EUROPE DAY 33: MOULIN ROUGE

For our last day in Paris, we went to another museum, the Musee du quai Branly, which features indigenous art, cultures and civilizations from non-western countries. Once again, we entered a world of wonder and delight, which I have seldom experienced in museums. They have a river of words that is projected onto a wide, circular ramp that takes visitors up to the second floor. The "river" moves downward, words colliding as they rush along. They meander from side to side and visually flow down the ramp, sometimes splashing up the sides, providing a visual effect of water. The words include place names, names of cultures around the world, and words of geographical things (like "island" and "mountain") . It feels alive and draws visitors upward, beckoning us to find the source (the words start dribbling out from underneath a ceiling and down a wall). We were enchanted.

The whole design and placement of the exhibits was wonderful, drawing us from one thing to the next in a very creative way and giving us a feeling like we were exploring. We spent most of our time at the Oceania collection-- gorgeous carved items and clothing and masks. We also saw a fascinating exhibit on tattoos--the history and styles of tattoos throughout the world. Spent a wee bit of time in an exhibit about the Tiki craze in the USA in the 1950's. By that time we had reached our physical limit of 2 hours and were tired but so sad to leave.

We spent our farewell to Paris evening doing classic Paris things--a dinner cruise on the Seine and then a show at the Moulin Rouge. What a great way to end our visit. And yes, the show was quite spectacular.

So now we go back to Amsterdam on the high-speed train, spend a couple of days there eating pancakes and trying to get all our purchases into our suitcases, and finally head for home after 5 weeks of traveling. It has been a great trip and something of a Grand Tour, although that was not the intention when we started. As often happens when traveling, it just turned out that way.

EUROPE DAY 32: A FOOD INDULGENCE EXTRAVAGANZA

Well, this was quite a memorable day, indeed. We started the day early and hurried directly to Notre Dame to see the inside before the thousands of tour groups showed up. Once again, I tried to imagine what people in olden times must have felt when they entered and it is easy to imagine their being overwhelmed. It was beautiful. We spent quite awhile slowly walking around or just sitting and looking. I especially liked the statue of Joan d'Arc.

Then we headed over to our, by now, usual petite dejeuner spot and enjoyed our usual and then went to the Musee d'Orsay for a jaw-dropping visit to the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. Yes, the crush of visitors was rather unpleasant, but seeing many paintings that I have liked over the years and seeing them in person, so to speak, was thrilling.

The museum layout felt something like a rabbit warren--it was difficult to get a feel for how to find pieces we were interested in visiting, which is good and bad. The bad part was that it was hard to find the Gaugin paintings because they had been temporarily moved, but the good part was that we saw things I would have missed otherwise. After 1.5 hours, we reached input overload and our feet and knees hurt so we started to leave. But this is one of those places where you keep seeing something else that you are compelled to go look at and so on the way out we passed a gallery of art nouveau furniture and we were sucked in for another half hour. If I lived close to this museum I would be a regular visitor and just feast my eyes on one artist at each visit. We hated to leave but we just couldn't take in any more.

We took a pedi-cab to Fauchon's and had a spectacular lunch--salad, a glass of wine, and a little dessert each. The place is all mirrored walls and pink tables and gold lame draperies and wait staff in dark grey pin-stripe suits with pink piping. Our salads looked like works of art, each item carefully positioned to please the eye and tasted spectacular--and the dressing was perfect. And the desserts almost made me swoon--we shared a caramel eclair (they are famous for their eclairs) the size a large cigar, skinny and long, and a lemon tart that was about a 2.5 inch square in size and was so intensely lemon it was amazing, and not too sweet. Each bite just filled my mouth with flavor. 

After a short rest, then a shower and change, we embarked on our dinner adventure to Maxim's. Yes, THE Maxim's. This was one of those crazy ideas that we came up with 2 days ago during a "what if" chat when we were talking about this Paris visit as probably our one and only opportunity to see Paris. And that led us to dream up the over-the-top idea of trying to get a reservation at Maxim's--a very famous and historical restaurant. So we asked the hotel concierge to get us a reservation and voila, we were successful. We were stunned. And of course, we did not bring any glamorous evening wear on this trip although we did at least bring respectable dress up outfits. 

The interior is elaborate art nouveau and gorgeous with dark woods and soft murals along the walls. Each table has those classic little cabaret lamps with pink shades, grouped around a small dance floor in front of a small stage for the chanteuse who sang and played the piano during the whole evening. It felt very 1880's. Sadly, it turned out that we were only one of three sets of diners that evening, so the place was pretty empty. I know that Maxim's draw is their history and fame and that people dine at other places now for leading-edge food, but I hope our evening was not an indication of a serious decline in business.

Happily, the food was magnificent. We started with champagne--but of course. My entree (which is the starter course in France) was beef bouillon. I expected a bowl of soup but instead received edible art. They first served a bowl with a slice of beef at the bottom with vegetables on top that looked like it had a garden growing out of it, then they poured the bouillon around the whole arrangement. The bouillon produced an explosion of flavor in my mouth (you are going to hear this phrase several times)--the flavor was so concentrated and complex and robust. And the slice of beef was the same. It had obviously been cooked for hours because it was butter-soft and full of flavor. Essentially it was a slice of pot roast but elevated to a much higher dish than just pot roast.

My main course was a fillet of beef with truffle sauce and a side of puffed potatoes. That description does not begin to describe it. It was a large portion of beef fillet swimming in a sauce that was thick, almost like syrup, and was so complex in flavor, so rich and intense, that I've never tasted anything like it before. The flavor just exploded in my mouth and I could not even begin to identify what was in it. Although I loved it, I was only able to eat about a third of the dish because it rapidly just became more than my mouth could handle--I guess it is possible to experience a flavor overload. And the potatoes were quite unexpected too. Imagine a potato chip about the size and shape of a madeline. Then imagine two of those put together to form a little hollow potato pillow. Then imagine it hot and crunchy but also a bit chewy. Delicious, and they stayed puffed up throughout the entire meal. I have no idea how they made them. Altogether it was magnificent. 

Dessert sent me over the moon because I enjoyed, I savored, I swooned over the most absolutely perfect Grand Marnier soufflé I've ever had. Every bite was a piece of cloud with a delicate essence of Grand Marnier, not too much but enough to recognize. I can die happy now.

And so a spectacular, never to be repeated, day ended after 3 hours of dining--we were back at the hotel by 11:00. Between our lunch and our dinner, we spent about 600 euros, which is a whopping amount of money for two meals. I think we will have the most expensive poop in Paris tomorrow.

EUROPE DAY 31: MORE PARIS AND THEN RACLETTE

We got a rousing start today--emerged from our hotel room at 11:00 AM and walked across the street to "our" petite dejeuner cafe. We must have tipped the waiter well yesterday because he remembered us and what we ordered. So we had the same thing all over again. Why mess with a good thing?

