maybe a take out beer as well and off to boat. So it's raining pretty hard. No one has rain coats in this
city? Why?  We get a beer in a cafe that ironically Trish and I had been to 5 years ago, crazy. As,we left to get boat the sky opens up and rains so hard it's nuts. I mean we are soaked, we have gortex on top but from waist down soaked. Well what can you do? Boat ride was cool at night, artist have done "light " sculptures. The theme of the festival is friendship. From refugees, to kites, northern lights, chandeliers. 300+ artists compete.


The boat is packed and wet but a great time.  The sculptures are amazing, some we have seen from canal shores around town.they bring to life what friendship can mean to many. Near or far, close or not, friendships come in many colors.

Off the boat and off to home. Or maybe with the rain we should stop for an Irish coffee, and dessert.  Not sure this ranks as our best trip, not enough desserts. Need I say this is Chris writing this blog not Trish?  Just about to leave when rain really starts. Ok, 1 more drink, just to wait out the storm.
Here's the break in the storm, make a run for it. Quickly on the bikes for home. So, I have a great sense of direction and get my bearings quickly but some times it takes a little luck. And tonight luck is on my side.  I am ducking and weaving through the straats like a local. Unfortunately as misstep by a tourist almost takes me out. Stepping in front of a bicycle is virtually the only sin you can commit in Amsterdam. And even worse a I just miss disaster, Trish takes a hard fall on the bike.  The tip from a guide book is top of mind now, careful you don't mis bicycle tires with tram rails. Yikes! As usual she is a trooper and keeps on riding to home.  Let's get dried and to bed. Crazy night.

It is a good day to wake up in the Netherlands

The direct to Paris with a movie and sleep is the way to go. Staying out late last night and a good nights sleep no jet lag for us! Koffie  and croissants at the neighborhood cafe in De Pijp and we are fueled for the day! We walk a few blocks to rent bikes. We find this to be a faster and breezier way to get around the city.

Next stop Museum Plein. This is a great time of year to visit Amsterdam. The crowds feel light, and the atmosphere is full of holiday lights and decorations! We skip the Van Gogh museum, been there before, which seems to be the only  queue. Last time we visited  the Stedelijk was under renovation! Beautiful building full of fun, experimental, and conceptual art as well as works by A few of my favorites, Picasso, Chagall cezanne, Kadinsky...

We spend a couple of hours wandering the halls. We chat about seeing an influence of this art in our friend Carol Sogards work. She would love this place.

Amsterdam - old damp and slightly mysterious. Famous for its tolerance of gays, buskers, squatters, marijuana smokers and prostitutes, and remains a haven for artists, writers, poets The  parks, canals, the people watching, streets of color and character and the beautiful architecture. Jump on the bikes, the Rijksmuseum will have to be for another day. Some of the best experiences in this city come at no cost, let's do this. Canals to ride, architecture to be viewed, history to embrace. Ride to Amsterdam Central. Duck, bob, weave our way through cobble streets and over canals. We pop in for a pint and fuel up with food.

Ride to the Bloemenmarkt but we take the long way as we keep missing the correct Straat. So many blooms, flowers, colors, bulbs. Wish we could fill our suitcases. My mother would love this place! 

Stop for a beer and to warm up. There are no crowds, but that could partially due to all the rain. Head home to change, dry off and go out for the evening! 

Decided to walk the neighborhood. Three restaurant recommendations from Sven. Barra a trendy tapas place, super busy. Wink, and Vamps a ver! We chose the later. Connie a local and her Spanish husband own it. She said no vacancy, only service at the bar. We join a couple of people at the bar. The food is delicious. We let her choose the taps, which soup, etc. she knows the menu well. We enjoy a bottle of her favorite wine with our meal. We asked about the flaming brandy drinks, she gave Haas one, and for Trish an Irish coffee. A lovely way to spend our night. As we pay, we are told for first time no Visa accepted, literally the only card we have. Don't worry she says, you can come back tomorrow! We have Euros no fear.

