Amsterdam Day 1 - What a Mess!

I made it to Amsterdam.  It was a long day getting here.  Including the delay leaving Victoria and Montreal, it took 13 hours to get here.  It was neat to see a statue of tulips in the airport.  Tulips are the Netherlands.

I took the train from Schiphol Airport into the city.  That was easy.  Bought a bus ticket to get to my room.  Set up the SIM card I bought to use in Europe.  It only worked if my phone was on roaming mode.  You know that caused concern because all I could think about was if I was being charged a ton of money.  I emailed the company I bought it from.  They responded right away telling me to log into my account.  That was another nightmare.  Four emails later and learning it had to be typed in a specific format, I learned all was well.  The phone was working.  Now, I'd been using my phone so much that it was down to 30% power.  I looked for my portable charger.  Couldn't find it so was trying not to use the phone much.  I knew I'd need it to get directions back to where I am staying.  That was the first of the difficult parts.  After walking around in circles, I finally learned that you catch trams out the main entrance of the station and buses out the back of the station.  Fortunately, my host here gave me great instructions to get to where I am staying.

One of the things that's a bummer is that check in in most places is two pm.  I arrived on the doorstep at 10:30.  Fortunately, Annette, my host, took my luggage.  I then had to roam around until the room was ready.  I thought easy.  It was until I decided to go to a grocery store to buy some groceries.  As I waited in line to pay, I decided to get my money out of my purse.  I pulled out the plastic bag with money in it only to realize, it contained UK Pounds.  All of my Euros were at home!!!!  Talk about panic!  I think my heart stopped beating.  I got out of line, put the food back and headed to where I am staying.  By that time, I'd already walked for over two hours.  My feet were killing me and, now, I have no money.  Oh and to top it off, a torrential downpour in blowing wind started.  Even with my umbrella, I got soaked.  Sneakers with mesh tops, don't stop the rain from soaking your feet.

Here are a few pictures taken inside the grocery store before I knew I had no money.  I was blissfully unaware of it at the time and was excited about all the items on the shelf.  The bridge I take to get to where I'm staying has to be raised to let boats sail by.  It was interesting to see it because it lifts sideways not up like the Johnson Street bridge in Victoria.  It seems no matter how far from home you are, you find places that have the same name as somewhere at home.  I might venture back there to try a Papa John's pizza.

There are millions of bicycles in the city.  I will take a picture of them later.  What shocked me was the size and thickness of the locks on them.  It would take a lot of work to try to cut this lock off to steal a bike.

After getting back to my room, my host said I could go to an ATM machine to get Euros.  At that time, I couldn't have walked another step if I tried.  I rested for a while and then went out looking for the ATM machine.  Again, good directions helped me find it.  Holding my breath, I put my credit card into the machine, entered my PIN and voila!  Euros!  I have money.  I'm poorer after the 13.5% fee the bank charged but I don't care.

My room is nice.  It's very clean.  I have a private shower and toilet room.

So back to the store, I go and bought my groceries.  My room has a fridge in it so I bought some cold cuts, pop, butter and buns.  They were oval but taste like Brotchen.  That was dinner tonight.  I wasn't going anywhere to find a meal in a restaurant.

After dinner, I was so tired I couldn't stay awake so went to bed.  Slept for three hours and woke at 9:30.  Oh, oh!  I hope I can get some sleep later on tonight.

I went outside for a bit to see what the buildings on the canal outside my room looked like.  It was pretty.  Oh I forgot that my room faces the Westerbak canal.  Neat to be so close one.

Well this it is for day one in Amsterdam.  It was messy but all worked out.

Tomorrow, I will put on my tourist hat and start discovering what jewels are in Amsterdam.