Heading to Amsterdam, hoping to get lost.....

Sunday February 28th



Happy Birthday to Trish. What, more bday gifts? This is going to be a very good day. Pack up our stuff; we have a train to catch. Check some luggage at the station, grab an OJ, Jupiler and a couple croissants, and we are off and running. Three hour train ride to Amsterdam ahead of us. As we venture out into the country, it is a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the city. Old brick homes, lots of lush greenery, and open space. Nice to watch as we chug along to the Nederlands.
Modern windmills in the dutch countryside, is disappointing, we must be near Rotterdam.
We have arrived in Amsterdam.
40% of the population here uses a bicycle for their form of transportation. We shall join the masses. We walked a few canals over to Frederic’s to coordinate our house boat accommodations and the bike rentals. It is pouring rain, but that doesn’t keep us from having a grand time in Amsterdam. And we have only been here for an hour or so. We find the house boat. It is interesting to imagine living on the canal for the next few days. We enter the 12 X 40 Studio; it is away from the hustle bustle of crazy Amsterdam, and in a quiet neighborhood. But with bikes, if we be close to everything. Drop our gear, and off to pick up the bikes.
The bike shop is a short 4 canals away, we have bikes will travel. Off to explore the nooks and crannies of the town. We ride through a great neighborhood that has bars, coffee shops (with actual coffee), restaurants and shopping. We will call this home for the next few days. Lucky us.
We are zipping along the small streets beside the canals look at everything in this amazing city fly by. I'm not sure if we know where we are going but who cares, we'll find something,somewhere. Then bam. Trish runs into me from behind. No injuries so we are back on are way. This time I don't stop so suddenly and Trish watches forward more often. We grab a bite to eat at one of the hundreds of bars in Amsterdam. Great selection of beers and mediocre food. We order a Duval and a La Trappe with our club sandwich and Croquets and Frites. Which in case you are wondering, tasted a lot like Braunschweiger and gravy that had been deep fried. For Haas, yummy, for Trish, more frites please!
This is the second time we have seen clearly that the health dept in Europe is extremely more laid back than the U.S. and not for what you would think. It would seem the Heath department does not care when cats are in bars and restaurants. What is it about a Cat that causes me to be infuriated that they are allowed to be in a place of business, Haas is allergic so he has pulled his steak knife as protection. Now you take the same situation, and a dog in the same situation, and I cheer, wow they are so dog friendly I love it. HHHMMMM
Time to go, we have to log off. We just realized only three pieces of chocolate made it to Amsterdam from Brussels, time to stock up.
The drizzle comes down an in our somber mood and weather, we head to the Anne Frank house. Depressing and amazing all at the same time. We walk through what eight people called home and caught up on our history. What an unbelievable experience.
On the bikes more exploring ahead. We did the canal loop around Amsterdam. Trying to get our bearings for our tourist excursions tomorrow. We find Leidse Plein and Rembrandt Plein, stop to do some shopping and head back to the houseboat to get ready for dinner.
Where to go to dinner? Hard to choose between Lof – a place with no set menu, where the chefs are known to go to the market, spontaneously pick out whatever’s fresh and equally spontaneously figure out what to do with it back at the base. Or, Hostaria – a little piece of Italy, where the owners wait on you in a tiny room that only seats a couple dozen people. We opt for Hostaria, and are not disappointed. We ride a few blocks over in the blustery evening, for some Prosecco and Campari, while we peruse the menu. Tagliatelle with arugula and truffles for Trish and Artichoke ravioli with sage and caramelized butter for Chris. We are certain this meal is as good as or better than our meals in Italy. Top it off with Tiramisu and some koffe and we are ready to find a sports bar to watch the Olympic Hockey game between Canada and USA.
We are able to find a sports bar showing the hockey game. The bar is full of Canadian and US hockey fans. We are down one goal. The place is hoping. Between the nerves of the game and the cheering, Heinekens are going down like water. Best International hockey game since the Miracle on Ice. Unfortunately the US had to lose to Canada. Only one of us has bike lights, but time to weave our way back to the house boat. One small incident, when Trish found an open bar. As she yelled out it was open, Chris stopped suddenly. Since Trish can’t stop, she stands up and lets the bike go. Crash into Chris, and lots of laughing later, the bar isn’t open, so we carry on to the house boat. That is twice for Trish. The first time being right after the bikes on the wet cobble stone. At least this time she didn’t close her eyes. Look out Amsterdam. Great night. See you in the morning.