willjay & Robyn's 420 adventure

[Willjay]

Day One (Wed, 17 April) TRAVEL DAY

We're off to Newark International Airport, our friend, Rocky, at the wheel. It's over a three hour drive, so we stopped halfway in Tannersville, PA for breakfast at the Tannersville Diner. What can I say about their food?... It's mediocre diner food, but more importantly, they have a bathroom.

We arrive at the airport with plenty of time to spare - it's the "hurry up and wait" game - then we find out that the flight has been delayed due to a good tail wind. The plane can't land at Schiphol until our gate time, so they intentionally pushed the departure time back a half hour, so we don't arrive in Amsterdam too early.

When we finally board we find that we're sitting in Row 36, in two seats on the left in the back of the plane (2-3-2 configuration), and we soon realize that the plane is not filling to capacity. There are several rows of seats in the middle that are empty, so BJ asks the flight attendant if he can switch seats. Of course, as soon as he makes his move, the rest of the empty rows quickly filled up.

Finally... we're off to Amsterdam... only 50 minutes past departure time.


Day Two (Thurs, 18 April) AMSTERDAM

The plane touched down two minutes before our scheduled arrival time: 7:25 am. (I guess they were spot-on with their tail wind estimates) Within a half hour we were through passport & customs, had our luggage, and were on the train to Amsterdam. Let me just say that Schiphol Airport is a pleasure to travel through.

We arrived at Amsterdam Centraal and walked across the Stationplein to the GVB, where we bought our 3-day tram pass (€16.50 ea). We boarded the 13/17 tram to the Westermarkt and arrived at the Hotel Nadia by 9:00 am, where we were offered a complimentary drink (coffee/tea/water/juice/soda).

This is our third stay at the Hotel Nadia (€115/night, 6% discount w/ cash, breakfast included) so it felt like we were coming home when we were greeted by the staff. We like Room #412, mostly for its covered balcony overlooking the Westermarkt, the Keizergracht and the Raadhuisstraat. It's a tiny, Amsterdam-sized hotel room, on the 4th floor (78 steps!), but they supply all the amenities that we need, including someone to schlep our bags up & down those stairs, a mini fridge, coffee/tea service and fresh cut flowers.

Our room won't be ready until after 14:00, so we're off to start exploring and get over jet lag. Spring just doesn't want to come this year, so we are bundled in our scarves, hats and gloves as we trammed down to the Dam and walked about, checking out the Palace and National Monument. We proceeded down the Damstraat, taking in all the familiar sights and sounds of the awakening city; shop owners preparing for the day's customers; bicyclists coming and going in all directions; sweet smells wafting from the bakeries; church bells tolling in the distance. It felt good to be back in Amsterdam.

We stopped at the Bluebird Coffeeshop on Sint Antioniesbreestraat, which is our traditional first stop - our way of getting over jet lag. BJ ordered up one of those fancy coffees with the cookie on the side and I had my Strawberry Looza, which I've longed for since our last trip to Amsterdam. Looza has got to have the best fruit drinks that I've ever tasted.

We walked through the Waterlooplein Flea Market, which was still setting up for the day, then meandered through the streets and alleyways until we landed at the Amsterdam Historical Museum. We purchased our Museumkaarts (€49.90 ea), but didn't feel like touring through the museum right now since we've been several times before, and the sun was shining outside. BTW, I think the National Museumkaart is one of the best deals that the Netherlands has to offer. The €49,90 that we spent bought us €89,25 in museum entrances, and we saw several museums that we wouldn't have visited otherwise.

We continued our wander, breathing in the cool, crisp air, until we ended up at the Ons Lieve Heer op Solder /Our Lord in the Attic (Museumkaart), perhaps one of our favorite little museums in Amsterdam. The last time we were here, in 2011, they had just started renovations, and the church was pretty much gutted. Today, the church was painted back to its historical colors, some of the fixtures had been replaced, and a crew was onsite from the UK laying down woven rush floor matting. We spoke with a young man who was apprenticing with the group, http://www.rushmatters.com, who informed us that they use the old method of harvesting the rush, drying it, and then weaving it into various products, including floor matting.

Afterwards, we went down the canal and around the corner to the Oude Kerk (Museumkaart), and found that their renovations had been completed. We could finally view Saskia's grave stone.

