The Sudden Trip to Amsterdam, pt.2: Thursday Morning Freezing Cold Neighborhood Walk

Most of my coworkers get the kind of jetlag where you sleep in late. I get the kind of jetlag where I wake up super early. So on my first morning I sat in my room waiting for the sun to come up (at 8:30) and then walked an exploration loop through my neighborhood. I didn't look at any maps or decide on any destinations before heading out, I wanted my wanderings to be pure wanderings.

First things first, let's just get this out of the way: Here's my house.

MPJ?

I took a picture of this garbage truck because it nearly ran me over.  All vehicles in Amsterdam--bicycles, cars, trains, trams and trucks--are quiet and deadly and always sneaking up on me. 



Imagine my relief when I saw the local church was just down the block from me.

Local coffeehouses.

"Oh, what's this beautiful building?" I asked when I saw it in the distance.  The answer? A mall.

But this is the side of a church.

Some grand building on a square.

That it shares with a wax museum.



My kind of street.



There will definitely be a review of the Dutch McDonalds shrimp met chilidip on this blog soon.



CCM?





So . . . not really?

Stumbled upon the Medieval Torture Museum, open before 9am.

There's where I get my trains!

Bikes on bikes on bikes. (on racks)

KLF?



Mad flare.

You're telling me I can get into the torture museum right after breakfast but have to wait for pirate gambling?





My walk didn't last so long because it was so freezing outside.  Came back to the hotel and poked around, wound up in the gym.  My face was so red I couldn't believe it.  So I took a picture.  But it looks like you'll never see how red I was.

All in all, I'd say this was a pretty good batch of underexposed digital photos.

The Sudden Trip to Amsterdam, pt. 1: Departure and Arrival and Here We Are

So, Tuesday night I had this salad

While waiting for flight 644

Here.

There's my plane.

My line.

My seat.  Very shallow.

My journey.

My joy in listening.

My snack.

My airplane dinner.  I got those potatoes on my shirt and pants.  The roll was good.

I liked my fork and knife and spoon.  Maybe I kept them?

My placemat.

Did I sleep on the flight?  Honestly, no idea.  But it went by quick.

Arrived.  Goodbye, 747.

So this is Amsterdam.

And here's the first thing that caught my interest in this new land.

Ehh, didn't seem so Biggest to me.  I think they counted the whole food court when calculating the size.

Van taxis!

Rolling into town.

I should have taken a picture of the hotel when I rolled up.  But here's my room.  My bed has SEVEN PILLOWS.

Walking to the train for the first time.

In the station for the first time.

Arriving at my work-station for the first time.

And walking to work.  There is a stadium.

Someone could just fall into that water!

Work bathroom.  This is how they live in Amsterdam.

Lobby furniture.

Back in my neighborhood at night time.

One thing lead to another and a group of us ate here:



Wrecked a plate or two of nachos.

Then waited an hour for this burrito while watching everyone that came in after us get their food.

Who would have guessed that the Mexican restaurant in Amsterdam would turn out to be a bad idea?  That's what I like to do when I travel: Learn.

Came home to a welcome bottle of wine.  If you want it, come and get it.  It's a Baron Louis 2010.

Not much later I fell asleep.  Woke up at 6:30, started Day 2 by posting this post.