Amsterdam!
Well its ~10:00am, and we are REALLY in EUROPE. We have arrived at Schipohl International Airport in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Customs was the easiest thing ever. Find the Passport Control Desk (Very Well Marked). Enter the line labeled “All Other Passport Holders”, not the one labeled “European Passport Holders”. There was no one in line. We presented our passports, got stamped, and walked through the doorway into Amsterdam.
Found the storage area for baggage, put 3 of our 4 checked bags (The Kid’s bags and both of the Donation bags) into the storage locker, and paid with a CC.
Then we located the IAmsterdam booth and picked up our pre-ordered and pre-paid IAmsterdam cards. (These were great, what a bargain, each one included 2 cards, 1 was a 72 hour public transit card (good for GVB Busses, Trams and Underground), entrance to about 40 Museums and tours (including the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum), a Canal tour of Amsterdam with 1 of 2 different companies, and discounts at a variety of restaurants..
We took a taxi to the Nova Hotel to store baggage until check-in, were informed that our apartment at the Nova Apartments (part of the hotel, but located off-site) was clean and ready for us to check into early. The very nice lady at the check-in desk gave us directions by tram from the hotel to the apartments, A short walk to the tram-stop, then a 15 minute ride on the #5 tram to the Museum Plein stop, a 2 block walk, turn right, continue ½ block to the apartments on Nicholas Maesstraat, and we were at our temporary home for the next three nights.
Love the apartment, it is not very large (2 rooms, a small bedroom with closet and a main room with sitting area, dining table, and kitchenette (complete with Fridge, Dishwasher, Stove top, combo oven and microwave, and dishwasher), and then a modern private bathroom.
After getting settled, We hopped the #5 tram (with our GVB passes) back in the direction we had come for 3 stops (Vanbaerlestraat, Hobbemanstraat, then Leidseplein) the last is an entertainment district, we were hungry, but as is typical, could not decide what we wanted to eat.
We walked around for another couple of hours trying to decide on food, then finally wound up back where we started near the tram stop at a pub called “The Three Sisters”. My sandwich, grilled Salami and Cheese (Gouda of course), never tasted so good. We also tried a local appetizer “Bitterballen” (small croquetes filled with warm meat and a sauce or something that I have still not been able to identify, but was super yummy).
Then back toward the apartment (we are both very tired – time difference is + 7 hours from St. Louis DST).
We asked a passing local where we could find a supermarket (after a little confusion she finally figured out that we meant “Grocery”) and to our delight, it was right across the street from the Museumplein tram stop under a sloped green roof with grass on top, (part of the park “Museumplein”= “Museum Square” is a large open green space) and down the escalators.
We purchased soda, cheese, red wine, crackers, and juice for the morning. All of the products, except for the soda Pepsi and 7-up were labeled in Dutch but we were able to muddle through.
Back to the hotel with intentions of wine, cheese (48 month aged Gouda) and crackers.
Instead, we both fell asleep before 7:00pm and slept straight through until 7:30am the next morning.