Pause for Station Break

Hi folks -

I fell behind on the blog while we were in India. Sorry to leave you hanging before the Taj Mahal entry - things are a little hectic at work today, so I'll try and get caught up over the next few evenings. My goal is to have all the entries (and pictures!) entered by Wednesday evening. This weekend, I'll upload some video we shot from our cameras as well.

Thanks!

Out and about

For the last few days, we were up and running by 9AM, so sleeping in until 11:30AM was quite a treat! After a wonderful, hot shower and black coffee, we were ready to go!

Our host turned out to be super-resourceful. At the drop of a hat, he was able to book tours of the places we wanted to visit and got a driver arranged. The car was there by 1:30PM, so off we went.

We got the same driver who picked us up from the airport and began to get around the town. Food was the first order of business, so he dropped us off at the Friends Colony Community Center for lunch. It was an open-air mall of shops, packed with convenience stores, fast food restaurants, shops and more. As we walked along, we noticed many stores had security guards at the doors. They would open the door for you as you approached and great you with a smile or say "nameste" as you enter. The stores with guards seemed to be the cleanest and most likely to cater to westerners. As you can guess, the cost of labor is lower in India than in the US - a guard is a much cheaper way to cut down on theft and keep beggers out.

We stopped at a McDonald's for some fries - it tasted like home! After nearly a week of spicy, exotic Indian foods, my stomach was in dire need of something a little simpler. Since it was next door, we went to Pizza Hut to grab a bit of pizza as well. After connecting with our driver, we were on our way again.


Our first stop - Humayun's tomb. This was built in 1572AD, well before the Taj Mahal, as a mausoleum for Emporer Humayun. The site shares many similarities with the construction we would see at the Taj Mahal the next day. As we wandered about, we met the first of many westerners touring India - Ron Barrett-Gonzalez, a professor at the University of Kansas. Whacky how us academicians seem to find each out, halfway around the world, eh? He gave us several tips on getting to see a few more of the sites around town. It was nice to converse a bit as walked around the grounds.

Next up, we headed to the Indian Crafts Museum, near the Delhi Expo Center. The open-air museum hosted stalls of vendors, displaying artwork and handmake crafts. We wandered around a bit, taking in the various work. Of course, it was hard to leave without a few souvenirs, so Ramona negotiated some great bargains!


After the Crafts Museum, we were on our way again. We drove past the Rajghat, the site of Ghandi's cremation, now a national landmark. Our next stop was the Jami Masjid, one of the largest mosques in all of India. Unforunately, we arrived at sundown, so only parishioners could enter (guests can visit before sundown). Even from the entrance, you could see the beautiful domes and spires. It wasn't until Ramona showed me the description in our tour book that I could even appreciate the scale.


Right next to the mosque was Chandni Chowk, a bustling market, once known as the 'silvery moonlit square'. Two upcoming Bollywood movies feature this area prominently, so we were fortunate to see it while we were here. Our driver hailed a bike rickshaw driver to drive us through the market. The skinny lad spoke the right English words, so we were off on our way. We worked our way through the Kinari Bazaar, with its many stalls brimming with beads and garlands. Many of the wedding adornments we saw the bridal party wearing in Ahmedabad. After a turn, we passed perhaps hundreds of stalls on 'Sari Street' with wholesalers selling every type of cloth you can imagine. I'll bet that a skilled planner could get all of the necessary decorations for wedding here. We also passed the spice market, with its array of spicy goods. Not exactly what my stomach was craving! At the end of the bazaar, we passed the Digambar Jain, the oldest Jain temple in Delhi.


The rickshaw driver dropped us off at the Red Fort, constructed by the Emperor Shah Jahan in 1639 AD. At one time, thousands of army soldiers lived within the walls. For us, it was another piece of well-preserved history. In the pavilion, the Red Fort hosts a sound-and-light show, highlighting key elements in the Indian fight from independence of British colonial rule.


After a busy day of sightseeing, we were happy to get back to rest. Our host greeted us at the door. He informed us we needed to be ready to go by 5:15AM. We needed to meet our driver promptly, to make our way to the Delhi train station. Why so early? To catch our 6:30AM train to Agra, site of the Taj Mahal! We were eager to see one of the wonders of the ancient world, so after a quick shower, it was time for bed.

