August 2, 2003
Today was spent mostly on train rides. We caught the 6:31 a.m. train in Odense. We changed trains four times and arrived in Amsterdam at 7:00 p.m. We traveled through Germany with a train change in Hamburg. There were a couple of changes that we only had 3-6 minutes to get from one track to another and that was only if the train was on time. There was only one train that we missed. Luckily we only had to wait 20 minutes for another one to come.
Nadine, Laurie's friend, picked us up at the train station. She drove us through the city and brought us to her apartment. It is in a nice section and the apartment is very nice. Nadine has lived in Amsterdam for four years. She works for the same company where Laurie worked. Actually, Laurie hired Nadine fifteen years ago at Mellen.
We walked to an Italian restaurant through Vindell Park. We didn't get there until 9:00 and we didn't leave until 11:00. After dinner we walked around. The streets were packed with people. Nadine said it was Gay Pride Day so more things were going on. We walked by the canals that were all lit up. Some boats were traveling on the canal. It was a very romantic setting. The houses are all close together and the front of the houses are very narrow. Nadine said they are narrow and tall because they use to be taxed by the size of the frontage.
This has been the busiest city that we have been in lately. Luckily, Nadine was there to make sure we weren't run over by the trains and bicycles. The bicycles seem to have the right-of-way and they don't seem to care who they run over.
We took a taxi back to Nadine. It was probably about 12:30 by the time we got back. I was pretty tired by then.
August 3, 2003
We got a slow start this morning. It was nice. I made train reservations for tomorrow night to take us to Berlin. Nadine brought us to the train station at the airport so I could pick up the tickets.
She then drove us to Delft. It is a cute little town known for Delft china. All the designs are hand painted and it is normally a blue and white design. We went into one store and we saw a couple of women painting figurines.
We stopped at a little cafe. Nadine ordered a couple of snacks. They were both little pancakes. One plate had the pancake with lots of butter and confectionary sugar and the other plate is the pancake with strawberries and whip cream. Boy, they were so good. I wish I knew the name of them.
We drove back to Amsterdam and parked the car. We walked over to the canal and took a canal tour. The canals are amazing and there are so many. There are lots of boats on the water, probably because it was Sunday. People can rent paddle boats. The traffic gets a little crazy, especially when the people don't know how to operate the paddle boats. Our boat hit two paddle boats. No one was hurt. The tour was narrated by tape. It was done in four different languages.
I enjoyed looking at the different houses. As I mentioned before, they are very narrow. All the roof tops have a different design. The top of the building has a large window and a hook hangs from the house. This is the way they have to get large items to the different floors. This is because the stairs are too steep and narrow.
The guide pointed out the house Anne Frank hid in during WW II. I read the book many years ago, but I always thought it took place in Germany.
After the canal ride we met a friend of Nadine's on the street and went to an outside cafe for a drink. It was right outside the Hard Rock Cafe. I have never been in a Hard Rock Cafe.
We had dinner at an Indonesian restaurant. Amsterdam is known for their Indonesian food. Many years ago several Indonesian people settle here. The Indonesian restaurants are known for rijsttafel. The restaurant was very elegant and I felt underdressed with my shorts and sneakers on.
Rijsttafel is hard to describe, but we had three trays with about 6 bowls on each tray. One tray had different meats, one had different vegetables and one tray had different toppings. This is all served with rice. Nadine also ordered side dishes of chicken satay, shrimp satay, and fried rice. What a feast! For dessert we had a melon sherbet that had chocolate lace around it. I was so full. I should have walked home.
I was very tired when I got back to the apartment so I went to bed.
August 4, 2003
We said our good-byes to Nadine as she left for work. Laurie tried making phone calls to make reservations at hostels for the coming week-end. We didn't have a lot of success. So we left to do some errands.
Since we had time we went to the Anne Frank house. We heard that it has long lines, but we decided to go. There was a couple of sisters from the states behind us. One of them had been here before. She said the line moves quickly and it is worth it. It was worth it. It doesn't have a lot of things in there but they had some short videos in the rooms. One had a woman who helped hide Anne Frank and her family. It is very hard to imagine a life like that. I think I would like to reread the book.
Laurie and I made our way back to the apartment. We had to pick up our packs and get the tram to the railroad station.
I am now sitting on the train. I am glad I made reservations. The train is full and some people are standing.
We will get off this train after two hours of traveling. We will get off at Duisborg. We wait there for our next train an hour later. The next train we have a couchette. It is some type of bunk bed that we can sleep in. It only cost 17 euros--cheaper than a hostel.
