Amsterdam Antics

There were 11 family members, all going on a cruise to Norway, and this is how it unfolded. Dacotah, Travis, Seeley, Steve & I drove to Whitehorse, Yukon on Tues. We were planning to leave at 8:00 am, but when Dacotah tried to check in for her flight the next day, she was able to check in Travis & Seeley, but they said that her ENTIRE flight had been canceled!!! Mind you, we bought this cruise that came with flights in Oct. of 2022. Poor Dacotah was on the phone on hold for 4 ½ hrs.! Air Canada blamed Prestige, the tour company, and Prestige blamed Air Canada. Finally, after 4 ½ hours, Air Canada re-instated her old ticket-WHEW!!! Crazy how you buy a ticket (and pay for it) over a year in advance and all the sudden-POOF! It’s canceled…by who or whom (I’m never sure which and I know there are some grammar police reading this). Not gonna say there weren’t a few tears of panic and frustration. I kept trying to make suggestions and tensions were so high that I finally went outside. Just then Dacotah’s good friend & neighbor walked by and took one look at my face and rushed over with her arms open wide to give me one of the best and most needed hugs ever!!! She asked if we could pray and assured me that the good Lord works in mysterious ways. By 12:30 we were loaded and ready for the 4-hour drive to Whitehorse. When we got there, we checked into the Air B&B and went out to eat some great Indian food. We came back and got ready for bed as we needed to be at the airport by 3:30 to catch a 5 am flight. The grown-ups could handle it, but we wondered how a 1 year old would handle this break in routine? We made it in time and got one the plane to Vancouver. Once in Vancouver, we parted ways with the Russell’s who had an extended layover in Vancouver. They took Seeley to the aquarium, and she was enthralled!

Originally, Steve & I were scheduled to leave out of MN on a straight flight to Amsterdam. But, when we decided to move to Haines, we had to change our tickets and tried to mimic the Russell’s but couldn’t on the way there. We flew from Whitehorse to Vancouver, to Toronto and Toronto to Amsterdam. We had left at 5 am Weds. and arrived at 10am on Thurs. We checked into our hotel, and I told Steve that I don’t think I’d ever been so tired. We crashed for several hours and when we woke up, the Russell’s had arrived. We decided just to eat dinner in the hotel because we were in a hotel by the airport and didn’t have a car and Seeley was too tired for an Uber ride. The hotel left a little to be desired. Our bed was literally broken in half so that when Steve and I laid down, we rolled into each other. We were so tired the 1^st night, that it didn’t really matter but the next morning, Steve insisted on another room. Of course, there was nothing available, so they had to put us in a suite. I use the term “suite” loosely as the room wasn’t much larger and the only difference seemed to be that you needed a key to get into the area where the suites were. Unfortunately, the air conditioning wasn’t working in the entire hotel, and it was warm for us Alaskan’s. Almost 80! The tribe from Kansas City and North Carolina thought it was perfect-LOL.

The next morning, we got up and ate breakfast in the hotel which was excellent. Croissants, cheeses, meats, fruit, eggs, yogurt etc. After breakfast, we all took a train to Alkmaar, where they were having a “cheese market” that we wanted to experience. It was SO COOL! There are teams of cheesemongers who race to see how quickly they can get their cheese out of the town square. They all wear white outfits with straw hats that have different color ribbons on them to designate what team they are on. Two men at a time put several wheels of cheese on a sort of sled and then they did this funny walk run with their knees bent to protect their backs as they were carrying over 1000 lbs. of cheese between the two of them! We couldn’t quite figure out who won, but it was sure fun to watch. When we got there, there were hundreds of people lining the town square which was filled with huge wheels of cheese. By the time it was over, the square was empty of this fantastic cheese!

It was Gouda cheese (which so happens to be my favorite) and they were drilling into the cheese wheels with something like an apple corer and pulling it out with this beautiful Gouda cheese. They would then cut it into samples and let the tourists taste it. That is also how they check the quality of the cheese they are buying. They were also sampling and selling the cheese outside of the square. The only kind we could buy was the smoked Gouda because it was vacuum sealed. It just so happens that smoked Gouda is my favorite!!! There were also plenty of touristy trinkets to look at and purchase.

The streets of the village were narrow and cobblestone with flower shops and fruit and vegetable markets overflowing on the street. It was SO QUAINT! We absolutely loved it! We found a little café and sat outside and had a delicious lunch with Bitterballen“potatoe croquests” that are a Dutch tradition. Finally, sadly, it was time to leave Alkmaar and go to explore Amsterdam. We took the train to Amsterdam and were just making our way downtown when we got a text from
Sara and gang that they had just gotten off the train, so we waited for them to catch up and we spent the afternoon walking, exploring the shops and admiring the boats along the canals. I peeled off and got a MUCH-NEEDED MANICURE, as most of you wouldn’t have recognized me by the rough shape of my non-existent nails. Because I had to unpack and put our entire shipment away by myself (because Steve was laid up with a broken ankle) and break down all the boxes and take them to recycling, my nails had all broken off to nothing. I had tips put on and I felt like “me again”.

We met Lisa and Kent at the restaurant, which was recommended by our former neighbors in Brazil who are of Dutch origin but currently living in Spain. We wanted to eat somewhere with traditional Dutch food. It was delicious and we all had a great time. We all raised our glasses in a toast to Grandma Nan (Sally Reed, Steve’s mom) in honor of her birthday! They had intended to go on the trip with us but weren’t able to join us. After dinner, we splintered off and the Russell’s went back to the hotel to put Seeley to bed. Sara and Ryan also made their way back to the Hotel with Jack. That left Paulette, Kent, Lisa, Steve, and I to go exploring. It was a beautiful evening, about 70 degrees and clear skies with all the stars. The boats with lights slowly moving up and down the canals, music coming from different restaurants and bars. It was magical.

It was rumored the new Mayor didn’t like the fact that Amsterdam was known for drugs and prostitution and wanted to close the “Red Light District”. Interesting fact, marijuana is NOT legal in Amsterdam! Yup, it isn’t legal, but they have these “coffee houses” where people go to smoke and the police don’t bother them. Kent and Lisa had done a city tour that afternoon before we met up for dinner and shared those interesting facts. We decided that since we were so close and because they might shut it down and it is a once in a lifetime chance, we ought to at least check it out:) It was very crowded but really interesting. The women were lined up along the streets in rooms with floor to ceiling windows, and they were wearing next to nothing. If you tried to take a picture, they quickly closed their curtain. When we got out of the district, we decided that we needed to Uber back to the hotel as it was getting very late.

The next morning, everyone checked out and we all went downtown. Most of us toured the Anne Frank Museum, while Papa, Dacotah and Seeley checked out the area. At 10 in the morning, Dacotah and Steve had an espresso martini!! After the tour, Kent and Travis went back to the hotel and got everyone’s bags and dropped them off at the ship. The rest of us made our way to the ship via charming canals, a street market (where I bought a beautiful silk jacket) and they had croissants just coming out of the ovens and all different street foods. It was so fun! We all got to the ship around 12:30, which was our check in time. It was extremely efficient, and we practically just walked on board the Holland America, Rotterdam. To be continued…..

Kiss, Kiss

Stephanie