Amsterdam one last time

One last post from Amsterdam. Tomorrow, we travel home.

I've been good about fitting in Ocean updates, if sometimes in a hodgepodge fashion -- a paragraph in the morning, a sentence and a few photos in the afternoon, a final sack of stuff in the evening. But today, time is precious and, too, there aren't too many windows of opportunity, so I'll be frugal with text and concentrate on putting up the memories in images and even those will be perhaps less artfully presented. Still, you'll get an idea of our last day of adventuring in this water-logged city.

It is a day of perfect weather. Sunny, just a tiny bit cool, refreshing!

(morning view from bedroom window)






Breakfast -- downstairs. Snowdrop discovers she loves hard boiled eggs, Sparrow finds a new love of aged Amsterdam cheese. Thinly sliced.






And now we begin our very long walk, aided here and there by tram rides. Highlights? Well, a return to the Rembrandtplein...
















Crossing one of the older draw bridges...






To the zoo! And what an expansive zoo it is. So many animals! Visitors are remarkably close to many of them. Is that a good thing? It certainly encourages personal responsibility.






What?? Penguins again?!






A rest...






A slide...






Outside again: lunch. At a pizza place.






The walk resumes...






And here, we hop on a tram to give us a few kilometers' break... (Sparrow's not quite done with his slice of pizza!)






To Amstel Park, where Sparrow finally gets a little time to romp while Snowdrop climbs the various structures.






(Happy guy...)






And again we walk... Until the next tram ride.






And no, it does not end there. Back at the hotel, Sparrow naps, my daughter and I pause for a drink in the "library" room.






And we're all off again! Walking toward the harbor where we'll eat dinner. (Blue skies with us, all day long!)






(Strong little legs!)






Dinner at the Grand Cafe 1884...






And from there, it's just a medium walk and a medium ride and then walk again to an ice cream shop. A neighborhood place. A couple stops by, a young mom and her four year old and their dog, and us...






I'll end with the heroic travelers, chocolated up by ice cream, still with that sparkle in the eye and a ready enthusiasm for whatever comes next!






Tomorrow -- Madison!

Amsterdam once more

The first day of the new month. In my youth, I always thought of September 1st as the first day of school and, too, the day Poland was attacked by the Nazis in 1939. It's the 80th anniversary today of the start of that horribly cruel war.

I think about this because we do walk near Anne Frank's house. Too, some of the city's bulletin boards occasionally flash a reminder of what happened 80 years ago, when slogans of hate turned into a tragedy so huge that it still defies comprehension.

Outside, the air has definitely cooled down. We're reaching a high of 68F (20C) and the skies have any number of gray clouds moving briskly along, though never quite threatening rain. (We are nearing the end of our summer travels. It truly amazes me that in all our ramblings through Ireland, the UK, Brittany and now Amsterdam, we've never once needed an umbrella, to say nothing of the panchos I so carefully selected for the trip!)

Inside -- we begin our day with play. Snowdrop, my roommate in Amsterdam, has boarded a train. We are about to take off. ("Just dont say chug-a-choo, Gogs, because this train doesn't make that noise." The girl's too used to high speed trains!)






Breakfast, downstairs, en famille.











And now for a Sunday walk, with the new stroller (gratis airline's breaking of the old one) -- so much more sensible for travel!






We visit the Royal Palace Amsterdam, the official reception palace of the Netherlands' King Willem-Alexander. Snowdrop has a mild fascination with royalty, so perhaps it's appropriate that she see some of the trappings -- none too comfortable, if you ask me.

The tour is a self-guided one and there is a child-friendly text for young visitors (though perhaps not quite for 4-year olds).






Sparrow gets a little restless. Royal furniture and elaborate chandeliers make no impression on him. He wants something more... his speed. So I give him my listening device.






There is a child's "scavenger hunt" that Snowdrop does with the help of her parents. All this does keep her interest going, though honestly, I've always thought that once you see two or three rooms of this sort, you're satiated (unless you have a particular interest in antiques, or have special pride in the royals in your land).






Outside again, we are on the Dam Square. There is a man blowing bubbles (obviously wanting to entice you into buying your own bubble blowing equipment). The kids go wild chasing the big fat soapy bubbles. Snowdrop tries to join in, but the kids are big...






... and the bubbles float high...






It's a while before she lands one and by then, the thrill is gone.





The afternoon was to be set aside for a Snowdrop and mommy date. Of all the combinations of family members, this is the one that is most difficult to give time to. And so this afternoon was to be theirs. And it was, to an extent.

Initially, we all joined in on the tram ride. Heading in the same direction.






Then, they chose a traditional Dutch pancake house for lunch. Daddy and Sparrow and I were about to go off, but then Snowdrop was sorry to see her brother go. So brother and daddy stayed. I was invited to join in, but it seemed to me that this wonderfully inclusive family should have at least one meal by themselves.






Me, I meandered along canals, stopping at a Swedish shop with adorable kids' clothing and very good sandwiches in their cafe. With an apple spritz, overlooking the canal. Sort of.






A walk along the stately Herengracht Canal (home to our hotel)...






(Bridges...)





And I'm home, catching up on computer work, while to my knowledge, daddy and son are hitting a modern art museum and mommy and daughter are visiting a tinkerbell toy store and blowing their own bubbles on Rembrandt Square.


In the evening, we take a long walk through the Jordaan neighborhood of Amsterdam, and past houseboats, and even the old windmill...






... to our dinner place, the Cafe Restaurant Amsterdam. It's a big walk: 40 minutes from city center. The restaurant itself is housed in an industrial building -- a nineteenth century water pumping station. The tables are set in the old engine room.






