28 Feb 2008: We arrived in Europe with ONLY an hour delay this time! After our last cancelled flight and monitoring the weather, seeing that the wild storm that hit California would continue to the East Coast, we were expecting the worst. But it was that the Lufthansa computer system was down at JFK, and they had to check everyone in manually.
At 9am the day after leaving NYC, we arrive in Amsterdam. We must have been a sight when we lugged 2 rolling suitcases, 1 large duffel bag, 5 carry-ons and a baby with car seat on the train, then walked down the street from the train station to B&W campers! But, we made it with just a little sweat... :-) I'm surprised that Renee at B&W didn't send us to a hotel for some sleep before he proceeded to give us about 2 hours worth of instruction on how to use every single thing in the camper. Absolutely none of it stuck, and we are re-learning it all. After picking up the camper, we arrived at Zeeburg campground unpacked and slept for the rest of the day. I expected us to at least hit up a store for some supplies, but could not muster it.
Day 2, we were seriously suffering from jetlag and overslept when we were asked to check-in at the campground reception desk at 10am. Oops! Then, with little time left the rest of the day, we walked into the local neighborhood for an early dinner and stocked-up on supplies at this chain grocery store called Albert Heijm. Embarassing moment #2 happened when we thought the store accepted credit cards, but apparently not Visa. We opened up a new bank account for travel funds before we left, and Sean’s ATM card was left in a NYC ATM after only 2 uses. And, I lost my PIN due to a phone synch/computer glitch. We did have back-up ATM cards, but limited money in that account. We didn’t have enough cash to pay for groceries, and the grocery store clerks kept insisting that I couldn’t use their ATM machine to get cash out. I don’t know why. Fortunately, I tried it and it worked. With lack of cash and the fact that very few places accept credit cards in the Netherlands, it must have been a way to keep us on budget. Although, it STILL seems like we’re burning up money way faster than our budget allows.
Anyway, it started to rain on us the walk home from the store. Amsterdam has been even colder than I imagined, like bone-chilling. For some reason, I expected NYC to be pretty cold, and it wasn’t as bad as expected. I suppose all the tall buildings shield the weather? It seems that the storm that hit CA came to us in NY, and then followed us to Amsterdam.
Day 3, we still couldn’t wake up that easily and missed a lot of what we thought we could do, like going to an outdoor Bio (Organic/farmer’s) market. So, we tested the vehicle on the road with a 10 minute ride to Ikea. I wanted to get some comforters as the freshly-laundered sleeping bags that B&W supplied smelled strongly and I felt like I was sleeping in a cloud of laundry perfume. It’s amazing how the store was set-up exactly the same as the one’s in California! We took advantage of their restaurant while we were there, and had the typical Swedish meatball and salmon plates.
Day 4, at least we could feel we were adjusting slowly. Unfortunately, I think all the activity in NYC (and working on the computer problems until the wee hours of the night) and getting to Europe caught up with me and I was feeling under-the-weather. I’m sure the cold weather didn’t help. Still, we ventured further into the heart of the city to see the Van Gough museum. On the way, I was also delighted to find a Bio Market (their equivalent to a natural foods store) and stocked up on even more stuff. At the Van Gough museum, Kai hung-in for half of Van Gough’s exhibit and started to tell me her diaper was wet. Unfortunately, you aren’t allowed to bring bags into the museum, so the backpack was checked-in and diapers were in it. I tried to tell her that we’d change her when we were done, but instead she decided to pull her pants down right there. So I went back to the bag check, got a diaper out of the backpack, and the rest of the stay there for Kailani and I was spent snacking at the café. Oi-yoy-yoy!
From there, we started looking for something for dinner. Just as I finished telling Sean that I read that Amsterdam’s supposed to have great Indonesian food but I haven’t seen any restaurants yet, we turn the corner and there’s an Indonesian restaurant every 3rd building. I guess we finally got to the right neighborhood. Because it was still early in the afternoon, most places weren’t open yet, but we settled for some great Thai while having fun watching everyone peddle around on bikes. I think the coconut curry soup was responsible for me getting well by the next morning. The Indonesian food will have to wait until when we come back 2 months from now to return the vehicle. By then, we’ll be getting our stomachs ready for Indonesian food IN Indonesia, I suppose.
