TRIP 1/9 Amsterdam Day 1: Wooden Shoes and Modern Hotel

A few weeks ago I sent MY Christmas list to Santa.  I wanted a solution for the holidays (two dads' schedules to contend with) and something I could look forward to.

So Santa brought me my life dream!  He went on whichairlines.com and found us tickets to Europe for $360 RT. He couldn't resist. He knew it'd be just the thing.  So he sent us this letter down the chimney two weeks before Christmas.

We freaked out.  It was happening: my life goal and one of the main reasons I had children was going to materialize. I was taking my kids to Europe to show them the world.

Well, most of them. Mimi is 9, Jude is 8 and Silas is nearly 7 so they are all functioning independent human beings who can mostly be trusted to not run or crawl into a train well.  But I got the two babies tickets as well because I thought I could either get one of the dads to come too OR I'd hire a nanny for when we arrived.  But that plan was vetoed. There are reasons to be sad that they didn't come but there are also reasons to be very grateful they aren't here. Instead Danny took them to exotic eastern Arizona on a 17 hour road trip.  Hard pass on that one.

The planning began.  I managed their passports with the help of the dads.  There was one glitch that ended up in Si's and Jude's being held up until Weds Dec 22.  Close call. 

We hit the library and got some children's books on Amsterdam and Paris.  We went on line and found a killer hotel and a reasonably priced AirBnB in Paris. We found a podcast and learned some French.  Mimi brought home some Anne Frank books. I did little lessons about famous art we would see when we got there.

My friend (and champion) Joanna leant us some backpacks and plenty of pointers. I created a Google doc itinerary with activities and food. We have a plan.

Packing was easy. 6 outfits per person, two pairs of shoes: one for walking, the other for snow walking. Toiletries. Snacks. Two small disposable books each. Walkie talkies. iPads and headphones. Jackets, gloves, hats.  Done.
No diapers! No portable cribs? No bottle supplies? Who's life is this?! Do I even know how to walk without pushing a stroller? Where will I put my drink?

We scheduled Christmas for the night before the babies had to leave/were handed over tearfully. My little family has done our own Christmas at home for a few years. We have specific traditions: Mexican food, Jesus' birthday cake, we act out sing the Twelve Days of Christmas, we do a fairly rambunctious nativity, we get our jammies on and put out cookies, we read 'Twas the Night before Christmas, and we hustle to bed.  This time Santa was not coming and I had bought one sweet present for each kid and they bought a bunch of little things for each other. Grandma and Grandpa also sent some humdinger presents that required me calling in my friends to help put them together. Many thanks Dev and Bobb!

Christmas done, babies gone, stuff packed, it was time to go. 

My world traveler friend Megan picked us up bright and early and whisked us to the airport on Christmas Eve morning.  No lines, hoped on our flight, checked no bags. Flew to Houston. Waited a bit, climbed onboard an international plane (they're always more legit) and plugged ourselves in for a 9 hour screen binge.  We had a whole row to ourselves with two empty seats that we put to good use.
Landed at Schipol, waltzed through customs lugging our packs, grabbed some train tickets and rode the rails to Amsterdam Centraal.

We were here.

We took a good look around and then hightailed it to our hotel for food and sleep.

All hail the six hour nap!

When we woke we uber'd to the central part of town, ate crepes for dinner and then joined all of the people strolling around the streets and alley ways in the most beautiful weather. It's about 50 here which is warm enough to be outside comfortably without hats and gloves.

The streets of Amsterdam leave nothing to the imagination so I was left to explain the cannabis culture and all the sexy stuff in the windows. This is what I told them, "There are two kinds of smoking. One is tobacco and one is marijuana.  People smoke them because it makes them feel good even though it's not healthy.  In Amsterdam marijuana (which is a drug) is legal and people feel generally ok about smoking it or eating it in food. We are taught by our religion not to smoke it and it's especially important not to use it before your brain fully develops at 25, but other people have different ways of living and even if they drink or smoke they are good people just like us."  To which Silas replied, "It smells."

As for all the sexy stuff I explained thusly, "Another thing that is legal in Amsterdam is renting a girlfriend.  You can pay to hang out with ladies in bikinis in little red rooms."  To which Mimi responded, "Oh, so people who can't get a girlfriend do that because they're losers or ugly or something?"  I replied,"Yes. Only losers buy women."

Next stop was a nighttime canal cruise showcasing a special event that's going on here called the Amsterdam Light Festival.  While we were queued up a DJ started a dance party and, as you know, we are joiners.  It was an impromptu party.  Then on the boat (which I can barely talk about because it makes me renauseated) we were packed in and floated around the canals looking at these giant lit up installations.  Unfortunately it was hot and crowded and long and I nearly barfed. At the end we found the outdoor section and could enjoy it a little bit more.

Christmas 2016 Pics:

Then home to our cozy cool hotel call the Volkshotel that you should check out on their website.  I gave them some benedryl so they could try to adjust to the time change and it seems to have worked fine. I'm Celia: dinking around on my phone until everyone wakes up and we can go on some adventures.