Keukenhof Gardens and Amsterdam with Jack & Mary

On Tuesday afternoon, Roxi and I went to Amsterdam in preparation of my parents arriving for a two week visit to Europe. On the way to check into our hotel, we made a stop at our favorite Chinese restaurant in the city, The Golden Chopsticks. Following a filling delicious dinner, we found our way to the hotel, checked in and pretty much went to bed.

On Wednesday morning, we made the short train ride to Schiphol Airport to welcome my parents to Amsterdam. After greeting them and having a a cup of coffee, we stored the luggage in lockers and took a thirty minute bus ride south to Keukenhof Gardens near Lisse. The gardens were simply spectacular. Words and even pictures do not do the gardens justice. The vibrant colors in the park and the surrounding fields seemed too bright to be real.

We made our way around the park stopping for a pleasant lunch midway though the day before seeing an example of a working windmill. Between the tulips and the windmill, my parents got a huge dose of Holland and hadn't even been to Amsterdam yet!











See more pictures here.

As the afternoon progressed, the gardens got more and more crowded. We had seen and photographed enough flowers for one day, we rode the bus back to the airport, collected the luggage and took the train into Amsterdam. After checking my parents into the hotel and giving them some time to settle in and rest, we went to a nearby Argentinian restaurant and had a great meal sitting outside in the warm sun. It's finally warm enough to enjoy outdoor cafe seating in the Netherlands!

Following dinner, we decided to finish off the day with canal cruise around the city. Although we had been on canal cruises before on previous trips to Amsterdam, this one was different because the sun set while we were on the cruise giving Roxi and I a whole new canal perspective of the city. The long day of travel and the jet lag were taking their toll on my parents, but before retiring for the night, we made sure to stop in at a bar to have a Heineken Extra Cold. All-in-all we had a great first day with the folks in Amsterdam!

Enschede to Dublin via Amseterdam

On the evening of Friday March 21, Roxi and I left Enschede by train bound for Amsterdam where we spent the night before flying to Dublin the next morning. We stayed at an interesting experiment of a place in Amsterdam called the Qbic Hotel. It is supposedly a hotel where the staff is invisible, i.e. you check yourself in and out at a machine and if you want food, you buy it from the vending machines in the dining area. It is only an experiment though because when we arrived we were greeted, albeit by a lone staff person, who proceeded to check us in and direct us to our room. As the hotel's name implies, our room was a cube with very limited amenities. It was a clean but sparse room, so much so, that there wasn't even a window to the outside world, only a mirror claiming that "You are the view!" It was all a little too trendy for Roxi and a little too spartan for me. But it was cheap and couldn't have had more convenient access to the train to the airport that we would take early the next morning.

We arrived rather late in the evening, but it being Amsterdam, we figured things would surely be hopping in the city center. Indeed they were. After a short tram ride to Dam Square, we set out to our new favorite restaurant, The Golden Chopsticks, which we learned about during Leah and O'Neil's visit a few weeks ago. After a very filling dinner of steamed oysters, spicy chicken and crunchy pork, we raced to catch the last tram of the evening back to the south side of the city. Unfortunately we missed it by few minutes and found ourselves with about forty minutes to kill before the night bus started at 1:00 AM. From our bus stop, we found the nearest bar and had a couple of Jupiler beers while waiting. They were very refreshing, but being as full as we were from dinner, we both felt very stuffed as we made our way back to the bus stop thirty minutes later.

Neither of us slept great that night. I never sleep well the night before an early morning flight, especially when I'm in a hotel. To make matters worse, there was no clock, let alone one with an alarm, in our room. There wasn't even a phone where I could set up a wake up call! I talked to the lady at "reception" and she said we could request a wake up knock on our door. So with that I went to a restless sleep. I woke up several times and checked my iPod clock only to find that it had been an hour or so. Finally, 6:00 AM rolled around and I got up and showered to make myself more alert. I got Roxi up about thirty minutes later and by 7:00 we were checking out and on our way to Schiphol Airport.

