so about that trip

its still crazy at the office
  we're down to the last day in times square
 i come home so tired
 i dont feel like writing
 but
 its wednesday evening 
as i write this
 toonman plays cards on wednesday
 the cats are all napping
 harry and annie on opposite ends of the bed 
jack in the recycle basket
its quiet and i feel like sharing
 i went through my amsterdam photos
 pulled out a bunch
 which
 i will use to prompt my memory

ok
 here we go

my friend and the best travel companion in the world
mary 
flew in from cincinnati 
we left jfk at around 8 pm on tuesday evening
 we fly standby 
if there's a seat in biz or first 
we get upgraded

 score!
 we both got sleeper seats
 and
 slept across the atlantic
 arriving in amsterdam
wednesday morning around 10 am 

we took the train from the airport to amsterdam central


from there 
we hopped a tram
 if you go to amsterdam
 you should buy the 72 hour unlimited tram pass for 17.50 euros
 you can hop
 on and off
 as many times 
a day/night 
as you want

 which is a good thing
 if you tend to get lost

 after all its an adventure


we rented an apartment in a really nice area
 just steps away 


 from vondelpark and museumplein 



i think there must be no heart disease because everyone bikes


let me point out that every sidewalk is divided in half
the side nearest the street is for bikes
pedestrians must look out for bikers who take their right of way very seriously


the first day we not only wandered vondelpark
we went looking for salamander park
its adjacent to
rembrandtplein
where
a stature of rembrandt looks out over life size figures from night watch


we walked over 12 miles the first day
through intermittent sun and rain
we also got lost ending up taking the tram back to central and starting over


seriously

on thursday 
my friend robin flew in from wales
 to spend the rest of the week with us




we headed off to lunch
at
de kas
an amazing incredible dining experience
food looking as good as it tasted
all grown right there in their own greenhouse 









after lunch
 we decided to go to the famous flea market
  it wasn't all we expected 
but
 we all got some fun photos 


then we decided to go to the rijks museum 
we got there too late to go inside so we wandered the outside 
the 
iamsterdam sculpture 
is much loved much climbed upon


we'd been told to have dinner
 at
 kantkil & de tijger

 alas it was booked solid 
we wandered a bit 
ending up in a very nice italian restaurant 
the name of which escapes me just now


we did get to dine at kantjil on friday night
it was amazingly good



we took a long walk after dinner 
since the rain stopped
 i think it rained 90% of the time 

friday
 was the worst day
 it rained non stop 

we decided to go to the museum
 apparently 
so did the rest of the city


what do to on a rainy day in amsterdam?
 you take a canal boat tour 
of course

 getting to see the city from a unique perspective


on saturday
 robin went to meet an old friend

 mary and i went to the cat museum



after we did some more wandering
i love how the canal houses are so crooked
for once the lopsided photo isn't my fault 




 we had an really great time
 rain is no deterrent 
when you are traveling 
you just make sure to pack your
 slicker
umbrella
 good walking shoes 

my fitbit let me know 
we walked over 12 miles the first day
 and
 at least 6 or 7 each of the other days 
we ate terrific food
 drank good beer
 shopped 
talked
 took photos
 and
 fell in love with the city

  there are more photos over at 'my eyes'