Our first destination was Notre Dame but the line to get in was a hundred miles long (in the hot sun, I might add) so we walked all around it and resolved to get up early tomorrow and go in before the thundering hoards show up. Then we got back onto a hop-on-hop-off bus and rode around the last two loops. We have now seen all the major areas, the famous sites and buildings and churches, and gotten a bit of a feel for Paris. 

Of course we had to hop off to do a bit of shopping at a major epicurean foodie store, Fauchon, at the Place de la Madeleine. My, the array of items they have, both sweet and savory. And my oh my, the prices they charge. The savory dishes at their deli and the chocolates and pastries were exquisite works of art--I don't think I've ever seen food that gorgeous. I just wanted to lick everything! And wouldn't you know, we didn't have time to sit down and try even one pastry. We are trying to figure out how to squeeze in a lunch tomorrow. 

Tiredness and input overload set in so we went back to the hotel. After an hour of resting up, we were back out on the street by 8:00 PM, ready for dinner--a shared salad of fresh orange, grapefruit, avocado, and tomato slices over lettuce with a yogurt dressing and then raclette over boiled potatoes with a charcuterie plate to go with. We ended with adequate but slightly disappointing servings of apple tartine and chocolate mousse. And of course it is Europe, so we were treated to a very good sidewalk trumpet concert during out meal, not to mention the people watching. It was 11:00 PM by the time we were finished -- we have gone native indeed. We are definitely having more fun here than I expected.

EUROPE DAY 29-30: PARIS

Basically, we took the high-speed train to Paris and checked into our hotel with no hiccups. Sounds straightforward and simple, doesn't it? Well yes and no. It's all the logistical stuff that gets me tired. We had to find the right train platform (the Amsterdam train station is not as easy to navigate as Munich) and find the right coach (you have reserved seats on the Thalys train). On arrival, we had to find the entrance to the Metro, figure out how to use the ticket machine, figure out which Metro line to take and which stop to get off on, figure out which Metro platform we needed to wait on, and then figure out which set of stairs to go up once we got off and which direction to start walking to get to the hotel. Whew. Nothing went wrong but there were thousands of people in the train station, the Metro station, and on the Paris streets so by the time we got into our room I was tired. I guess I am feeling my age.

Our hotel is dinky (we are in Paris, after all), but the decor is all black and mauve and grey and definitely cool, and we even have a tree-shaded balcony with 2 chairs and a little table. The bathroom is tres tres moderne although my shoulders almost touch the walls when I stand in front of the sink brushing my teeth.

We are located on the left bank at Saint Michel, about 3 blocks from Notre Dame, 5 blocks from the Louvre, 3 blocks from the Pont Neuf bridge. It's a perfect location. In fact I am sitting on the hotel rooftop terrace watching the lights on the Eiffel Tower, about a 20-30 minute walk away. I am really in Paris, indeed.

The next day was our first full sightseeing day so we started out at a respectable10:00 AM and had croissants and coffee at a nearby outdoor cafe. I mean, isn't it obligatory to have a croissant at least once in Paris? The night before we had French onion soup with dinner--just going through the list of must-eat items. So far the brasserie waiters have been quite friendly, contrary to my expectations. 
That's a nice surprise. I do have to admit that after wracking our brains to remember how to say 'please' in French, going through English-Spanish-German and then giving up, we had to ask our waiter and then felt immensely dumb. But honestly, at this point we've been dealing with too many languages for our little brains.

As a side note, the entertainment during breakfast was watching several different cars trying to park in a space that was half the size of a shoe box. The 4th car to try actually got in--there were only about 3 inches in front and back of her car--really. We almost stood up and applauded.

We bought tickets to the hop-on-hop-off bus that has 4 different routes that loop around Paris and over 50 stops. We rode the bus on 2 of the routes--a total of 3.5 hours of seeing wonderfully familiar sights come alive before our eyes. As a result we have modified our no-museum decision and plan to go see some of the impressionist paintings in a couple of days. That, and some wandering down narrow streets with interesting shops, and a stop for a substantial late lunch (too full for dinner now), comes to a full day for us. And by the way, for those of you who are keeping score on the number of times I complain about the weather, it has been absolutely perfect in Paris--sunny and 73 degrees with a cool breeze. 

I must say that even if I was dying to go up the Eiffel Tower or go into the Louvre, for example, I would have changed my mind after today. The lines were unpleasantly long and the number of people milling around was off-putting. Summer has clearly arrived. Even last week in Amsterdam we noticed the sudden invasion (dare I say explosion?) of tour groups and clumps of young people wearing backpacks. Navigating down the sidewalks is getting to be an Olympic class sport and today I had a child behind me ram himself against the back of my knees, causing me to teeter a bit. I stopped stock still and the mother gave me one of those "what's the matter with you?" looks. I tried to return an indignant old lady look.

World Cup soccer continues. Algeria played last night and won. We kept track of the score by counting each time we heard cheers echoing through the streets. Although the French don't go soccer-nuts in their clothing and outdoor decorations (they are much more cool than the Dutch in that respect) they cheer just as loudly.

EUROPE DAY 28: CHURCHES IN ATTICS AND TALL SHIPS

We spent all day today getting a healthy dose of cultue. First we went to Our Lord in the Attic church, which is a Roman Catholic church that a wealthy merchant built in his attic as a secret church when the Calvinists outlawed the practice of Catholicism. The church seats about 150 people and even has an organ. It was used for about 200 years until Catholicism was allowed again and they built a regular huge church. Lots of VERY narrow, circular, steep, tiny stairs, which scared me. But it was a very interesting esxperience.

Then we continued our meandering along a tiny canal to Oude Kerk (Old Church) which is the oldest building in Amsterdam, established in 1306. It started out as a Roman Catholic church then was switched to Puritan in 1578. It was falling down in 1955 and was purchased for a song and has undergone an extensive restoration. The ceiling is all wood, like an upside-side down boat hull, which makes the acoustics fabulous. Nowadays it is no longer used as a church but retains many church features and still has over a thousand graves under the stone slab floor and 4 organs that are used for concerts. We really emnjoyed our time there. An interesting aspect of Amsterdam is that the church is in the red light district so there were ladies in their windows open for business (yes, on a Saturday morning), right across the alley from the church and right next door to a school. That's just the way life is here.

And then JACKPOT! We discovered a Dutch chocolatier and a few minutes later a Belgian chocolatier. Now my mission is to find them again when we get back from Paris so I can bring some home.

Last on the culture list was a visit to the National Maritime Museum. I mostly went because my sister really wanted to go and see the ship models. I expected it to be boring but figured I would accompany her anyway. And boy how wrong I was.