The train ride was only a few minutes and then it was just a matter of finding the Aer Lingus check-in kiosks. I've always heard how busy Schiphol is so I was expecting a DFW or Bush Intercontinental sea of humanity, but it was really not that bad. Check in was very painless and there was no metal detector security line to get into the terminal area, only passport control. It really speeds things up when there is no TSA style bottleneck right from the get go! We did a little walk around the gate area to keep ourselves busy before boarding the flight. Once they opened our flight for boarding, we got in line and at that point went through a more traditional security screening. It worked so well it really makes me wonder why US airports don't adopt a system like this. You still need ID to get into the terminal but you don't have to take your shoes off until you are about to board the plane. It seems like there would be a lot less people missing flights because of security screenings if this were the case in the States. Maybe it wouldn't work in the US but it sure wouldn't hurt to try it seeing as how miserable travel has gotten from just about every airport in the States!

The flight from Amsterdam to Dublin was one hour and ten minutes of ease. It's great to fly internationally in such a short time, but I guess it's no different from flying between neighboring states in the US. We arrived in Dublin, claimed our checked bag and looked for ground transportation to our hotel. After a thirty minute bus ride we arrived at the nearest stop to our hotel and were told by the driver that we had about a ten minute walk. At least twenty minutes later (!) we were sure we were lost. Aparently in Dublin, there are very few numbers on any of the buildings and we hadn't seen a street sign yet. Suddenly, we noticed a sign for Cardiff Lane, our final destination, and sure enough, the Maldron Hotel was just a few yards down the street.

Since our arrival to Dublin was so early, we couldn't check in yet, so we stored our bags at the desk and inquired about some traditional Irish pub food. We got a few suggestions and started walking down Pearse Street looking for a nice lunch. Several blocks down the road we found a pub offering a daily special of fish and chips among other things and decided to give it a go. Roxi decided to go with the special while I went with a beef burger, hoping that it would be better than the burgers I've been having in the Netherlands. Although Roxi's fish wasn't great, my burger was fantastic and much better than the beef that's available in Holland. I also took the opportunity to order my first of many Guinness beers of the trip. After finishing our food, it was still too early to check into the hotel so we had another round of drinks to kill the remaining time. Finally it was nearly 2:00 PM and check-in time.

We made our way back to the hotel, checked in, got settled into our room for the next week and then went swimming! The hotel had a great complimentary health club and spa in the basement. We knew it going in, so we planned ahead and found some swim suits before we left Enschede. It was so relaxing after the late Friday night and the travel on Saturday morning. We spent some time in the steam room, the sauna and the whirlpool. It was really nice except for the steam room which was so musty I felt like I was going to leave with Legionaire's disease. The sauna and whirlpool where very nice and we frequented them on several occasions during our time in Dublin.

After our trip to the spa, we were both pretty relaxed and tired so we decided to take a nap. Several hours later, it was late and we were both pretty content with staying in for the night so we decided to have dinner at the hotel restaurant. I had a fancy version of bangers and mash while Roxi opted for vegetarian curry. They were both great and very filling. After dinner, we decided to officially call it a night so that we would be well rested for some sightseeing the next day. We didn't do a lot on our first night in Dublin but with seven more to follow, we certainly needed to get rested!

Enschede & Amsterdam with Leah & O'Neil

Roxi's best friend Leah and her husband (and former co-worker of mine) O'Neil came for a short visit to the Netherlands this week. They flew into Amsterdam last Saturday around noon and made the two and a half hour train ride to meet us in Enschede. After getting them checked into their hotel, we rode the bus to the city center to show them the weekly market. It was the warmest and most beautiful day we've had since arriving in the Netherlands so we founded a rather crowded cafe scene by the church. After refreshing ourselves with a round of beers at our favorite bar, we went to the market for a little sightseeing and shopping.

Leah and O'Neil bought a few souvenirs and we purchased a few grocery items. Knowing we were heading to Amsterdam in the morning, we didn't buy much food, but we did have to get a couple of cheeses, a salami and a loaf of fresh bread to sample with Leah and O'Neil. The food ended up coming in very handy the next day on the train. After the market, we made our way to Roxi's favorite restaurant in town, Mangu, and enjoyed a delicious three course meal. Finally we rounded out the evening with a trip back to campus to show Leah and O'Neal our humble little apartment. Very tired from long travels and a full day in Enschede, Leah and O'Neil retired to their hotel leaving Roxi and I to pack for the trip to Amsterdam.

