Week 3: Amsterdam!
WheeZoom. I've been very behind on all this, but have enough fantastic stories that they're well worth telling.
Day 15: Home! Home!
I got in to Amsterdam just after midnight, so I guess all of that qualifies as 'this week'. brian1789 met me at Schipol, and we snagged a train to Centraal Station. From there, we were too late for trams and not wanting to deal with night busses, so we grabbed a taxi. Got to the hotel, and passed out.
The next morning, we were planning on meeting up with halimede and science_vixen before heading back to Schipol to get karenbynight from her plane. We had some time though, and I was craving some time wandering in my 'home'. We took a tram from our hotel on museumplein over to the westerkerk, where I requested that we get off and walk. Wandered by the old Greenpeace office, where I noticed something that made me smile -
The buzzer from the GP bar is still marked as it used to be.
Then we wandered till we got to the EcoMarkt at noorderkerk, where I giggled a lot as I wandered among the stalls, and stopped to get a piece of lemon cake from a favorite vendor of mine. halimede called then, and we found her and science_vixen and all ran off to the airport to fetch the tired sweetie.
After some airport fuss, we were left at the hotel, where karenbynight showered and requested to be taken out and kept awake for the rest of the day. Much wandering was had, the Rijksmuseum was visited, and eventually dinner was found. Yay!
Day 16: And the Devil...
On Sunday, karenbynight and I had breakfast with brian1789 before seeing him off to the airport (and eventually back to the worksite in Spain). Then we found our way out to the home of our fantastic hosts, halimede and science_vixen. We arrived at their house and slacked for a bit, then they suggested that we all head to the TropenMuseum for the exhibit about Evil. Ohhh, it was *lovely*.
Darth Vader greeted us.
There were people in costume and puppets (like this devil) wandering around the crowd.
Snakes..
One does not mess with elder gods.
After that, we hit my favorite Shoarma joint (Derya, on Javastraat) where the owner remembered me and asked after both giantlaser and ioerror. Mmm, shoarma!
Day 17: Aquarium #1
Over time, I've learned that travelling with karenbynight has one particular side effect - I see a lot of aquariums. So, on Monday morning we headed to the Amsterdam zoo (Artis) to see the aquarium and the <1month-old baby elephant, Yindee.
Baby Yindee
Yindee & Parent
Happy Elephant Family
Yindee wasn't the only baby in the zoo - Lions
and baby Seals.
Eventually we headed home to go shopping and slack with halimede.
Day 18: The Cute, it Burns!
Over this trip, my RSI has been getting worse until finally I gave in to halimede's urging and got an appointment to have it looked at. To facilitate this, karenbynight and I gave in to our urges to rent a Smart ForTwo. Ooohhh, the cute! The cute! Want to import one *now*.
Look, Baby Cars, too!
karenbynight in the Smart Car
Day 19: Strange things are afoot at the Belgian Beer Bar
On Wednesday, we went shopping. Oh, baby, did we go shopping. Yum!
Also, we met up for lunch with nealz. Lovely, great to catch up, not nearly enough time. (Isn't that always how those things go?)
Then, we met up with bondagewoodelf for dinner at the UFO and some drinks at Cafe Belgique. Somewhere in there, while slacking in and around the hammock chairs, two older brits came up to us and asked if they could take their photos. The second kissed my hand for a full 2 minutes then informed me that they used to call him "The Jackal" or some such. Oh my.
Slack in the hammocks!
Day 20: The Joy of Activists
Thursday was our last full day in Amsterdam, and we had so many things left to do! Sadly, as always, something had to fall off. We found the desired poffertjes pan, and many other things, but discovered that Wynand Fockink was closed for the day. Sadness! Ah, well.
Eventually, and through much, much confusion, we got to the Greenpeace office. I saw lots of people, gave and received lots of hugs, and remembered how much I miss that place (and mostly those people).
We ended up heading out for dinner at Bolhoet with SJ, TS and nissepelle. Tasty dinner, really fantastic company and a funny thing to show karenbynight - I often talk about how interesting it was to deal with debates and problem solving at GP. This trip to dinner was a good example. There was disagreement about which tramline to take - so TS took off and took the way he thought was better.
After dinner, karenbynight asked to be shown my 'favorite bar' (De Engels). nissepelle and I complied. Sadly, after walking there in the freezing rain, we discovered that this formerly quiet church-turned-bar had been turned into a wannabe middle eastern bazaar. Not so cool. Had a drink anyway and wandered home.
Day 21: Leaving Amsterdam
I hate leaving my homes. One of the real problems with this poly-homed thing is that I have to do it all the time. Alas. And, so, we left, leaving hugs and (hopefully) happy memories behind.