From there we walk to Cafe Gollum for a night cap of sours for the lady, and Belgian IPA for the gent. Slippery from there. Seriously slippery due to all the rain. A cap home for us! Prost!

We made it!

Long flight from US to Paris, but comfortable. Quick flight to Amsterdam and hit the ground running.  Train to town, hop tram to De Pijp and meet up with Sven for our apt.
Great apt, fantastic location in a hip neighborhood. We change quickly, get a bag and off for a pub and another with drinks and Dutch finger food(deep fried meat gravy). Yummy.

Meet up with Micheal, ex pub emp., and Bryon, our new best friends and Amsterdam guides. Walk to a hip burger and cocktails at Cannibale Royale de pijp location. We have the table from 6:30-8:30, so we can start with drinks and dine.   Wine, beer, cocktails and gifts for the hosts.  After dinner back to their place for more wine. We walk through a mini, sudden Red Light district. Interesting they seem bored and to be interested I texting. No time for that now, off to see their apt. They have a great place on second floor, with Windows overlooking street.

We say our good byes, I am sure they are glad to get rid of the drunks, and head to "our bar" from earlier on way home.  Wow difference between 4 and 11 on a Friday is huge. Bar is beyond packed with people dancing everywhere.  Switch to another less crowded bar for 1last drink before we sleep. Guten neigh

Count down to November 26th. Friendsgiving, A Flight to Paris, and an adventure!

As we are revisiting our blog to update it with our latest adventure, we can't believe our blog hasn't been updated since our trip to celebrate our 40th Birthdays.  We are so lucky to have had the chance to travel internationally.  It was fun to go back and visit this blog and relive our trips to Italy, Amsterdam, Belgium, and to read Chris' Germany Blog.  In that past seven years, we have been lucky to make many trips to Europe, (four for Chris and the fifth for Trish).  Sadly only our third trip together in seven years, is a sad realization. Note to self, book the next trip when we return. We already have our top four list, Cuba, Iceland, Prague, Austria......

 We are four days out and getting through our final to do list. There all the things we have to do, to get out of dodge.   

Plan Friendsgiving in Utah....   As most of you know, Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday of the year.  We love that the entire day is dedicated to being thankful, showing our gratitude and spending time with those that we love.   How lucky to are we to host a breakfast up Millcreek Canyon every year.  It is the 8^th Annual this year, and no better way to kick off our vacation then a morning with people we love, enjoying breakfast, a cup of  Glogg, sharing laughter, smiles and love and most importantly taking some time being thankful!  

See some photos from past events.

 

Packing..... Check! Proud of the final list and our packing skills.  We are down to a couple of large backpacks.  We are hopeful this will allow us to jump on and off the trains, and bike to our apartment in Amsterdam!  The extra bags stashed in the backpacks, will allow for our holiday shopping and any must have souvenirs!

Planning...... Check! Our itinerary is dialed in enough to give us boundaries, to set up connections with friends in Amsterdam and Germany.  As well as help to lock down lodging on the busier weekends in Germany.  Places like Salsburg, Rothenburg, and Bamberg can have a flux of visitors celebrating on weekends, enjoying the Christmas Markets! 

We are firm believers that you shouldn't try to "see" Europe in two weeks.  It can't be done in a month so why try to cram to much into two weeks.  Pick a couple of countries, we have chosen Netherlands, Germany and Austria, but only one town in Austria, so this seems very doable.  After all, the more ground we try to cover the more time we will spend traveling in train, away from the real sights.  And we find our trips are best when we can imbed our lives into the lives of the locals, and really get a feel for off the beaten path neighborhoods.

Looking forward to a trip that allows us to be unplugged from our real life, and connect with the countries, culture, art, history, beer, and Christmas celebrations. 

Now if we can just get through the next three days of work, get our Friendsgiving breakfast planned and executed, and get to the SLC international with time to spare!