Amsterdam Day 1

So aside from several crying babies, the flight got to Amsterdam was uneventful. Very few of our group of 10 had success sleeping on the plane. Our group breezed through customs and collected our luggage without issue. 

The Sheraton Schipol is connected to the airport - and our hotel for tonight. We could keep our luggage carts and walk to the hotel in less than 10 minutes from luggage carousel 11. We enjoyed a cup of tea or coffee in the restaurant until 10 am when we were allowed to check into our rooms. 

Our leader Neil Zeller was firm, no naps longer than 30 minutes, so even though we had up to two hours of relaxation time in our rooms, we freshened up and tried to nap but we didn’t actually sleep!

At noon we gathered and walked back into the airport terminal to buy an Amsterdam Travel ticket. For the price of €18, we had access on all trams, buses, metros and ferries for the day. So we hopped on the Sprinter metro line and went to Dam Square. Then we caught Trolley 12 to The Pancake Club for lunch. Delicious food in a tiny bistro amongst the canals. 

Suzan enjoying her sweet pannenkoek! 

The view from The Pancake House tiny gazebo restaurant!

After lunch I left the group to visit the Anne Frank Museum. Of course this museum houses the actual annex where 8 Jews were in hiding during WWII. They hid for two years on three upper floors of the building until August of 1944 when the Nazis raided the building. Anne Frank’s Father, Otto Frank is the only one to have survived the war. He had kept Anne’s diary safe, he ultimately read it and made the decision to publish it. 

I then left museum to travel by public transit to join the group for an evening canal tour. Tram #14 got me to Boat Amsterdam for a tour of the canals. I arrived early and ran into four other group tour members. We all walked to a nearby cafe and most of us ordered a hot chocolate to warm up and treat ourselves before the canal tour Festival off lights began. 

St. Nicholas Basilica is the biggest Roman Catholic Church in Amsterdam. 

Fish on display as part of the Festival of Lights. The personal guide was funny and informative. Mulled wine and beer were on offer, but the hot water wasn’t quite warm enough to make a cup of tea! The tour was scheduled tour from 6 pm - 7:15 pm and did the trick to keep us out of our hotel rooms to help change our time zone body clocks. 

We took a trolley and train back to Schipol airport and our hotel. I grabbed a smoothie and a flatbread to suffice as supper!

The alarm is set for 6 AM tomorrow to meet the group at 7:10 to head over for our second flight of the journey!! Today was a lovely day to spend in Amsterdam while in transit to our ultimate destination - Tanzania!!