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Our Next Project

October 11, 2014 Drew

We’re back in the good old US of A! We had a great time living and working in Amsterdam for the last 2 months, and are now back in North Carolina ready to keep living it up.

Our original plan when I quit my job back in May was to spend the summer getting the bus ready for a long road-trip. By August, it was clear that the project was going to take a lot more work (and welding equipment) than I was willing to invest. So we decided to outsource the thing to a local VW shop, and see what they could get done. Well… it turns out my luck with find an efficient and timely VW place has not improved at all since the Illinois days! The bus has sat outside for 2 months with nothing done. At this point, I know I don’t want to do all of the heavy lifting myself, and it seems like I can’t even pay someone else to do it either – so we’re moving to plan B.

What is plan B you ask? Such a great question! While the details are still being fleshed out, it might involve something along the lines of a cute vintage pull-behind camper, and a fully functioning (already paid for) Jeep Liberty on a road trip around the US and Canada. If we can get this plan off the ground, good times will be had by all!

To get a feel for things to come, Norm and Carla took us up to the Blue Ridge Parkway for a little side trip. The leaves are just turning, and the scenery up there is truly breathtaking. Something about a belly full of Chik-fil-a seems to make those vibrant fall colors look even more awesome!

We’re also back in the market for some sweet antique camping gear. I’m always looking for a good deal and good find.

Yes. BBQ. Mmmm Yes.

A little fun at Bass Pro!

The first part of plan B is to get Noelle’s Jeep cleaned up and trailer ready. The U-haul hitch electrical connector that we’ve had trouble with in the past finally gave out when we were towing the bus to NC. We got them to look at it, and it turns out that a wire was installed incorrectly. This had caused a short that fried the electronic tow module. Sparks flying inside concealed compartments of the car – not cool! Luckily for us, nothing really bad had happened, and they replaced it all under warranty.

Next, we tackled the shabby front grill on the Liberty. This thing is some aftermarket addition that is falling apart. A little googling told me we could pop the entire front piece off very easily, and we quickly found out that this plastic chrome-ish nightmare is just clipped on. Pulled it off, cleaned the underlying grill, re-installed. In about 30 minutes it feels like we have a brand new looking car – success!

We’ve also decided to plan on spending a big chunk of our time in Florida – warm weather, sandy beaches, no state income tax, and we’ve got family there on my dad’s side – I’m sold! We will drive down to get everything set up when we eventually find a camper.

Amsterdam

I Amsterdam Day Three

October 4, 2014 Drew

Day three started a bit late for us. Ok it was 1:30 in the afternoon, but after two days of walking around all day, we were freakin tired!

Today, we took the tram to Centraal station and hopped on a train to the outlying “tourist trap” of Zaanse Schans. This place has a bunch of cool, old-world dutch stuff like windmills and bakeries, and the first ever Albert Heijn (it’s a grocery store). The windmills were relocated here sometime in the 1970’s though, and now the whole site has a reputation for just being one of “those tourist places.”

Honestly though, I’m all for a place that lines everything up nice and neat for you to take pictures and have fun. Zaanse Schans has a ton of good information, and was a lot of fun to visit. The weather was beautiful and sunny, and the fact that it was all covered with the I Amsterdam card made it even better!

After walking through the site we headed back to the train station – already pretty tired and hungry. We made our way back those beautiful Golden Arches in Dam square for another quick pick-me-up of good American food (and probably chemical) engineering.

We tried to go in to the New Church, but it was closed. We tried to go visit the Royal Palance, but it was closed. We returned to the Red Light District and tried to visit the Old Church. I saw a sign that said ‘Open’ with an arrow pointing through the church doors, but they were locked. I was starting to get mad that all these places were closed, but then we found the correct side entrance – whew, rant averted! The church was very cool, and had a distinctly naval style and feeling on the inside.

We then headed back to Centraal station to catch the canal boat tour that is included with the I Amsterdam card. This experience was actually very disappointing. We stood in line for about an hour and a half waiting to get on this boat. Turn’s out you can’t really see out the windows that well, and the seating is a free for all so if you happen to be towards the back of the group you are screwed.

Here is the lovely old Italian couple that decided to take up both window seats so they could see better. They didn’t move from there the whole time – lovely.

Finally off the boat, we headed back to experience some more of late night Red Light District before the skies opened up with a cold torrential rain. After three days of intense touristing, and almost two months of great weather and great times, Amsterdam was telling us “it’s time to move on!”

Overall the I Amsterdam card was worth it. It lets you in to a ton of great museums and sites, gives you free GVB tram transportation all over the city, and includes a bunch of additional non-Amsterdam sites and discounts. We are exhausted from three days of bustling around, but I also feel like we are capping this whole trip off with a set of great travel experiences. We head back to the States next week, and I’m looking forward to what comes next!

Amsterdam

I Amsterdam Day Two

October 3, 2014 Drew

Day 2 of our I Amsterdam tourist binge was all about canal houses and museums. We spent all day out and about, and had a great time visiting some really cool places – sweet!

Today we started out on the right foot with a trip to McDonalds. In my experience, it is actually pretty hard to find decent lunch food in Amsterdam that doesn’t involve fighting for a table and sitting there for 2 hours. We wanted something cheap and fast, and the Golden Arches were there to deliver!

Our first stop was the Van Loon Museum. This place is a very well preserved and restored 17th century canal house that still belongs to an old, wealthy merchant family. Noelle and I love visiting old houses like this. They offer a really cool glimpse into what life was like way back when (albeit a very rich and aristocratic life!) These big merchant houses were all set up in a similar layout; grand entryway, big curving staircases, lots of rooms upstairs, kitchen in the basement, and a beautiful garden leading to the carriage house. Van Loon has all of that on display!

