Hi everyone,
My 83 year-old grandmother and her 69 year-old cousin have been visiting me in Germany (first time in Europe for the latter) and we just returned from one of two trips-within-the-trip yesterday.
We flew Stuttgart to Schipol via KLM, and bought an "Amsterdam and Region" 3 day transit ticket for 33 euros at the bookstore in the Airport Plaza. This is generally a good deal for active travelers, although in retrospect it wasn't for us because we didn't use public transit at all on our 2nd day - but the amount of money we would have saved with another option is negligible. I would absolutely buy the pass if I was traveling with more active people.
We headed straight to Amsterdam, put our luggage in the locker at the main station, and promptly hopped on a canal cruise. It was one of the more expensive ones at 18 euros, but I wasn't paying and it was cold and rainy, so heading to the nearest option was fine. This was my first time on a canal cruise even though it was my fifth time in Amsterdam, and I would totally take another one in better weather being able to sit in the open air. The views from the water are distinct and it was fun to see landmarks in a new way, despite the "blah" recorded commentary. As it was, the glass windows fogged up frequently due to the rain.
Afterwards we hopped on the tram to Westerkerk, and got dinner at Cafe De Prins. Good food and service in a nice setting, we got fish'n'chips and I got a bacon cheese burger that's as good as any boutique burger I've had in the US. This brought us right up to our appointed time at the Anne Frank House, which despite this being my 4th visit to Amsterdam I'd never managed to do for a variety of reasons. Suffice it to say, it was a wonderful museum on it's own, but visiting the actual hidden annex was extremely moving. I was kind of afraid I'd break down, but managed to keep it together in the moment. Incidentally, the young man who recently was the subject of some news for wanting to wear his kippah (skullcap) as an Orthodox Jew and that turning into a big controversy with the museum board was our ticket taker. I wanted to give him a high-five or otherwise voice my support but he's probably tired of the issue now that he has the right to wear his kippah to work, although it's utterly crazy that a museum/memorial to people who were murdered because they were Jewish wouldn't let a Jewish person engage in such an unobtrusive mitzvah.
We were there for about 90 minutes, then headed to Haarlem to check into our hotel, the Ambassador City Center. It was more poorly reviewed than hotels I usually stay in, but beggars can't be choosers and 3-bed rooms aren't that easy to find. I was tickled to see that the Rick Steves Best of Europe in 21 Days group was also staying there that night! We didn't arrive til late and they departed early, so I didn't get to schmooze with anyone who potentially reads the board, but it gave me faith that the hotel wouldn't be a total disaster, and it wasn't, although despite it's prime location (right in the main square across from the big church) and friendly service, I'd probably try to find another place to stay, simply because the bathrooms and beds were less than stellar and you can't open the windows to get fresh air. They did have a lift, which is one of the reasons I chose it for my travelers, but there were 5 stairs down into the room without a railing, which was very difficult for my grandmother to navigate. We opted not to do the breakfast, since the price was relatively high and we had plenty of options in town. Day 2 continues...