Looking on the museum map, every room sounded terminally boring. We hit the ship models first and they were fascinating. Then we wandered into the ship decorations display that had a bunch of carved figureheads and rudder heads along the middle of a long room with a virtual display of water rushing below them all down the middle of the room. We sat there for quite awhile. Then we moved into the navigation instrument room--ho hum, I hear you say. But their display setup was so creative and interesting, it just made us want to look. The following room was photographs (I thought that would definitely be the point at which boredom set in) and was so intriguing that we stayed far longer than we anticipated. The room was set up with comfy wing-back chairs arranged in groups around coffee tables. Each chair had a photo album in front of it on the coffee table, so you sit in the chair, push the English button on the chair arm, and a voice in the back of the chair starts telling you stories about the person who took the photos and what the photos are about. We moved from chair to chair, loving every minute.

We went on a virtual reality sea voyage through time and then spent a fair amount of time in their unusually good gift shop. And there's still stuff we want to go back and see. It is by far the best and most creatively designed maritime museum I have ever seen.

Tomorrow we take the high speed train for Paris, which takes about 3.5 hours. We plan to do mostly very touristy things and will avoid the Louvre because there just isn't enough time.

EUROPE DAY 27: SCRATCH BRUGES

Don't let anyone ever tell you that travel is predictable or easy. Just when you think you have all your plans figured out to go to Bruges, reality has a way of tossing everything up in the air. Which is to say, we're not going to Bruges. At all. And you'll just have to cancel your expectations of all that chocolate you expected me to bring home.

So what happened? Well, we bought the train tickets yesterday and it was a tricky schedule--we needed to change trains in Rotterdam and then change again in Brussels--but we were game. All this for a 1-day round trip that required 6 hours of travel time total. But what the heck, that Belgian chocolate was calling.

We showed up at the train station early enough and found the correct platform, but things just didn't seem right. We kept hearing an announcement repeated over and over in Dutch, occasionally in English, about the train to the airport being cancelled, but it didn't hit us until we both heard the name Rotterdam. It turns out that there was a big power outage somewhere that messed up the trains and ours was cancelled. So we trooped down to the ticket office and stood in line only to be told that we had to take a train to Utrecht and change here but the agent had no idea what train we should change to. We instantly decided that things were way too complicated and that we were gonna give up on Bruges (earlier in the week we considered staying in Bruges for a few days but the hotels were all full) so we got a refund.

So what next? We went to the international train ticket line and bought tickets to Paris, which means that in a couple of days we'll be spending 2 travel days and 4 full days in Paris. And then we spent the next 3 hours in our hotel room trying to find a hotel and book reservations and then trying to decide on which tours we wanted to take. All totaled, we spent 5 hours not going to Bruges today.

We were hungry after that and we wanted comfort food so off we went, back to the pancake place and stuffed ourselves. I'm not going to tell how many pancakes we ate and I swore the waitress to secrecy after she recognized us from yesterday, and then I did the Jedi knight trick to erase her memory. And then it started pouring-- same as yesterday when we were eating pancakes. What is with this weather, anyway?

EUROPE DAY 26: PANCAKES

Wandered around today. Rode one of the trams for about 30 minutes in one direction until the scenery got boring, then rode back and had lunch at a genuine Dutch pancake house. We had a taste of all their specialities. First we split a ham and cheese pancake which was a huge crepe-like pancake (but a little a bit more substantial than a crepe) with thin slices of ham and melted cheese. It was heavenly. Then for our main course we split a traditional Dutch pancake served with slices of lemon and dusted with powdered sugar. YUM--it was as big as the plate and beyond heavenly. For dessert we split a serving of traditional poffertjes, which are little tiny puffy pancakes, served with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. We were over the moon. I am going to make sure we go back for more before we fly home.

By the time we were finished eating it was starting to rain and we were ready to go back to the hotel. Both of us planned to read for awhile, which we did, but then the next thing we knew we were waking up and it was 8:00 at night. We seem to be sleeping more than usual and I think it is a combination of our constant processing of new input, constant vigilance, increased exercise, and, oh yes, perhaps age.

We headed back out for dinner to a place recommended in the guidebook, called Bazar. The neighborhood looked a bit deserted but we found the place and it was clearly a popular spot. And we had a spectacular Persian dinner served with a side of frites and mayonnaise, washed down with Dutch beer. By the time we got back to the hotel it was almost 11:00 at night and getting dark. Jeez, eating dinner that late? We really are going native.

Tomorrow we are off on an adventure to Bruges. We have to change trains twice--let's hope we don't get lost in Brussels.

EUROPE DAY 25: SHOPPING, HIGH TEA, AND ORANGE EVERYWHERE

And the answer is........we have decided to do a day trip (a very long day trip) to Bruges and 5 days somewhere else. The top candidate for the next stop is Paris but if the trains are still on strike 3 days from now then we might just go to London instead. It is so very luxurious to be able to decide where we want to go on a moment's notice.

It is way past time to poke my nose into a few shops. There are cheese stores everywhere and the displays are so pretty that I just want to buy one of everything to take home but do you know how much cheese weighs? A ton. I'd never be able to lift my suitcase off the carousel at the airport when I get home. Sigh. So I am bowing to reality. Of course there are a zillion stores with wooden shoes but there's no way I'm gonna fit stuff like that into my suitcase. Reality is sometimes tough to accept.

A few interesting sightings of people bicycling by: a slender young woman with a cello strapped on her back (we've seen quite a few cellos and French horns and the like on cyclists), bicycles with a kind of wooden wheel barrow arrangement on the front of the bike that is large enough to fit a wife and 3 small children, and many people riding while talking on their cell phones.

Our guidebook listed a good place for high tea and so today we went there to refresh ourselves after shopping. Named Gartine, it is located in a little alley and I would never have even noticed it if not for the guidebook. And it turned out to be a slow food restaurant, which means that everything is made from fresh, local, and organic ingredients, and we always love slow food places. Never having had high tea in a Dutch environment, I was very interested in how it differed from a standard British tea. Well, it was spectacular. We started with a cream soup made from herbs in their garden, then a potato onion and herb quiche, then a sandwich made with homemade chutney and an aged cheese on delicious brown bread, and then came the sweets. The platter included an almond cupcake hollowed out and filled with homemade raspberry/beet jam and topped with whipped cream, a chocolate dipped date, and 4 wedges of things that looked like cheesecake but were much lighter in texture-- chocolate with a hazelnut crust, lemon meringue with graham cracker crust, pistachio lime with pistachio crust, and pear with a nut crust. We couldn't possibly eat it all so we brought it back to the hotel for a late night snack. Can't wait for snack time.

Tonight was a very big soccer game for The Netherlands at the World Cup. The streets are awash in orange--people in all-orange outfits and goofy orange hats, stores with massive orange balloon decorations, orange steamers and garlands. We had our hotel room window open during the game and every now and then the city would erupt in roars of shouting and horns blowing. I expect the flurry of boats to start up soon on the canals, full of drunk and singing fans.

