An entry in the TFS Travel Journal.
Sad that our three-week Scandanavian adventure had come to an end, we packed up and departed the CPH after leaving a nice note for the owner about how wonderful our stay had been due to many members of his staff.
We zipped to the airport then waited in the KLM line (they have no curb-side check in) for longer than it took to drive the 26km. A bit of a problem arose when they literally ran out of seats; this was remedied by upgrading us to biz. class. When (after taking possession of the boarding passes) we asked why us, the counter guy said, “You guys look nice, well- dressed” (Milton was wearing shorts and Tevas, Wendy had on her travel pearls).
We killed the time in the departure lounge talking with a boys high-school soccer team from Tulsa who had been playing in Sweden, and had won their tournament. How delightful to have a 1hr. 40min. flight to Amsterdam and no jet lag! (and a damn good biz. class airline lunch which Milton devoured, though Wendy couldn’t even tolerate the aroma or sight of, with frozen Mars and Snickers ice-cream bars for dessert).
Arrived at our hotel, selected since that’s where the B & R cycling trip meets Wed. morning, which was a very nice business hotel. We spent the extra 90fl ($45) to upgrade to an executive suite. We then went to walk the town since the weather appeared quite accomodating.
Actually, they’re having a heat wave (90 degrees+) so we stealthily crept alongside the buildings on the shaded side of the streets. What a disappointing city Amsterdam is: it’s N.Y. with canals and no skyscrapers. Lots of shops and restaurants, dog shit and other trash, bicyclists trying to run you down at every turn.
Some nice looking gallaries (though they were all closed as it was Monday) and, of course, world-class museums which will wait untill tomorrow. We walked to various squares (all laden with busy outdoor cafes), the Jordaan - their Village/Soho (I think not!) , stopped in a few record shops (neat to see so much music I’ve never even heard of, though I did score a double Al Stewart disc of his early albums that I’ve been looking for for years, but have never seen in the U.S.), saw some interesting architecture, marvelled at the canals, saw the Anne Frank House (which we’d both toured on previous visits), then picked up some fruit (again, damn good looking strawberries) and walked to Lonny’s for our Indonesian dinner.
They were short on ice, since the factory was all sold out, and nowhere here has air conditioning, so it was a tad warm. The dinner was pretty good, and the true Indonesian spices were a welcome experience. We began with a satay sampler and some minced-meat stuffed tofu. Entrees were chicken w/lemongrass and coconut in a banana leaf and a vegetarian medley which was not that much a medley but quite good with the various sauces. We were drained from our hours of walking in the heat, so we took a taxi who turned out to be wilder and a scarier driver than (almost) any NY taxi experience. We relaxed the rest of the evening in our air-conditioned suite.