Perhaps one of the most remarkable things about this restaurant is that it bills itself as having high quality food, at the same time that it is extremely child friendly. Not surprisingly, maybe half the tables have kids of varying ages.

(Snowdrop, learning the art of eating an artichoke...)






(Sparrow, liking his first escargot...)






As for the rest of the food -- well, my son-in-law and I could not resist the seafood platter. I missed having it in Brittany but we surely made up for it here: snails, clams, crabs, langoustines, shrimp, oysters and a half a lobster. It was exquisite!






We are too full to do the long hike back to our hotel, so we hop on the tram and get off just in front of an ice cream store. Intentionally. For dessert.











Walking the last few blocks to our hotel, I have to think how beautiful an evening can be, when you're well fed, cared for, loved. When the world appears to you as a warm and exciting place, where people are not hostile, but friendly, eager to have you succeed.

Oh, but if that were so for all the little ones on this planet -- wouldn't that be just grand...

Amsterdam on a summer day

A morning view in Amsterdam.





It's hard to believe that it's the last day of August. Didn't summer lilies do their dance just a few days back? Weren't we only beginning our summer ritual of eating breakfast outside at the farmette? And here, in Europe, weren't we just planning beach outings and collecting seashells for sand castles?

It's a warm day here, in Amsterdam. Since this is a weekend, I expect many families will be out and about, enjoying the last hours of radiant, summer-like sunshine. Some kids here have already started school. Amsterdam, for example, began its school year on August 26th. (The Netherlands are divided into three regions and each one has a different school start date.) You can be sure that on a warm day like this one, they'll be looking to do something outdoorsy, likely active, perhaps in one of the city's parks.

That's our plan as well: outdoorsy, park-based, active.


Snowdrop, who is sleeping in my room, wakes up a tiny bit earlier than I would have wanted. I suppose she'll catch up on sleep when we return home. Here, her excitement gets her up and moving when her little form is still whispering -- more rest please!

One of the pleasant hings about staying at a hotel is that someone does a lot of stuff for you: clean up the room. Prepare you a breakfast to your liking. Wash up the dishes. Smiles pleasantly and wishes you a great day. It's not trivial: You're free to think where to go and what to accomplish and thus you're out the door a lot earlier than had you been doing it all on your own.





I have two ideas for outings: the flower market and Vondelpark (Amsterdam's most central large greenspace).

The flower market here is unique in that all the bulbs and flower paraphernalia (and not a few flower type souvenirs) are sold on boats permanently stationed on the Singel Canal -- just a handful of minutes away from our hotel.

A few pictures from our morning walk there:






(each merchant house is different...)





















And now the park: it's your oasis calm, away from the noise of the crowded city. We walk the length of this green space, half looking for a playground for the kids. (Snowdrop has had to make do with cramming herself into the bag compartment of the stroller; in the alternative she can choose to walk, but the distances are not small; the airlines broke off a section of the stroller that attaches the second seat. We filed a claim and now the young couple is trying to decide if they should replace all or part of this rather monstrous buggy.)

(In the park, she walks.)





We spot something toward the end of the park. Oh, it's a rather large, rather shallow, pleasantly cool kids' wading pool! Dress comes off, Snowdrop plops right in.





She is all smiles the whole time she is there. I mean, it's just too perfect: splash all you want to, dear child, it's still summer, just for this one August day!





Sparrow, too, loves the coolness of the water.






He dangles his feet, splashes gleefully, chortling now and then at the ridiculousness of it all!





It's a lovely way to end August! Such a gift from this often rainy and windswept city!


(humanity, including the young family, in the park...)






(back on city streets, where bikes come out from all directions, seemingly with the goal of running you down... or, in this case, delivering a chair to someone who needs it...)






We eat lunch at a cafe-sandwich shop just around the corner (Singel 404). Toast and various cheeses and additional accoutrements.






And now it's time rest. But not just yet for me. I stroll over toward Dam Square -- a popular counterculture gathering place in the years when smoking weed was still a bit of a no-no here (today, you cannot walk through the city without smelling the stuff, wafting from one place or another).











This is a walk I did often in the years when I came to the city by train from the airport. I'll never forget how odd it seemed to be traveling to or from Warsaw -- a city that was, in those years, rather devoid of commercial glitz -- and to be entering this rather crazy section of town, where clothing stores trip over each other and people jostle to fill their bags with stuff. I can't say I ever liked that sudden onslaught of not necessarily pretty shop displays, but it was clear that the difference between Amsterdam and Warsaw was then immense.

Today, I quickly have my fill of all the shopping chaos as well. I do pick up an item or two for a grandchild, but otherwise, I am happy to be back by the hotel's canal -- a place that is far more serene and satisfying than the craziness of the commercial heart of this city. [Ironically, I repeat this path, chaos and all, with the young family in the late afternoon. The goal is to see Dam Square. Then to get out as quickly as possible.]



In the evening we first go to a store to look for a replacement stroller. And after, we go to dinner at an Indonesian Restaurant. Amsterdam is filled with them and even in my younger years, I found the experience of sitting down to a Rijsttafel (an Indonesian string of dishes that is always surprising, often delicious, and sometimes quite spicy) to be quite fun. We're not entirely sure that the kids will be equally thrilled, but of course, exposing them to new things is part of the adventure and so we cross our fingers and head to Sampurna.

It turns out to be a wonderful meal. We like our spicy foods. Snowdrop falls in love with one dish and eats all of it. Sparrow? Well, he gets hooked on shrimp bread.






(hey, I like it too!)






(leave some for me!)






The walk home: it had showered while we were eating. With that rain came a shift in temperatures.





Amsterdam is getting ready for September.