Day One of Amsterdam

This trip was a anniversary trip for Lola and I. We decided to leave Billie at home and just do a couple's trip. There's a weird balance on trips like this because there's some guilt at leaving your child behind, but there's also some freedom of being able to enjoy life as two adults without worrying about your kid, if she's having fun, etc. So I had planned this one in secret and sprung it on Lola some months back.

Our flight out of El Paso had been delayed multiple times so we had just rescheduled it super early in Wednesday to make sure it didn't interfere with our international flight out of Atlanta. So Billie went to her Tito's house the day before and we bailed out super early Wednesday morning for the 6a flight. Lola's dad picked us up and dropped us off at the airport.

The flight to Atlanta was smooth, no issues. In the airport in Atlanta, we had a long wait at Starbucks, a $70 bill at the concourse shop, and a long wait till 4:30p. Sort of the norm for traveling, I guess. The flight (on Delta) was incredibly smooth. Lots of space in the cabin, so Lola and I were able to get three seats to ourselves so we could stretch out. With the flight leaving in the evening, we flew overnight and arrived at Amsterdam at 6:45a on Thursday, which is technically when Day One begins. All that travel talk was free and you're welcome.

When we arrived, we got through customs about as quickly as you could. There was some concern that we would have issues without vaccine certificates as the EU has a QR code that is easily scanned. Of course, the United States refuses to have that sort of thing because the mark of the beast of something. But, we skipped through customs super easy and our luggage was waiting for us when we got through. Easy peasy.

Last time we came to Amsterdam we took an Uber from the airport to our Airbnb, but this time, as we exited with our luggage, I asked Lola, "want to take the train?" The rail system in Amsterdam is extensive and, thanks to the wide usage of English, is easy to navigate. She said "sure!" and we headed over to the train station in the airport. We purchase tickets through a kiosk and were quickly on the train from Schipol to Amsterdam Centraal (the main train station in town). The trip took 15 minutes (or so my foggy brain remembers) and was whisper quiet on the rapid transit. All this trip, I marveled at the public transportation in Amsterdam. Just so easy, clean, understandable, effective. Our country really sucks at infrastructure. 

Because we were arriving so early, our host had told us the apartment wouldn't be ready till our 2p check-in time. But to help, she offered to let us drop off our luggage at her apartment to give us more freedom to move around. Again, we decided to take the Metro from Centraal to her place. It was a quick trip down M52 (the subway line) to her place and as we walked from the De Pijp metro stop towards her apartment, you could hear the seagulls in the air and feel the cool wind coming off the canals that fill the city. You knew you were in Europe, you could feel it.

Our host, Emily, was incredibly nice and greeted us with an enthusiasm her tired guests weren't quite ready for. She introduced us to her weiner dog and cat and we discussed the COVID situation in Amsterdam and how it might affect our stay. After a quick trip, we dropped our luggage and headed out to our destination for the morning, the Anne Frank House. It was close enough that we chose to walk, which is surprisingly easy in Amsterdam, honestly. You have to watch out for bikes, which are absolutely everywhere in the city. There's more bikes than people! But aside from staying out of bike paths, the scenery is beautiful and the people are nice, so why not walk?

When we arrived at the Anne Frank House, we were early so we sat in the benches outside. I had been here once before, but this was Lola's first trip to this sad location. The building has been encased in a large steel structure, which really stands out from the surrounding neighborhood. Once our time was near, we showed our vaccine cards to the staff and were allowed entry. 

Photos aren't allowed in the House, so I can't really show you what it looks like. So I'll briefly describe it. There's an opening display, that tells the story of the family and the people that were involved, and then you slowly move through the rooms of the office downstairs from the attic. Each room has a photo on the wall showing the original layout and what the rooms were used for. Then you get to the room with the secret passage into the attic. The original bookshelf that covered the doorway is still there and you step behind it and climb the stairs. Up the steep staircase into the hiding place, it's intense. The rooms are so tiny and yet held 9 people for close to 2 years. The rooms have patches of the original wallpaper that the young girls (Anne and Margo) decorated with photos from magazines and handwritten notes. There's a spot where Otto had marked the heights of his daughters as the grew. It's a disturbing and important stop for any trip to Amsterdam. We exited the experience and decided to get a bite.

Honestly, we used Yelp to find a local spot and settled on Kessens. The food was mostly breakfast and brunch items and Lola got a sampler plate with a eggs and I had Gravad Lax a traditional meal of toast with thinly sliced salmon and a dark sauce. We had coffee and juice and shook off the heaviness of our first stop, not to mention the road weariness of the flight. Once we finished our meal, we walked through the neighborhood, killing time till our apartment opened up.

Once we got to 2p, we headed to our place and found our host hauling our furniture up the stairs. We stopped her and did it ourselves, because the stairs are steep and luggage is heavy! Once inside, we took a nap and once we felt rested did a couple of quick shopping trips. First, we hit up a local coffeeshop (Katsu) to purchase a few prerolled joints. Marijuana is legal in the city, so when we're here we always enjoy a smoke in the evening to wind down. We then hit up a local grocery store to purchase groceries for the apartment. Once we got back to our apartment, we unloaded our groceries.

After things were set, we went across the canal and found a quiet bench and smoked a joint. We're both lightweights, so 3-4 puffs is enough for us to feel great. We sat on the bench and watched the lights dance on the canal water and then wandered back across the street and made dinner (pasta with chicken). We turned in the for evening after a long day of travel.