Delhi Bed and Breakfast

We arrived at the Delhi Airport late in the evening. I was surprised to find the airport still crowded with passengers and travelers, but I'm getting used to that. "It's a different part of the world, I have to remind myself!" After fetching our luggage, we stepped out and met the first of many wonderful drivers. Actually, that's not entirely true - the drivers we had in Ahmedabad were very good at quickly and safely getting around in the chaotic streets.

Our driver, Shamphu, worked his way through the crowded streets (starting to see a theme here?) and told a bit about life here. Near the airport, you could see construction projects on many major roads. I wonder what all that is for?

The Delhi Bed and Breakfast, our homestead for the next few days, wasn't too far from the airport. It was in a nice, quiet neighborhood set back from the hectic Delhi streets. We were greeted by our host (who unfortunately lugged my suitcase up two flights of stairs - sorry!). Breakfast was set for 8:30AM, but after our travels of the last few days, I didn't expect we'd make that.

Seeing the sights in Ahmedabad

With a good lunch in us, we were off for a quick sightseeing tour. First up was the Akshardham temple complex on the edge of Ahmedabad. Unfortunately, we found it was closed when we got there. Bummer - it was supposed to be a pretty neat temple.

From there, we traveled to the Ghandi Ashram, a museum at the site of one the homes Gandhi lived and worked in. The museum was full of pictures and memorabilia of Gandhi's life, his work and his message of peace. It was an uplifting experience, to say the least.



Our driver took us past many ornate buildings belonging to the local government and the high court as we made our way to the airport. Later, I learned that quite a few of them dated back to British colonial times when they were originally constructed. After a short, uneventful flight, we were now in Delhi!

Farewells

With the fun of the wedding ceremonies and behind us, we moved to a more somber note in the wedding. Now that Pranav and Smita are wed, she will be moving in to his home. For the bride's family, this marks a change in her status, as she "leaves" her family's home to join another. The occasion is a mixture of happiness and sadness.


At the beginning of the wedding process, Pranav brought a coconut with him - a traditional offering at the start of the marriage rites. Now, this same coconut is placed beneath the wheel of the car that carried them away. Breaking the coconut is a wish for good times for the couple ahead.

We ride along with Pranav's younger brothers to their home, where the ceremony rites will conclude. We arrive at a tall, high-rise complex near Law Garden, a large public park. Inside, we learn that Pranav, his brothers, parents, grandparents and great-grandmother live under the same roof in the multi-story condo. Given that the cost of land is so high in India, it's very common for many generations to share a home.


As we lunched and mingled, we learned about the couple's plans for the near future. Pranav was taking time from work for a month-long vacation for the newlywed's honeymoon in New Zealand - wow! As this will be Smita's first time out of the country, I'm sure it will be an exciting experience for her.



In a short while, it was time for us to share our goodbyes. With several hours left before our flight back to Delhi, we had time for more sightseeing in Ahmedabad.

The Wedding!

Wow - it sure was easy to get behind on the blog! Each day has been full of traveling and adventures; each evening has been full of fun!


The day of the wedding turned out to be a pretty busy day. We, had another buffet-style brunch - more high-quality Indian food. The menus continue to have a variety of dishes. However, I'm starting to miss being able to eat a salad or non-fried vegetables.


During the brunch, there was a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Pranav's grandparents. There was plenty of cake to go around, so everyone was invited to have a piece. Immediately following, the younger folks began to separate, to get ready for the wedding. Ramona had a dress to pick up at the mall; I had received a nice, ethnic shirt and pants to wear for the occasion. It took a little work to get every thing arranged in the proper order. I was pretty impressed at how comfortable the whole outfit was. I'll have to save it for another Indian wedding someday...

Before things got underway, we paused for a few pre-wedding photos.


Before the wedding ceremony, we participate in what's known as a bharat. In ages past, the groom's friends and well-wishers would proceed the groom on his white horse, as he walked through the village from his home to the bride's house. All the way, his entourage would dance and sing in his path, trying to slow the groom down. With more time to think, he might decide not to get married at all, avoiding all of the headaches of wedded life.

As we prepared to walk along in the bharat, that's when I got my biggest surprise of the trip: the groom's friends all get turbans! Yup - I got to wear a turban for the event. Ramona snapped a great picture of me and another friend, Devansh, in our turbans. Later, I will upload video with all of the guys in our turbans.