It was now 12:30 and we had made our way over to Utopia Coffeeshop on the NZ Voorburgwaal, and met up with some friends who were also in town. Oh good... another Strawberry Looza for me. Afterwards, we trammed back to the Westermarkt and stopped at the Albert Hein (conveniently located across from the tram stop, and just down the street from our hotel), to stock up our little refrigerator. Then back to the hotel by 14:00, where our luggage, and fresh cut flowers, were waiting for us in our room. We napped and showered and were back out again by 19:00, on the prowl for some dinner.

Since we were dealing with jet lag, and still a bit punchy, and didn't want to make any important decisions, like where to eat, we opted for something familiar... the Leidseplein and Rancho Argentina Steak House. I don't often eat beef, but I do enjoy their rib eye. In fact, it was rib eye for both of us. And when two dudes from the States, but stationed in Afghanistan, came in, sat down next to us, and "eyed" up what we were eating, it was rib eye for them too.

After a hearty meal, we trammed back to the Dam and mooched around until we ended up on the Nieuwe Markt, so we decided to stop in at the Jolly Joker, and return the hospitality that they showed to us on a previous trip - they had helped us find our houseboat after we were given bad directions. Although it wasn't the same dude behind the counter that had helped us, he appreciated our gesture of thanks. Now here's where the karma comes in - when you do something nice it comes back to you - two young women came into the Jolly Joker while we were sitting there, who turned out to be from two small towns in Pennsylvania, maybe 15-20 miles from our home town. Now how cool was that?!

We ended our first day in Amsterdam by strolling back down the Damstraat, and picking up some goodies from Rene's Pastries to take back to our hotel room. I'd have to say, it was a pretty good day!

Blue bird- Nepal Cream & IGGY Pot, Utopia- Haze ?, Jolly Joker- White Widow & Temple Ball

[Paco]

Nice one Willjay. I can feel the Amsterdam vibe!
Thanks for sharing your impressions.

[USbongLord]

Good ol iggy pot...lol..nice one.i remember

[TwoCanucks]

Good stuff Willjay, looking forward to more. What is Iggy pot, besides a reference to Iggy Pop?

[KeyMonCha]

Nice... Cheers!!!

How was the JJ's Temple Balls?

[Willjay]

Paco thanks, this is Robyn's report I am not a writer

USBL and TwoCanucks I do not know any thing about Iggy Pot, except my dog is named IGYPup, Key the TB were good but Paradox finger hash is better IMHO,

[KeyMonCha]

Key the TB were good but Paradox finger hash is better IMHO,

Excellent, thanks... The Finger Hash and the 100% are already on my list!

[Willjay]

DAY THREE (Fri, 19 April) Amsterdam

Awoke to the bells tolling at the Westerkerk, and went downstairs to the 2nd floor, to the breakfast room, which is nicely decorated with lots of house plants. Breakfast consisted of assorted breads and rolls, cheese, yogurt, jams, nutella, pound cake, some fruit, orange juice (no meat or eggs). Afterwards we spent a leisurely morning watching the different layers of traffic from our hotel balcony; the eclectic assortment of bicycles, the funky little cars, the boats on the canal, an occasional tram and the people - many walking to the Westermarkt to queue for the Anne Frank House.

By 11:00 we had made our way over to Voyagers Coffeeshop & Hotel on the Geldersekade, across from Centraal Station, where we met up with our friend, Spidergawd and his daughter. After chatting up for awhile, and having my minimum daily Strawberry Looza, we strolled over to the Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam (public library). What a beautiful building! And the lighting inside is just spectacular. We took the escalator up the 6 flights of stairs, stopping on each floor to admire the innovative designs. Saw an interesting art installation: The Wailing Wall of Lonely Socks. We ended on the 7th floor, at the self-serve cafeteria, La Place, which looked so appetizing we had to eat something even though we weren't real hungry. We checked out the view of the eastern part of Amsterdam from the observation terrace, then said our goodbyes to Spidey and Daudhter, who were off to the newly opened Rijksmuseum, while we continued our walk along the eastern dock.

We crossed the bridge over to the NEMO (Museumkaart), the Science & Technology Center, which is located in that copper-clad building that looks like a ship's bow (it also doubles as the entrance to the tunnel under the River Ij). The NEMO is Amsterdam's version of a Children's Museum, done only as Amsterdam could do it. The first and second levels are geared towards the younger children, with a menagerie of hands-on experiments and exhibits. I will admit, the fourth grade nerd in me came out as I found myself amongst the kids, playing with the displays. Then we went to the third level, where the displays were a little more advanced, including their Teen Facts: Let's Talk About Sex, which, again, was done only as Amsterdam could do it.

