Amsterdam!

Finally I am getting around to posting on our first days in Europe.

Amsterdam was an extraordinary city. Full of vibrancy and such momentous history. I was excited to be so close to such artists as Van Gogh and Rembrandt but couldn't help being saddened at the thought of what the Nazi's did here.

When the kid and I arrived, the luggage had been lost. Unfortunately, I thought that would happen. The flight from Nashville into New York was delayed due to fog. I thought ahead and had us booked on the next flight out of NY to Amsterdam just in case our connection couldn't be made. It couldn't, and we were the last to jog onboard the last flight out to Amsterdam for the day! Phew! But, the luggage wasn't so quick in dashing across the airport as we were. These things are to be expected, and I always carry the most important items on board with me. What I didn't count on was it being windy and cool when we touched down in Amsterdam.
We took a taxi to The Lloyd Hotel, our residence for two whole days! Our driver was a woman and very pleasant. I think the kid brings out the best in people. The pic here is the front of the building. The car on stilts is an actual room! It's called the Love Inn. ha. Poor guy had to climb the stairs to set it up. Don't think I'd fit through the port hole! All I could imagine was being like Pooh and having no honey for days before they could pull me (or push) me out! hehe. The hotel had been built in 1921 as an immigrant's hotel. It went bankrupt in 1935 and was left abandoned. In 1940, German occupiers turned the abandoned building into a prison. The prison ceased in 1989 and the building was rented out to artists. In 1999, it was turned back into a hotel but is still used by artists as a Cultural Embassy. They have seminars quite regularly and this is one on the agenda. Think I'll pass. It is quite an amazing building. The kid thought for sure it would be haunted . . . I didn't know. The receptionist was very sweet and she promised to continue calling the airline to locate our luggage. She said she was giving us the basement flat which had a "unique" bed but couldn't explain in English. I thought perhaps it was a Murphy bed or a platform bed of some sort. Nope. It was a bed in a cubby. What a funky space!! Jet lag can play games on the mind. I didn't know if I liked it or not, ha. I couldn't figure out which way to lay. (Finally, put our heads at the end with our feet out the hole!) I felt like I had got a good whiff of pot as we landed or something--like the twilight zone. hehe. Jetlag can do that to me. (Later the next morning, we awoke to a strobe-light blinking above us. Talk about being in the twighlight zone. I felt like I was in a movie. Guess the light bulb was broken or something. It was quite strange indeed! But, of course, it added to the whole Amsterdam experience! Gotta love it!) The kid had this ten-foot sofa to sleep on. I almost stole it from him! hehe. The bath had two sinks and the shower was next to the toilet--just a curtain to close for privacy, no door. The kid didn't like that too much, being the pre-teen he is. I didn't mind. Lord knows the hub and I have seen it all at this stage of our lives! Who has time for modesty? The flat was quite bright as the windows opened out to the street, just at street level. I loved it, watching as folks were off to work.

Since I didn't have a toothbrush with me and fuzz was beginning to form from the trip, we walked across the street to the grocer's. If you want to learn about a culture, go the local grocery store. Poor kid was out of sorts and clung to me like a baby monkey. If I moved, I would step on him, he stayed so close. I was so excited to immediately find stollen (a sweet bread that we can normally get at Christmas here--or at least in DC) and some crescents, deodorant, tooth paste and a toothbrush. We also bought some scarves for hardly nothing since our heavier jackets were, of course, in our lost luggage. We then came back to the hotel for a spot of tea and a croissant. The kid took this of me, majorly tired but getting my caffeine in for the day. We then took a quick nap and waited for the hub to arrive from Liverpool.

More to come a little later. . . stay tuned for more Amsterdam! (No spell check, so bear with me.)

PS The kid tells me that all of the orbs in the room photos are "entities." Hmmmm.