The groom was preceded by a marching band, a troupe of drummers, and a throngs of wedding guests. We all paraded back and forth in front of him, dancing in his path. This gave everything a wonderful, carnival atmosphere, as we occassionally stopped for pictures, songs, and so on. Our celebrating delayed the procession for nearly an hour; not bad, all-in-all. Fornatunately for Smita, our delays couldn't change Pranav's determination.

When we finally got to Smita's home, it was marvelously decorated. Flowers everywhere left a wonderful scent in the air. Guests were treated to a wide array of Indian and international dishes, to the first night of the wedding. As usual, we grouped up with the younger crowd. Our table was overflowing with good food and even better conversation !

While we ate, Pranav and Smita performed the marriage rites with a priest in a small shrine. Their families gathered nearby and looked on as the formalities proceeded. Once things finished, the newlyweds moved to the head of a receiving line, not unlike a western wedding. As groups of extended families or friends greated the newlyweds, professional photographers would snap group photos. As Pranav and Smita had an army of photographers (and videographers), the wedding events were well-recorded. I can't wait to see how their pictures turn out!

Thanks to a day of dancing in the streets, Ramona and I were pretty worn out very early in the evening. Since the newlyweds would have to close the place out to receieve the hundres of guests, we took our leave. Our drivers took the wedding party back to the hotel, to prepare for another early morning of wedding events.

Ahmedabad - Day Two

The morning schedule was just as packed as the previous day. Per custom, the groom's family has a function called a mayara to recognize many family members. The bride's family has a similar function to recognize family members on their side as well. As with the previous functions, there was live music - this time in the form of more traditional Indian instruments and a female singer. As each family member was introduced by the mother and father of the groom, there was a song sung in their honor. The event concluded with a lunch buffet, similar to the night before. I was detecting a pattern - buffets and music - developing here...

After lunch, we stopped by another mall for a second attempt at shopping. I found a couple of ethnic shirts - Ramona scored a pretty dress, shoes and a just-slightly-too-small clutch. Even though today is the 14th (Valentine's Day), I didn't get a chance to get her any of these for Valentine's Day. Ah well - next year!

The evening's event was another auspicious dinner, this time, held at a country house owned by the groom's family. The festive decorations were right out of Monsoon Wedding (if you rent the movie, you'll know exactly what we're talking about). We walked around, taking in the live entertainment that had been hired for the event. There were all sorts of artists, reminding us of a carnival atmosphere. There was a portrait artist, entertaining the children with pictures. There was a slight-of-hand magician, amazing us with his disappearing change. A puppet show, pottery wheel and dancing troupe rounded out the mix. I couldn't believe there was enough to keep so many people occupied.

Late in the evening, various members of both sides of the family put on a series of dances and skits. It seems to be very popular to perform dance numbers from famous Bollywood films, so several couples took the stage. Two of the girls from our party - Amanda and Manisha - also performed a dance (job well done!).

We were a little too worn out for dinner, so we snacked a bit and returned to our hotel. Tomorrow brings the actually wedding ceremony!

Ahh, yes, Ahmedabad

Okay - we're definitely in another corner of the globe. After claiming our luggage, we were met by our driver just outside the terminal. He worked for the travel agency the family was using to help coordinate things. We found out they had hired several cars for the weekend, to get the guests to and from all the destinations. He was a nice guy and told us a few things about the city and the weather on the drive.

The first thing you notice about the roads in India - there's no traffic control. In our whole time here, we've seen only one stop light and it was flashing yellow. The bus we took simply muscled it's way around - how would a sedan fare? The best analogy I can thing of is getting a drink in a busy pub. Imagine having to slowly, methodically work your way to the bartender, all the while trying not to bump other patrons. Yup. That's what it's like on the streets. There were few, if any, fender-benders that I could see. However, traffic wasn't moving quickly at intersections, with a few bursts of speed on the straight segments. Just like our bus driver earlier, our chauffeur knew how to negotiate this chaos, and made it look like he'd been doing it for 20 years.

After I got used to watching us careen in-and-out between other cars, I noticed that not only were there cars and bicycles the road, we also shared lanes with mopeds, motorbikes, pedestrians and the occasional cow. Yes, cow. I believe the ones with horns are called bulls.