I found myself laughing when I saw the two red plastic hand "puppets" representing tongues and explaining the French Kiss, but I will admit I gasped a bit when I turned around and saw the Peepshow (accessible to kids 12 and over, luckily there weren't any kids around when we went in). It was set up, just like a peepshow, with three curtained cabins and displays on the wall, such as What is Love, Your Brain in Love, Sexual Chemistry etc. Then there's a display made up of those wooden, bendable artists figures, posed in various positions from the Kama sutra. Inside the curtained cabins they dealt with issues such as the hymen myth, the penis size myth, what happens during erection, gay rights, and Le Petit Mort. We were rustling through our pockets, looking for a Euro coin to check out the peepshow, when we heard a group of kids coming in, so we quickly ducked out of the display, avoiding embarrassment for all.

We finished the NEMO on the fifth level, where there is a cafe and a stepped roof terrace with a nice view of the city. BTW, the stepped roof terrace is open to the public, accessible off the sidewalk at the bottom right of building, which is where we exited. We continued along the docks, admiring the many old sailboats, and ended up at the Scheepvartmuseum (Museumkaart), The National Maritime Museum, which is housed in the former Arsenal, dating from 1656. The building was recently renovated, including the installation of a magnificent metal and glass roof over the inner courtyard. The barrel-vaulted rooms in the basement were real cool. But we came here to see the replica of the Amsterdam, the Indiaman ship which is docked outside of the museum (apparently the original was lost on her maiden voyage). It's a lovely tall ship, which was interesting to walk through - to envision how the men and boys lived back then. It was getting close to closing time, so we didn't have enough time to take in all the different exhibit halls inside the museum.

We mooched our way over to the Waag, and took a brief respite at the Green Place Coffeeshop before heading back to the hotel, by way of the Magna Plaza. We had to rest up for the next task, which was finding dinner. In which direction would we hunt tonight?

We decided to walk over to the Jordaan, and cruise the streets until we found a restaurant that "felt right". We ended up at Eetcafe Sonneveld, at Egelantiersgracht 72-74 (the building was once owned by the Dutch comedian, Wim Sonneveld), which appeared to be a quiet, intimate place. We sat in the front room, which only had one other couple dining. BJ ordered their special, Spaghetti Bolognese, and I had the 1/2 chicken, said to be, "as memorable as the Westerkerk weathervane". Just as our meals arrived, so did 21 people, to celebrate someone's birthday! They took over every empty table left in the dining room, including the end of our table (which we don't mind sharing). Our quiet, relaxing dining experience has now turned into a raucous party, complete with a written quiz for all. Of course, everything was in Dutch, so we had no idea what was going on. Overall, the meal was okay, and the large group didn't really spoil our evening, it just made it a different kind of dining experience.

We waddled our way back to the hotel, caught up with the news on TV, and crashed.... only to be awakened around 3:00 by the couple in the next room, having sex on their balcony. All I can say was she was a loud moaner.

Voyagers, House special, Green Place, Northern Lights

[Rusty Shackleford]

Brilliant, cheers

[ftcarer]

Excellent 1st few days

[stanleymoon]

good stuff. i'm fond of the cheaper end of the green place menu, it can be quite a nostalgia trip.

[StonedSince67]

DAY THREE (Fri, 19 April) Amsterdam ... We continued along the docks, admiring the many old sailboats, and ended up at the Scheepvartmuseum (Museumkaart) ...

walking along the docks next to nemo looking at the many old sailboats is something that i do most trips to amsterdam, they are lovely old boats with many stories to tell, the folk on them are easy to talk to and each has lots to say about their boat ... and one day i intend to visit the scheepvartmuseum as it has been closed for renovations for the last few years

thanks for your great report, lots of words for reading, great detailed descriptions of your doings and the things you are seeing ... i am enjoying it lots and looking forward to the rest ...

[Lamont]

Nice installment. Several things you did are already on my list for next trip (OBA, Nemo roof terrace). Thanks for confirming OBA is worth the visit.

[Paco]

Thank you again Robyn and Willjay! What a richness of details! Love it.

[worldcitizen1723]

Paco thanks, this is Robyn's report I am not a writer

USBL and TwoCanucks I do not know any thing about Iggy Pot, except my dog is named IGYPup, Key the TB were good but Paradox finger hash is better IMHO,

Lol
Oh good.... I was getting very confused, cause that was clearly a female's voice

Nice report
Thanks robyn