On Sunday morning we finished our packing and met Leah and O'Neil at their hotel. The weather on Sunday was a cold and rainy but we pressed on with a short walk to show our guests the campus before taking the train to Amsterdam. We checked Leah and O'Neil out of their hotel around noon and made the trek to the nearby train station. Once we were on the train, we got comfortable and broke out the cheese, salami and bread that we had purchased at the market on Saturday. We ended up having quite a nice little picnic as we rode the rails through the Dutch countryside.

Upon our arrival in Amsterdam, we found our way to the apartment that Roxi arranged for our accommodations. Roxi had tried to get another houseboat but wasn't able to find anything that suited our needs. Instead she found a fantastic apartment only a few blocks from the central train station with a great view of the Oosterdok harbor and the NEMO museum. The apartment we stayed in was the top two floors of a four-story apartment that has been converted into three apartments. We later learned that the apartment was once inhabited by Michiel de Ruyter.

After getting settled in at the apartment, we headed into the city. Almost immediately, we started a bar hopping adventure that would stretch into the night. I lost track of all the bars we visited, but we made sure to have at least one beer at each. Our pace was perfect though drinking just enough to enhance our evening without overdoing it. And we covered some territory in the city! We crisscrossed through the streets and across the canals twice as we made our way from bar to bar. We finished off the evening with a trip to the best Chinese restaurant in Amsterdam, The Golden Chopsticks, and we were not disappointed. After a full evening, we retired to the apartment and got some much needed rest.


Round 1


Time for another!


Another round!

On Monday morning, O'Neil and I made a trip to find a grocery store while the wives got ready. We bought breakfast items and snacks then made our way back to the apartment to cook up some eggs and bacon. After breakfast, we headed into the city center to take a sightseeing cruise of canals. It was a nice cruise and different from the trip that Roxi and I took when Garrett and Nicole visited. After the hour long cruise, we decided to head to the Heineken brewery for the tour. As usual, it took us a while to figure out the tram system, but once we got our tickets and directions, we were on our way to the Heineken Experience.

The tour was fun and informative. It was especially nice to smell the familiar odors of cooking barley and hops that I have come to love from my home brewing experiments. The tour normally includes two free samples, but for some reason it was a "special day" and we each got a third sample. We all had the obligatory regular Heineken for our first round, but switched to the "Extra Cold" Heineken for our second and third. The Extra Cold Heineken is the same as regular except that it is served at zero degrees Celsius. Like I said before, it may be a gimmick, but the beer really is refreshing!




Ready for sampling!

We spent a lot more time at the Heineken Experience than we had intended so when we finished, we quickly made the walk to the Van Gogh Museum only to find that it had just closed. In a way it was okay though...it is one of the most expensive museums that I've ever heard of (18 Euros!) and it is small. I visited it a few years ago and it is interesting to see so many paintings by one artist, but it is very hard to justify the expense for the small gallery. Since it was closed, we made our way back towards the city center stopping for a snack and a drink on the way.




Roxi and Leah put the "dam(n)!" in Amsterdam!

We decided to spend some time walking through the Red Light District to see the sights before dinner. Besides the obvious things you would expect to see, we also saw the narrowest street in Amsterdam and lots of outdoor urinals.





After the walk through the district, I found a listing in a travel book for an ice bar which we all thought was a must see. It was a bit of a walk from where we were, but we thought it was worth it. We were told that for our admission fee, we would get one free drink each and thirty minutes in the bar. They also told us that pictures were forbidden. Strange as that was, we went in with a small group of people and the bartender. Before entering the frozen room, we were given fancy Heineken coats and gloves to keep us warm in the negative seven degree Celsius environment. The bar was essentially a giant walk-in freezer in which just about everything was made of ice. We were given our round of free drinks in glasses made of ice as well and offered to have a picture taken of us by the bartender. We took one knowing that the cost to purchase it would be outrageous. After everyone was served, the bartender left for a minute in which I took the opportunity to take a couple of contraband pictures of ourselves.







After our thirty minutes in the bar, we took a walk to a nearby Argentinian restaurant that my friend Edward had recommended when we saw him and his girlfriend on our previous trip to Amsterdam. It did not disappoint. Each couple ordered the mixed grilled plate for two and we dug into the veritable feast!





After another long day, we decided to call it a night, this time using our remaining pre-paid passage on the tram to get us as far as the train station to save us a few steps on our long walk back to the apartment.