Day 5, we stayed a day extra in Amsterdam, but it took us longer than we thought to really feel ready to leave. Now, we were ready to leave. On the way out of town, we headed to the Amsterdame Vos (Amsterdam Forest). There, they had a geitenborderij (goat farm) that I wanted to visit. The forest, in the city’s outskirts, was a huge mass of not-so-tall trees with walking/running trails going through it all. Every once in a while, there’d be a break in the trees for large fields where dogs could run around, a lake with paddle boats, a swimming pool with playgrounds (when the weather’s warm enough), etc. At Zeeburg campground, Kailani fell in love with their small herd of goats and chicken, as well as the ducks from the river, and this park-type ride-on dog. Every night she’d say “goodnight chickens”, “goodnight goats”, “goodnight dog”, etc. Every morning, she’d say “good morning” to all of them too. She also enjoyed seeing more at our visit to this all-organic, bio-dynamic goat farm. Actually, this was the best place we’ve visited so far. This time of the year, baby goats are born. And, she was able to get a baby bottle full of milk to feed the babies. I thought she’d freak out walking into a pen of baby goats. But she wanted to do it so much, she kept her cool. I was so proud of her and it was so cute! I was delighted to find that we could also buy bio-dynamic eggs, some RAW, organic goat milk (just like Kai’s used to drinking in CA) and some cheese. The place also had a restaurant, so we sat down to some great hearty soups for lunch before hitting the road. I think I’d like to stop by this place again, when we come back to Amsterdam to return the camper. We can see how big the babies get and get more milk.
We hit the road from Amsterdam, the Netherlands to Belgium. The first part of the freeway, we were both pretty nervous and in awe how different everything was. Sean pulled off some excellent driving skills. Of course, the faster driving speeds didn’t faze him one bit. I, navigating with the maps, had a hard time keeping up, with all those crazy names and kilos being shorter than miles AND at faster speeds. We both noted how everything seemed so clean, modern, but most of all efficient-looking. We hope that Europe is in the lead for what could be the US’ future. At least, it would be nice if it happened!
At 9am the day after leaving NYC, we arrive in Amsterdam. We must have been a sight when we lugged 2 rolling suitcases, 1 large duffel bag, 5 carry-ons and a baby with car seat on the train, then walked down the street from the train station to B&W campers! But, we made it with just a little sweat... :-) I'm surprised that Renee at B&W didn't send us to a hotel for some sleep before he proceeded to give us about 2 hours worth of instruction on how to use every single thing in the camper. Absolutely none of it stuck, and we are re-learning it all. After picking up the camper, we arrived at Zeeburg campground unpacked and slept for the rest of the day. I expected us to at least hit up a store for some supplies, but could not muster it.
Day 2, we were seriously suffering from jetlag and overslept when we were asked to check-in at the campground reception desk at 10am. Oops! Then, with little time left the rest of the day, we walked into the local neighborhood for an early dinner and stocked-up on supplies at this chain grocery store called Albert Heijm. Embarassing moment #2 happened when we thought the store accepted credit cards, but apparently not Visa. We opened up a new bank account for travel funds before we left, and Sean’s ATM card was left in a NYC ATM after only 2 uses. And, I lost my PIN due to a phone synch/computer glitch. We did have back-up ATM cards, but limited money in that account. We didn’t have enough cash to pay for groceries, and the grocery store clerks kept insisting that I couldn’t use their ATM machine to get cash out. I don’t know why. Fortunately, I tried it and it worked. With lack of cash and the fact that very few places accept credit cards in the Netherlands, it must have been a way to keep us on budget. Although, it STILL seems like we’re burning up money way faster than our budget allows.
Anyway, it started to rain on us the walk home from the store. Amsterdam has been even colder than I imagined, like bone-chilling. For some reason, I expected NYC to be pretty cold, and it wasn’t as bad as expected. I suppose all the tall buildings shield the weather? It seems that the storm that hit CA came to us in NY, and then followed us to Amsterdam.
