We've made it to the Netherlands and tomorrow we head off to Heidelberg, Germany.

Dear Family and Friends,

Before leaving Ecuador we experienced a roller coaster of emotions, not sure if we would even make this trip or not.  As everything came together at the last minute, our spirits lifted.  

William picked us up on Saturday morning and we were at the airport nice and early.  We got checked in with no problems.  Before we knew it, we were on our way to Quito. 

We arrived in Quito about 10:00 am.  Our flight to Amsterdam was scheduled to leave at 4:00 pm, so we went to the food court across from the terminal to have breakfast.  We hung out at Juan Valdez, a coffee shop, and waited until time to check in.

Our flight went very well.  I cannot say enough good things about KLM airlines.  We have always had such positive experiences with them.  The flight attendants are extremely helpful, one assistant insisted on putting my carry on suitcase in the the overhead bin for me. They were all very patient and really put the passengers at ease. Unfortunately, this kindness from the stressed, overworked airline employees rarely happens on U.S. airlines these days.  

We arrived in Amsterdam a few minutes ahead of schedule.  Unfortunately, the gate we were assigned was still occupied by another airline.  After waiting on the tarmac for about 40 minutes we were assigned a different gate.  This, of course, was no problem for us because we were at our final destination, but I felt sorry for the travelers who had connecting flights.

There were other delays before finally getting through immigration.  We had heard that the Amsterdam airport was experiencing problems so we were expecting the delays and took them in stride.  The other passengers seemed to be doing the same.  

Now for the fun part.  

We had decided to go to Haarlem from the Amsterdam airport by train.  The train runs right below the terminal.  This is a very easy thing to do.  

HOWEVER, when you are OLD, like us. (We have limited hearing and sight.  We shuffle along.  AND we sometimes get confused.) Mind you, this does not keep us from our independent travel, but we have to take our mistakes in stride.  We certainly entertain ourselves a lot.  

I won't go into detail, but what should have been a 45 minute train ride with one station change, turned into a two hour train ride with 4 station changes and an unnecessary subway ride.  BUT, the important thing is we arrived to the Haarlem train station.  In our defense we were travel weary from traveling 12 hour across the Atlantic ocean.

Tomorrow we are taking the train to Heidelberg, Germany.  We knew we needed a day to get over our jet lag  before this trip, so this is why we spent today in Haarlem. 

Today, we slept until well after 10:00am.  Hopefully, this will take care of our jet lag.  Also we walked a lot in the sunshine to get some exercise before we head out tomorrow.

I did a selfie this morning before heading out.  I look like a granny girl scout leader.  

I am pretty sure I will not get confused for a local.

These are some photos I took of this beautiful city as we wondered around and enjoyed the sites.

Chuck robbing the ATM so we can have some euros for the day.

A few of the unique buildings here.

  

Street scenes:

Chuck checking out this very small unique car.

A flower market

A tourist canal boat

A couple of locals on the canal.

The museum was closed on Mondays, but we saw the Corrie Ten Boom house and museum from the outside.

Last but certainly not least, we went out for dinner in a popular outdoor restaurant across from the cathedral.

Chuck ordered Crab Claw.

and I had a Lady Steak...

Both were delicious.  All in all, it was a wonderful first day and now that we have wondered all over Haarlam, we are ready to take the train to Heidelberg.  It only has two station changes...wish us luck.

Wishing you all a very tranquil 4th of July.  Until next post...

Love,

Nancy