Day 15: Home! Home!
I got in to Amsterdam just after midnight, so I guess all of that qualifies as 'this week'. brian1789 met me at Schipol, and we snagged a train to Centraal Station. From there, we were too late for trams and not wanting to deal with night busses, so we grabbed a taxi. Got to the hotel, and passed out.
The next morning, we were planning on meeting up with halimede and science_vixen before heading back to Schipol to get karenbynight from her plane. We had some time though, and I was craving some time wandering in my 'home'. We took a tram from our hotel on museumplein over to the westerkerk, where I requested that we get off and walk. Wandered by the old Greenpeace office, where I noticed something that made me smile -
The buzzer from the GP bar is still marked as it used to be.
Then we wandered till we got to the EcoMarkt at noorderkerk, where I giggled a lot as I wandered among the stalls, and stopped to get a piece of lemon cake from a favorite vendor of mine. halimede called then, and we found her and science_vixen and all ran off to the airport to fetch the tired sweetie.
After some airport fuss, we were left at the hotel, where karenbynight showered and requested to be taken out and kept awake for the rest of the day. Much wandering was had, the Rijksmuseum was visited, and eventually dinner was found. Yay!
Day 16: And the Devil...
On Sunday, karenbynight and I had breakfast with brian1789 before seeing him off to the airport (and eventually back to the worksite in Spain). Then we found our way out to the home of our fantastic hosts, halimede and science_vixen. We arrived at their house and slacked for a bit, then they suggested that we all head to the TropenMuseum for the exhibit about Evil. Ohhh, it was *lovely*.
Darth Vader greeted us.
There were people in costume and puppets (like this devil) wandering around the crowd.
Snakes..
One does not mess with elder gods.
After that, we hit my favorite Shoarma joint (Derya, on Javastraat) where the owner remembered me and asked after both giantlaser and ioerror. Mmm, shoarma!
Day 17: Aquarium #1
Over time, I've learned that travelling with karenbynight has one particular side effect - I see a lot of aquariums. So, on Monday morning we headed to the Amsterdam zoo (Artis) to see the aquarium and the <1month-old baby elephant, Yindee.
Baby Yindee
Yindee & Parent
Happy Elephant Family
Yindee wasn't the only baby in the zoo - Lions
and baby Seals.
Eventually we headed home to go shopping and slack with halimede.
Day 18: The Cute, it Burns!
Over this trip, my RSI has been getting worse until finally I gave in to halimede's urging and got an appointment to have it looked at. To facilitate this, karenbynight and I gave in to our urges to rent a Smart ForTwo. Ooohhh, the cute! The cute! Want to import one *now*.
Look, Baby Cars, too!
karenbynight in the Smart Car
Day 19: Strange things are afoot at the Belgian Beer Bar
On Wednesday, we went shopping. Oh, baby, did we go shopping. Yum!
Also, we met up for lunch with nealz. Lovely, great to catch up, not nearly enough time. (Isn't that always how those things go?)
Then, we met up with bondagewoodelf for dinner at the UFO and some drinks at Cafe Belgique. Somewhere in there, while slacking in and around the hammock chairs, two older brits came up to us and asked if they could take their photos. The second kissed my hand for a full 2 minutes then informed me that they used to call him "The Jackal" or some such. Oh my.
Slack in the hammocks!
Day 20: The Joy of Activists
Thursday was our last full day in Amsterdam, and we had so many things left to do! Sadly, as always, something had to fall off. We found the desired poffertjes pan, and many other things, but discovered that Wynand Fockink was closed for the day. Sadness! Ah, well.
Eventually, and through much, much confusion, we got to the Greenpeace office. I saw lots of people, gave and received lots of hugs, and remembered how much I miss that place (and mostly those people).
We ended up heading out for dinner at Bolhoet with SJ, TS and nissepelle. Tasty dinner, really fantastic company and a funny thing to show karenbynight - I often talk about how interesting it was to deal with debates and problem solving at GP. This trip to dinner was a good example. There was disagreement about which tramline to take - so TS took off and took the way he thought was better.
After dinner, karenbynight asked to be shown my 'favorite bar' (De Engels). nissepelle and I complied. Sadly, after walking there in the freezing rain, we discovered that this formerly quiet church-turned-bar had been turned into a wannabe middle eastern bazaar. Not so cool. Had a drink anyway and wandered home.
Day 21: Leaving Amsterdam
I hate leaving my homes. One of the real problems with this poly-homed thing is that I have to do it all the time. Alas. And, so, we left, leaving hugs and (hopefully) happy memories behind.