Jim_Iain Apex Key West, TansAtlantic and British Isle with a Week in Amsterdam

[horseymike]

Great ongoing updates and photos.

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your journey.

 

[venicecruiser]

Absolutely gorgeous flower photos!  Tulips are amazing!

 

Claudia

[Jim_Iain]

Tuesday May 9, 2033

 

Rainy Day  We dawned our rain gear and took a walk around Rembrandtpark. 

This is our street.  As I said not in Centrum.  

 

 

 

 

Grey Heron.   I never realized the iPhone also identifies birds until today. 
 

 

And Egyptian Goose

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

Not sure the bounce effect will work 
 

 

little ducks enjoying the rain
 

 

[Jim_Iain]

Back to Mercatoplein to do our daily grocery shopping. The rain dried up for a little while.  Should be nicer tomorrow. 
 

 

 

 

 

[hcat]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Not sure the bounce effect will work 
 

 

little ducks enjoying the rain
 

 

new photo gems..with the rain water effect!

[JackE]

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Tuesday May 9, 2033

 

Rainy Day  We dawned our rain gear and took a walk around Rembrandtpark. 

This is our street.  As I said not in Centrum.  

 

 

 

 

Grey Heron.   I never realized the iPhone also identifies birds until today. 
 

 

And Egyptian Goose

 

 

 

Great photos as always! Thanks for taking us along!

[Oceansaway17]

On 5/8/2023 at 12:54 PM, Jim_Iain said:

Also learned you can buy a 1-5 day travel pass at Metro entrance via a machine.  
 

Will try to take a photo.   Iain wasn’t waiting for me as I puttered along taking photos 

Okay now I demand you adopt me and take me on next vacation as your photos as well as places you visit are just really good. 

 

[AF-1]

I know you have laundry service onboard;  but my question is:  how many days did you pack for and how many suitcases for both of you?

Edited May 9, 2023 by AF-1

[juanrod]

@Jim_Iain was sharing your travels with dh at lunch today and he said unless you adopt us, we will never be able to travel when we retire like the two of you get to do 😂. He also said unless gas prices come down in California, we will just be walking around our block and vacation will be a stop at Starbucks   Loving all your pics and is getting me in the mood for our trip in august 

[jetblue]

Hi Jim and Iain! Hope you're enjoying Amsterdam. Just checking in to let you know we are taking good care of the Apex for you and she will be ready for your return soon. Today we made it to Flåm, Norway, absolutely beautiful.

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

20 hours ago, AF-1 said:

I know you have laundry service onboard;  but my question is:  how many days did you pack for and how many suitcases for both of you?

We always pack for 7 days Plus Jacket, dress pants and dress shows - Regardless of Cruise Lenght.  One Suite Case each - Back Pack for me and Hand Bag for Iain.

 

We do have an advantage to many others because we can swap off.  

 

Usually the bags come in at about 45 Pounds.... all my electronics probably account for 20% of my allocation.

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, jetblue said:

Hi Jim and Iain! Hope you're enjoying Amsterdam. Just checking in to let you know we are taking good care of the Apex for you and she will be ready for your return soon. Today we made it to Flåm, Norway, absolutely beautiful.

 

 

 

David,

That looks incredible and as I would expect.   I'm sure one day we will make it on that cruise.

Really reminds me of a combination of Iceland and Greenland all wrapped into one.

 

Were you able to do any hiking or climbing to the top of the falls?   Or is that you in Red by the stone house waving at us.

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

17 hours ago, juanrod said:

@Jim_Iain was sharing your travels with dh at lunch today and he said unless you adopt us, we will never be able to travel when we retire like the two of you get to do 😂. He also said unless gas prices come down in California, we will just be walking around our block and vacation will be a stop at Starbucks   Loving all your pics and is getting me in the mood for our trip in august 

 

Know the feeling.   WE always thought we would be downsizing and staying at home in retirement.    Iain being a financial guru is really responsible for our good luck.    Prior to retirement we paid off all 4 of our homes, have zero debt and don't buy new cars every year.  Instead we have an 18 y.o. Saab that still runs like a champ and really only use it once or twice a week. 

 

I live off of one of my rentals and all of our SS goes to our Cruise Fund...  Keep working so they keep paying us SS....  LOL

[Jim_Iain]

Wednesday 5/10/2023

 

We had a nice leisurely morning just sitting around listening to the MidNight news from home which is 9:00 AM here.

 

The one thing I love about having an AirBnB like this is that everything under the sun is available.   Iain uses the Tea Kettle to make his morning Tea and I use the Nescafe Coffee Machine to make a perfect cup of copy with plenty of froth without milk.

 

We have been shopping daily and picked up some nice bread from a local bakery, cheese from a cheese shop and Sugar Cured Ham.   Perfect for a light lunch.

 

I swear you get your exercise in a Dutch building.  Up and down 3 flights of steps like this. 

 

 

We walked about 3 blocks away to the Market Square that is also our closest Tram and Bus stop.   We have always just used the Tram but talked Iain into using the Bus on the way back from Centraal Station.

 

Our first task was to pick up two 3-Day Tram tickets for Iain's Sister and BIL.   The good thing about the tickets is they are good for 24 hours from the time you first tap on.

