Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
Well, our seating on the plane did turn out wonderfully! We ended up with a 3 seat row to ourselves after working with one of United’s people. On such a long flight, this was quite a huge blessing. To make a great thing even better, this plane was infinitely nicer than the one Wednesday morning out of Nashville. It even had the fancy dancy seats in first class that make into beds…at probably $1500 to $2,000 a ticket more than we paid! It is now around 9:45 PM at home and 4:45 AM in Amsterdam. Those beds up front don’t sound as expensive as they did a few hours ago!
Dawn was arriving as we neared the Irish coast. We were flying over white clouds so thick and even that they looked like snow fields. As we crossed the Irish border, we could see field after field bordered with stone walls as the Irish are prone to do…from our distance, tiny little pens. After crossing Ireland, we then crossed England. There we saw fields and towns looking as if they must be picture perfect if we were close enough to see them more easily. Every inch of land we could see seemed to either be hedged in fields or towns. We are really looking forward to being in London in a few weeks.
After arriving in Amsterdam around 9:30 AM, we thought we were golden and would be at the hotel around 11:00… Not so fast my little cricket…we were over 2 hours in line to go through customs. The folks here are super nice but goodness gracious…it felt as if we were in a small country that normally has maybe 10,000 visitors a year rather than one whose visitors number in the millions! After FINALLY getting through customs and heading to the baggage area, a big group of us were held back for 30 or 40 minutes before being allowed into baggage claim…with no idea as to which carousel was ours.
After 25 minutes of searching we finally found both the carousel and all of our luggage, so all was well.
After getting to the Radisson Blu, we registered and were able to get in our room. We took our things up and then walked downtown where we had a bakery treat and some strong coffee! After so many hours without sleep, we really needed the jolt for sure. We were warned NOT to ask for a coffee SHOP as that was shorthand for stopping in for marijuana!!! If we wanted coffee, we needed to ask for a coffee CAFE! We managed to get our order straight and after a nice walk downtown without getting high on our first day here!
After our treat, we did some walking and gawking in downtown Amsterdam dodging the ubiquitous bicycles, of which there appears to be millions riding the streets, the sidewalks, and anywhere else they want to go. We must not need the old folks home just yet as we managed to survive our visit downtown. Right now we are back at the hotel and may or may not be through for the day. We are so very thankful for our most excellent trip starting yesterday and ending today. We did change our time on our watches to Amsterdam time at the Chicago airport, which we think helped immensely. Tomorrow is another day and we plan to really check out this area and get a good feel for it. We are certainly blessed.Wow this is an amazing trip so far. Thank you for thanking us all for “coffee”. Be safe and enjoy every minute
Caleb
2023-08-10
Glad the flight went well and you got to sit comfortably! The evening canal boat ride sounds awesome too.
Barb & Len
2023-08-10
Love your Canal Travels, scenes! We watch a bunch of Canal travelogs on Amazon Prime. We may just have to follow your example sometime...! 🤩💞
Ashton
2023-08-11
Great pictures, sounds like you are off to a fun start!
Gary and Kathy
2023-08-11
So glad the flight worked out so well. Great pictures, especially the one taken from the canal! Safe travels and enjoy!
Linda & Rick
2023-08-11
We took this cruise and you will love it. So glad your flight went so well! Enjoy and be safe!
Kelly
2023-08-11
Glad you guys made it safe, hope you have a great time!
KC
2023-08-11
Love the architecture of the buildings! Looks like you are having so much fun! We will be here in SC with 110 heat index this weekend. : D
Ed & Betty
2023-08-11
You are bringing back memories of our trip to Amsterdam. We love reading your blog.
Betty
2023-08-11
Love your blog! We actually stayed in a boat on a canal when we traveled there. Not luxurious but interesting. I see the buildings lean, I had forgotten that. I was nearly run down by bikes many times because I couldn’t remember to stay in my lane. Bikes transporting kids amazed me. Thanks for including us on your journey.
Mike
2023-08-11
Glad you made it with no travel delays (2 hour customs lines happen to the best of us sometimes). Amsterdam looks beautiful.
Laura
2023-08-11
So glad you arrived safely. Love the pictures of the canals. Continue the fun!
Lora Carbary
2023-08-11
Glad you safely arrived and glad we came into Amsterdam by boat. That customs wait was terrible. Nice pictures do you have tickets for Anne Frank’s tour it is good but i think you need tickets in advance very easy to find they have good signs. Looking forward to all the pictures from riverboat. Enjoy every minute in Amsterdam very unique place.
Virginia
2023-08-11
Glad you are having a good trip so far. We have happy memories of Amsterdam.
Pat P.
2023-08-13
Wow this is an amazing trip so far. Thank you for thanking us all for “coffee”. He safe and enjoy every minute