Amsterdam-Day 4

Day 4 we were up very early and getting our bags together. We ordered a shuttle to take us to the airport, but of course, they didn't show up. Hans saw us waiting and called the company for us. They ended up ordering a taxi and we got there with plenty of time to spare. We really appreciated Hans and Loes efforts. I suggest everyone stay at Hotel Fita for the hospitality and good food :) It was a short and sweet whirlwind of a trip. Next time, we need a few more days to finish touring the city and then head to Belgium!

Amsterdam and Haarlem-Day 3

Day 3 started like Day 2, with an amusing breakfast and a fun chat with Hans. I think he was pleased to hear we were heading out of town to explore a smaller city. We wanted to get a better feel for the Dutch way of life. Haarlem was a nice place to go to see that. But first, we needed to hit the Rijks museum (also just down the street) for a few hours. We saw about 15 rooms full of classical Dutch paintings including several nice Rembrandts. The museum is much smaller than I expected though. The Louvre and the Vatican are so large you can't possibly see everything in one day, but in Amsterdam, you can pretty much see the whole city in one or two days. After touring the Rijks museum, we hopped on the tram to take us to the Central train station. The transportation in Amsterdam is so effective. Everything works the way it is supposed too. Trams get you within walking distance of sites, bikes get you everywhere, and cars are just a nuisance. I could definitely get used to getting around that way. The train to Haarlem took about 20 minutes and we walked into Haarlem square in about 15 minutes. I loved Haarlem. It was quiet, super clean, the people were very friendly and you didn't feel like you had to be there to see anything. You were there to "be" and enjoy the canals. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great, about 35 degrees with clouds and lots of wind. We tried to pop into the main church to warm up, but that backfired when we realized the church was colder inside than outside! Thank goodness for tea and coffee shops! We stopped into a tea shop for lunch and later tried the Dutch waffle at a waffle stand. It looked like biscuit dough it was so thick, but the Dutch know how to work it with butter and sugar. It was too good to try to describe it. Heaven. I could definitely live in Haarlem. It is a good mix of city and country life, and of course, everyone rides a bike. After taking the train back into Amsterdam and packing our bags, we ventured into a part of town we had not explored near the Concert Hall. Hans gave us a list of quality restaurants to try if we wanted real food. He laughed at us after we told him we ended up eating bar food for a few nights. His suggestions were spot on though. The restaurants were small, romantic, and the food we had at the French restaurant (whose name I cannot remember or even spell) was fantastic. Our restaurant served two things: Steak or fish. You got a salad and the entree of your choice. If you ordered a bottle of wine, you only had to pay for the amount that you drank if you didn't want the whole bottle. That was nice, although Rico and I did not need that. We had a bottle and then some! We also ordered the Dutch version of apple pie. It was very different. It was like an apple cake with an apple glaze on top and it is served with creme fraiche (sour cream) instead of whipped cream. I liked it, but I think Rico still prefers grandma's southern apple pie, haha. We were too stuffed to go anywhere else and our taxi was due to arrive at 0700.

Amsterdam-Day 2

Day 2 started with the most wonderful breakfast at the hotel. A full English breakfast with eggs, bacon, and the Dutch version of a pancake (for us it is a crepe) was served by Hans, the other half of the husband and wife duo. What a character! He's quite an entertainer and likes to get to know all the guests. I was going to pass on the eggs and bacon, but was told I HAD to try it and I'm glad I did. They cook everything in butter and cheese. I've never had eggs that good! The pancakes (or crepes) are also cooked in butter, cinnamon, and sugar. I could have had died and gone to heaven! We hit the Van Gogh (pronounced with a flemy "Hooooough", no "go") Museum right after breakfast. The hotel carries tickets to the Van Gogh and Rijk museum so that you don't have to stand in line. We walked right in and took several hours to tour the museum. The picture of Van Gogh's bedroom was being restored and a few self portraits were on loan. They did not have Starry Night either. However, we did get to see the sunflower painting and a lot of Van Gogh's early work that shaped his later style. You can definitely see the decline in his mental health through his paintings. The brush strokes are very anxious and angry at times and the random colors he put together really showed you he was struggling mentally. Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures. After the museum we proceeded to walk around the rest of the day. We tried to find side streets and interesting picture opportunities. After trying a noodle house called Wagamama for lunch, we went into several shopping areas and looked around. We ended up having to help an elderly English couple get to the police station. The man fell off a curb and cut his head. We tried to clean him up as best we could and got him into the station so that they could take a better look at it. We didn't stay, but hope everything turned out ok. The evening was low key. We ended up having drinks and snacks at one of the MANY Irish bars in the city. I am now hooked on Magner's Irish Cider. So light and refreshing you forget you've had three in a row!

Amsterdam-Day 1

My flight into Amsterdam by way of Houston was fairly uneventful. It was a quiet flight with horrible food which is usually on par with an international trip. I arrived at Schipol airport a little late, but was able to find Rico in the Schipol Plaza. That airport is literally a city within a city. You could spend days there shopping and eating in the Plazas. We bought train tickets at the train ticket counter and took the escalator down to the train terminal. The train from the airport takes you directly to the Amsterdam Central Train Station where you can buy tram tickets. It is fast, clean, and super efficient. I understand now why it is pointless to have a car in Amsterdam. The tram system takes you everywhere you want to go! We knew we needed Tram #2 or #5 to take us to the Van Gogh Museum area and we were there within 10 minutes. Hotel Fita is on a side street called Jan Luykanstraat in a residential neighborhood with several pre-schools. We were not thrilled with the screaming later in the afternoon! Loes, one of the owners, got us checked in without a problem and gave us such specific directions we didn't get lost once while in town.

