Amsterdam

On Sunday, Shelly headed home and Mara and I went to Gare du Nord. We had reserved seats in first class and enjoyed a nice snack and then lunch on our way north to Amsterdam. When we arrived, we got on a tram toward our hotel. It wasn't clear how to pay, so after watching several people ask the driver directions, I finally asked her where we should get off and how we should pay. She said we wanted the next stop and not to worry about the fare. We easily found our hotel about a block from the stop and went to check in. Smooth sailing so far, but that was about to end.


I had paid for three nights in Paris that morning and my credit card was turned down when I tried to charge our next 4 nights in Amsterdam. My other card worked so we were in. When we got to our room, it was still dirty, so we headed back down and asked for another one. The second one was also dirty, so the clerk asked if we would like a larger room that he was certain was clean. We said sure! It was nice, but had no towels. The cleaning woman said she would try to find us some.


Then we went out to check out the area and get some cash, we had less than 10 Euro between the two of us. Every card I tried was declined at the ATM. We bought a couple cheap burgers and headed back to the hotel. It seems my two hotel bills had been all the money either card thought I should have in one day, so we would have to try again the next day. It would be a long four days with just a bit of change to live off of.


Monday we walked back to the ATM, my first card was turned down, but with the second, it gave me money! I was so excited, I put my card in again and got some more. We had some breakfast and then walked to Mike's Bikes where we joined a group for a biking tour around the city. Pip, our guide, took us through a nice city park and then through a man made forest on the outskirts of town. We stopped by a windmill often painted by Rembrandt and took some pictures and then we went to a farm where they make clogs and cheese. Very interesting place with nice, friendly cows. We had lots of cheese samples and then rode back through Amsterdam. After our tour, we walked to Ann Frank's house and stood in a very long line, but it moved along quickly. The tour was very interesting and well done. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Sara's for a pancake dinner.