EUROPE DAY 23-24: WINDMILLS AND ALL THINGS DUTCH

Ah, Amsterdam. There more bicycles than people in this city. Places called coffee shops are not intended for coffee drinking; you drink coffee in cafés and smoke weed in coffee shops. They even have marijuana-infused vodka. And lots and lots of cheese. I've eaten more cheese in the last couple of days than I care to admit. And Drostes chocolate and fries with mayonnaise and so much more.

Amsterdam is very far north, more northern than Juno, Alaska. Therefore, the days are very long right now--the sun comes out around 4:30 AM and it stays light until a bit after 11:00 PM. Eating dinner at an outdoor cafe at 10:00 PM feels quite normal at this point. Walking around at 9:30 at night feels like walking in the laste afternoon, there is that much light.

Went on a tour to a little historic town named Zaanse Schans (don't even ask me how to pronounce it because every other word in Dutch sounds like you are trying to clear your throat). The town has several old-style windmills that are still working. We were able to watch a wind-powered saw mill cutting a log into planks--it saws one millimeter each time the blades go up and down. All the working parts of the saw and the windmill including the gears, are all wood (well, except for the saw blades, of course), and the cap of the windmill is thatched. To control the speed of the wind vanes, to prevent friction from starting a fire or to make the vanes go a bit faster in low wind, they furl and unfurl sails on the vanes. The whole thing was pretty interesting.

Then we went to Volendam, which is a quaint fishing village, rather touristy in some ways but quite pretty anyway. We decided to be silly and had our photo taken in traditional Dutch dress-- I am playing an accordion and my sister is holding a basket of cheese. We both look like we've had too much beer (which was not the case). If you can't do this kind of stuff when you are an old lady then when can you?

The last stop on the tour was in the village of Marken, which is another of the quaint villages on the tourist must-see list, where we went to a place that makes wooden shoes. Frankly, it has never occurred to me to wonder how wooden shoes are made but now I am fully educated should anyone else want to know. And no, I do not plan to bring home a pair for each of my friends--I barely have room in my luggage for the photos we bought. 

The next day we walked around town. The big highlight was the Museum of Bags and Purses, which has items from the 1600's to the present and some fun short films. I was absolutely entranced (no surprise there). And they had a lovely (!) gift shop. Wanted to buy at least 6 handbags but didn't.

Wandered through the flower market and was so sad that I can't bring home bulbs--California just will not permit it. But oh my, the gorgeous variety of tulips and amaryllis and peonies.

Ended the day at a fabulous Indonesian restaurant, Long Pura, and had a magnificent ristofel meal (which means rice table and consists of a bunch of dishes that you sample with side condiments). We waddled out of the place so full but waaaaay happy.

Tomorrow we seriously have to decide on where we want to go next. We have a little over a week and a half left and can go pretty much anywhere that whim dictates. At the moment we are thinking of Bruges for 4 days followed by 4 days in Paris, but the trains are still on strike in Paris so we aren't sure. Gotta make hotel reservations tomorrow so we'll figure it out by then. Tune in for the next exciting episode.

EUROPE DAY 19-22: COLOGNE AND CULTURE

The ship docked in Cologne and so I had an opportunity to see my very first major European cathedral (no, I have not seen Notre Dame, which apparently everyone in the world except me has seen). It is a Gothic architecture style and is truly amazing (I think that word is overused but in this case it applies). I especially liked the gargoyles on the outside because they stick out more than I've seen on other buildings and depicted unusually ugly animals and people, looking somewhat like they were stretching out to get me. Regardless of how you feel about the religion that the building honors, the design and building of the cathedral is an astounding feat of human ingenuity--it took about 600 years to complete. I've never been in a religious building that soars so high inside. And so we spent a goodly amount of time just sitting quietly in several different places and soaking in the grandeur and the many details.

Important note for future travelers: if you plan to really enjoy your visit to a cathedral, be sure to arrive before the hundreds of tour groups show up. We just happened to get there early and very few visitors were there for the first hour we were in there. By 10:00 AM the tours started arriving and although they were fairly quiet it was unpleasant having to dodge clumps of people at every turn. It felt like a very quiet Grand Central Station.

By the time we left it was 10:30 and we were in the mood for a coffee so we sat at an outdoor cafe that faces the front of the cathedral. The pastries were so alluring that we decided we each needed a piece, washed down with Irish coffees, of course, even though it was still morning. I think the cafe was accustomed to crazy tourists. Anyway, we have no idea why, but the cathedral bells started ringing at 11:20, and then another church a couple of blocks away also started ringing bells, and the two played off each other for almost 30 minutes. It was marvelous--we were so lucky to have been there.

The next day the boat arrived in Amsterdam and served as our hotel for the night--we debarked the day after. Because we had plans to stay the next week in Amsterdam, we decided to just stay on the boat and enjoy it for our last day.

Debarking was wonderfully painless--I could get used to living this poshy life. But we entered the real world again, dropped our embarrassing amount of luggage at the hotel, and strode off to figure out how to use the trams. Turns out the trams are pretty easy to figure out and before long we were at the Van Gogh Museum. Normally, I'm not able to sustain much interest when looking at paintings in museums (sculpture is a whole different matter) but I really like Van Gogh. We slowly went through 3 out of the 4 floors in the museum before we both hit our saturation points. And it being Saturday, the place was packed. The whole visit was thrilling nevertheless.

And so it was time for a sit down, which means time for a coffee (or hot chocolate in my case because it is beyond rare to find brewed decaf in Europe outside of a Starbucks) . We found a cute little cafe and started to sit down but were told that the downstairs and outside seating was for diners and the upstairs was for coffee. So up we trudged, up a circular staircase with the smallest and most treacherous stairs I've seen in a long time. It was awful. But the drinks were good. And then we had to face going down. I was genuinely frightened and inched my way down like a 100 year old lady. 

It is Saturday night in Amsterdam and the World Cup soccer championships are being played in Brazil and the Netherlands team won it's first game. In the US, young people pile into cars and drive up and down the Main Street of town whooping and yelling. In Amsterdam, young people pile into boats and drive up and down the canals while drinking and singing and whooping it up. We are appreciating the noise-dampening qualities of our hotel windows.  I am taking tomorrow off and being lazy.

EUROPE DAY 17-18: A FUN MUSEUM AND CASTLES GALORE

I'm starting to go native--I've been having cold cuts and sliced cheeses for breakfast lately. And speaking of food, which I seem to be doing quite a lot, we had spaghetti for lunch. "Ho hum," I hear you say, but wait a minute. The chef had a huge round of parmesan cheese with a bowl-shaped hole hollowed out in the middle. Then he scraped the sides of the hole to get parmesan shavings loose and then dumped a serving of hot pasta in the hole and swished it around to get the parmesan all melty and to coat the pasta. Then he put the spaghetti on my plate and I spooned on the sauce. What a great idea.

And they had a great coleslaw made from purple cabbage and vanilla (go figure but it tasted good), which turned my tongue deep purple so my sister took a photo of me sticking out my purple tongue, which caused both of us to go into fits of giggles--definitely not proper decorum don't you know. But when we showed the photo to the Germans sharing our table, they even started laughing. I guess you are never too old to be silly.

