Goodbye to Luxembourg; Hello to Amsterdam! October 8 & 9

 October 8 "If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium" - This is an old movie reference and...it IS Tuesday and we did go through Belgium today, but we are now in Amsterdam!

View from our seats on the bus

   We started with a good breakfast at the Hotel Vauban in Luxembourg and walked to a bus and took a bus to catch a Flix bus to Amsterdam. It was a LONG, not terribly comfortable, ride of 6+ hours and the smells on the bus were not great. But, it got us here uneventfully. We had reserved the front 2 seats which was a good thing. A nice young woman pointed out that the stop we had paid for was not as close to the city center as the next stop. She asked the driver if he'd let us stay on for an extra stop and he did - without charge. So, that was good. We seem to meet the most helpful and nice people.

Breakfast room at our hotel

    We took a cab into the city as it was a way and we were too tired to figure out the public transport. The driver took us as close as he could to our hotel, the Dikker & Thijs. The area is pedestrianized and there is also construction in front of our hotel. The hotel is on one of the outer canals and most of the rooms have a view, but...we probably booked one of the cheap rooms, so...looking at outside wall. Plus, the room didn't have soap etc or towels, so we had to go get them. Oh well.

    After settling in, we strolled to find food and get our bearings. Amsterdam is gorgeous and we are close to the old town, so things are looking up by the minute. We ate at a Thai restaurant, Silom and both had curry dishes. Then we found a grocery store and got coffee, yogurt, berries, milk for tomorrow morning. (A little fridge in the room) Time to do some hand wash of clothing.

Called the "dancing" buildings.

October 9 Full day in Amsterdam! 

   What a wonderful day! We started by going to a coffee shop recommended by Russell Bartlett who spent several years here. We had hoped to meet up with Russell, but he recently moved to Barcelona.

   We wandered and then hopped on a canal boat tour which was fabulous. The hour-long tour started in bright sun and blue skies, but then got overcast and a bit chilly. The tour gave us a great overview.

   

Then, we followed more advice from Russell and walked to Sama Sebo.  an Indonesian restaurant. (The Dutch colonized Indonesia) We had a delicious and interesting meal. We both had mixed bowls of a variety of ingredients - beef, chicken, veggies over rice or noodles. The flavors were distinctive. Their peanut sauce was like none we've ever had. Mark researched that South East Asia has a variety of different peanut sauces. We found that it is a famous restaurant frequented by celebrities and the Dutch king. Thank you, Russell, for such a great suggestion.

     We walked off our lunch by strolling through Vondel Park which we remember from our visit here when David was 12. We heard and saw quite a few birds, including a lot of rose-ringed parakeets which we saw. We heard an Alexandrine parakeet but weren't sure we actually saw it.  We heard (thank you, Merlin app) a Common Fire Crest, but did not spot it.

The narrowest building - taxes were levied by the building's footprint. This one is one-window wide.

     Then, we walked back to Dikker and Thijs Hotel for a little rest before venturing out again. 

      After our little break, we strolled some more. We visited a Nio "lifestyle" place which features electric cars and a cafe. (We visited because of Otis's interest.) 

    We walked 5.5 miles today, but it was all at a strolling pace. We got a few souvenirs at a cheese store.