Flew to Amsterdam over night. Wasn't too bad a flight. 7 and1/2 hours, and I got about 4 hours sleep. God bless Sonata. Don't take them very often, but on a trans Atlantic flight, it makes sleeping so much easier.
Because of "connections" it took us three different reservations to get to Amsterdam. Boston was our first try, and the flight from Raleigh was delayed and we couldn't make the connection. Delta did some good work, and then decided to send us to Minneapolis, but that flight from Raleigh was also delayed, and we finally got a flight to Atlanta, which worked. Left Hotlanta by plane about 10:30pm, but it turned out to be a good time to eat something and try to get some shuteye on the flight.
The Viking people (our tour group)had someone meet us at the airport ("Schiphol"), and drive us to the hotel- the Raddison Blu Hotel. We were both pretty tired, but went out on the town anyway, grabbed some dinner, and then got a good night sleep.
Next morning we had a two hour guided tour of Amsterdam with a "native" guide. Saw many of the interesting and picturesque sites, and I will place some of them in the accompanying photos.
Amsterdam is pretty with all the canals. It was a major port in the 15 thru the 1700s. WWII caused much chaos, but the city seems to have survived.
Marijuana is legal here, so if you go into a coffee shop many of the "younger" people (which includes just about everyone at this time in my life) are using it, and if one is not very careful (what did I say?) you can get a secondary high (LOL,LOL,LOL).
Keep y'all informed as we head down up Rhine, as we hope to see some pretty sights. I'll include pictures. (No pictures allowed in the Red Light district, sorry.)
So far the weather seems similar to North Carolina. It is 73 degrees here today and sunny.
If they keep up with the marijuana next time it will take 5 connections....I believe the control towers includes Amsterdam as well!!!
ReplyDeleteCiao Uncle Weaver!!