Our bed-and-breakfast-like hotel got us off to a good start with Dutch omelettes that Mary made for us, along with great breads, cereals, and coffee, along with good conversation with the other guests, who were American and Australian. So the conversation came easy, and it was fun to compare notes about travel experiences, plans, etc. This being Monday, it must be wash day! We had a bag full of laundry to do, so off we went to the laundry about a mile or so away, where we left our bag of clothes. We had to pre-pay, and had to pay in cash. The bill was 10.20 euro, and I had a 10 euro bill, and a 50 euro bill, and no coins. The woman who was going to do our laundry, who was very friendly, didn't want to make change for a 50 euro, and after close questioning of us to confirm that we don't have any change, waived the 20 cents. That was nice of her, but that said, she made it seem like she was having to knock off 1/3 of the price!
Then we were off on our first day of Amsterdam travel, using Rick Steeves' city walking tour recommendations. It was fun and entertaining, seeing the sites, but also the people. The hosts here at our hotel tell us that this is the prime tourist season for Amsterdam because of the tulips blooming. Whatever it is, people are everywhere, and lots of tourists, but we haven't personally seen that many American tourists.
The weather was sunny today, so it was a nice day to walk around Amsterdam. And walk, and walk, and walk we did. I was wishing I'd had a pedometer, as I think we must have walked 10 miles today, including the touring of the city and the going back to pick up our laundry. One of the things we saw was the Van Gogh museum We arrived at the museum at 5:00 and it closes at 6:00 but there was only one lady in line ahead of us. We thought we were in good shape until we realized she was buying 75 tickets!!!! She must have been a tour guide or something and she and the ticket lady were having a nice little chat as we watched our precious minutes ticking away. Neither of us are very knowledgeable with regards to art, so we still had ample time to see all that we needed to see in the time remaining.
For dinner, a friend of ours suggested that an Indonesian Rijsttafel would be a good experience, so we went to Bojos, which is a famous Indonesian restaurant that's been here for many years. It was very good, and put Indonesian food on our radar. Incidentally, Indonesia is a former dutch colony, hence the Indonesian influence that permeates Amsterdam.
We came back to our room after dinner and re-grouped. Then, itching to see the much-ballyhooed nightlife, we took off--again, on foot--to see the red light district and the coffee shops. By way of disclaimer, we did NOT go into any coffee shops and didn't spend any money--ahem--in the red light district! We were in the district at night, but not late--about 10:30 p.m. Then we walked back to our hotel and drug our tired legs and feet to bed! By the way, there is plenty of public transportation available for the visitors here. But because we are out of our fitness center routine from home, and are wanting to enjoy the food and beers of the areas, we feel compelled to get our exercising by walking. And here's our plug for Keen: Bev's wearing Keen sandals and I am wearing my Keen casual shoes. They are MONEY! Like the line from "The Big Chill," I feel like Nick: "I love these shoes. I'm never taking them off."
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