NEMO - Not the Fish

NEMO Museum

It is Sunday.  Beautiful blue skies and mild weather.  It feels like Victoria's weather in, can you believe it, late September.  I have a certain level of comfort knowing how to get around Amsterdam now.  Not great at directions still but I can look at the map and picture where something is.  It comes from having been near there before.  I also know do not ever ever think two places are near each other just because it looks like that on a map.  It lies.  It makes it look so simple to be able to walk along the canals and cross seven bridges at a leisurely pace.  Well let me tell you!  Those bridges aren't close together.  By the time you walk along all those canals, you'll have had to stop for a meal!  Oh and you'll start to argue with yourself about it being worthwhile.  I'm to to the point where I'm saying "Ya seen one canal and bridge, ya've seen it all!  Skip it.  Go sit your butt down!".

Anyhooooo, let's get back to the travels of moi!  You know how I'm all about the freebies.  If you don't, you haven't been reading my previous blogs!  *wahhh wahhhh*  Yesterday, was the last day to be able to use my I Amsterdam card.  It was only valid for 120 hours (5 days) from the first time  I used it which was by accident on the night I arrived in Amsterdam.  I looked in the guide (Yes, the girl at the I Amsterdam store trained me well.) to find freebies that I would like to see.  I found two which were across the water from each other.  When I can get a visual on two places of interest, that is good enough for me.

I had pre-booked a ticket for the NEMO Science Museum.  Looked like it was an interactive museum.  I like that kind of thing.  The museum has five floors of hands-on science exhibits.  It is the largest science center in the Netherlands.  It attracts around 670,000 visitors annually. 670,001 including me.

What I liked about the museum is that it is a great place to take children or kids up to 13.  They can run around and touch everything.  There is a lab where you put on a lab coat and do a science experiment with real scientists (haha).  You are supervised by adults.  I presume the people showing people how to do the experiments are employees of the museum not scientists.  One of the many interactive exhibits was a hearing test.  I did that because I have been told I need my hearing tested.  It turns out that I can hear just fine.  What I really need is a t-shirt that reads:

One of the exhibits was about the human anatomy.  It was an image of intestines.  The question written was "What does the gas in your intestines sound like?"  I thought gurgling.  I pressed the button to find out.  I have to share this.  Did you get the correct answer?

I have learned to find elevators when I walk into newer buildings.  I used them to go to each floor in the museum.  This girl is cutting corners.

A few pictures from inside the NEMO Museum.  Self-explanatory.  No history lesson today.  Did you just breathe a sigh of relief?

Guess who?  My Andy Warhol?

Kids and water!  Perfect!

Made of atoms!

I absolutely loved this next exhibit.  This is called a camper trailer.  It can be pulled by a bicycle.  The cost for one is around $4,290 US.  When I got there kids were pretending they were camping, having a bbq and sleeping in the trailer!  How fun!  

This was looking out of the window of the trailer.  Talk about attention to detail!

On the top floor of the museum is a restaurant and lookout.  I grabbed a bite to eat and took a few pictures.  At the time, the weather was magnificent for being able to take scenic pictures.  It was a different experience than the day I tried taking picture from the A'Dam Lookout!

Sitting in the shade; relaxing and looking out over Amsterdam.  Yeah, it is all that and more.

The face of someone who is happy knowing where she is and how to get home!

Everyone was sitting with someone eating.  I had to bribe my guest to sit with me!  He grabbed both pieces of pizza crust and took off!

It was a beautiful day with blue skies.  As I said earlier, the top of the museum has a lookout.  I got clear pictures of the city scape.  I couldn't do that when I was at the A'Dam lookout.

Kids are kids wherever you go.  This is a water feature on the lookout.  It was warm.  So many kids were playing in the water.

This is at the bottom of the lookout.  I never realized how many steps I took to get down.  You know what this meant?  Climbing back up.

I noticed an old ship across the water from the science museum.  Oh, look, it's free.  I'll have to go check it out.  Off I go enjoying the sun.  I get to where the ship is docked at the National Maritime Museum.  The museum was an imposing structure.  It holds one of the world's largest and most notable maritime collections including paintings, ship models, etc.  Moored outside the museum is a replica of the Amsterdam, an 18th-centure ship that sailed between the Netherlands and the East Indies.  Before I went inside the museum, I took several pictures of the ship and the building.  I went into the museum and had to put my backpack and jacket in a locker.  Just as I walked outside to go to the ship, the rain started coming down.  15 minutes earlier it was beautiful and sunny even though rain was forecast.  I now know Amsterdam weather is like Victoria's.  Wait 5 minutes and it will change.  I would like to say I sprinted across the jetty to the ship but alas, I cannot tell a lie.  I would like to say I power walked across the jetty, can't do that either.  Instead I did the old lady with sore feet walk in the rain and got wet before I got to the ship.  I turned my camera on to take pictures of the interior and decks.  I managed to get a few of the crews quarters but then the camera shut off.  Huh?  I turned it back on thinking I did something.  It shut off again.  It was then that I realized I forgot to put my other recharged battery in my camera before I left.  Oh well.  That's good news for you.  You won't see alot of pictures on the inside of the ship.

Stairs to climb down and back up to get my backpack and jacket.

With that museum over with, I decided I'd go find the cafe that is used in the TV series Van der Valk.  It's on PBS.  I quite like it.  I get the Google working, learn which tram to take and off I go.  I had seen it when I was on the tram earlier so I was sure I knew which way I was going.  The Google was telling me turn left, turn right.  I thought that can't be right so I kept walking.  Suddenly there was no route to follow.  Darn it!!!  I turned around and backtrack.  Suddenly there was the little blue dots that if I follow them show me I'm going in the right direction.  Ms. Google's voice tells me to turn left and then left again.  I listened.  There in front of me was the cafe used in the show.  It's called The Scheltema Cafe.  I would have had a drink there but it was Monday and closed.

