2011 APRIL AMSTERDAM

Friday April 29 - Saturday April 30, 201

Terry and I left Vancouver on Friday April 29 just after 4pm with KLM.  The flight was 9 hours long but we only managed to sleep for barely 2 hours each arriving Saturday morning just after 10am - so we would have to work hard on Saturday to keep our eyes open so we can hopefully get a good sleep tonight!  In the economy section on the KLM flights they have slightly upgraded seats at the front of the economy section with a little more leg room and a little more recline - we didn't pay for these, but we sat in the first row behind these seats.  This turned out to not be a good decision since our seats had less of a recline and the seats in front a bigger recline so our personal space was reduced more than anyone else on the plane!!  But the flight was smooth and we arrived into Amsterdam with sunny blue skies and temperatures forecast for a high of 20 Celcius.  The Captain also reminded us that today was one of the biggest holidays for Holland - it is a major holiday for the Queen's Birthday.  This was readily apparent as soon as we had disembarked, been processed through immigration  and  customs and into the airport - everyone was wearing orange - shorts, hats, wigs, blow up plastic crowns, shoes, leggings, flower leis - you name it!  Excitement was high and lots of younger folk getting ready to let loose and party.

We checked into the Sheraton hotel - a 5 minute walk across the street from the Schipol Airport and dropped our carryon luggage and cleaned up (in Vancouver we had checked our two big bags through to Cape Town, South Africa which is where we head tomorrow).  Then it was back to the Schipol Airport to purchase Amsterdam City bus and entrance tickets to Keukenhof gardens - these were 21 euros each (exchange approx 1.65) so about $35 Cad each.  It was 18 euros for seniors but we forgot to mention that Terry is now a senior!  The bus stop was right outside the door - #58 running about every 10 minutes all day Saturday, a 35 minute ride.  Lots of people were heading to Keukenhof but nothing prepared us for the tour bus parking lot when we arrived - there were more than 100 tour buses jam packed in the parking lot from all over Europe and the United Kingdom - this is a very popular destination!  A COSMOS tour bus was just leaving.  The gardens were glorious - they are only open from end of March to end of May each year and are filled with thousands and thousands of beautiful and some very exotic tulips.  They also have daffodils, greenhouses with exotics (orchids, ginger plants etc) another greenhouse with many varieties of Hydrangea - really beautiful gardens - a gardener’s paradise.  They also have a functioning calliope organ, a windmill (that you can climb to the top), swans, lakes - the grounds are huge and have severl restaurants and coffee spots around the park.  There are also thousands of tourists!!  We really enjoyed our stroll through, took lots of photos but were glad to leave the crowds behind when we left - obviously a Saturday AND the Queen’s holiday is a very busy day at Keukenhof!

Back at Schipol airport we bought same day return train tickets to Amsterdam City Centre (15 euros for two about $12 each) - this was great value for all the miles we did but let me explain that comment.  We caught the train (double decker - we sat upstairs for the view) and relaxed and watched the fields and canals go by - everything very green and very orderly (the Dutch way).  Spring is here in full force - lots of calves, lambs, new ducklings and baby goats.  We would each snooze for a minute or two sitting in the warm sun streaming through the windows - the train is smooth and rocks you to sleep.  Well - I’ll bet you think we fell asleep and missed our stop?  Not so!  We have done this trip several times before - about 35 minutes.  Well - we are looking out the window after about 45 minutes and we are deep into the countryside not a high rise in sight! - so we look at each other and say, something is not right - we’d best get off at the next stop.  Well - the train then seemed to settle in and keep on gliding quietly through the countryside - and through each station without stopping!

Eventually the train did stop and we got out in a hurry!  We hadn’t taken our passports with us and were starting to worry that pretty soon we’d be crossing a order and have no passport to show!  We walked across the platform and caught the next train that said it was going to Amsterdam City Centre - along with everyone else - all wearing something in orange (why do they wear orange?).  We finally arrived in Amsterdam at 5 pm - 2 1/4 hours for our 35 minute train ride!

Amsterdam was hopping - thousands of folks - all the streets shut down to traffic - and garbage everywhere - and I mean tons of it!  Lots of bands, folks singing and drinking on the streets, lots of street vendors selling everything orange as well as purses, belts, shoes, pashminas, etc - you name it!  Of note is that most of the vendors are dark skinned - no doubt many refugees and some illegal immigrants - no skills or experience (or speaking the language) for better jobs.  The refugee and illegal immigrant issue is becoming a very hot potato in many parts of Western Europe now.  There was even a segment on TV today about the refugees from the Ivory Coast in Russia - Russia has its’ refugee camp 600 miles from Russia and it is a dreadful facility.  They even interviewed the beaurocrat in Russia responsible for the refugees and he publicly stated “ we are very worried about keeping the white race pure and do not want to have the problems that the rest of western Europe has had with mixing”!!!

Anyway - it was a very busy and noisy couple of hours in Amsterdam City Centre - we managed to catch the correct train back to Schipol Airport - we had to stand the whole way back to the airport - the train was packed with young folks trying to keep the party going.  Now we are relaxing and hoping to stay awake until around 10 pm and get a good night’s sleep before our 6 am wake up call and off to Cape Town South Africa tomorrow morning to start our Southern Africa tour.  We are very excited to be able to go and explore these countries that we have not been to before.