Sunday June 6th, 2004

I heard the dogs barking but Monica shushed them very quickly so we went back to sleep for a couple more hours. Monica had coffee and a lovely breakfast prepared for us. The plan for today is for Gary and Monica to drive us into Koln(Cologne) where Tom and I will catch a train to Amsterdam.

The scenery everywhere is just so beautiful. Quaint villages nestled into fields and valleys. So many shades of green in the forrests and the fields. All the villages seem to have white or cream homes with brown trim and brown roofs and everything looks "just so". People have lived here for centuries and you get a sense of that as you travel along. There are also many castles .... some in ruins and some which have been repaired ... perched on the sides of tall hills ... usually overlooking the rivers. It is easy to imagine the fairy tales that were composed here. Easy to imagine them being true!

The Koln train station is huge and wonderful. Right next to it is a very old cathedral which we hoped to get to see inside if we have time before our train. Sadly .... the line was so long to get tickets that by the time we bought them we had nearly missed our train! We rushed our good-byes and Tom and I took off for the Netherlands!

The train we rode in was called an ICE and it was very nice. The car we were in was nearly empty so we got the prime seats ... facing each other with a big table in between us. Stewards rolled carts along selling beer and coffee and water and snacks. Tom and I put our feet up ... opened our books and just enjoyed reading and watching the scenery go by. I forget how long the trip was ... more than a couple hours ... but it went by quickly.

On a side note ... bathrooms in Europe quite often cost money to get into. Always have change with you!! But on the trains they are free and always nearby which is very nice. Bathrooms in Europe are also quite often inaccesible to the handicapped. Usually they are down several flights of narrow stairs ... especially if you are in an old restaraunt or pub. If you have trouble going up and down stairs ... be forewarned!

On another side note ... the EURO is a wonderful thing. It is so nice to be able to travel from country to country and not have to worry about the exchange rates for money. If you are planning to go to Europe, we learned that it is best to leave most of your cash at home and just use an ATM card to withdraw cash in whatever country you find yourself. That way you get the best exchange rates available at the time. Now if only the UK would convert to the Euro. They are still dealing in Pounds.

WE arrived in Amsterdam and located a Tourist Information Office in the train station. There we were able to get a bus pass and book a hotel room and get maps of the city. Up to this point, Gary had been our guide and our interpretor ... but in Amsterdam we were on our own. Tom has been to Amsterdam before on a couple of occasions so he knew of a hotel he wanted to stay with. Luckily, there was room at the Hotel Schiller on Rembrantplein ... a grassy square with a statue of Rembrant in it. The bus system was easy to use and the maps easy to follow.

Hotel Schiller is an old Art Deco hotel ... beautiful inside and overlooking all the outdoor cafes and coffeehouses on the square. Our room is small and the bathroom is smaller ... but we will be okay! Everyone in Amsterdam seems to speak several languages ... at least the people in the service industries do! Tom and I wandered around the Rembrantplein and eventually settled in yet another Irish Pub where I ordered a Trappists beer. The waitress asked if I wanted a double or a triple ... so I said triple, thinking she meant the size of the glass. She looked me up and down, trying to decide if I could handle it I guess ... then she asked me if I knew what a double and a triple were. She explained the the "Dubel" is a dark beer with a little over 6% alcohol. The triple is lighter in color but with about 8.5% alcohol. She decided that maybe a Dubel was the best option for me. I guess I looked like a lightweight??? Anyway ... the dubel was wonderful and I ordered it wherever I could from then on.

Tom and I then wander here and there, hither and yon, checking out the atmosphere, mostly. Coffehouses in Amsterdam can legally sell marijuanna and hash, in case you didn't know that. They actually hand you menus when you walk in with their selections. We stopped in one that also had internet access so that I could email Robbie. I also had a cappacino. Most of these coffeehouses are really small ... 2 or 3 seats inside is all that will fit. Any they sure smell like what they sell ... and I'm not talking coffee here!

We tried to get into an Indonesian Restaurant but all required reservations ... so we made reservations for the next night and had Italian instead. Then we retired to the room but left the windows open to listen to the sounds of the city ...