To Amsterdam

We left the cool spring of Calgary which is typical, to even cooler weather in Amsterdam which is not.  Our flight to Frankfurt was uneventful except when the ladies behind us decided to indulge in a midnight chat.  I was fighting a cold so fell back to sleep quickly enough but Glen could not.

Our connection with Luftansa to Amsterdam was 2 hours and that turned out to be perfect.  Our bag went directly to the airplane as we went through customs and security.  Others on our plane weren't so lucky and may have missed their connections.  I think we also circumnavigated the airport as it took forever to find our gate then we boarded a bus which took us back to where we had landed (about a 10 minute ride).

I had forgotten lunch was provided on the short one hour flight to Amsterdam so I had to wake Glen or he'd have missed a half sandwich of very healthy bread and mystery white cheese.

The Amsterdam airport is a lovely building and it was easy to find the train station.  We knew the hotel was a step away from the Amsterdam RAI station so we bought our tickets (3 euros each) and the woman told us where to go to catch our train.  She mentioned its name but it didn't register with Glen or myself.  Jet lag will do that.  Next time, I'll have to write these things down.  We did hear that we were to disembark at the second station.

So our adventure began when we boarded the Amsterdam Centraal train instead of the Amsterdam Oosterhaar one.  We got off at the second stop (see photo) even though it wasn't called RAI to discover ourselves deep in suburbia.  There was a Holiday Inn Express hotel at the train station and since we were staying at a hotel in that chain, I went to inquire where our hotel would be (always travel with a printout of your hotel reservation with its address).

The Asian receptionist could barely speak English but told me to take the subway to the hotel.  I didn't want to pay for another ticket so we went back to the train station and found a great station master who told us the best way was to return to the airport and get on the correct train.  He assured us our ticket would be valid so that's what we did.

Once at the airport, we again asked for help.  This time the station master (they all wear red hats so you know who to ask) had limited English so he showed us on his hand-held schedule device the information we needed.  It is easier to remember Oosterhaar when you see it written down.  This time we were more alert to the comings and goings of the trains so bordered the correct one and sure enough got off at RAI station.

I was a bit disoriented but once I saw the sign pointing to RAI, I knew our hotel was in the opposite direction.  We walked along the road until we spotted it, about 5 minutes from the station.  Fortunately, we had only one suitcase so schelping our bags was easy.  The awkward part was Glen's poster tube which lacked a strap but we managed.

Due to the additional cost of breakfast and internet (only two devices allowed so I chose my laptop over my phone), we decided to upgrade our room so these costs would be included at a cheaper rate.  Such decisions are hard to make on 5 hours sleep but we muddled through.

We were supposed to meet a group for supper but RAI is also in the suburbs (20 minute tram ride from downtown) and we were so wiped, we knew we couldn't carry on a decent conversation with anyone.  The hotel restaurant was quiet so we had some Grolsch pilsner and a vegetarian pizza (really a cheese pizza with a little pesto sauce).  It was all we needed before tumbling into bed at 8:30 pm.