'Dam Delays.....

Catching up on the blog…..

Sometimes even the best of plans do not work out. Sean's quick trip to Amsterdam was an ambitious schedule to begin with.....and it got even more ambitious with one less day available to him.
The plan was to fly to Chicago late Wednesdat afternoon so that he could go to school that morning. From there he would fly to London Heathrow, pick up a flight to Amsterdam & arrive Thursday afternoon. We went to bed Wednesday night so excited that he would be there the next day!
We woke up to an email on Thursday saying there had been a change. His flight cancelled and he would be staying in Chicago overnight. The new plan had him arriving Friday at 11:00 a.m. Stuff happens, just hated that it had happened when he was here for such a short time already.
Thursday morning, bright & early.......and I do mean EARLY, Frank, Jill & Whitney arrived. After coffee, we headed to Sara's for breakfast. The morning’s activities included a walk around the 'Dam Square, down Spui Straat & over to visit Rembrandt's house. Instead of a visit to the house, we found a street market calling to us. A few treasures later we continued on through the Red Light District, over to the Floating Flower Market & eventually back to the Jordaan & some down time.
Teena & Whitney adventurously climbed to the top of the Westerkerk in the afternoon.
We had dinner at home & I was ready for an early bedtime......while still keeping an eye on Sean's flight. I happily fell asleep knowing he was finally in transit.
A few years ago when Frank & Jill were here, a comedy of errors ensued when we tried to get to Aalsmeer & the flower auction. This time, we were determined to get there. It was the only item on Frank's 'to do' list.
Friday morning, Frank, Jill, Whitney & I headed out at 7:30 for Central Station. Bob & Teena stayed behind to go to the airport to get Sean.
The trip to Aalsmeer did go a lot better this time although the bus seemed to take forever. It was 9:30 by the time we arrived. Everything is finished for the day by noon so it is crucial to get there as early as possible. I love visiting Aalsmeer & I think it lived up to Frank, Jill & Whitney's expectations as well.
From Aalsmeer we took the bus over to Schipol, hoping to be part of the Sean Welcoming Committee. He had already arrived so we grabbed some coffee at Starbuck's, got on the train & headed for home. A stop at Stube's Herring for Frank & we walked back to the apartment to find Sean, Teena & Bob waiting for us. Yeah – we were all there……or so we thought! As ‘they’ say, ‘But wait….there’s more!’
Teena & Whitney decided the climb to the top of the Westerkerk was worth a second trip. This time with Sean along, they headed out. They stopped at the House Boat Museum for a quick look.
Dinner Friday night was at one of our favorite restaurants in the Jordaan - a Thai place down the street.
Our Saturday morning ritual in Amsterdam is to visit the local street market. It is a combination farmer's market & flea market and always fun. After the market we make brunch with whatever ingredients looked good.
Sean & Teena decided to forgo the market & head to Den Haag to visit Madurodam, the Palais de Justice & possibly the Escher museum. Madurodam is Holland in miniature & we took Sean & Brian there years ago.

Saturday morning Frank, Jill & Whitney came upstairs for coffee before we headed to the market. Jill said she had heard Sean & Teena leave earlier........and she had. But not for Den Haag.
A knock at the door revealed they had been on a mission to pick up BRIAN who had arrived for the week-end.
Bob 'had a feeling' he might show up. I had said all along I would love it but had no thoughts of him really coming. Too far, too much time off of work, etc. But there he was and we were thrilled to see him. And yes, I freely admit I looked over his shoulder to see if Jessie had joined us too. Sadly she could not take the time off from school.

Shopping bags in hand, the eight of us made our way down the street to the market. That morning is probably one of my favorite moments of the trip. Everyone found what looked good – cheeses, breads, meats & added them to the bags. A stop at the market for orange juice & beer (apparently you have to have choices) & home for brunch. The eight of us were joined by Allen. Teena & Whitney put everything together & on the table, arranged just beautifully.
It was a wonderful morning! I have an image in my mind from that morning that I will not soon forget. I remember just looking around at all these faces that I love so much, enjoying the city we love so much with us…..it was really something. Almost too difficult to put into words.

