Euro Trip - Amsterdam (Day 1)

Doogie made it! A late night (Berlin-time) phone call from Doogie made me very worried. He missed his plane but they were able to get him on the next plane out which was only an hour later.

I took an early morning cab to Tegel Airport and waited around for about 2.5 hours. I was there early because I made my arrangements for the cab prior to Doogie's new plane arrival time. It was okay thought because it gave me enough time to buy a new carry-on bag. I had this cheap black bag that had my neck pillow and books in it. It tore when I picked it up to get my cab. My luggage woes started a few days earlier when the wheels on my "good suitcase" shredded on the way to the retreat center near Erkner.

For this trip, I had two large suitcases with me - one with clothes and one for resources for Global Convo and DMYP. The resource bag was going to be thrown away because the handle didn't work. Now in Erkner it became my main bag. I figured out how to get the handle to work - but you couldn't put the handle down or it would get stuck. Needless to say, I was dragging a broken bag through the airport.

I was so happy to see Doogie come off the plane. Because his plane was an hour later we had to rush to get to the Berlin Hauptbahnhof in time to catch our train to Amsterdam. We made it to the station with about 10 minutes to spare. You can reserve seats (actual assigned seat numbers) on the trains. Folks without reserved seats would look for free seats. We took an ICE train to Hannover and then had to switch trains for the remaining trip to Amsterdam. In Hannover, I had to ask an old woman to get out of our seats (I didn't say it like that).  I think she tried to pretend like she didn't understand me but a woman behind us helped finish my translation. :) Once we got settled, Doogie slept for a good portion of the trip.

In Amsterdam, we caught a cab to our hotel - Eden Hotel Amsterdam. Our cab driver was really funny and shared information about the city. One thing to note is that there are more bikes than cars in the city. Bikes have the same rights as cars and people seem to ride them a lot. There are parking lots devoted solely to bikes that can fit thousands! The Eden is near Rembrandtplein. The plaza has a lot of restaurants and coffee bars nearby. We are staying in the smallest hotel room I've ever been in. The beds are two twins pushed together and the bathroom is a phone booth.

We took a walk through the plaza and up towards the center of Amsterdam. It was late in the evening and a number of stores were closing. The bars and restaurants stay open (of course!). The busy atmosphere reminds me of Times Square.

Rembrandtplein (Rembrandt Plaza)