Tuesday we got going again after another great breakfast that O'Neil and I made. We headed across the Oosterdok harbor to the NEMO. After a little souvenir shopping at the museum gift shop, we took the short self guided tour of the replica of the Dutch East India Company trading ship, the Amsterdam, anchored in the harbor.


Leah and Roxi take a break in the Hold of the Amsterdam.


Insignia of the Amsterdam Dutch East India Company (Amsterdam Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie).


Replica of the 18th century trading ship the Amsterdam.


Our apartment was the top two floors of the left corner of building above the blue boat.

From the NEMO, we took a leisurely walk to the Anne Frank House to get pictures of the building. On the way there, we stopped to enjoy a taste of traditional Dutch herring from a street vendor. Originally, Roxi said she'd try it if O'Neil tried it. When it came down to it, I didn't want to get left out and we all talked Leah into trying it too. It was much better than I expected. Then again, it was served with pickles and onions so I'm not sure how much I'd like plain herring. Surprisingly, it didn't have too much of a fishy flavor and it was really a lot like eating sashimi.


About a block away from the Anne Frank House, we saw a heron sitting on a car.


Anne Frank House



Later in the afternoon, we made the walk to the Amsterdam Dungeon. We were expecting something educational but ended up getting more of a haunted house type of experience with a bit of educational information peppered throughout. It was okay, but it could have been better. After a stop in at one of the many casinos in the city, we went back to the apartment to relax and have a few drinks. We played some cards, had a couple of beverages and just rested for a while. Finally, we headed back out for our last evening in Amsterdam with Leah & O'Neil. We were still pretty tired so after a few more bars we bought some dinner at a take-out Greek restaurant. Back at the apartment we ate and went to bed.

On Wednesday morning, we packed our things and cleaned up a bit before heading out for breakfast and last-minute souvenir shopping before Leah & O'Neil had to head to the airport. We looked for a place to get some traditional Dutch pancakes, but we found a lot of closed restaurants. In the end, we settled for a pretty good English continental breakfast. On the walk back to the apartment we stopped at a souvenir shop so that Leah and O'Neil could get the last of their gifts for people back home.

Finally, we headed back to the apartment for the last time, gathered up our luggage and started the walk to the train station. Roxi and I accompanied Leah & O'Neil to their train to see them off to the airport before we found our train and made the relatively short trip back to Enschede. We had another wonderful visit with friends from home and wish it could have lasted longer. However, I got sick towards the end of the trip and ended up spending the rest of this week recuperating. European travel is fun but it is hard on the body!

Amsterdam with Garrett & Nicole

Last Monday afternoon, we boarded a train from Enschede bound for Amsterdam. The travel time was only two hours with one train transfer about an hour and a half into the trip. After arriving at Amsterdam Centraal station, it took us a several minutes to get our bearings and figure out which bus would take us to our accommodations. Roxi had arranged for us to stay on a houseboat docked a short distance from the train station but we didn’t know exactly where to find the boat, only what dock it was on. After some frustrating exploring and borrowing a cell phone from a bystander, we finally found our lodging and boarded the Excelsior.


View Larger Map


Entrance to Garrett & Nicole's Bedroom


Garrett & Nicole's Bedroom


Living Room


Kitchen


Foyer


Our Bedroom

After exploring the boat for a few minutes and getting our things situated, we began our next mission: trying to rendezvous with my friend Edward and his girlfriend Cicely who were visiting Amsterdam from New Orleans. We had previously made plans to meet at their hotel but because of the delay in locating our boat, we were running a little late. I had been counting on having a web connection to be able to contact him when we arrived, unfortunately there was no Internet on the boat. So we made our way towards Edward’s hotel while keeping a lookout for an Internet cafe. We eventually found one and Edward and I were able to set a new meeting time.

We finally met Edward and Cicely in their hotel bar after they returned from dinner. I haven’t seen Edward since my wedding so it was very nice to catch up for a couple of hours while also enjoying some Dutch beer that I hadn’t yet tried. Edward and Cicely were flying out on Tuesday morning, so we parted company about midnight so they could get some rest and we could find something to eat. We had a very late lunch before leaving Enschede on Monday afternoon, so we were finally starting to get hungry. In the process of trying to walk back towards our houseboat, we found a lot of late night eateries and settled on Chinese food. After eating we were all starting to get very tired so we found a cab that quickly delivered us to the Excelsior where we all happily went to sleep.

