Wow, what a day! Our flight arrived right on time and we figured out how to get to our hotel via train, tram and walking a few blocks. The hotel informed us that we could check-in early (noon vs 2pm), but that still left us with 1.5 hours to kill, literally! We were dead on our feet. We finally found a place to have tea and then went back and crashed in the lounge. We both had slept only about 3 hours on the flight over. There’s a 6 hour difference – so it was 8:45 when we arrived, but our bodies said: 1 am!
I haven’t been that tired in a long time – so we slept for 2 hours and then started walking (2 hours), a canal tour (75min), supper and now Bruce is asleep (a nap I hope b/c it’s only 7:30 pm)! Mind you, he is the boss of bedtime, at least for himself. He thinks I have too much energy. (I just walked down to reception (69 mini steps). I spanned the tread; I’d guess about 5 inches, very tiny. Hang on to the banister going down! Fortunately there is an elevator going up. These are the old traditional hotels – high and narrow. We’re on the fourth floor. The window opens and there is only a narrow bar to keep you from falling out; fun.
So, the big thing here is bicycles! I think the difference between here and home is that ours are built for leisure, theirs for life. There are moms with two children, plus groceries and flowers; grandmothers; business men and women; women dressed to the nines; people texting and cycling; bicycles with wheel barrows in the middle (called fiesta bikes); 80% of the bikes have crates attached to the front for carrying; plastic covers protect the bike from rain; there are couples doubling, family bikes with a smaller seat in the rear (like a mini bike); bikes decorated with plastic flowers and boas; old bikes, new bikes; all bikes come with built in lights and the biggest thing of all – they’re flying along on their dedicated lanes, and look out for yourself, b/c they won’t stop for you!
Another first, the bank in Amsterdam was not interested in helping us exchange our US cash, so I guess it’s coming home with us. Also, the ‘fragrance’ of marijuana was everywhere – it’s legal here.
We’ve met some interesting tourists – a young woman and her daughter from Ireland. She knew where Winnipeg was b/c her brother married a girl from our fair city and in fact her sister-in-law is in Flin Flon right now, vacationing with her two daughters! Go figure! I met a nice woman from South Africa and a local who was willing to give us lots of info on our canal tour.
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