Amsterdam, Again

And I came back to Amsterdam. This is my third trip and Dave’s second. Our first visit was in the 1980s with a tour group; we saw the ‘common sites’, including, after dark, the red light district. Neither of us was impressed. My next trip was with Barb, and we concentrated on museums. This time I came because this is where the cruise ended and stayed since it was a place Dave had never really explored. I was tickled to get to show him some wonderful museums. We weren’t in time to see the tulips, but the weather was lovely and it was fun to be out on the canals in the little boats. Once again, for me the down side was the number of bicycles – they seem to aim right at pedestrians with silent malice. (The video is falling blossoms from the Rijksmuseum.)

Review of Traveling through the Netherlands and Belgium

Bruges Canal

Traveling through the Netherlands and Belgium was fun and there are a lot more places to stay, things to do and fabulous restaurants. I’m thinking that I may have to make a return trip, soon. For information about my rating system, see Reading the Reviews.

Around Amsterdam

One of the canals

Two of us arrived in Amsterdam after a not so positive adventure transferring from American Airlines to British Airlines through Heathrow. Although the airlines tell you that you can make your flight if you have at least 90 minutes, this is not actually the case during high season. We did make our plane, but our luggage did not. It showed up at our hotel a few hours later, in good repair, so we were able to continue our adventures on a more positive note. The lesson from this, plan for a two, or better yet, three hour lay-over in Heathrow rather than sprinting through the airport and sweating through internal security that does nothing in a hurry. You’ll arrive at your destination a bit later, but without the anxiety of trying to make a connection that could depend on the whim of a security person, bus driver, or gate clerk.