On the Road Again – Last Days in Amsterdam

September 28, 2022

The time has come for us to disembark but not before one final hearty breakfast and saying thank you to the marvellous crew for our wonderful journey. What a week it’s been!

After a bit of time patiently waiting in the lounge, the cabs are arriving and we’re heading to our hotel on Rembrandtplein for a few nights. Too early for check in, so we drop off our bags and head out to explore the area. I’m with a group headed to a local market and, after that, the Rijksmuseum to stroll through history with the Dutch Masters.

The market has lots of bargains and I even find a pair of Birkenstocks to replace the sandals that died on me in Croatia. I don’t “need” them but they’re a great deal so I can’t resist. One minute we’re strolling through the market checking out the deals and street food and the next, the skies open up and everyone is buying umbrellas! It’s raining cats and dogs, so we duck under cover and look for a local eatery to have lunch. Luckily, the rain lets up enough for us to get to the local brasserie where we enjoy a lovely lunch and dry up a bit.

After lunch, a few of us carry on to the Rijksmuseum with the aid of the helpful signs that are everywhere (at least today!). We manage to get there without any additional rain and spend a lovely couple hours perusing the masterpieces and cultural gems in this spectacular building with the help of the audio guide. The museum does not disappoint and I’d recommend it to anyone heading to Amsterdam.

Back to the hotel to check in and squeeze our luggage into the tiny rooms. It seems that not everyone was as lucky with the weather as we were as those that opted for the free walking tour were treated to torrential rain and sideways hail several times over the course of two plus hours! Yikes, I’m glad to have missed most of that.

After folks are settled and somewhat dry, there are drinks in the hotel bar followed by dinner for many of us who didn’t feel like another soaking. Time for an early night.

Tomorrow is another day. Adventures await …

September 29, 2022

I’m on my own today as much of the crew is headed to Floriade and/or exploring museums that I’ve already visited. No problem, it just means a day at my own pace which ends up being very relaxed both because I’ve been here recently and done extensive sightseeing and I’m tired of being a tourist.

I did manage to head downtown and walk around the older part of time. I was sort of looking for the Our Lord in the Attic Museum (a secret Catholic Church after the Reformation) but hadn’t researched the address well enough and didn’t stumble upon it.

After a bit, I gave up on my “plan” and grabbed a salad to bring back to the hotel. Would have been a perfect day for sitting in a café with drinks and people watching but I hate drinking alone! Definitely missed Ken today.

We’ve collected quite a bit of wine and decided that pre-dinner drinks in a room were needed to quaff these rotted grapes rather than lug them across the Atlantic. We descended on John and Deb’s microscopic room with bottles, glasses, chairs and a corkscrew and made a good dent in our collective acquisitions. One last group dinner for the crew leaving tomorrow. Great fish and chips (fresh cod really was spectacular) and a lovely salad.

Early morning tomorrow so after hugs and bidding adieu to old friends, off to the room to get some zzzs. Tomorrow is another day. Travel adventures await …

September 30, 2022

We were advised to be at the airport four hours before our 12:15 flight so it’s an early breakfast and then loading the six of us into a van at 07:30 for the trip to the airport. Checkin, security and border control take less than two hours so we have time to do some last minute shopping. Sadly, the duty free here is not too exciting so I’m bringing Euros home!

We board out flight late, wait an hour or so after we board for a ground crew to get the luggage loaded so we’re around two hours late leaving. Not too bad, I guess. I haven’t flown cattle class from Europe in awhile as I usually try to use points and fly business. The bulkhead seat has plenty of leg room but that’s the best thing about the experience. Watched a couple movies and read a bit for the eight hour flight.

We were met at the gate with new boarding passes and $10 meal vouchers – look out steak dinner! The customs process is simple since I have a Nexus card and we’re in the domestic terminal less than 1/2 hour after landing. A drink and a bag of Cheetos later (dinner of champions!) and we’re on our flight to Ottawa. Miracle of miracles, our bags are on the plane! Life is good when the travel Gods smile on you! Taxi home for a night in my own bed.

It’s a wrap! Tomorrow is another day. Laundry awaits, lol. Until the next adventure …