Mike and Meredith go Dutch!!! Part 1

Hey everyone.

So, we just got back from Amsterdam at about 1:30 today. What a trip. I'll show you the pictures and give you a sense of what we did.


So here we are on the train to Birmingham airport on Friday night. We flew out on Saturday at 7am, so we slept in the departure lounge for a few hours. (By the way, the reason I look so weird is that we had been having a discussion about how people who stand around with their mouths open are funny). Anyway, here's Birmingham Airport:

What an inviting entrance from the station.











No, we didn't take a side trip to a nuclear installation. This was the operating buttons and timer for the small monorail that takes you to the terminal. I was stoked by this.










The first one is a shot from the shuttle, and the second is the carpark. Pretty lights.






So we went into this lounge area that was closed, squeezed into a booth and crashed for a few hours. There were a few people in there, and the staff just left us alone, which was nice.

Our flight was quick and uneventful and at about 9:30 am we arrived in Amsterdam. Huge airport and, as is the case with most things there, incredibly clean and stylish.








The people are great and the coffee rules. Everything else is details.







We had to go to the tourist information place after we arrived at Central Station because it occurred to us that we had no idea how to get to our hostel. So, after waiting around, the lady there told us which tram to catch to get to the Stayokay Zeeberg.






We made our way there, got checked in and met up with Claire, who had arrived the day before. It was great to see her as she is always lots of fun and full of hilarious experiences and stories.







Also, she cuts hair....well, mine anyway. So, we spent most of the day checking out the city. Our hostel was east of the downtown core in a neighbourhood with a large Muslim community. There were a couple of huge open air markets where Meredith bought a purse and.....something else, but I'll let her tell you. It's hilarious.

Back at the hostel, we met our roommate. His name was Kwon. He was around 18-20 and from Australia. He was travelling through Europe by himself and Amsterdam was his first stop. He was actually quite remarkable because in the space of about 9 hours he managed to annoy the three of us, all for completely different reasons.

Reason 1 - Here is our room: As you can see, we had 4 bunkbeds and we claimed our three.








Then, Kwon arrived and totally took over Meredith's bed AFTER SHE HAD MADE IT UP. There's a sign that this guy still lives with his parents.






Reason 2 - we spent the evening out at a couple of bars hanging out. Claire had to go back to the room to get something and once she opened the door, he bugged her for 15 minutes to tag along. So, Claire comes back to the bar with Kwon. Meredith was totally choked, but realized that Claire had no choice. The guy was persistent. I was thinking, "Okay, well he's here. Let's make the most of it". I tried to engage him in conversation but he just kind of sat there and didn't really have anything to say. When he did talk it was just some dumb running joke about how hilarious it would be if someone peed in my beer (!). I was in kinda rough shape by this point in the evening, so I wasn't quite annoyed (yet). Meredith and I went back to the room to crash at about 11:30 because we were exhausted. Claire and (her boyfriend) Kwon showed up later.

Reason 3 - I awoke with a start at about 4:30 am and realized with horror that Kwon was snoring. Now, everyone snores a little but he was REALLY snoring....loud, phlegmy snoring. I had to clamp 2 pillows over my ears just to prevent myself from losing it. Thankfully, it was the last we had seen of him on our trip.

I'll write later to fill you in on the rest of the trip, but for the time being here are a couple of cool random photos. This is Alphonso. When I was teaching, my students bought me this stuffed animal on the last day (I told them I was a cat nut). We called him Alphonso after the supervisor, who was the bane of these kids' existence. Anyway, Alphonso sits on our mantle and judges us daily. Check out his eyes.

And this brings a smile to my face......

LOOK MOM! I MADE YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS!!!







So like I said, the story of our Amsterdam trip will be continued. I hope all of you are well, and we are missing you very much. Have a good one.