 

As promised I took a couple pictures of  purchasing the cards from machine.   The first thing we learned, which makes sense,   The machines in the Train Station only sell Train Tickets and the ones in the Metro Station only sell the Metro and Bus tickets. 

 

Ok  Here we go.    You walk out of station and there is a Metro sign for the entrance to Metro

 

 

Tap the screen for English. Each time you select will pop up a new colum for choices

 

Buy GVB paper Chip Card

 

Then select number of days

 

Next number of cards.  We chose 2 then click payment card.  

 

 

On the side is payments point.   I just tapped with ApplePay
 

 

 

And out comes the cards 

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

Iain's next agenda was to find the place (Bar) where he played piano and lived 47 years ago.   It looks like it is now a private residence.    He said it brings back memories.

lots of 

 

 

Not many of these left in Amsterdam.   No explanation necessary. 

 

 

 

 

His piano use to sit in front of thatching window.   I’m sure some of you remember the piano bars with fixed price dinners and lots of drinks. 
 

he use to live I. The third floor as part of his pay. 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[juanrod]

Have you had any further issues with Apple Pay or cc on the grocery marts since your first day @Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

3 minutes ago, juanrod said:

Have you had any further issues with Apple Pay or cc on the grocery marts since your first day @Jim_Iain

 

Only at the Grocery Store.    We went to another and even though it says accepts MC, Visa, American Express and a couple more the terminal rejected.   On the terminal it says something about Cash Cards.    The clerk said no problem and went over to the Manager who came over with a QR Card -  printed our receipt and then took us to her window and processed it on a different terminal.   I asked if there was a problem and she said no.   Even the Dutch when using a Credit Card have to do this.   I still don't understand but since we have way to many Euros stockpiled we have been paying with cash.      

 

Apple Pay and CC have worked everywhere else...

[Jim_Iain]

No visit to Amsterdam is complete without saying hi to Amsterdams Lieverdje (little Dutch Boy Statue)

 

              

 

The statue symbolized a street boy of Amsterdam that always did the boyish prank but he has a golden heart. It's based on a story in a daily paper about a boy who saved a dog that was fallen in the canal. The location is on a busy square, spui.

Edited May 10, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Jim_Iain]

Just some of sights that struck my eye. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t feed the birds or you will be sorry.  Love the one on her head 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[JaneRetired]

On 5/8/2023 at 9:24 AM, Jim_Iain said:

Next on our agenda was to figure out how to get to the Concert - Gebouw where we have tickets on Friday for Wiener Philharmoniker - Sjostakovitsj' Symfonie Nr. 5    (Vienna Philharmonic Symphony - Shostakovich Symphony Number 5) 

 

We decided it would be easier to walk from Central Station so off we went  

 

 

Munttoren next to Flower market.  Love the Delfts Store next to it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No trip to Amsterdam is complete without a stroll along Bloemenmarkt. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

@Jim_Iain long time follower/lurker. I am so jealous you are visiting the Amsterdam Concertgebuw. It's on my travel music wish list.  We try to see classical concerts in every major European city, stumbling upon I Musici 4 Seasons in Venice wafting from a church once. The annual Brecon Baroque Festival in the small village of Brecon Wales was a full week retirement exclamation point in 2019. Once on an Alaskan cruise, we stumbled upon the Bach's Lunch Music Festival in Sitka! Just typing these brings back so many wonderful travel memories!  Thank you for a great travelogue and tips!

[padgman1]

Have fun at Keukenhof when you go - DW and I were there last Friday for the first time ( traveled to Amsterdam for 3 days after Silhouette TA cruise), simply awe-inspiring and breathtaking experience. Can't wait to show my florist buddy all of my pictures ( about 100) ( he'll get jealous).

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

This has been great! Thanks for taking us along!!

[DaKahuna]

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

We always pack for 7 days Plus Jacket, dress pants and dress shows - Regardless of Cruise Lenght.  One Suite Case each - Back Pack for me and Hand Bag for Iain.

 

We do have an advantage to many others because we can swap off.  

 

Usually the bags come in at about 45 Pounds.... all my electronics probably account for 20% of my allocation.

 

Lol. I wish we could pack that light.  We took one large, one medium, and one small suitcase on our recent cruise. 

 

When we flew home we had two large and one medium suitcase, the small one was inside a new large one we had shipped to our son's house.  When I checked the bags for our flight home the two large were 56-lbs each and the medium one was 39-lbs.  

 

 

[jetblue]

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

David,

That looks incredible and as I would expect.   I'm sure one day we will make it on that cruise.

Really reminds me of a combination of Iceland and Greenland all wrapped into one.

 

Were you able to do any hiking or climbing to the top of the falls?   Or is that you in Red by the stone house waving at us.

 

 

We've done Iceland before but this is on another level, Norway is so beautiful and majestic. Unfortunately my hiking days are over with 2 herniated discs in my back so we just enjoyed the train round-trip but it's quite a site. The sailaway from Flåm is about 6 hours long. You have to sail through an extensive amount of fjords before hitting the the North Sea and then we will be entering the next set of fjords at about 2am tonight to arrive at Geiranger in the morning. It's just amazing a big cruise ship can go so far inland, it's like Alaska on steroids!