We are now officially on the Rhine River at Rudesheim, which is beyond quaint. They are known for their special coffee which has a healthy amount of their local Ansbach brandy, lots of whipped cream, and chocolate shavings. We felt compelled to go local as far as that was concerned.

An unexpected spectacular treat was a tour through a museum of mechanical instruments dating from the late 1700's to about 1930. The best part was that they played many of the instruments for us and I just stood there and grinned from ear to ear the whole time. It was fantastic. One large one played 19 instruments, like an orchestra. And I was allowed to play an old hand organ, the kind where a man cranked the organ on a street corner and a trained monkey collected money from the crowd. I was in heaven. Many of the pieces were substantial pieces of furniture and beautifully made.

In the afternoon we went down a 3-hour stretch of the Rhine (technically, it is the Middle Rhine) called The Romantic Way, which is a narrow, winding area of the Rhine Valley in which dozens of castles are located, left over from feudal times when Germany was just hundreds of small duchies and bishoprics. We sat on the top deck swinging our heads left and right, something like watching a tennis match. The small towns are all huddled along the shores of the canal because the hills on both sides are very high and steep This is a huge wine producing region but there is no flat land for the vineyards so they plant the grape vines up the hillsides, often on 45 degree slopes. I don't know how the grapes grow but clearly they do. There are vineyards everywhere--up the hillsides, in front and back yards. Some of the hillsides look like they've planted vines on all the goat paths. Harvesting the grapes must be a pain in the butt.

Many of the buildings are the old style half timber construction. Again, everywhere we look is another postcard scene. And tidy. And clean. Which reminds me, as a side note, that we have not encountered a single dirty or unpleasant toilet in Germany--something I can not say about traveling in the US.

EUROPE DAY 16: CRUISING DOWN THE RIVER

We are now cruising on the Main River, turning onto the Rhine tomorrow.

Life on this boat is hard to beat. We have a bit of champagne with breakfast every morning with a dizzying array of breakfast choices. Although lunch is a buffet, they offer a large variety of hot and cold choices, which can make for a very substantial meal, all accompanied by complimentary wines. Tea time brings little sandwiches, delicate pastries, and Alexander at the grand piano playing soothing music. And then there is dinner. It starts at 7:30 and ends around 10:00 and normally consists of 5 courses except for the one 7-course extravaganza at the end. The last course is always a selection of really good chocolates.

Dinner is a fixed menu, usually French style, with very poshy food--we have already had courses with scallops, crayfish tails, venison, duck, lamb, foie gras, and caviar. Today, for example, we had roast suckling pig for lunch (and I shouldn't forget the tomato soup with juniper foam, lobster bisque, medallions of beef with truffles, and so on, but I digress). And each course is paired with complimentary wines. The mini bar in our stateroom is stocked with complimentary juices, soda, and water. There is staff everywhere at the ready to help in any way--I can't even carry my own tea cup to a chair in the lounge. I may just move in permanently.

Very few passengers are English-speaking although quite a few of them have been having fun practicing their English with us (Norwegians, Germans, Austrians). They all speak English a thousand times better than I speak their language. All the passengers are clearly senior citizens so my sister and I fit in quite well. I would venture to guess that the senior citizen population provides the main financial support for the travel industry in low season, throughout the world.

For the last 2 or 3 days we have been having a snow storm of sorts--the cottonwood trees have been sending their cottony fluff into the air and it really looks like snow there is so much of it. Some parts of the river are totally covered with a blanket of white fluff. Oh, and we are seeing lots of swans and fluffy swan babies along the canal. They are such regal birds, and BIG. I think I've seen more swans in the last 3 days then I've seen in my lifetime.

We sit on the top deck in cushioned lounge chairs, or in the air conditioned lounge one deck below, or in the comfy chairs in our cabin, and watch quaint villages roll by, one after the other, separated by a kilometer or two of green trees and grassy vegetation, and lock or two. Honestly, it looks like everyone lives in a postcard or a travel brochure. At times it almost feels like I am on an elaborate amusement park ride watching a travelogue pass by sideways.

Germans are enjoying the first hot weekend of the summer by camping out along the canal, so we have seen many people in bathing suits, all pasty white and all playing in the full sun. I imagine there will be a lot of people returning to work with painful sunburns.

EUROPE DAY 14-15: CRUISING ON THE MAIN-DANUBE CANAL

This cruise, from Nuremberg to Amsterdam, travels on a major canal that connects the Danube River, the Main River (pronounced MINE), and the Rhine River. After an hour lecture about the rivers and canal systems of Germany I've learned that it is complicated.

We boarded the River Cloud II, a five-star river boat that is somewhat smaller than the Viking cruise boats--only 67 passengers and 35 crew--and we were underway by late afternoon. We sat on the top deck, the sun deck, for the first hour and joyously experienced amazement after amazement. We started off down the Danube and right away we were going under bridges so low that the bridge of the boat (the housing at the front where they steer the boat) had to sink down like an elevator and the staff had to tell us to sit down because we would hit our heads if standing. So throughout this cruise we will be watching the bridge go up and down. Very ingenious design. And then we went through our first lock and watched the boat sink down about 15 or 20 feet. The locks are tricky because there must have been less than a foot of clearance on one side and about 3 feet on the other--not much wiggle room. And they tell us that we will be going through over 40 locks on this trip--some only lowering the boat 10 feet and some lowering the boat up to 70 feet. Very cool, indeed! And the most fun of all was gliding along (the boat travels very slowly, only about 10 mph) on an overhead canal and watching the cars driving by underneath or watching houses go by at roof level. It is a weird experience.

Life on board is very different from that on a large cruise ship. The staff already knows us by name, the check-in process was simple and personal, the food is tres elegant, and the accommodations quite pleasant. And they make a good Manhattan--always good for bonus points in my book. And it is relatively quiet. I like this kind of cruising.

First stop the next day we docked at Bamberg and walked around a bit to see the beautiful half-timber buildings in the old part of town. The whole place looks like a postcard of medieval Europe. We mistakenly went into the cathedral just as a service was starting so we couldn't go all the way in, but ended up standing inside to listen to the choir. The music rolled around and filled the building and sounded absolutely angelic--it was a real thrill. Actually, we have encountered several unexpected musical treats this trip. At the 3rd Ludwig castle there was a 16-voice men's acapella group that sang a mini, impromptu concert and they were outstanding. Then there were 4 German women who were singing German folk songs while we were all standing in line to take the bus up to Ludwig's 2nd castle. We have really lucked out so far.

