Day 1 Flight to Haarlem and First ImpressionsTogether my Mother and I left Montana at 2pm on Thursday, April 30th. The flight to Minneapolis was relatively quick. I love seeing all of the mountains from the air. They go on forever it seems, at least until you cross the Rocky Mountains. From that point on it is relatively flat. It was also quite hazy so it was hard to see much past the Rockies.
Once we reached Minneapolis our layover was scarcely an hour. We soon found ourselves locked and loaded in the large plane that would take us to Amsterdam. This was an 8 hour red eye flight. Mom and I were no exception, as we took 15 minute or so naps here and there, but hardly anything considered sleep. I watched the sun set and rise on one of the longest but shortest nights of my life. This flight provided both dinner and breakfast as well as a wonderful selection of movies. However, by the end of the flight we were more than ready to be on our happy way and really start this adventure! The actual arrival at Amsterdam was the most exciting, although at this time mom and I were feeling the wear and tear of a sleepless night. As we flew into the Amsterdam area Mom and I were enchanted by the masses of brightly colored fields down below. Tulips, in shades of pink, red, yellow, orange. Other colors such as purple and green were thrown into the mix as well. It was simply amazing. What a wonderful and cheerful welcome! As soon as we were off the flight I was able to access the internet so that I could find Emily and we could meet up. She was already on the other side of customs, and so we made our way to the baggage claim. Thank goodness both of our bags arrived safe and sound! When we arrived at customs we were not quite sure what to declare. We spoke with a lady working at the airport. The discussion went a little like this: Lady: "Are you both here on Holiday?" Mom: "Yes, we are. We were confused about what we needed to declare when going through customs." Lady: "Do you have any meat with you?" Mom: "No." Lady: "Do you have less than 200 cigarettes?" Mom: "Yes." Lady: "Do you have less than 1 liter of alcohol or whisky?" Mom: "Yes." Lady: "Well that's it. Have a great holiday." Haha, that was easy! |
As we walked through the door leaving customs we were greeted by a paparazzi. A camera man stood at the ready along with several photographers nearby. Obviously they were not waiting for us so we skirted away, eager to find Emily, who was flying in from London, and get out of this very crowded area.
After some searching we finally met up. It was lovely to see Emily again in person after her semester in Venice, Italy. After hugs and cheers we returned to the crowds determined to find our way out of the airport. Our next task was to find the bus that would take us to Haarlem. After a few minutes of waiting at the bus terminal outside the airport (just behind the I Amsterdam sign) we finally hopped the appropriate bus. While on the bus I was able to access the internet to send a message home that we had arrived safely. Finally it was our turn to jump off the bus. We clambered out, bags in hand, onto a cobblestone road. We took a moment to look around and get our bearings. Seconds later we were rushed by a couple of people on their bikes, ringing their bells at us to get out of the way. From our first step onto Haarlem soil we quickly discovered that Haarlem (and Amsterdam) are truly a city of bikes! |
They were everywhere, and they do not stop! Another loud ding ding ding was enough to tell us that another bike was coming. We moved quickly into a nearby alley to avoid a collision. We continued on down the alleyway hoping that we were not treading on bike trails. The sound of our luggage wheels rattling over the cobblestone echoed through the narrow streets, clickety clacking all the way with only our directions from our Rick Steves email in hand. Our research had told us the hotel is close to a large church. we could see a large tower on up ahead, so we moved in that direction.
This led us to Grote Market, the square near which our hotel is located. We were blown away by the beauty of the large church known as Grote Kerk. From here we were able to locate our hotel, the Ambassador.
The hotel was kind enough to let us check in early. We took everything up to our room, and settled in some before venturing out to take in Haarlem, despite our jet lag. We walked up and down streets with a general idea of our goals, but mainly just enjoying the thrill of the adventure. Once we found the nearest canal our exploration was off! We were entranced by the Spaarne Bridge and the surrounding buildings. We walked by the Teylers Museum, Adriaan Windmill and finally found the Amsterdamse Poort. Beautiful! It was such a lovely day on top of everything else! *When you see columns of photos such as you see below you can click on the image and it will enlarge. Then you can click through them as you like. |
For dinner we had a "must have" meal from Haarlem, french fries and Holland Mayo. It was a huge funnel of fries with a giant dollop of Mayo, but it was tasty! It was a lovely day walking around and exploring the city. I look forward to more soon! However with the long flight and a lack of sleep mom and I were falling asleep whenever we were not moving. We opted for an early bed time of 6PM to try and catch up on some sleep. Tomorrow we have Grote Market and we are planning on going on a Waterland Tour.