At the hotel, we got ourselves checked in and met up with several of Pranav's friends. Some of them were his friends from Georgia Tech; others were friends from work. All-in-all, we met folks from every segment of his life. Ramona spoke very highly of him - his friends were equally nice.

After exchanging pleasantries, we headed to our first event - the mehendi party. If they wish, the women basically get henna tattoos on their hands and/or feet. The men mostly hang around and chat. The event was catered with a variety of snacks and appetizers; little did we know this was soon to become the standard for things to come! I got to know a little more about Pranav's friends (who I now call our 'handlers'), their backgrounds and so on. Once her henna was applied, Ramona had a little bit of difficulty keeping it on. She had a natural tendency to rub it a bit. It turned out pretty nicely - you'd be amazed at the intricate details in the loops and whorls.

We had a few hours before the evening's dinner party, so our handlers took us to a nearby mall. We poked around, looking for clothing and what not - I scored a few shirts, but Ramona didn't fare as well. Hopefully, we'll have better luck before we leave Ahmenabad. After we changed at the hotel, we were off to dinner.

The dinner party was an incredible event! It was held in the backyard at Smita's parent's home. We told more than 500 guests had been invited. We never knew how many showed up, but it was not crowded and more than comfortable. Besides, they would have just taken out the lighting rigs, speakers and performance stage. There was a live music act, a dancing pop singer with contemporary, upbeat, danceable pop music.

The dinner was a buffet-style dinner. There were more than a dozen tables and an army of people serving dinner. Early on, we were assigned a server (he's standing behind Ramona in the picture to the right). As we walked past each table of food, he would fetch a plate, take food hot from the grill, and supply us with silverware. I have a picture of the menu to post later - it was unreal! It took me almost an hour to realize I was only eating vegatarian dishes. I'm not even going to attempt and butcher the names of the good stuff we ate. There was a barbequed tofu dish that I couldn't get enough of. We spent the evening gorging ourselves on ever manner of tasty dish. As the evening wound down, we piled back into the car and were driven back to the hotel. The schedule of the next day was equally full, so we had to turn in as soon as we could manage.

Arriving in New Delhi

Many hours later, we found our flight landing in the darkened city of New Delhi, just a few minutes from Midnight local time. From the air, the grouping of lights seemed no different from any other city I've flown to. From the ground, however, the three-wheeled cabs (which seem to be called rickshaws) and streams of Land Rovers told me where we no longer in Kansas. The terminal was considerably warmer than Amsterdam – a welcome change from the rainy, 30° days we'd grown accustomed to. I could smell strange mixes of scents - smoke and dust from nearby construction projects, tall grasses - wet with the night dew, burning motor oil and rich tobacco pipes.

As we walked around, I was only slightly surprised to armed soldiers in the airports. The men and women of the Indian Self Defense forces stood at just about every intersection, assault rifles slung (I think the army uses the AK-7, a clone of the AK-47, but I'll have to look that up when I get home). On the plane, we were instructed not to take pictures of the interior of the airport or the military, though I didn't see any signs as such. They were generally an austere-looking bunch, so I opted not to press my luck.

The weather was foggy and hazing, but still very warm, which seems to be common this time of year. Making our way through customs, we grabbed our bag and changed our cash to Indian Rupees. The going rate was 47.90 INR per US $, so we suddenly had several thousand INR. Later, we'd find that bottle water or cofee cost as little as 30 INR; a small soda was 50 INR. Seems like your dollars really do go further over here!

Outside the exit to the airport, cabbies hung around, eager to take you into the city to the hotels. We were told to only take cabs called for by your hotel or to make arrangements to have a driver meet you at the airport (as was our arrangement in Amenabad).

Expecting to catch our flight from New Delhi in a few hours, we wandered around to flight lounge and spent the hours playing cards (yes, she beat me pretty often). Our flight from New Delhi to Amenabad was supposed to leave in a few hours at 6AM local time, so we headed in the direction of the gates to find our next flight.

