Entry 2 of Ben's journal from our honeymoon
Honeymoon Journal by Ben continued….
Thursday, May 18, 2006
10:30am
We had breakfast at the hotel and now are waiting to take a boat cruise around Amsterdam. It’s a little cooler today…feels like upper 40’s lower 50’s maybe. It’s cloudy with a cool breeze. Brenda just informed me what the .nl stands for on all the internet addresses…it’s Netherlands.
We missed our first tour boat, seems to be a recurring theme for us (we missed a ferry about a year ago from Milwaukee to Muskegon) so now 15 minutes later we are on another tour cruise boat with a Swedish high school group. Seems like kids are kids same as in the USA. Now it’s cruise time…
Took the cruise, it was okay. We went to buy some soda to wake up over the jet lag…so in the train station, I needed to use the “wc” as they call it. But you need 0.50 euro to use the toilet. I had no change since I gave it all to Brenda for her Pepsi. So I bought some Red Bull (2 for 2.95 since 1 was 2.50) and paid to use the wc. It has very clean (compared to Chicago) so I guess it was worth it.
3:30pm – we walked SW from the hotel area towards to Jewish Historical Museum. It was interesting to see things that we had in common with the Amsterdam Jews. Things like the wedding ceremony – Brenda and I saw a video of one and the rabbi in the video said some of the same things that our rabbi said. The couple also placed the rings on their right hand index finger before the ring finger. Although they move the ring themselves to the finger, and it’s the right hand not left. Menorahs have the Shamash candle in front of the other 8 instead of taller. Brenda found an article/exhibit interesting about a man who claimed to be the messiah. He later converted to Islam. I guess he wasn’t the messiah then… in the museum was the high school tourists, we must be on their tour somehow…
3:45pm - We’re now in a bar waiting for a “Chicago” pizza (correction an Americana) pizza of cheese, tomato, and pepperoni, on the jukebox is “let’s hear it for the boy” from footloose. Lots of 80’s music seems popular here in Amsterdam.
Friday, 5/19
7:50am – yesterday we walked back to the Jordaan area after taking another nap in the afternoon…seems like jetlag is hanging around…we had dinner at an Argentinean steak house called The Rancho Steakhouse. It seems to be a chain with at least 4-5 restaurants all within a block of one another. We walked into one and we were told to try another as they were full. The second one sat us almost immediately. That was the last time anything was that quick. We had a waitress who was extremely busy…but still the service was average at best. We ordered everything up front and she never checked on us. We had 0.5L of sangria to drink, which was good, and to eat I had a medium rump steak and Brenda had a small tenderloin steak. She got a béarnaise sauce and I had an Argentinean steak sauce, both were extra on the side. Additional sides were fries (frites as they are called here) and a “salad” of guacamole, blue cheese, corn, lettuce, big tomato pieces. The food was decent but again the service was slow and un-attentive. When the steaks, salad, and fries came (all at the same time) we ordered some “still” water and they never came. Luckily they didn’t charge us. I don’t envy how busy the wait staff was, but I think they didn’t deserve an extra tip. Our guide book tells us that 15% is built into the price, so let’s hope that’s right. The bill was about $62 Euro which I think is about $75 USD. I’ve spent more on dinners in the past but for that amount I just expect better service. We didn’t add to the tip.
After dinner on Thursday night (5/18) we did the obligatory walk through the red light district. It was interesting. Some of the area looked a lot like our neighborhood back home . The big difference has got to be the women in the windows with beds behind them. There wasn’t any public nudity or obvious sex acts, but I’m sure you don’t have to look far to find any. The streets here are closed off from cars so it’s easier for people to walk around, and of course there are red lights everywhere. There also seems to be a lot of pink elephants, literally. I wonder if the expression “pink elephant” is derived from here. The think which everyone knows yet no one talks about.
5/19/06 – 10:10am
So as Brenda checks her friends blogs on the internet, I’ll update my “plog” (paper log…catchy no?)
Funny story, we get up this morning to check out before our train leaves at 4pm and our friend at the front desk, Ecran, asks if we won’t be staying another night? Turns out our train leaves tomorrow night, not tonight. So we get another day in Amsterdam. Yippee….i think we’ve seen enough, but we’re on vacation so it’ll be fine.