I was so jet lagged that on the first day we walked around the different districts without an agenda or a plan. We saw the entertainment area, flower market, tons of shopping, and the red light district. And yes, there are naked ladies shaking it in the windows and smokers tokin' it in the red light district. Totally different world.

We ended up eating at a bar the first night which wasn't very good at all. We didn't find a decent dinner until our last night there.

Italy--Day 7

Wednesday ended up being my favorite day. I found a Cinque Terre day trip out of Florence on the Weekend in Florence website. I am so glad I booked that trip! We finally got outside of the cities and saw a more down-to-earth lifestyle (even though they still catered to tourists). We left the Florence train station at 7am in a very nice charted bus. It was comfortable and we had a guide that spoke English, Italian, and Spanish. She was great. We arrived at the port of La Spezia where we took a boat to Cinque Terre. The pictures do all of the speaking. The towns are so charming and quaint. I would love to hike through this area for a few weeks! It was long day, but by far my favorite area that we saw on this trip!

We got back to Florence at 8pm and promptly went to Il Porcospino down the street. Good food and there is a guy there that LOVES UT. He has pins, buttons, pictures, etc. It was really funny. If you want a good restaurant—go there!

Italy Cont'd--Day 5

Monday we left Rome to travel to Florence by train. We checked out after breakfast and ordered taxi’s to the train station. You know, we were warned of wayward cabbies, but we never had a problem! The Rome Termini is a crazy experience. Keep your hands on your bags! There are so many people jumping on and off trains that something could disappear before you knew it! We found our track and our train without a problem. Our train was relatively empty so we had plenty of room for our luggage and the wheelchair. That was nice. It was a smooth and lovely 2 hour train ride. The train system in Europe is so efficient! Unfortunately, it was pouring when we arrived in Florence. We had planned to walk to the hotel (which was literally two blocks away), but with four suitcases and a wheelchair, there was NO way that was going to happen. A two block cab ride was 6e ($12)! However, we stayed dry and we found our B&B. We were very happy with our rooms at Alloro. Christian was very nice and the rooms were great. Lots of space, nice bathroom, lovely frescos on the ceiling, and quiet location. We had tons of restuarants right next door!

We rested about 20 min and headed out in the rain to the Duomo. Yet again, another example of amazing art in Italy. It was very beautiful and impressive! And it provided a refuge in the rain. By the time we saw the church, the rain had subsided and we were hungry. We picked a nearby café and had a wonderful meal.

The food is very different in Florence. For example, a pizza in Rome is super thin, always crispy, and has a sweeter sauce with a little cheese. The pizza in Florence has a thicker crust (and the bread had more of a yeasty taste instead of flour taste), a bland sauce, and more cheese. Even the wine was different. Most of the time in Rome, you are served a bottle of dry white wine. In Florence, we were almost always served a pitcher of sweet sparkling wine. One thing that Florence had that Rome did not---truffles! I had truffled pasta and meat for four days straight!

Italy Cont'd--Day 4

Sunday, we had a slow morning and ordered a taxi back to St. Peter’s square. Orginially, we had planned to attend the Pope’s blessing at noon, but was afraid that we would not find a place to sit/stand. We decided to go to the square around 10am to catch Mass and then stay for the blessing. Mass was little tedious for me, but it was neat to watch it on these massive jumbo-tron TV’s in the square. After Mass, the Pope walked to a pulpit outside the church and blessed the crowd in at least 8-10 different languages. That was amazing.

After the blessing, we walked back across the river and had lunch at a café on the corner. It was alright. We were really only there to use the restroom! You learn to stop and have food/drinks several times a day so that you can use a clean facility. The toilet bowls in Italy are….interesting. They do not have lids. It’s basically just the bowl (in Rome at least). Note for future travelers: take seat covers, tissue, and wet wipes. You will be REALLY glad you have it when you discover a facility without tissue OR soap.

Anyway, from there we headed over to see the Pantheon. I have been wanting to see this my whole life and I was not disappointed. It was beautiful and very well preserved! It was originally built as a temple to all the gods of acient Rome, but was rebuilt in the 2nd century A.D. It is the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. The oculus is massive. On our way back to the hotel, we walked along part of the Roman forum that faces the street. Carlyn was not able to do the Roman Forum walk with Rico and I, but at least she was able to see some of the ruins along the way. Rico and I ended up going into the Roman Forum while Mary Lou and Carlyn went out for shopping.

The Roman Forum was very interesting. It is difficult to imagine how massive the buildings were until you are actually standing in front of one. The Bascillica of Constantine just towers over everything else.

Italy--Day 1

Well, we are still in one piece after our first full day in Rome! We arrived at 9am this morning, Oct 8th, and proceeded to navigate the Rome airport. It wasn't as bad as I thought. It was controlled chaos. Our taxi was waiting for us, our hotel rooms and innkeepers are wonderful, and Carlyn's wheelchair was here right on time. Good way to start a trip! We didn't want to be rushed on our first day, jet lagged and all, so we decided to tackle the Colosseum and the neighborhood surrounding our hotel. Because we are traveling with someone in a wheelchair, we wanted to get a feel for what kind of road and travel conditions we were going to encounter. Overall, I would say it isn't great for visitors with disabilities, but very manageable. We pushed the wheelchair on the sidewalk as much as we could and then we carried it up and down stairs. No big deal. Tomorrow we visit the Vatican and I've read that we will have no problems. Rome definitely has its own unique vibe. Tons of people, all going in different directions, but with purpose and vibrancy. I think the people are interesting and fun (not to mention beautiful) and they make excellent food. Even the bad restaurants are good. Good food, good wine, and good friends :)