The rainy spell is definitely over and we are now having an unseasonable hot spell. I guess I just can't get away from hot and sweaty weather while traveling, but the ship lounge is so comfortable I think I'll just sit here and pretend to watch the scenery.......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

EUROPE DAY 13: NUREMBERG

We took the high-speed train to Nuremberg--173 mph and very smooth and quiet. We got first class tickets so we rode in splendid comfort and had an attendant that sold cappuccinos and cookies. Very civilized although trying to handle our 2 suitcases and a tote bag each was a bit difficult, especially when we were getting off the train and they started closing the train doors on me before I had gotten everything off the train. I stubbornly blocked the door until we had everything down on the platform. Whew.

Spent the afternoon wandering around the old part of the city and had a fabulous lunch of authentic Franconian (or Frankish, if you prefer that name) food--clearly we are out of Bavaria. We had spargel salat (asparagus salad which was 4 spears of jumbo, fat, white asparagus, marinated in vinegar and sugar), and a plate of small, thin sausages that they are famous for, grilled on an open fire. All washed down with beer, of course. Because lunch was so good, we dared to try the apple strudel and it was fab also.

And now for confession time.....I had to buy an extra, collapsible piece of luggage because I can't fit my purchases in my suitcases anymore. I'm not buying tons of stuff, honestly, it's just that I started out with almost zero room for shopping. Oh well, enough said.

The weather is balmy--it doesn't get dark until after 10:00 PM, so eating dinner at an outdoor cafe and people watching was great. Come to think of it, I think all our lunches and dinners except 1 have been at outdoor cafés. It is a lovely way to dine. I also really like the European way of paying. The waiter brings you the bill, you hand him money or a credit card and tell them what you are paying. For example, if the bill is 13.50, you might hand him a 20 Euro note and say "15"  (tipping is different from the USA rules). He says thank you and hands you the change right away. It feels more direct than leaving money on the table like at home. Oh, and dinner tonight was some of the best Italian food I've had in a long time. 

Things on the menu that make me wonder why--beer mixed with coke and beer mixed with orange soda. Ewwwww.  

EUROPE DAY 11-12: SALZBURG AND A FEW COMMENTS

Took a day trip to Salzburg, home of Mozart, and a 2-hour train ride from Munich. Once again, it was back to the alps--Salzburg is in a truly beautiful setting. For some reason both my sister and I were in a low-key mood so we were not interested in racing around to see everything on the guidebook must-see list. And it helped that both of us have been there before. So this visit we just enjoyed a horse-drawn carriage ride around the old part of town, poked our noses into a church and a few of the little shops, and enjoyed people watching from an outdoor cafe.


The carriage ride was quite nice and the church quite baroquely frilly, although I don't understand why the Mary figure behind the altar needed to be flanked by gilt Roman soldiers with swords ready. There was even a cherub with a drawn sword. My guess is that this was done when the Catholic and Protestant duchys were trying to slaughter each other on a regular basis.


Lunch was another matter. We ate at a famous cafe in Mozart Plaz and the food was less than inspiring. And then, because Salzburg is the birthplace of sacher torte, we decided to share a slice. What a disappointment! It had absolutely no flavor except sweet. After wandering a bit more, the rain was starting to come down so we grabbed a taxi back to the train station. No camels spotted on this train trip.


Our last day in Munich was just a bit of shopping and people watching and stocking up on some chocolate. Yes, we haven't seen everything in Munich, but we have enjoyed what we did see. We finished the day with a last beer and weiner schnitzel (I am officially schnitzeled out at this point).


Tomorrow we are off to Nuremburg for 1 day and then we catch a boat for a 1-week cruise on the Danube. Not sure how much internet connection I will have so there might be a week long hiatus on the blog posts.


A FEW RANDOM COMMENTS


WEATHER: It seems to always rain at 4:30. Maybe this is an alps thing, or maybe this is a springtime thing, or maybe just because we are visiting. Of course, it has been raining at other times too, but all of the sunny, blue-sky days have ended in rain at 4:30. Go figure.


LITTER: There is none. The roads are just lovely scenery and no garbage. Makes me wonder why we can't achieve this at home.


CITY COUNCIL HOUSE: The local seat of government in any city is called the rathaus, which I think is quite apt. I can think of a few government buildings at home that should be called rathaus. Enough said.


BEER: I'm not a big beer lover, but I must admit that the beer here is really good. I think that is due, in large part, to the strict laws in Bavaria on what can go into beer--water, yeast, and grains. That is it. No preservatives or other additives. I am looking at beer with newly opened eyes.

EUROPE DAY 9-10: YET ANOTHER CASTLE AND A DRENCHING

By now we have seen 2 out of 3 of mad King Ludwig II's castles, so yesterday we went to the third. It is an attempt to copy Louis XIV's castle at Versailles, however he only got it partially completed before he bankrupted the Bavarian treasury. Once again, this was a castle enjoyed only by the king--apparently he was very shy and never invited guests, so he lived in his own fantasy world. The castle is in the alps on a large island in a huge lake. The setting is truly beautiful and once again we got to enjoy picturesque alpine meadows in springtime, dotted with wildflowers and the trees all decorated with their bright green new growth at the tips. I've been breathing in the smell of lilacs--simply dreamy. And the houses all have their flower boxes out on the balcony railings. Honestly, it just looks like every postcard you've ever seen.


OK, back to the castle. The front has elaborate water fountains with some massive statuary, formal gardens, and lots of statues lining the reflection pools, and a long vista view down to the lake. The finished rooms that we toured through were over-the-top splendferous, as you might expect. Everything covered in gold leaf (and yes it is possible to OD on gold leaf). The great hall of mirrors is even larger and more elaborate than the one at Versailles and has so many chandeliers that it takes 2200 candles for all of them--and that is just for one evening of light. I find that I can look at stuff like this for only a short time before I hit overload--there is so much to see and so much detail Something like eating too much of a rich dessert.


The weather was perfect, cool enough that I could wear a light sweater but warm enough to feel comfortable. The boat ride over to the island was idyllic, and my sister and I enjoyed a lovely lunch on the castle terrace after the tour, just sitting and watching the fountains and the puffy clouds. By the time we boarded the boat to go back, the skies were darkening and by the time we reached the dock it was pouring. And there I was in my sandals, cotton pants, t-shirt, and cardigan sweater. No raincoat and no umbrella. By the time I walked 5 minutes to the bus, I was sopping wet, drenched to the skin--ended up shaking my head to shake out the water and drops went flying everywhere. So by the time we reached the hotel, 1.5 hours later, I was thoroughly unhappy. After the previous 2 tours I was so tired and spent that I felt like a death donkey. After this tour, I was just a drowned rat.


We figured out today that so far we have traveled by plane train, bus, tram, auto, boat, and horse-drawn wagon.


Today we slept in late and then went back to the Hofbrauhaus for a late lunch. This time I had Bavarian meat loaf which I would describe as a very thick slice of hot balogna. If you like balogna sandwiches, you would like this. Then we wandered a bit, saw 2 churches, did a bit of shopping, found a good chocolate store (finally!) and called it a day. Tomorrow will be a long day so we need to rest up.