10:30am – weather update: seems almost cold outside. It was rainy this morning but that has subsided for now…
We’re planning on heading to the Anne Frank House next.
1pm – finished the tour of the Anne Frank House. We stood in line for 40 minutes or more and it was very cold and windy. In line behind us was a girl from Utah who was traveling for the experience. It’s quite crowded on the tour even though it’s Friday morning and the museum has only been open for a little over an hour. Most peole on the tour are very quiet and somber, except for some. One man speaking French I believe, was on his cell phone – even though the signature upon entering clearly indicates they are not allowed. Another group of older teens are somewhat loud, though not terribly. I believe they are German. Somehow I’m thinking I’m just a little biased against them for being jocular, as I think this should be a quiet place. I’m not a very “jewie Jew” but it’s a little disturbing to think of what life was like back in WWII.
The tour itself consisted of moving from room to room, slowly as every square foot seems filled with visitors, on the walls were excerpts from Anne’s Diaries. Occasionally there were video’s some of them from Otto Frank (her father) and a woman who helped hide them. By far the most memorable part is the staircases we took up the tour. Each one more steep than the last. One stairway, the final one was incredibly steep, little more than a ladder. It was physically demanding to climb it. It’s hard to imagine these few spaces being your only home for over 2 years. I guess my final thought is something from temple back home. I’d heard the student rabbi refer to the holocaust as “the shoa” a few times. I’d never heard that before. I heard it here during the tour. Nothing significant, just make me think of home.
9:30pm – Amsterdam discovery
So the flag of Amsterdam appears to be 3 X’s (XXX) which we think might mean windmills. So it dawned on us while searching for souvenirs earlier in the day when we saw 3 windmill souvenirs all in a row. “XXX” it appeared. And we thought “I bet that’s where the flag comes from.
Later Friday evening we got stir fry take out to go and then went back to our hotel room to eat. After that we watched the end of “the fugitive” with Harrison Ford on the tele in English with Dutch subtitles. The interesting part of watching it on TV was at the break. It wasn’t like in the usa where there is a 5 or 6 minute commercial break every 20 minutes. Instead there was 1 30 minute break for news and commercials. It was crazy as we wondered if the show would ever come back…it did….
Thursday, May 18, 2006
10:30am
We had breakfast at the hotel and now are waiting to take a boat cruise around Amsterdam. It’s a little cooler today…feels like upper 40’s lower 50’s maybe. It’s cloudy with a cool breeze. Brenda just informed me what the .nl stands for on all the internet addresses…it’s Netherlands.
We missed our first tour boat, seems to be a recurring theme for us (we missed a ferry about a year ago from Milwaukee to Muskegon) so now 15 minutes later we are on another tour cruise boat with a Swedish high school group. Seems like kids are kids same as in the USA. Now it’s cruise time…
Took the cruise, it was okay. We went to buy some soda to wake up over the jet lag…so in the train station, I needed to use the “wc” as they call it. But you need 0.50 euro to use the toilet. I had no change since I gave it all to Brenda for her Pepsi. So I bought some Red Bull (2 for 2.95 since 1 was 2.50) and paid to use the wc. It has very clean (compared to Chicago) so I guess it was worth it.
3:30pm – we walked SW from the hotel area towards to Jewish Historical Museum. It was interesting to see things that we had in common with the Amsterdam Jews. Things like the wedding ceremony – Brenda and I saw a video of one and the rabbi in the video said some of the same things that our rabbi said. The couple also placed the rings on their right hand index finger before the ring finger. Although they move the ring themselves to the finger, and it’s the right hand not left. Menorahs have the Shamash candle in front of the other 8 instead of taller. Brenda found an article/exhibit interesting about a man who claimed to be the messiah. He later converted to Islam. I guess he wasn’t the messiah then… in the museum was the high school tourists, we must be on their tour somehow…
3:45pm - We’re now in a bar waiting for a “Chicago” pizza (correction an Americana) pizza of cheese, tomato, and pepperoni, on the jukebox is “let’s hear it for the boy” from footloose. Lots of 80’s music seems popular here in Amsterdam.
