October 20, 2014 Arrive in Amsterdam, Night Walk About

The next day approaches as we start over the dark Atlantic Ocean. We eventually would hit the islands of Cape Verde, off the African Coast, just as the sun was rising. I'm thinking sunsets are over rated, it's the sunrises that I think are brilliant.  We fly over Morocco just off its African coast, move into Spain and Portugal, it's then on to France, Belgium then on into Netherlands.  It was a nice flight from Rio to Amsterdam.  The B-777 was very comfortable in Business Class and Greta took great care of me.  We were about an hour late, but that was because of our delay in Rio.  No worries.  I collect my luggage and exchange my Brazilian dollars for Euros. About a 3 to 1 exchange.  I go out to the taxi queue and the line was huge.  So, I decided to try UBER.  My youngest daughter Sydney had gotten me to register with UBER a few months ago, but I had never used them.  So I go to the Uber App and I punch in where I am and where I'm going (Doubletree Hotel).  She also was the one that got me to check out airbnb.com, where I have reserved at least 8 places for my trip.  The first one in Rio was a bust, but we'll see how the rest check out. Two minutes later a person calls me and says to meet him across the street at the Sheraton. I walk over and he gets out of his car, grabs my bags and we are off and running. Its a great transportation system.  You simply get the app, register on-line with a credit card or Pay-Pal (which I use).  Once you enter the cab there is nothing to do except ride.  Once you get to you destination, you simply get your luggage say good bye to the driver and he is off to his next customer.  Within five minutes you are sent a receipt, then verify its accuracy.  Done.
While riding in my cab I couldn't get over how beautiful the city is with all of its canals and the architecture of the row housing.
We get to the Doubletree Hotel, where I used some hotel points for tonight's stay.  I check in to the front desk, and they are as sweet as could be.  I check in to my room and the first thing I notice is the panoramic view from my window.  It is gorgeous, I can't get my camera out fast enough to take some pictures.  The rain had started to fall, just as we were pulling up to the hotel, but it didn't slight the view at all. Actually, as some people know, I actually love the rain.  When I lived in Seattle for a couple of years, I really didn't mind the misty days that occurred there often.
I was a bit dragged out from my trip and afraid I might have a bit of a jet lag issue. The time difference between Brazil and Amsterdam is about six hours.  I only slept about four hours on the plane, but I was up and ready to go for a walk.  The hotel is in the north part of the city near the Central Train Station, where I will be leaving next week for my four day trip to Paris. I look on the map and I'm only about ten minute walk from where I will be staying starting tomorrow night, Tulip of Amsterdam B&B.  I just wanted to make sure I knew where it was located.  I find it and just next door is the Gusto Italian restaurant.  I go inside this very quaint 12 table resturant and was escorted to a table.  I order the Veal Osso Bucco and a bottle of wine.  Just as I was about to get my wine, I ask the waiter if he would mind if I sat outside.  It had stopped raining and the weather was okay.  He said absolutely and helped me carry things outside, plus dried off the table and chair.  There were just three tables on the outside sidewalk and I was the only patron.   It was the perfect setting.  The area around the B&B and the resturant has a large square with an old church, that I would find out shortly, struck it's bells every 15 minutes.  It was about 8PM, so the bells rang out its song followed by 8 echoing rings from the church bell tower.  Since it is a centralized square in the city there is a lot of foot traffic, so I get to just watch people walking by.  I like watching people to see if I can figure out their life stories just by looking at their face, mannerisms and who they are with at the time.  I think I picked up this mental game spending long hours at the airport and restaurants over the years.
Just about that time I get an airbnb.com notice from the person at the Tulip office asking what time I will arrive tomorrow.  I answer back about 2PM but also tell them I'm actually next door at the Gusto. About five minutes later, this guy walks up, an Owen Wilson look-a-like, and introduces himself as David, manager next door at the Tulip.  I have him sit down with me and he has an expresso while I'm waiting for my food.  He doesn't drink, as I found out, when I ask him to join me for a glass of my vino. He says I could go ahead and move in tonight.   I wouldn't be charged because no one is in the apartment.  I say thanks but it would be a lot of trouble to get back to the hotel, pack and move everything over. Anyway, Im staying on a free night at the hotel because of my Hilton points.
When my food comes, he politely excuses himself and says he will see me tomorrow. My dinner was just delicious, but that may have something to do with all the fish that I had been eating over the last week in Brazil. I paid the check and walk the ten minutes back to my hotel. As I get back to my hotel, I notice there is a Starbucks attached to the hotel.  I haven't had a drip bold grande with cream for two weeks.  This will be tomorrows first item of business...or pleasure.