Sep 21 - Arrived in Amsterdam

We had quite a smooth flight into Schipol Airport in Amsterdam. Smooth is always good, given Doug's tendency towards motion sickness. We both agreed that Premium Economy class on Air Transat (which we flew to/from Italy in the spring) far surpasses that of Air Canada.

We found a "legal" taxi by following the brightly-coloured and numerous arrows on the floor. The airport had a bad problem with "bandit" taxis and launched a successful counter offensive with the signage. In a short while, we were at our AirBnB - a lovely ground floor apartment - owned by Anne. Anne is enjoying a girls' weekend in Valencia, Spain while we are camped out at her place. Her mother, Suzann, graciously met us and gave us the keys and the grand tour.

We found a nearby grocery store and stocked up on our standards - milk, yogurt, and pre-made salads. Tossed in a couple of Nutella-filled croissants and chocolate-covered digestive cookies to round out the menu. We had yogurt and croissants for lunch and then we both had a long nap. Neither of us slept on the plane so we were both knackered.

We surfaced, feeling much refreshed, about 5:00 p.m. Since exercise and sunshine are good antidotes to jet lag, we set out to find Vondelpark. It's a beautiful, huge park that was full of people enjoying the glorious warm, sunny day. There were roller bladers, kids on scooters, children playing soccer, a guy practising juggling, couples snuggled closely, and lots of cyclists. This is the city of bicycles - thousands of them. It was so nice to see the park so well used. Not many homes here have a yard, so the park is a great way for people to enjoy the outdoors. We walked and walked, and did lots of people watching. Good, cheap entertainment.

As the sun started to set and the temperature began to drop, we headed home (thank you Google Maps) and had the salads (excellent!) and cookies for dinner. Doug figured out how to stream classical music from 96.3 FM so we had a bit of culture with our dinner.

Our plan for tomorrow is a tour of the Heineken Beer Factory, followed by a canal cruise.Read more