Den Haag was the destination for anyone under 30 on Saturday afternoon & they headed out.
Frank, Jill, Bob & I, remembering the fun we’d had at the Ice Bar in Stockholm decided to head to the Bols Museum. We did get some free drinks with our tour but it was not the Ice Bar. In fact it was kind of a waste of $40! But now we know!
We wandered back toward Spui Straat, stopping to make a dinner reservation at Caprese for Sunday evening. Brian, Jessie, Bob & I had been there last November. We remembered this Italian restaurant as being excellent, start to finish. We thought it was just the spot for an early birthday celebration for Sean.

Saturday evening for the ‘old folks’ was spent just sitting around. The ‘kids’ went out in the evening, convincing Brian to go along with them even though his initial thought was of sleep.

Sunday morning while Brian & Sean were asleep, Teena boldly headed out on her own. She has such a good sense of direction & after a day or two she knew how to get around.

Frank, Jill, Whitney, Bob & I headed back to Spui Straat to the Sunday art market. It isn’t very big but several tables are set up every Sunday. We bought a small painting last year. This year we listened to a harpist playing Celtic music & bought his CD. As of this writing, said CD remains missing. I know we brought it home, just have not found it yet.

From the art market, Frank & Jill headed out to enjoy a day together. Their day included a trip to Zaanse Schans a neighborhood of historic windmills, houses & businesses. It’s a little touristy but a fun place to visit once. We were there with Sean on his last visit. That was plenty! They also did the canal boat ride. Another one of those things we have promised to never do again.
With an 8:00 pm dinner reservation there was plenty of time for everyone to do their own thing.

Back at the apartment, Whitney called Teena & made arrangements for all of us to meet up with her at the Dam Square. Bob & I left the 4 of them & went for one last long walk, knowing we would not have much time left before we headed home. It was a gorgeous day & there were boats on the canals. So many that there were traffic jams. We stood for a long time watching them.

We had high hopes for Caprese for dinner. We had a great time – we would have had a great time just staying in though. It was a fun week-end. It was a fun group! Dinner was OK but certainly did not live up to the memories we had of our previous visit. I’m sure the missing factor was Jessie! Walking back, Brian found a pub to stop into for a beer. Then another pub in our neighborhood. It was karaoke night at this pub. Once they realized we were all from America, 30 year old American music seemed to be the theme. Not a bad way to spend some time – everyone in there was a lot of fun.
The week-end went by so fast & back at the apartment it was time to say good-bye to Frank, Jill & Whitney. Their morning would begin early on Monday with a walk to Central Station. From there, the train to Schipol, plane to Minnesota & then what turned out to be 3 separate flights for the 3 of them to get back to Atlanta.

Upstairs the night was apparently young…..at close to 1:00 a.m., Bob, Sean & Brian broke out the cards & turned on the music. Teena & I went to bed. The night ended for the others about 4:00 a.m. From the crumbs, beer bottles & leftovers on the table when I got up, it looked like a great time was had by all! Sadly, that left very few hours for Sean to sleep before he & Teena had to start their long way back.
A quick breakfast at Sara’s & they too were on their way to Central Station, Schipol, London Heathrow, Chicago & finally Tulsa.

Brian, Bob & I spent our last day just hanging out. Brian was able to get a few gifts he wanted to take home before assuring us that there was nothing more he needed to do. We had dinner in the apartment, plenty of time to visit & thoroughly enjoy his company.
Tuesday morning at 6:00 a.m. we walked Brian through the dark streets, in the ever increasing rain to the Central Station. His long trip began with the 3-1/2 hour train ride to Frankfurt. From Frankfurt he flew to Chicago & then home to DFW.

Back in the apartment, we had just a few hours to finish packing, reflect on what a wonderful week-end we had & how awesome it was having everyone with us. Such a long way for everyone to come. It meant so much to us having them all there!

Our journey home began with our flight on Tuesday back to Zurich where we had started 3 weeks ago. We took a train to the old city where Bob found a fondue restaurant he had eaten at 9 years ago. We had a wonderful fondue dinner, sitting outside. What a lovely way to end our trip.
Wednesday morning we headed to JFK…….during our 4 hours on the ground we saw that there was major rain at home. We learned later that 5 tornadoes had touched down in Dallas. Keller had received 7.5” of rain. Fortunately our flight was not even delayed & we were home on time. Brian & Jessie provided limo service & we were home about 20 hours after we started out!

As always, as I reflect back……it was a wonderful trip. SO special to have so many of our people with us. We had such a great time with them & the memories we made together will last a very long time.

On to the next adventure....