I was ready to eat now.  It was 4 pm and besides a bun in the morning, I'd had nothing to eat during the day.  I noticed a Japanese restaurant called MIU.  The sign outside said "All you can eat".  Well, that sounded good to me.  I walked inside to be told they aren't open for another half hour.  Drat!  Now I have to kill some time.  I walked up the road a ways.  Went into a small restaurant and had a Heineken beer.  It was pretty good.  Sure warmed me up.  Doesn't that sound weird?  I think it was the alcohol because I can't remember the last time I had alcohol.

At 4:30, I go to MIU.  You walk into a foyer.  Outside of the door to the actual restaurant is a card that tells you the cost and gives you the WiFi password.  I looked at the cost and gasped.  The price per person was 37.95 Euros!  If you wanted an all inclusive which was drinks and alcohol, it was 59.95 Euros per person.  I was shocked.  I mean how much does a person have to eat to get their money's worth!!!!!  I turn around to leave because I think it's too much but then my inner voice starts whining "I'm tired.  I'm cold.  I'm hungry.  Can we just do it?"  I cave in.  I walk in and ask for a table for one.  The waiter asks if I have a reservation.  Reservation?  I was just here half an hour ago and no one said anything about me needing a reservation.  I tell him I don't have a reservation.  He kinda sniffs as he looks at me in all my wet, backpack glory and says "It's okay.  You're just one.  Come this way.".  I follow him to my table for one.  I look around at the customers in the restaurant.  OMG, compared to them, I look like a bum!  They are dressed to the nines.  I have walked into a fancy smancy restaurant.  I want to laugh out loud!  My inner voice says something that rhymes with truck and ends with em.  The waitress covers over with an iPad.  She asks if it's my first time here?  I want to say "What do you think?"  I smile sweetly and say yes.  She then explains in her Asian infused Dutch accent how to order using the iPad.  I can order up to a maximum of four items four times.  They don't have to be the same items each time.  My head is spinning trying to understand her instructions.  Oh and there are rules!  Don't follow the rules and you will be punished.  You can only stay in the restaurant for two hours.  Go over that and you'll be charged an additional eight Euros.  The other rule, order more than you can eat, you'll be charged an additional two Euros.  The waitress said they don't want food to be wasted!  What the hell????  In the end, I managed to order four items.  That's the rules.  Four items at a time.  My meal comes.  I look at it and see one chicken yaka tori skewer, four chicken gyoza, two prawn tempura and six strips of chicken Katsu (chicken cutlet).  Well, that isn't much.  I eat it.  It's delicious but I'm not quite full so I decide to order more food.  Let's change it up though but wait, where's my iPad to order?  I think the waiter took it away.  I wait for a waiter to come near me.  That takes about 10 minutes.  I ask where is the iPad?  She huffs, actually huffs, and points to it.  I look and see nothing.  She reaches over and pulls it out from behind a big drink card menu.  I couldn't stop the next words from coming out of my mouth.  Since I already felt like I was low life,  I told her "Who would put the iPad behind a big menu so a person couldn't see it?"  She just looked at me and walked away.  Bahhhh, some people! Thinking about the small portions I just had, I figured if I ordered chicken soup and some rice as well as vegetarian spring rolls and chicken wings, I'd be able to eat it all.  I didn't want to risk getting punished for ordering more than I could eat.  Second order placed.  By all that Allah holds holy, when I saw the size of the soup and rice, I swear my eyes bugged out and hit the lens of my glasses.  The soup wasn't just a couple of wontons and broth.  It was filled with long noodles (like spaghetti), chicken and broth.  It was in a big bowl!  The rice was in a big bowl too.  There was six mini spring rolls!  Luckily, only two wingettes.  Phew!  I started sweating because I knew there was no way I could eat all of the soup and rice.  I felt like I was a contestant on The Challenge and had to finish everything on my plate.  I ate and ate and in the end, admitted defeat.  I could barely swallow air let alone anymore food.  I thought let them charge me 2 Euros.  I ask the waitress for my bill.  She looks at my soup and rice.  I tell her the first order had small amounts.  I thought the second would too.  I felt like I was trying to talk my way out of getting a speeding ticket.  She huffs again.  Hmmm, maybe she has a medical condition.  She says "Okay." and brings me my bill.  I look at it.  I wasn't charge the extra 2 Euros.  I was, however, charged for the 1 litre size bottle of water.  It cost 7 Euros!!!  That's $9.25 Canadian!!!!  The total bill came to 45.45 Euros.  That's $60.60!!!!!!!!!!!!  I wanted to ask for a doggie bag!  Never in my life have I paid that much money at an all you can eat restaurant.  I just wouldn't.  Was all of the food delicious?  Yes!  Would I do it again?  Only if you're paying!

Before I left, I asked if there was a washroom.  I was told go down the stairs.  As soon as I got to the bottom of the stairs, I was hit with a terrible musky smell.  The area was old and didn't look like it had been cleaned forever.  I go into the washroom and want to walk out but in Europe, if you find a free washroom, go.  It's a good thing my leg muscles have been getting a work out because without being too descriptive, I did not sit down.  Got out of the washroom with the collar of my jacket pulled up over my nose.  I didn't want to breathe in the stink!  I wish I would have found one of those cards you leave a comment on!  I would have told them a thing or two!!  haha

I head into the great outdoors to take the tram home.  I'm still shaking my head about the cost of the meal.  I'm actually mumbling out loud about it as I'm walking down the street.  That may have been why I was given a wide berth on the sidewalk.

Another day done.  It was an expensive experience.  It's a story.

Total steps today = 17, 596