On a side note, one of the challenging things about these tours is that although we always book English-speaking tours, the guides are not native speakers of English and their grasp of the language varies greatly. I am usually at least 1 second behind what the guide is saying because between the heavy accent and the frequently different pronunciation, it takes that long for me to figure out what he is trying to say. For example, ca-TOLE-lik for catholic, and BARE-ak for baroque. I usually get it in the end but I am always catching up.

EUROPE DAY 7-8: JEWELS, OOMPAH MUSIC, AND WRETCHED EXCESS

Decided that oodles of jewels would provide a lovely focus for the day so we went to the Residenz Museum to see the treasury exhibit that contains lots of jewels and other valuables from various kings, queens, dukes, etc. Wow, what an eyeful (that statement ordinarily requires an exclamation mark, but I cannot figure out how to make that happen on this German keyboard). Silly me, I always thought that when someone was knighted into the Order of the Golden Fleece (yes, that is a very real honor-- seriously) or the Order of St George, or any of several others, that the honoree went through a solemn ceremony and that was that. But no, they also receive some serious jewelry in the form of a large (3 to 4 inches across), jewel encrusted brooch. Diamonds and rubies galore. We saw many of these, all different designs, and they are gorgeous. Also saw quite a few crowns and was amazed at the size of the gems, many very large gems with secondary gems the size of almonds. I could not help thinking about what it would feel like to wear those crowns--they are heavy and awkward, especially the ones that stick up high. I guess it is just not easy being a king or queen.


The sun came out (yay) wo we thoroughly enjoyed the respite from raincoats and umbrellas. Ended up having a late lunch-early dinner at the famous Hofbrauhaus, the ultimate beer hall in Munich. They make a delicious wheat beer--I like the dark variety the best. The place is huge with high arched ceiliings that reflect sound so when the place is full, as it was when we were there (and I suspect it is always full) the noise levels are quite impressive. Add to that a 6-piece oompah band playing traditional Bavarian drinking songs. Add to that several tables singing along with the band, at the top of their lungs while toasting to each other with liter-sized steins of beer. Quite the atmosphere. And this is not even the high season yet. I ordered weiner schnitzel with potato salad and it was fabulous. Oh, and there were young women walking up and down between the tables selling gigantic soft pretzels--those things were the size of dinner plates.


Only one complaint today--one part of traveling that I really dislike is having to do laundry by hand. I sooooo miss my washing machine and dryer at home.


Although not intentionally, we seem to be touring all 3 castles that the mad king Ludwig II built. So the next day we went off on a tour to Linderhof, a small intimate castle in which Ludwig lived for 10 years by himself--no guests, no balls, no public functions. He had a fixation on King Lous XIV of France and so he had this castle built as a very miniature homage to Versailles. Quite interesting, I must admit, but did he really need all that opulence just for his personal, private self? Oh well, it was quite interesting to see. He also built on the property some ancillary things--a grotto, a hunting lodge, and a Moroccan temple thing. I only saw the grotto, which is a quite large cave, complete with stalagmites and stalactites, with a lake inside on which floats a swan boat. The ceiling is festooned with flower garlands, and there is a huge mural painted on a back wall. The whole thing is really a stage set for a Wagner opera. After all, they call Ludwig II the fairy tale king. The grounds are gorgeous with bright gold statues spouting water--all built in the 1880s, which is not all that long ago.


Next stop on the tour was Oberammergau, the town that puts on the internationally famous passion play every ten years. and is known for producing wonderful wood carving, including cuckoo clocks. And we did, indeed, see cuckoo clocks in amazing variety and complexity, but thank goodness I was able to resist buying one. The town is also known for the painted houses--wonderful historic and fairy tale scenes painted on the outside walls of the buildings. I especially liked the trompe l`oil window treatments that make the windows look like they have lots of fancy architectural stuff.


Another day when we barely get ourselves back to the hotel before crashing.

EUROPE DAY 6: A CASTLE A CAMEL, AND A HURDY GURDY

Today we went on an all-day tour to Neuschwanstein Castle in the alps, about a 2-hour train ride from Munich, ner the Austrian border. This is the castle that Disney made so famous and, indeed, it is a lovely picture sitting high on top of a peak amidst luscious forest. Or at least that is the way it looks on the postcards although for us it was shrouded in foggy swirls and mist. We seem to have visited during a rainy spell and we have ducked in and out of rain the whole time we've been traveling. But I must say that is was wonderfully chilly, even perhaps downright cold, and I loved it. There, that statement ought to help balance out all my posts moaniing about the heat on other trips


The interior of the castle was not that exciting -- very dark and heavy with lots of intricately carved wood and not many windows. OK, I hear you say most castles are dark and don't have many windows. But gee whiz folks, this thing was built in the 1880s, which is not exactly old as most castles go so you would think they would lighten it up a bit. It's also a bit of a disappointment because it was never finished -- our tour only covered 16 finished rooms. Apparently there are over 100 other rooms that were never completed, which is probably why the Nazis chose it in WWII to hide tons of stolen Jewish art pieces.


Now, about the rigors of the tour. First, from the train, we boarded a bus that took us as close to the castle as was possible. From the bus we hiked (note, I did not say stroll or walk) up a pretty steep incline and then down a very steep incline for a significant enough distance to make my knees hurt, just in order to get to the castle entrance (really, we hiked about 20 minutes). Then the castle tour guide (who must have quads of steel by this point in her career) led us 187 steps up a spiral staircase to the family quarters. That means we eventually also had to go down 187 steps. I'm just saying that I don't feel guilty for not doing my morning exercises today.


We wimped out on the hike back down the mountain to the bus and opted to take a horse-drawn wagon instead. Oh, and on the way to the castle entrance, we passed a man in traditional Bavarian dress playing a hurdy gurdy. We chatted with him for a minute and he was delighted that we even knew what the instrument was. He was quite charming.


You are probably now wondering about the camel. Well, on the train to the castle, as we were passing by miles and miles of small, well-tended fields with traditional German houses dotting the countryside here and there (they look like a Swiss alps design), all of a sudden we saw a dromedary in someone's pasture. He was far enough away so I couldn't get a serious look at him, and for all I know someone with a great sense of humor might have dressed up his horse to look like a camel. But you really can't fake the look of a camel neck and head. I'm sure there must be an interesting story of how the camel got there. It reminded me of the zebra we saw in someone's pasture on the big island of Hawaii last year. You just never know what you might come across when traveling.