After showing our tickets to a gate attendant, we got a few puzzled looks back. The language barrier held us up for moment, before we collectively figured out Ramona and I were at the International Terminal. Our flight to Amenabad was at the Domestic Terminal, located 10km or so away from here. Ha! A guard got a us pointed back to the International Terminal to catch a shuttle bus to the Domestic Terminal, right where we first exited the airport. We found a cache of shuttle buses, but no other passengers or drivers. As we looked perplexed, we met another guard, to whom we explained our situation. When he figured out we were trying to get a shuttle, he spoke with some local attendants. The two of them had a conversation that lasted an eternity, but they finally unlocked the door and let us wait in the shuttle bus lounge. It seemed this was where we should have waited for the next flight in the first place. Oops!

In just a few minutes, the bus boarded and whisked us to the Domestic Terminal. As we careened (and yes, I use the word in the proper context), we saw India's road traffic in all its crazy splendor. There were no traffic lights on the roads and highways, so turning and change lanes required judicious use of one's horn. Lanes weren't totally optional, but were occasionally necessary. It seemed like every turn was a car accident waiting to happen, but there we no collisions that I could see. I guess the horn is used as the turn signal over here...

At the Domestic Terminal, we arrived about four hours before our flight. By now, we'd been awake for about 20 hours, so I expected us to get situated, then cat nap for bit. The first order of business was food, no, coffee, so we struck out through the terminal.

The most curious sight I found was a "burger" stand called McIndian. Their veggie burger and French fry plate seemed rather appealing, though we opted for just the fries for now.

I walked back over to the time table board, to see how long we had before our flight. The flight information now said 'Delayed'. Hmmm. This was the start of an unfortunately long day!

While we waited for the flight, we learned that the heavy morning fog delayed all of the flights out of the airport. The delay was first expected to last for an hour or two. Then it was clear, three hours later, that estimate was a bit inaccurate. Our flight finally boarded around 11AM, almost five hours later than expected. Once we got onto the tarmac, a mechanical problem was discovered, delaying our departure until after 1PM. With our initial arrival in Delhi just before Midnight, we'd eventually waited over twelve hours to get to Amenabad!

On the way to Delhi

Wouldn't you know it: the day we leave is the day the weather improves in Amsterdam! The sky was pretty clear as we waited for the tram back to Central Station. Actually, it was the first time I'd seen the moon in a few days, but I digress....

Taking a moment to reflect on it, the B&B we'd been staying at was certainly a nice find – and a nice deal! For the price, it had all of the amenities that Ramona and I were after (wireless Internet, big bathroom, etc). It was hard leaving it all behind.

Ramona wants to add that I was in “cheese heaven” with a plethora of fine cheeses for breakfast every morning. One day when were were walking around town I even stopped in a deli and got bread, cheese and salami and ate it right on the street (I think Karl thought I was weird, but I know Mom and Angie will appreciate that San Fran moment).

From the Central Station, it was a quick train ride back to Schipol airport. The train was fairly full – probably folks on their morning commute. Crazily enough, two of the four friends we'd made in Amsterdam were on the same train. The couple from Barcelona, who'd taken our picture at the bar with Milo and Luc, were also on the way to the airport, to head home. Sadly, we didn't get a chance for picture with them.

Amsterdam Tram Tips – Hurry up and get on and off the Tram. Yes, the Tram will take off even if you are banging on the door to get on or off. If you're going to ride the Tram or Bus a lot I suggest getting the I Amsterdam card. Also please DO NOT stand in the way of the Tram Attendant and do not stand in the space reserved for strollers.


At the airport, we spotted a student in U of M sweatpants. It turns out that he was a medical student, going home for a wedding and a short visit. And also, it turns out he's a buddy of the one medical student that Ramona happens to know at U of M. One degree of separation! This was a good reminder of just how easy it is to run into someone from U of M – anywhere; anytime.

Our KLM flight to New Delhi turned out to be a wonderful experience. Due to the plane being overbooked, we had to get our seat assignments at the gate. Though our seats were not adjacent, we were booked in First class! The woman seated next to me was glad to trade seats with Ramona, so we were able to sit together for the duration of the flight. We were seated in the upper deck of a 747-400, with just a handful of customers. The two stewardesses kept coming through with drink after drink, snacks and so on. After getting not one, but three meals on our eight-hour flight, I can see why so many people opt for First class tickets for long flights. I have to admit – it was the most comfortable flight I've every been on.

Museums and fun around town

Ah Amsterdam! Now that we've started to find our way around, we're eager to get around and see more of the city. With this being our last full day (and the weather being pretty miserable), we opted to go and take a famous canal ride tour, then go down to Museimplein and see a few museums.