On Tuesday morning, Garrett and Nicole woke early and set out to explore Amsterdam. Roxi and I started a little more slowly but met up with Garrett and Nicole a little after noon. Garrett and Nicole had seen a lot of the area around the city center, but wanted to see more. We decided that the daylight hours might be the safest to visit the Red Light District in order to see what it was like without fear of having our pockets picked. We found the Oude Kerk (Old Church) right in the middle of the district and we strolled up and down the canals taking it all in.


Magna Plaza


Royal Palace


Klompen





After seeing the sights of the Red Light District, we returned to the train station where we boarded a canal tour boat for an hour-long sightseeing trip. I took a similar trip during my last visit to Amsterdam and felt that it would be a good way for Garrett, Nicole and Roxi to see a lot of the city in a compressed time period.


The Amsterdam


Montelbaanstoren


Zuiderkerk (Southern Church)


Magere Brug (Skinny Bridge)


The Six Bridges


The Twin Sisters


Westerkerk (Western Church)

After our canals cruise, we went to the ticket office, booked our train tickets for our trip to Brussels and then it was off to dinner. Garrett was very interested in eating at an Argentine restaurant after Edward told us how good they were the night before, so we set out to find one. It wasn’t hard as Amsterdam is full of them. The first was a bit too pricey but the next couple were much more affordable. We settled on one and sat down to a delicious grilled feast of steak, chicken, ribs and salmon. I have never had Argentine grilled food before but I was very impressed. The meats had a smoked flavor in addition to the grilled flavor that really made for a delicious taste.

After dinner we walked around the crowded shopping area seeing more and stopping for a few beers along the way. Again, on the recommendation of Edward, I tried out a Heineken Extra Cold. It might just be a gimmick and I might have just been thirsty from walking around Amsterdam, but it was delicious. After a long day, we were all pretty exhausted so we made the walk back to the Excelsior. It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep on one of the couches. It took even less time for me to be prodded by everyone to go to bed since I was snoring so much on the couch.

On Wednesday morning, we woke up and began packing our things for our trip to Brussels. Our houseboat was conveniently docked on a pier that was only a few hundred feet from a ferryboat stop but we had not attempted to use it during our stay. We boarded the boat and rode across the IJ harbor with other commuters. From there we caught another ferryboat that took us back across the IJ harbor to the central train station.


Our last view of the Excelsior from the ferryboat heading across the IJ harbor.

Once we arrived at the station, we checked the time and tried to plan our lunch accordingly. We had open tickets on the train to Brussels meaning that we could take any train we wanted at any time of the day for the next two months. The trains to Brussels leave at six minutes before the hour every hour so there was no real concern about missing a train.

With about an hour until the next train, we dragged our luggage through the streets of the crowded shopping area near the station and found a cafe that served traditional Dutch pancakes. Since it was lunchtime, Garrett and I opted for savory pancakes as opposed to the sweet breakfast version. We both ordered bacon and cheese pancakes and I also added mushrooms to mine. They were very good, but the cheese was so rich that neither of us could finish our pancakes. I'm glad that I finally tried a pannenkoeken, but I don't know that it is something I will have very often. Stroopwafels, on the other hand, are something that I will miss when our time in the Netherlands is up.

After lunch we headed back to the station to find that we had just missed a Brussels train by about five minutes. We took the opportunity for Roxi and I to get a coffee and a bottle of water while Garrett and Nicole made a quick visit to the Church of Saint Nicholas. So as not to miss the next train, we found the platform early and waited. When the train arrived, we boarded, chose seats and got comfortable for our three hour ride to Brussels.

A Week of Travels

I’ve been out of steady computer communication for the past week while Roxi and I have been touring Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris with Garrett and Nicole. We had a wonderful time with them on their first trip to Europe and were sad to head home, but we too are glad to be back in Enschede. Traveling certainly takes a lot out of you but we had a relatively good experience despite the sometimes frustrating nature of travel.

We left Enschede on Monday for Amsterdam where we spent two nights on a houseboat. Wednesday we took a train to Brussels where we spent one night in the heart of the city. On Thursday we took the high-speed train to Paris where we spent two nights a very short walk from the Moulin Rouge. We got back into Enschede about an hour ago and have got to get some rest...but not before watching the new episode of LOST!

I will start blogging about our trip soon and of course give my thoughts on an episode of LOST I've been waiting for all season!