EUROPE DAY 4-5: MUNICH

OK, jet lag and drinking perhaps don't mix too well. I had only 2 drinks in the hotel lounge but ended up wide awake until 4:00 AM, which meant that I only got 2 hours of sleep because we had to catch a plane to Munich. Maybe it was the tiredness, maybe because I am gettng older, maybe because it was 100 percent humidity (although it was not raining), but getting to the airport was quite arduous. Because this is a 5-week trip, I really couldn't live out of one teensy suitcase so I brought 2 overnight suitcases that can be hooked together So there I was, trying to roll my 2 suitcases over an uneven brick sidewalk to the train station (the train to the airport costs 4.5 Euros, the taxi costs 60 Euros, a no brainer decision), over trolley tracks and into the train station. Then we had to figure out where to buy tickets, and even though the ticket lady gave us directions to the correct track, and even though there were signs, we still got confused about where to go and were grateful when someone asked us if we needed help. We finally found the correct train and then had to face lifting each of our suitcases (we each have 2) up to the train and then get on only to find it quite full so we had to stand the whole way to the airport.


We managed to get off at the right airport stop but I found that lifting the suitcases down to the ground was not easy. And then we discovered that the train station and the airport are all in one big area and we had uite a confusing time trying to find the KLM ticket desk. By this time we were already hot and sweaty! After that, however, we only had ot go through all the usual airport rigamarole and the flight was easy and we arrived in the late afternoon.


Although we were really tired and dying for a nap, we decided on the better strategy of walking from our hotel to the Munich central train station (about a 10 minute walk) to get our bearings because we'll be taking day tours that meet there. And what a difference! The layout all made sense, the signs were really helpful and we found what we needed right awaz even though the place is huge. After that we went for a very Bavarian dinner -- ended up having the German version of macaroni and cheese and typical Bavarian roast pork with a potato dumpling (that's what they call it but I call it a tennis-ball size piece of lead) and coleslaw, washed down with a great Bavarian beer. By 8:30 PM we were back at the hotel and we simply crashed.


One interesting thing we have noticed is that both in Amsterdam and in Munich, people no longer smoke in restaurants -- it is wonderful.


The next day, we had a great Bavarian day. It was a holiday (Ascension Day but also called Men's Day) and although the shops were closed, the people watching was fun. Groups of men were walking around in one of the main squares wearing traditional lederhosen (we even found an outlet store that sells lederhosen and dirndl outfits) and roaming from beer hall to beer hall. Nobody seemed to be roaring drunk. While sitting at an outdoor cafe (despite the ominously dark clouds and cold wind) and having coffee, we heard a commotion and watched a huge beer wagon pulled by two Percherons and filled with men duded up in traditional costume (complete with boar bristle brushes on their hats) sitting on benches down the sides of the wagon with a table going down the middle, singing and drinking. That was followed a few minutes later by 4 men pulling a wagon that they had clearly built together, consisting of a table on wheels with a table cloth that partially concealed a beer keg underneath and an umbrella. On top of the table was a rack on one end with a bunch of soft pretzels hanging, a contration that sliced thin shavings off a large daikon radish, a very very loud bell that they rang often, and 4 beer steins that looked like miniature beer kegs. When they got to the middle of the square, they stopped, pulled out 2 benches from under the cart, sat down and started drinking and singing. Definitely a BIG favorite with the tourists.


Our big accomplishment of the day was to find the ticket machine to buy a multiple-day tram ticket (the machine was not near a tram stop), then figure out what the tram stops look like and how to use the ticket in the machine in the tram, and then figure out how to indicate that we wanted to get off. Sounds not so difficult but it took quite a while.


Dinner was another traditional Bvarian meal at a restaurant that makes their own beer Beef and beer goulash with the obligatory lead-potato dumplings, a surprisingly fresh salad that was not pickled, and a kind of pizza on a dough made from the dried grains left over from the beer making. Very good.

EUROPE DAY 3, AMSTERDAM

A rainy, subdued day. That combined with jet lag means that we were not up to our usual sightseeing prowess today. We managed to make it to the train station to scope out how to buy tickets and take the train to the airport for our flight to Munich tomorrow. Not bad for waking up at 4:00 AM. After that, we took a canal cruise, which is a fun thing to do. I really like seeing so many really old buildings leaning against each other, out of plumb. And seeing things like "anno 1675" painted or chiseled on the front of a building is a real eye-opener for a Californian like me. We just are not used to buildings anywhere near that old. And I loved seeing all the variations in house boats -- they line almost every canal. We also cruised by the bicycle garage near the train station -- it has room for 2500 bicycles and it is always full. Not to mention the many other smaller bicycle parking lots near the station. I tell you, there really are millions of bikes here.

And then it was back to the hotel for a nap and then out to a big Chinese lunch, after which we decided to go see one of the big tourist attractions.....wait for it......the central library. Really. And it was worth the visit. Ten levels of brightly lighted, airy and spacious areas with lots and lots of work spaces and free wi-fi and comfy places to sit or curl up and read, and even a couple of restaurants. Many of the book shelves, especially for the kid level and the CDs and DVDs are a large 3/4 circle with the items on the inside and outside of the circle and big poofy things to sit or lay on inside. We wanted to hang around forever and just read a book.

Back to the hotel for a second nap (hey, what are vacations for?) and by 10:30 PM we were off to the hotel rooftop bar for drinks. Turns out it is a very happening place with a DJ and poundingly loud music and very good, if rather expensive, drinks. (Did I mention that everything is really expensive here?) So there we were, two old ladies amongst the younger, hip set, having a wonderful time and looking like everyone else doing stuff on our cellphones. We finally got back to our room by 1:00 AM. I am now trying to get myself into a beer-drinking mood in preparation for a week in Bavaria.

EUROPE DAY 1-2, AMSTERDAM

This is the beginning of a 5-week trip to Europe with my sister. We have a few set plans but mostly the time is unplanned and subject to whim -- what a luxury.

We decided to travel in luxury this time, having both acquired a lot of frequent flyer miles, so we flew business class to our jumping-off point in the USA and then first class to Amsterdam. And oh my goodness what a difference first class is. For the first time, I was able to lay flat and stretch out and sleep -- an unbelievable luxury. And we were given two amazingly good meals -- not "good for plane fare" food but really delicious food. And, of course, I had several cocktails with up-scale bourbon. So we arrived in Amsterdam in quite good shape considering all the hours of travel.

After puttering around in our hotel room for awhile, and then taking a short nap, we decided to wander around a bit just to get ourselves acclimated even though it was lightly raining. We are staying in a very central location, so within 10 minutes we were in the famous red light district. There were some women sitting and waving from their red neon-outlined windows, but I think the activity was a bit subdued because it was a Monday evening. We passed up many opportunities to purchase fun sex toys, naughty lingerie and marijuana seed packets, although we did spend a few minutes discussing whether to go into the Moulin Rouge club that advertised live sex acts. Ultimately we settled for a cheese fondue dinner and then back to the hotel. We are definitely in a more northern area than home because it is quite light outside even at 10:00 PM.

I must add that walking in Amsterdam is great but a bit hazardous -- we have to be very vigilant about vehicular traffic. Not only cars, but bicycles, who are just as happy to run us down as motorists. And Amsterdam has millions of bicyclists. Really -- millions.