Friday, 5/19
7:50am – yesterday we walked back to the Jordaan area after taking another nap in the afternoon…seems like jetlag is hanging around…we had dinner at an Argentinean steak house called The Rancho Steakhouse. It seems to be a chain with at least 4-5 restaurants all within a block of one another. We walked into one and we were told to try another as they were full. The second one sat us almost immediately. That was the last time anything was that quick. We had a waitress who was extremely busy…but still the service was average at best. We ordered everything up front and she never checked on us. We had 0.5L of sangria to drink, which was good, and to eat I had a medium rump steak and Brenda had a small tenderloin steak. She got a béarnaise sauce and I had an Argentinean steak sauce, both were extra on the side. Additional sides were fries (frites as they are called here) and a “salad” of guacamole, blue cheese, corn, lettuce, big tomato pieces. The food was decent but again the service was slow and un-attentive. When the steaks, salad, and fries came (all at the same time) we ordered some “still” water and they never came. Luckily they didn’t charge us. I don’t envy how busy the wait staff was, but I think they didn’t deserve an extra tip. Our guide book tells us that 15% is built into the price, so let’s hope that’s right. The bill was about $62 Euro which I think is about $75 USD. I’ve spent more on dinners in the past but for that amount I just expect better service. We didn’t add to the tip.
After dinner on Thursday night (5/18) we did the obligatory walk through the red light district. It was interesting. Some of the area looked a lot like our neighborhood back home . The big difference has got to be the women in the windows with beds behind them. There wasn’t any public nudity or obvious sex acts, but I’m sure you don’t have to look far to find any. The streets here are closed off from cars so it’s easier for people to walk around, and of course there are red lights everywhere. There also seems to be a lot of pink elephants, literally. I wonder if the expression “pink elephant” is derived from here. The think which everyone knows yet no one talks about.
5/19/06 – 10:10am
So as Brenda checks her friends blogs on the internet, I’ll update my “plog” (paper log…catchy no?)
Funny story, we get up this morning to check out before our train leaves at 4pm and our friend at the front desk, Ecran, asks if we won’t be staying another night? Turns out our train leaves tomorrow night, not tonight. So we get another day in Amsterdam. Yippee….i think we’ve seen enough, but we’re on vacation so it’ll be fine.
10:30am – weather update: seems almost cold outside. It was rainy this morning but that has subsided for now…
We’re planning on heading to the Anne Frank House next.
1pm – finished the tour of the Anne Frank House. We stood in line for 40 minutes or more and it was very cold and windy. In line behind us was a girl from Utah who was traveling for the experience. It’s quite crowded on the tour even though it’s Friday morning and the museum has only been open for a little over an hour. Most peole on the tour are very quiet and somber, except for some. One man speaking French I believe, was on his cell phone – even though the signature upon entering clearly indicates they are not allowed. Another group of older teens are somewhat loud, though not terribly. I believe they are German. Somehow I’m thinking I’m just a little biased against them for being jocular, as I think this should be a quiet place. I’m not a very “jewie Jew” but it’s a little disturbing to think of what life was like back in WWII.
The tour itself consisted of moving from room to room, slowly as every square foot seems filled with visitors, on the walls were excerpts from Anne’s Diaries. Occasionally there were video’s some of them from Otto Frank (her father) and a woman who helped hide them. By far the most memorable part is the staircases we took up the tour. Each one more steep than the last. One stairway, the final one was incredibly steep, little more than a ladder. It was physically demanding to climb it. It’s hard to imagine these few spaces being your only home for over 2 years. I guess my final thought is something from temple back home. I’d heard the student rabbi refer to the holocaust as “the shoa” a few times. I’d never heard that before. I heard it here during the tour. Nothing significant, just make me think of home.
9:30pm – Amsterdam discovery
So the flag of Amsterdam appears to be 3 X’s (XXX) which we think might mean windmills. So it dawned on us while searching for souvenirs earlier in the day when we saw 3 windmill souvenirs all in a row. “XXX” it appeared. And we thought “I bet that’s where the flag comes from.
Later Friday evening we got stir fry take out to go and then went back to our hotel room to eat. After that we watched the end of “the fugitive” with Harrison Ford on the tele in English with Dutch subtitles. The interesting part of watching it on TV was at the break. It wasn’t like in the usa where there is a 5 or 6 minute commercial break every 20 minutes. Instead there was 1 30 minute break for news and commercials. It was crazy as we wondered if the show would ever come back…it did….
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