03-28-2024 Ride

This was a long day. The flight to Amsterdam worked out better than expected, we got to share 3 seats in the middle of the plane. I watched Asteroid City, a Wes Anderson film, with lots of good actors in it but a strange, disjointed plot. Not my favorite. I did get a little sleep during the evening flight, Ann was restless and kept changing positions. She said she got some sleep too, but she was definitely not firing on all cylinders during the early part of the day. We got off the plane, it was a traditional jet ramp down to the tarmac on a wet morning. Into the bus to the terminal, where we walked through a huge array of gates and duty-free shops before coming to a pinch point at the escalator down to the entry point for the Netherlands. The line took us about half an hour to get through, no issues. Then we were in the airport proper, where we stopped to pee and decide on a plan for the day. We decided, correctly I think, to head into Amsterdam via train. That ride was smooth, including buying the tickets. We got to Amsterdam Centraal station and had some trouble finding where the luggage lockers were. The locker storage was not easily marked from where we were, but had we exited the train platform a different way they would have been right there. The process for the lockers made sense after the fact, but it was very confusing the first time. Got it sorted out and exited the station into downtown Amsterdam. It looked vaguely familiar, so I started heading us towards the town square. I couldn't believe how many stores there were, all worldwide popular brands with a distinct American influence. After walking around, we decided to find a place to eat, as I was getting hungry. We decided on Indonesian food and I found a place opening at noon. Walking over there, we saw a big motorcade taking off from the royal palace, with some apparent royalty in a limousine. Then we headed over to Rembrandt Square, found that the Indonesian place was pricey, and decided to keep looking. We found a bar/pub on the other side of the square and ate there instead. I had a toasted cheese sandwich with sweet ketchup on the side. The ketchup was a different take, not recommended. Then we started heading back to the train station, I was sufficiently oriented that, with a little help from Google Maps, we got back directly. Found the lockers and retrieved our stuff. There were several options for how to get to our Airbnb in Lindjen, but we decided on the Metro. After some difficulty in determining how to buy Metro tickets, we'd went down the escalators and I bought them easily at an automated kiosk. There was a transfer to a surface tram that we made smoothly, the 17 stops out to the Matterhorn station, which was pretty far out into the suburbs. It was quite windy when we got off the tram, and Ann took some time to get her bearings of how to walk to the Airbnb. We started off, she was moving slowly, carrying her heavy backpack. After one false directional move across a busy throughway, we trudged (that's the right word) the rest of the way. She was walking really slow, and I kept getting way ahead of her. The walk seemed like it took a long time, but it was about 45 minutes from the tram stop. I waited at the address, on a road next to a rural-looking canal, until she got there. I was tired too, frustrated at her pace and ready to sit down. After a little bit of trouble finding the unit, we met Remco, one of the hosts, and got into the place. It's small, maybe the smallest one we have stayed in, no kitchen to speak of, just a hot plate, mini fridge, and microwave oven. A short nap, then we talked about what to do for dinner. Remco had mentioned that there were shops and a market in nearby Zwanenburg, so we got on the Airbnb bikes and rode into this village center. Took us about 10-15 minutes to get there, and we had the benefit of a tailwind heading out. We found the market, it was a nice one, and got some stuff for two dinners and breakfast. Then it was the return trip. The bikes weren't in great shape, and pedaling into the wind on the way back was a chore for Ann. I kept getting ahead and stopping to wait for her. The road had two bike lanes and a center car lane for two-way traffic, which got dicey when there were cars coming both ways. But we made it back safely, and dinner prep and eating went well. Cleanup was mildly strange, since there was no kitchen sink, but I managed. Early to sleep, aided by melatonin. Throughout the day, it was blustery and mostly overcast, but we successfully avoided getting rained on. The most impactful element of the weather for me was the wind on the long walk from the tram station. Otherwise, it was a generally fine day, much better weather-wise than it could have been.