The canal ride tour was pretty neat. We got to see much of the canal network in a much warmer fashion. Consider the amount of rain and snow we'd endured the previous day, riding around in a warm boat was the way to go. During the tour, we found the Houseboat Museum that escaped us yesterday (jeez - it was a half kilometer farther away then I'd expected). I was also on the lookout for a the famous Cat Houseboat, where many of the city's stray cats gather. We found the right canal, but had no luck finding the cats. Ah well - another time!

Next stop - the Vincent Van Gogh museum. Several famous Van Gogh works are here, but many of the most recognizable pieces are the Met and other galleries.

After the Van Gogh museum, we headed over to the Rembrandt museum. There were works from his many pupils and a few other contemporaries. The Dutch have a special, nationalistic sense of pride in the art and museums of Amsterdam. Each museum felt like I was at a major gallery, not a little, podunk place. Needless to say, I was very impressed.

In our short stay in Amsterdam, we'd seen many stands selling French fries. The potant, as the Dutch call it, has been worked into a real homemade delicacy. Thanks to our guide book, we were told the best homemade fries in Amsterdam were at VleminckX, on the edge of Muntplein. We managed to arrive just before they closed and score some nifty fries. Needless to say, it was a great snack.

Working our way back towards our tram, we stopped by a (recommended) Indonesia restaurant. The appetizers alone were more than enough to make a great dinner. Considering how early we'd have to catch our flight to India in the morning, a quick dinner sounded like a great plan.

Now, it's time to pack and get ourselves out to the airport. Thanks to the network of trams and metro rails, we should be able to navigate ourselves back to Schipol and get on our way. Next stop - New Delhi!

Getting around Amsterdam

The day was full of interesting things to see and do.

The B&B we're staying at started our day with a nice selection fresh meats and cheeses. The bread and muffins were spot on! Interestingly enough, dairy products in the Netherlands are sold in cartons - both the yogurt and milk came in cartons. Interesting...

Thanks to the espresso machine, I had all the caffeine I needed to start the day. The day started off below freezing, so throughout the day, the rain turned into snow. Didn't we leave all this weather behind in Michigan? Sigh...

The first stop of the day was the Anne Frank museum. For me, the museum made me reflect on some of the darkest times in human history. It was a powerful, moving experience.

Our next stop would have been the houseboat museum, but the weather didn't cooperate. You wouldn't believe how uncomfortable you can get in the wind and rain! Thankfully, Amsterdam has a nice network of trams and buses. Once we figured out which trams run where and when, it started to get easier to get around town. Many folks were out and about on their bicycles. We weren't quite daring enough to get on bikes in this weather - maybe if things were warmer...

When we left the Anne Frank museum, we wanted to visit Westerkerk, a nearby church with a splendid spire. However, it was only open from April to October, so opted to press on for lunch.

Ramona had heard about the Pancake Bakery on Rachel Ray's show, Forty Dollars a Day. It was just up the street from the museum, so we dropped in to eat. The Pancake Bakery serves, well, pancakes - the size of dinner plate! They're thin, like French crepes, but they had exotic recipes on the menu. They had everything from apples-and-mango pancakes, to could order "Brazilian" pancakes, with bananas, cheeses and meats.

In hopes of orienting ourselves to Amsterdam, we hoped on one of the tram lines and rode it to end. We had no idea where we going, but were pleasantly surprised at where we ended up.

The Heineken experience saved us from an afternoon of drudgery. Located in the eastern canal ring, this "museum" was dedicated to Holland's most famous brewer. The experience includes everything from beer-tasting and gift shops to a simulated "brewing process". It was a fun lark and a nice place to stay out of the rain and snow. The nearby street vendors had a variety of snacks for sale. I grabbed an apple fritter and Ramona found her way to the bread and cheese. Nothing of either snack made it home, much to our mutual delight.

Afterwards, we wandered around town and ended up in Oudkirk and went to Oud Zijde and happened upon the Red Light district. Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking. Because it was only 7PM or so, there were few, if any ladies in the window. However, as the night wore on, their numbers quickly began to multiply. We beat a hasty retreat.

