I'm in love! Amsterdam is an absolutely delightful city - right up there with Melbourne in the 'most livable cities of the world' category. For starters, there are very few cars. Bicycles are the preferred method of transport and they outnumber cars about 100 or 1,000 to 1. And the public transit system is very efficient and inexpensive. Here in the 'old' city we haven't seen a building over 5 stories tall which makes it all feel very human-scale. This is a typical canal neighborhood, our flat is on the right, just past the white picket bridge.
But I get ahead of myself in the adventure narrative. This one got off to a very rocky start with the absolute worst long-haul flight we've every had, and this on my beloved 787 with our long-time FF airline, UAL. Imagine a packed plane (4 people agreed to a bump at $500 each) 9.5 hours with no in-flight entertainment (no, not even Lawrence Welk on the headset!) and the total deprivation of no reading light!! The topper was a youngster asleep in the middle seat, head on mom's lap on the other end of the row and the youngster kicking me with torturous irregularity, no doubt the result of this nightmare flight!
Tim was able to sleep and generously loaned me his iPad which, with the brightness turned full-on, allowed me to read. And as if this wasn't bad enough, the food was laughable. As always, I take my regular stroll about the cabin every couple of hours and have a lovely chat with one of the 1st class attendants in the galley. She tells me that even the in-flight in first class isn't working and that she 'blames' this mess (not the first time this has happened apparently) on the company. Then we read in this morning's headlines that the CEO of UAL has resigned while the object of a 'probe' by UAL and NY Port authority officials. We also will be resigning our membership in this club . . .
But it was all worth it . . . we get all our tourist paraphernalia at the central train station and find the bus to our flat. I was taken with its description, especially its size (I think I got this right - 80 sq meters) which is quite generous for Amsterdam. And it's on the ground floor; elevators are not plentiful here. Hans is there to greet us (we are only the second guests) and he's a delightful bit of eye candy after a long trip! Photos . . . (no, not of Hans):
Living-dining room; kitchen behind us.
Second bedroom and door to garden; our bedroom and bath to the right.
We are catatonically tired - it's now 6 pm on Monday and we left Tucson at 12:51 pm on Sunday. A quick trip to the local market and then crash.
But I get ahead of myself in the adventure narrative. This one got off to a very rocky start with the absolute worst long-haul flight we've every had, and this on my beloved 787 with our long-time FF airline, UAL. Imagine a packed plane (4 people agreed to a bump at $500 each) 9.5 hours with no in-flight entertainment (no, not even Lawrence Welk on the headset!) and the total deprivation of no reading light!! The topper was a youngster asleep in the middle seat, head on mom's lap on the other end of the row and the youngster kicking me with torturous irregularity, no doubt the result of this nightmare flight!
Tim was able to sleep and generously loaned me his iPad which, with the brightness turned full-on, allowed me to read. And as if this wasn't bad enough, the food was laughable. As always, I take my regular stroll about the cabin every couple of hours and have a lovely chat with one of the 1st class attendants in the galley. She tells me that even the in-flight in first class isn't working and that she 'blames' this mess (not the first time this has happened apparently) on the company. Then we read in this morning's headlines that the CEO of UAL has resigned while the object of a 'probe' by UAL and NY Port authority officials. We also will be resigning our membership in this club . . .
But it was all worth it . . . we get all our tourist paraphernalia at the central train station and find the bus to our flat. I was taken with its description, especially its size (I think I got this right - 80 sq meters) which is quite generous for Amsterdam. And it's on the ground floor; elevators are not plentiful here. Hans is there to greet us (we are only the second guests) and he's a delightful bit of eye candy after a long trip! Photos . . . (no, not of Hans):
We are catatonically tired - it's now 6 pm on Monday and we left Tucson at 12:51 pm on Sunday. A quick trip to the local market and then crash.
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