In Brugges

Took 2 train transfers to get from Amsterdam to Brugges. Kind of hectic in Antwerp. The station was huge and we came in on the lowest level and our connection was 4 levels above, once we found it on the monitor. We had 6 minutes and used them all. There is a train every hour but it was a point of pride to make our connection.

Walked to the Bargehotel from the train. Lots of schlepping of baggage. It is a very cool hotel and the room is surprisingly not much smaller than our Amsterdam room. We have a window right on the river although the neighbors are feeding the ducks and they mill about squawking if they think it is dinner time.

Walked the city yesterday, there was a big concert in the Market square right in front of the tower. The tower was closed anyway.

North by Northwest

More touring the city another canal tour and a visit to the Amsterdam historical Museum. 23 rooms packed full. And a large hall with those huge portraits of groups of Amsterdam buisnessmen.

Got tickets to Brugges yesterday and today we travel. A couple of train changes to get there so we have to stay on our toes.

The film museum is having Cary Grant movies this summer. We saw North by Northwest last night. Smallish theater and comfortable seats.

Amsterdam Museums

Visited the Rijkmuseum and the Van Gogh. They are both near our hotel and are the most popular attractions around. The Rijksmuseum is mostly about Dutch hitory and the golden age of artists. They have the Rembrants and such. The Van Gogh has some of his contemporaries too.

Did the boat tour also which is pretty crazy. They come under a bridge and crank a right turn into the next canal in a space about the length of the boat. Lots of house boats and just regular boats parked around. I haven't seen a Lund or Crestliner yet. I wonder how you reserve a spot, or if you even can.

We have a compass now which started the game "which way is north?". Everything is so curved a compass really helps get around. I guess gps would be better but this will do.

Pannekouken for breakfast and pizza with a knife and fork for supper.

Took a bus into Amsterdam today and our hotel. Apollo museum, it has anice lobby. We are in the room you cannot get to, you go to floor 2 onthe lift, walk to the end of the hall, take the stairs(ladder) up to alanding with 4 rooms, we do have the street side window.
Wandered about a bit yesterday. This place reminds us of Disneyland only real.Hundreds of tourists wandering about the magic kingdom shopping andseeing the sights. We visited the old church which dates to the 1600s.There was an organ recital that night and the performer was rehersing sowe got a free concert while visiting.
We had what we were told was a traditional Dutch lunch. Smoked herringfrom a street vendor and onversneden (the local gin like drink).

The green contraption is an outdoor urinal. Just kind of wander in and let fly. I've only seen guys go in to use it so far. There is a bit of an odor

Worked half a day and drove to Schiphol to drop off Joyce and Phil.Uneventful and Sue was checked in to the Schiphol Crown Plaza already.My mode has switched from work to holiday. Woo Hoo! It feels good but I've been away from my tomatoes for a long time already. So far tomatoes here have been under whelming. They'll be starting nicely when we get home.

Took a quick drive to the Hauge not knowing what wewanted to see. We picked the Maurits House museum. Their collection isof the Dutch golden era (1600)s. It was great. Several Rembrandts and"The girl with the Pearl Earring" along with many other great paintingsand a few busts. Ate at a chinese place very nice and drove back to the hotel to listento the dog in the next room. It doesn't bark a lot just a yip every onceand a while. Dogs seem to be common in restaurants and hotels.

Sue hit the jet lag wall on the way back. She crashed hard and I started my beer tour at the hotel bar. So far Palm is in the lead. Tomorrow we ditch the company rental Mercedes and explore the trains.

Pizza

Had pizza the other day. The waitress was confused that we wanted one to share. Then again when we asked here to cut it up. Also apart from pepperoni the ingredients are unreadable too. Went to an Italian restaurant and had lasagne (good) and watched the locals eat pizza. They each get their own and eat it with a knife and fork. Now I get it. Next time surprise pizza with a knife and fork.

Het Loo Palace

Today was Het Loo palace in Apledorn about a 40 min drive from here. A beautiful place that has been around since William III of Orange built it in 1684. The Queen's mother gave the grounds over to the country and the gardens were recreated in the 70s. I think they were running a little low on funds, the later royal cars were Fords. The main fountain was designed to be taller than the fountain at Versailles. The walls are covered with portraits of the Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses who have lived there. No photography inside as I was told, oops. They have the biggest oaktrees I've ever seen too.

Took a long bike ride through town when we got back. It's really made for bikers around here. I don't think I messed up too much but it's a little different with dedicated bike lanes just about everywhere and special crossing signals too. I didn't always know where to stop and wait and when to cross. It was best when following a group. The riders are bit more relaxed than America too. Most riders are just going somewhere, there are some serious bikers but they seem to stick to the open country trails. The drive to apledorn was through the countryside and there were bike trails in both directions the whole way. None of the problems like America where the trail ends with nowhere to go.

Nice town. There is a riverside drive with barges and cruise boats docked. The downtown is old and narrow streets, it was quiet today(Sunday) compared to when we were there Monday. There was a festival with some kind of fancy cloth draped over some bushes at the water meuseum. I have no idea what that is all about.

Touring Arnhem

Joyce and I went to the National Park near here this morning. I am not sure how a national park occures here, it was a nice large area with no one living in it but one can see trees in minnesota just about everywhere. There was some timber cutting going on too. They have a deal where you can ride their white bikes around the park which would have been nice but it was a bit rainy at that point.

In the middle of the park is the Kroller Muller meuseum. It is the 2nd largest collection of Van Gogh and is full of modern art, modern sculpture, some photography and a large sculpture garden that is a long walk in the park puctuated by large modern installations. Very nice place quite close to Arnhem and we thought it was great.

We ate lunch at a sidewalk pub. I had the summer salad special. I saw it on another diner's plate and asked for the same thing. Marinated beef chunks with a generous salad with kind of a honey dijion mustard dressing , very nice. We saw a couple with some dessert that looked good and asked about that too. It was apple pie with a very thick crust. We gave it a go. It was surprisingly good. The crust was flaky.

We then went to the open air museum, It is a recreation of a Dutch town. Black smith, weavers, electric trolly, windmills, boatmaker all kinds of stuff. Very cool. It kind of mashes a lot of different time eras together.


The good thing is we know how to run the gps and can punch in the desination and it leads us there with no issue. No roads are straight or run north and south here. I have totally lost any sense of direction I may ever of had.

Friday night movie

Went to Hancock at the Rembrant theater in Arnhem tonight with Craig N. The 7:20 show was not crowded the tickets were for assigned seats so I was confused when asked in Dutch if we wanted seats together. They have all the regular stuff to eat and drink and beer too. Grolsch in those big cluncky bottles with the wire thingie holding the top on. They have empty cases on the way out to put the returns in. There is lots of legroom and it was a very big theater. It is a multiplex with 9 shows playing. I wonder how big the other ones are.

The movie was great. The twist caught me off gaurd. About half way in it abruptly stopped and a sign flashed up 'Paused'. Then the curtain closed and the lights went up. 20 min. intermission. It was very distracting.

Drove back across "A bridge too far" thought the movie bridge and town are not Arnhem actually.

Tomorrow Joyce and I are going to the open air museum (an old dutch town recreated), a castle (Loo?) and the national park (van gogh paintings). Maybe not all that but they are in the same area. I want to bike ride around for a day and maybe drive fast in Germany. Although I don't see anything very interesting in Germany within 2 hours. Germany is only 20 min away so maybe just go drive fast with no destination.