We walked to Cental Station and took a tram to Rembrandtplein, a nice dining area (I had fish and chips). We hopped another tram back to the house and stopped by the local grocer, Albert Hein. With groceries for breakfast, we went to a local bar to savor a Dutch delight, bitterballen - a gravy-filled meatball, similar to a croquette.

With another day behind us, we opted to turn in and prepare for a trip to the Rembrandt Museum. Pictures will come tomorrow, after I've had a chance to sort them.

Everything I needed to learn about Amsterdam...

Let's see how I can sum this up -

1. It's clean. Freakishly clean. Clean enough for even hard-core clean freaks. The streets were swept and floors of the trams were immaculate. However, there's no law on pet litter, so watch where you step!
   
2. It has well-organized public transportation. The trams in the city center have a booth with a ticket agent. They spoke great English and were happy to tell you how to get to where you needed to go. They also suggested getting passes to save money. How convenient!
3. People here are genuinely nice. Ask a random stranger where to find something or when the trams run, and you'll get a smile and good directions.

That's about it, I think.

Amsterdam nightlife!

After getting settled this evening, we ventured out around town. Ramona found a Top 10 attraction we should check out, the Wynand Focknik. This distillery is famous for its Dutch jenever and various liqueurs. We were fortunate enough to find the general location (off the Dam, in the city center) easily enough, but required the help of seasoned professionals to find the front door (think 1920s speak-easy).

While we sipped our drinks, we met the two locals pictured above, Milo (next to Ramona) and Luc (next to me). They were cheerful, friendly chaps who recommended a few liqueurs to try and were kind enough to buy us a round. We discussed the world economic situation, public transportation, dating, the value of getting to know your partner on a vacation and everything in between. Ramona tried a naveltje bloot, a famous drink (don't get any ideas people). :-) We left just after meeting a lovely couple from Barcelona, who were kind enough to take our picture.

On the way back to the tram, we stopped for a quick photo op at the National Monument at Dam Square.

Tomorrow, we're visiting the Anne Frank House, the Pancake Bakery and the Stray Cat Boat. Should be fun!

Arrival!

When we landed at Amsterdam-Schipol Airport, I didn't expect the weather to be very different from home. I was pretty much right. The weather here is cold and rainy, in the low thirties. In the early gray of pre-dawn, you couldn't tell if you were still in Michigan or 3900 miles away.

After a little examination of the train/rail/bus/tram system, we took a train from the airport to the central station. From there, it was a short 15 minute tram ride to the area of our lodgings.

The first thing you'll notice about Amsterdam: bikes are everywhere! There are lots of interesting variants and modifications, but the number of bikes I saw seemed to be close to the number of people we'd seen on the street.

Ramona found an inexpensive bed and breakfast for us to stay at. The proprietor was ready for us, with a wealth of locations for us to visit. After a quick recharge, we'll get out onto the meanstreets of Amsterdam for more commentary!


FROM RAMONA:
The plane ride was amazing actually. It reminded me of the Hawaii vacation b/c the flight was pretty empty. We watched movies and ate snacks and had a 4 seat row all to ourselves.
The Amsterdam airport is like a giant shopping mall-it's super clean and every kind of shop you can imagine. We took the train to Central Station and the train was amazingly quiet. The people are pretty friendly and the town is quite ready for tourists.
I would LOVE to live in a town where everyone rides their bikes all the time--that's an amazing way to live!

Tina and Camille are our hosts at the Bed and Breakfast (which by the way is quite posh) I took a 4 hour nap and now were headed out to get some "potent liquors at the historic Wijand Fockink" -- actually I just liked the word Fockink so we decided to go there.

Departure!

Well, we're off to a great start!

Getting to Metro Airport was quick and easy - thanks, Rob! Oddly enough, the line at security was practically empty and there was almost no waiting at the gate. We had enough time for a quick meal at Max & Erma's before our flight, which made me quite happy.

For those of you who haven't been on an Airbus A330 before, it's a 2-aisle-4-aisle-2 layout. The flight was far from full, so we occupied the middle seats with enough room to stretch out a bit, so a certain someone was able to get in a bit of sleep on the way.

The in-flight entertainment system had plenty of movies to occupy us during our 7hr flight. We watched The Secret Life of Bees - I'd been wanting to go see that this year.

The flight was quick and uneventful, with very little turbulence. Hopefully, the return flight will be just as nice!