We woke very early and got up to finish up getting ready. Jim picked us early because Delta had added a note when Ed got our boarding passes to arrive 3 hours before our flight.....Delta was messing with us again. They had taken away our economy comfort seats that we bought in August last year and split us up on the plane. It took an hour on the phone to get three tickets together!! Seems the fine print says that until you get your boarding pass seats are not guaranteed!!!! One of the most interesting people watching I have done in a long time was watching the ticket agent in Atlanta jockey seats around!! It was amazing what changed on the seating chart. Many people arrived without seats already assigned so the agents could fill in as she needed to as people made requests. We left Atlanta 30 minutes late and arrived 30 minutes early...how does that happen. We ate a lot on this flight. A snack was followed by dinner. Ed and Susan had a spicy pasta, salad, cheese and crackers, a roll and a small brownie. More that I could eat. Then they shameless tried to sell duty free products. We watched movies. We tried to sleep on this eight hour flight, but I did not do much more than doze off a few times. Susan laid across us and did sleep a few hours! Then they served a hot light breakfast. The croissant had a spicy egg mix. It was also hot to the tongue too. we also had an OJ and coffee. Plenty!
When we deplaned the airport is quite different
. The boarding area had only seats. There did not seem to be any restrooms or amenities in that area. All services are outside that area. We headed to baggage quite a ways. Then we tried to get train tickets to central station. The kiosks would not use our credit cards. In Europe they have pin and chip cards for security. We had or find the ticket office to get the tickets. They have a central hall with many businesses. More like a mall, but harder to figure out. We were sent down to the proper track, which was not that easy to see. The ride was not scenic. We arrived at central Amsterdam at 9:15 am, that is 7 hours Ahead of central time. We were not getting into the houseboat, our accommodations for four nights, until 2. We were instructed to store our luggage at the train station,BUT the lockers only take chip and pin credit cards!!! SO we are schlepping our luggage on bricked, uneven, crowded streets. Did I say WE, that would be Ed. There is even a supermarket in the train station! Now it is a BEAUTIFUL SUNNY DAY here. We found the Saturday market. It is like flea market with lots of vendors that also have produce, bakeries, cheese, everything you can think of. Did I mention crowded. We found a layered bread concoction that was both sweet and savory!! It was Delish. We also bought a slice of Apple pie. Everyone here sells this. We sat on the steps of Noorderkerk, church. The floors are slabs of stone that are graves. There was a children's school choir performing
. I thought of Katie, my niece, as I watched the director.
Susan declares that "Amsterdam is more breathtaking than Paris". It is quite interesting. One building had 1602 on it. We went to a cheese shop for bread and cheese for dinner. We stopped at another market for milk and ham. Susan likes MEAT on her sandwich. We are so tired of walking. We get to our houseboat for the grand tour. One room with a bath. It has a washer dryer combo on a closet, directions in Dutch. The coffee pot is an espresso machine. Oh now what! I put in the espresso package they provide, ran water through twice with the one pod and added hot water from the hot water pot and we had a decent cup of coffee! The houseboat is on a corner of two canals. The traffic is not to be believed. Everyone in this city must own a boat, but for those who do not, they rent them. They are backed up making the turn. They blow at each other, play loud music, wave at us, take pictures, etc. There are tour boats lined up behind each other that are full. It looks like some country has sent its citizens here for the day. We are actually getting rocked by the wakes. It seems to me like they cruise the canals like we used to cruise around the Shoney's drive in. There are few streets here. When you cross a road you have to look for trams, cars and bikes. The order of the day is bike dodging. They will run you over it seems. We saw bikes that have up to four children in special boxes in the front of the bikes. Did I mention that it is a beautiful weekend day here. It is about 67.
I am sure to leave out some good stuff but sleep is calling after a cheese sandwich. Hopefully we can add photos to this.
Actually I have forgotten how to get this to you....but we will try
b
Red eye flights are no fun BUT.........
Friday, May 16, 2014
Mount Juliet, Tennessee, United States
Other Entries
-
1Red eye flights are no fun BUT.........
May 16Mount Juliet, United Statesphoto_camera4videocam 0comment 4 -
2If heaven has a fragrance.......
May 182 days laterAmsterdam, Netherlandsphoto_camera17videocam 2comment 2 -
3Susan crosses Amsterdam off bucket list
May 193 days laterAmsterdam, Netherlandsphoto_camera10videocam 0comment 5 -
4"Nothing is better than this" said Susan
May 204 days laterAmsterdam, Netherlandsphoto_camera10videocam 0comment 4 -
5On board
May 215 days laterAmsterdam, Netherlandsphoto_camera0videocam 0comment 1 -
6Cruising
May 226 days laterAmsterdam, Netherlandsphoto_camera2videocam 0comment 0 -
7Walking through history
May 237 days laterRostock, Germanyphoto_camera20videocam 0comment 1 -
8Another sea day before the marathon!
May 248 days laterCruisung from Germany to Stockholm, Swedenphoto_camera0videocam 0comment 1 -
9Archipelago sailing
May 259 days laterStockholm, Swedenphoto_camera16videocam 0comment 2 -
10Helsinki
May 2610 days laterHelsinki, Finlandphoto_camera11videocam 0comment 1 -
11Russia at last
May 2711 days laterSt. Petersburg, Russian Federationphoto_camera22videocam 0comment 1 -
12More of SPB
May 2812 days laterSt. Petersburg, Russian Federationphoto_camera18videocam 0comment 1 -
13Oldest capital in Europe
May 2913 days laterTallinn, Estoniaphoto_camera13videocam 0comment 2 -
14Finally a rest day.
May 3014 days laterCopenhagen, cruising to this port, Denmarkphoto_camera1videocam 0comment 3 -
15The wallet is now empty!
May 3115 days laterCopenhagen, Denmarkphoto_camera17videocam 0comment 1 -
16These shoes were made for walking
Jun 0116 days laterAmsterdam, Netherlandsphoto_camera2videocam 0comment 4 -
17WE MADE IT !
Jun 0217 days laterMount Juliet, United Statesphoto_camera4videocam 0comment 2
Comments

2025-02-17
Comment code: Ask author if the code is blank
dwlp.travelkids
2014-05-17
Once again we are enthralled with a blog and ready and waiting for the next installment! We are glad you had a safe, albeit somewhat frustrating airplane experience...however, if nothing went wrong, where would the comic relief be?? Hope you got a good rest and will be ready to take on that part of the world and have wonderful experiences. In the meantime, we are waiting with bated breath the latest triumphs of Clan Tricruiser! John and Pat
Dave & Pat
2014-05-18
Ah yes, another "fun" filled adventure for the Coon Family :-)
The canal sounds like a weekend on the Sacramento delta in California except they do it in high powered speedboats out there. Good old Delta Airlines, so happy they didn't let you down, lol...
Having a great time in Florida. Leaving Ft. Lauderdale for the Keys tomorrow. Looking forward to your next installment.
D & P
Pete & Stephanie
2014-05-18
Glad to hear that you all arrived safely in Amsterdam. What fun would it be without all the little kinks to work through? You must have slept like babies
once your heads hit the pillow. Safe travels. Watch those cobblestones.
Cathy
2014-06-11
Sweet start!