October 15, 2016
Greetings, everyone,
So sorry it has taken me three days to get this written. We’ve
been pretty busy and trying to recover from jet-lag which has slowed us down a
bit.
We arrived in Paris without a hitch, and then took the
shuttle down to Gare du Nord train station in Paris to catch the train to
Amsterdam. We had some time to kill so we put our bags in lockers and took off
walking around the area where the station is located. It looks like a very
eclectic, diverse area, with many ethnic groups represented there. We walked
around Marche Saint Quentin, an indoor farmers market which had all kinds of
ethnic foods, flowers, etc. We loved it! Afterwards, our walk took us to St.
Vincent de Paul church which was much older than the one in Ft Wayne. We ended
up at a little Turkish restaurant where we had Durum, meat wrapped in a flat bread,
and fries with mayo and ketchup. We were satisfied when we were done.
Sleep was the name of the game on the trip via train to
Amsterdam. I was happy that I got some sleep, something that usually eludes me
on long journeys. After arriving, we caught another local train to the little village
north of Amsterdam where we are staying in the cutest Airbnb. We were settled
into our room by 6:50 after walking here from the train station.
This place is tucked back on a small canal, in a little
cluster of wooden homes, painted dark green and modeled after some basic Dutch
architecture. We have a self-contained room upstairs, via a very narrow,
typical Dutch stairs. Everything is very quaint and well done.
Yesterday, we walked through Koog-Zaandijk, where we are
staying. The village is an artistic haven with lovely shops and homes and a
cocoa factory that you can smell when you get off the train. 
We then visited
Zaanse Schans, a grouping of windmills, most of which are still used for
various artistic endeavors to this day. This is located just across the river
from the village and is frequented by scores of tourists. It is laid out in a
village format with a small farm, cheese store, wooden shoe factory and museum.
. . all very interesting. The weather cooperated although it was rather windy
and cold.
We then took the train into Amsterdam, hopped on a canal
cruise for an hour which was interesting and walked around the streets of old
Amsterdam. They were having a carnival close by, with a huge Ferris wheel, so
we hopped on so we could get a better view of the city that it provided. We
then walked some more, bought some gouda cheese so I could get my cheese fix
and ended up at the Anne Frank house, which had a line wrapped around several
blocks to enter. We hadn’t bought tickets beforehand, so if you wanted to get
in, the line was the only way to go. We took pictures of the house and listened
to a guide give a very good talk about the house and its history. Lesson
learned, always buy your tickets ahead, if possible. You would think that we
would know that after all this. Tours would have taken care of that. Oh, well.
We’re still not into most tours.
On our continued walk, we stopped in to see the Houseboat Museum which was fascinating. The canals in Amsterdam are lined with houseboats of all sizes and shapes. What once were a cheaper way of living, have become very expensive.
We walked through the Red Light district, which is where the
partying takes place in Amsterdam. It is a sad commentary on what life has
become throughout much of the world. . . people in need of more than a party to
provide for lasting and true happiness.
Our day ended with a falafel sandwich with garlic mayo, the
Dutch way, instead of tahini. The sandwich was good but we prefer the true
middle eastern way of eating them.
After a night’s sleep, not necessarily good, we went back
into the city today to the Van Gogh Museum and we didn’t have to wait in line
because we had remembered to get our tickets ahead of time. It is one of the most famous museums in town.
We enjoyed it, but really prefer his earlier paintings to his later ones. The
museum did a good job of showing you the progression in his art from beginning
to end. His life ended in his thirties from depression via suicide.
We then walked to an outdoor market and tried all kinds of
Dutch food and some other ethnic food. We love markets like this because they
are good places to view and learn the culture in all its variations, from food
to clothing, etc. The people were out in full force today. It was wonderful!
I wanted to stop at a yarn store, so we found one and I
bought some hand-dyed Dutch wool yarn. I got my yarn fix. Then we walked to the
Amsterdam Library where we went up to the top to view the city. It was supposed
to provide a great view but the sun was in the wrong place and it was very hazy
so that part didn’t really pan out. However, the library itself is very sleek
and modern and one of the nicer libraries that we have visited. They had a
wonderful children’s section.
By this time, we were dragging, so we headed over to the
Central Station and headed back to the Airbnb.
We are leaving for Brussels in the early afternoon so I won’t
promise anything from us tomorrow, but will connect again in a few days.
Take care,
Carol and Roger
No comments:
Post a Comment