Day 3, we still couldn’t wake up that easily and missed a lot of what we thought we could do, like going to an outdoor Bio (Organic/farmer’s) market. So, we tested the vehicle on the road with a 10 minute ride to Ikea. I wanted to get some comforters as the freshly-laundered sleeping bags that B&W supplied smelled strongly and I felt like I was sleeping in a cloud of laundry perfume. It’s amazing how the store was set-up exactly the same as the one’s in California! We took advantage of their restaurant while we were there, and had the typical Swedish meatball and salmon plates.
Day 4, at least we could feel we were adjusting slowly. Unfortunately, I think all the activity in NYC (and working on the computer problems until the wee hours of the night) and getting to Europe caught up with me and I was feeling under-the-weather. I’m sure the cold weather didn’t help. Still, we ventured further into the heart of the city to see the Van Gough museum. On the way, I was also delighted to find a Bio Market (their equivalent to a natural foods store) and stocked up on even more stuff. At the Van Gough museum, Kai hung-in for half of Van Gough’s exhibit and started to tell me her diaper was wet. Unfortunately, you aren’t allowed to bring bags into the museum, so the backpack was checked-in and diapers were in it. I tried to tell her that we’d change her when we were done, but instead she decided to pull her pants down right there. So I went back to the bag check, got a diaper out of the backpack, and the rest of the stay there for Kailani and I was spent snacking at the café. Oi-yoy-yoy!
From there, we started looking for something for dinner. Just as I finished telling Sean that I read that Amsterdam’s supposed to have great Indonesian food but I haven’t seen any restaurants yet, we turn the corner and there’s an Indonesian restaurant every 3rd building. I guess we finally got to the right neighborhood. Because it was still early in the afternoon, most places weren’t open yet, but we settled for some great Thai while having fun watching everyone peddle around on bikes. I think the coconut curry soup was responsible for me getting well by the next morning. The Indonesian food will have to wait until when we come back 2 months from now to return the vehicle. By then, we’ll be getting our stomachs ready for Indonesian food IN Indonesia, I suppose.
Day 5, we stayed a day extra in Amsterdam, but it took us longer than we thought to really feel ready to leave. Now, we were ready to leave. On the way out of town, we headed to the Amsterdame Vos (Amsterdam Forest). There, they had a geitenborderij (goat farm) that I wanted to visit. The forest, in the city’s outskirts, was a huge mass of not-so-tall trees with walking/running trails going through it all. Every once in a while, there’d be a break in the trees for large fields where dogs could run around, a lake with paddle boats, a swimming pool with playgrounds (when the weather’s warm enough), etc. At Zeeburg campground, Kailani fell in love with their small herd of goats and chicken, as well as the ducks from the river, and this park-type ride-on dog. Every night she’d say “goodnight chickens”, “goodnight goats”, “goodnight dog”, etc. Every morning, she’d say “good morning” to all of them too. She also enjoyed seeing more at our visit to this all-organic, bio-dynamic goat farm. Actually, this was the best place we’ve visited so far. This time of the year, baby goats are born. And, she was able to get a baby bottle full of milk to feed the babies. I thought she’d freak out walking into a pen of baby goats. But she wanted to do it so much, she kept her cool. I was so proud of her and it was so cute! I was delighted to find that we could also buy bio-dynamic eggs, some RAW, organic goat milk (just like Kai’s used to drinking in CA) and some cheese. The place also had a restaurant, so we sat down to some great hearty soups for lunch before hitting the road. I think I’d like to stop by this place again, when we come back to Amsterdam to return the camper. We can see how big the babies get and get more milk.
We hit the road from Amsterdam, the Netherlands to Belgium. The first part of the freeway, we were both pretty nervous and in awe how different everything was. Sean pulled off some excellent driving skills. Of course, the faster driving speeds didn’t faze him one bit. I, navigating with the maps, had a hard time keeping up, with all those crazy names and kilos being shorter than miles AND at faster speeds. We both noted how everything seemed so clean, modern, but most of all efficient-looking. We hope that Europe is in the lead for what could be the US’ future. At least, it would be nice if it happened!
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