We also visited the Geelvink Hinlopen House, and the Willet House. Both had more beautiful gardens, and some cool rooms to explore. I would vote Van Loon as the best of the three, but with the I Amsterdam card, we were just glad to see all of them without paying for each entrance.

Noelle took some cool panoramas with her iPhone too:

Also on the list was the Tassenmuseum Hendrikje (Museum of Bags and Purses). I suppose it is a little odd that I can be extremely interested in the inner workings of an old, greasy VW engine one week, and then find myself still mildly amused by the progression of styles and materials used in 17th and 18th century fashion… I suppose I should find it even more odd that Noelle is also extremely interested in the purses, but also mildly amused by the VW engine. We’re just crazy I guess!

After an enthralling morning walking around the houses and museums, we found ourselves in the middle of yet another open air market, this time in Waterlooplein. These markets are cool, but after almost two months of Amsterdam living, I’m starting to feel the pull of a well stocked Target.

We hit up Rembrandt’s house for our final museum stop before heading to dinner. This was essentially another house museum, that also included some works from the artist. They also had a decent workshop demonstration set-up. The place was a little more crowed than the other stops, and we were definitely losing steam by this point. We decided to head to Leidseplein to find some grub!

First we stopped in at the Pipe Museum outside of the square. I was expecting the museum to be some hokey little place with a bunch of your typical Amsterdam = weed type stuff, but it turned out to be a huge collection of smoking pipes dating from way back b.c. to today. It was interesting to see the change in materials and styles, and our guide was very keen to make sure we saw each and every one!

After getting a thorough education on tobacco smoking through the ages, we ended up back at De Zotte, the brown cafe we ate at a few weeks ago.

A couple hours of drinking 8% alcohol beers, eating large amounts of bread, cheese, fries, and spare ribs, we headed off to the Van Gogh museum. It’s open until 10 on Fridays; we had tried to go earlier in our trip, but found the line was too long. This time there was almost no line, and the entrance free was covered with the I Amsterdam card – sweet!

After wandering the floors of the museum and taking in the many colorful paintings, we were just about totally exhausted. A quick tram ride back to the Jordaan and we were off to bed. Hopefully we will have enough energy for Day 3!

Amsterdam

I Amsterdam Day One

October 2, 2014 Drew

Our time in Amsterdam is quickly winding down. We came here to test and develop our plan to travel-work, and I feel like we have done a pretty good job balancing those two competing priorities. But… wouldn’t it be awesome to tip that scale over to the travel side with some last minute, aggressive, push like it’s Disney World type of touristing? Answer: heck yeah!

So, we each bought a 72hour I Amsterdam card, and proceeded to get our tourist on. This card covers a majority of the many sites and museums that Amsterdam has to offer, as well as unlimited GVB tram travel. They include a number of sites in the outlying areas, and throw in an hour long canal cruise to top everything off – Sweet!

For day 1 we got a fairly early start taking the #14 tram to the Museum of the Tropics. This place is interesting to say the least. The guidebook said “Stories, splendid works of art and objects bring a variety of cultures to life.” What we found was a pretty odd and eclectic mix of stuff. They have everything ranging from 1600’s era Caribbean and African items that the Dutch have relocated (read plundered), to some kids toys from the 1980’s and 1990’s, to some Teletubbies riding a zebra chariot. Noelle tried to argue before we got there that this was going to be a bit of a roadside attraction. I didn’t believe her, but the pictures prove it… I was wrong!

After leaving the Tropenmuseum behind, we grabbed a quick toastie and a Coke Light, and headed to the Zoo! The Artis as it’s called is a Victorian era park and zoo that spans a big chunk of real estate in the Plantage neighborhood of south-east Amsterdam. This place houses a pretty random bunch of animals and birds, and has that old-school, look at the pretty monkey through the bars, type of a feel which was fun for me; mostly because I’m not behind the bars (at least that’s what they tell me).

The weather was actually really beautiful, and had a kind of spring-like quality in the air. I think the animals could feel it too. From the lions to the lizards to the little fat mouse things – they all seemed… twitterpated…

This dude is just so chill:

On a side note, they wanted 2euro for a park map. I of course immediately declined before I heard that the money went to some save the elephants fund… oops. Noelle still feels guilty.

After several hours at the zoo we strolled over to the Botanical Gardens. Getting in to these places with just a swipe of the I Amsterdam card was cool.

The gardens are relatively compact; a nice reprieve for our feet. We saw some cool plants which was fun too. I did notice that they have a very rare and ancient type of tree from the time of the dinosaurs imprisoned on site. I’m not sure what you have to do to get a jail cell like that in Amsterdam of all places!

They even have a redwood:

Once we got our fill of all of nature’s carefully curated beauty, we headed down the street to the old Jewish Quarter. We spent some time reflecting at the Holocaust museum and memorial, and toured the Portuguese Synagogue. This was my first experience in a Kippah – not half bad!

By this point it was getting into the evening, and we were pretty wiped out. We managed to make our way over to Rembrandt square and grabbed a decent bite to eat at one of the many restaurants lining the area.

Amsterdam is definitely one of the better places to just sit and people watch – always lively and interesting! We ended our I Amsterdam binge Day One watching “Gone Girl” at the historic theatre nearby. On to Day Two!

Amsterdam

Amsterdam Canal Cleanup

September 23, 2014 Drew

Yet another exciting day in Amsterdam. We saw this on the way back from an excellent lunch at Amsterdam’s Singel 404. I took a video because that’s what cool people with iPhones do! None of the canals really have any rails or walls, so it would be pretty easy to lose something over the side. Looking at the number of bikes piled up on the boat, I’d say a lot of people have had that problem!

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