Thanks to all

We just got back from our trip to Belguim and Netherlands. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who posts. I read the forum almost daily for several weeks before we left and appreciated all the comments about everything. I took to heart as much as I could and we had a fairly trouble free, wonderful trip. We did Delft, and I would go back there in a heartbeat. So much slower and less crowded than Amsterdam. We stayed at Hotel Leeuwenbrug and I can't say enough about how kind and helpful the staff were. The room was lovely (with a fairly big bath by European standards). We could see the old kerke clock tower from our room. The breakfast was delicious. We biked around town and that was fun.
In Amsterdam, we stayed at the Hotel Singel. It was lovely also. Loved the location, close to Centraal station and tram stops. We had a back room ( looked at another wall) but it was quiet and comfortable. Again the staff started us off everyday, answering every question and giving us good advice. We did the Riks, Van Goph, Willet-Hulsteyn house (we love old houses), Vondal park, and some further afield day trips: Zaanse Schans and the steam train/boat cruise from Hoorn to Enkhuizen (for a relaxing, non-walking type of day and it was rainy). We used the I Amsterdam card and found it very convenient for local transportation. We didn't get to all the sights I had planned for, so the card only broke even for us, but the convenience of it more than compensated. For all other train trips, we bought tickets at kiosks or at counters at the train station. Train travel was the biggest stress for us, as we live in a small-rural town America and have NO public transportation, so figuring out the enormous train stations and the swiping cards and the many platforms was somewhat stressful, especially the first day after our arrival. But we eventually got fairly comfortable with it all. This was our first travel experience outside the USA. We met wonderful, friendly people, felt safe and comfortable in all the areas we visited (except one train station in Brussels). I am already dreaming of another trip. We even did better than I had budgetd for. Yeah.