What's She Up to Now? Jody's Life Blog

August 22nd--Amsterdam, Netherlands

Howdy Fans and Those Forced to Read This Because I Tagged You!

We are in the Netherlands today which has a red, white, and blue flag. I didn't realize so many countries use those colors. Interesting...anyway, I'll be putting the prompts in blue and I'll, once again, be typing my responses in red.

August 22nd--Amsterdam, Netherlands

Our train is a 2 hour ride but since I turned you loose in the red light district I booked us on a later ride today. We leave at 9 am.

We're booked at the Hotel Sebastians Set on Amsterdam’s Canal Belt, this chic, townhouse hotel is a 9-minute walk from a tram stop, 1 km from the Red Light District and 3.5 km from the Van Gogh Museum. Featuring colorful or dramatic decor, the plush rooms range from cozy to airy, and offer free Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs, minibars, and tea and coffee making facilities. Upgraded rooms are available: some add soaking tubs, patios and/or courtyard, canal or garden views. Extra beds and cribs are available upon request.

Buffet-style breakfast is complimentary and a trendy bar, which has mood lighting, serves lunches and snacks. Bike rentals are available.
Address: Keizersgracht 15, 1015 CC Amsterdam, Netherlands

http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/visiting/what-to-do

We finally got to sleep in a little...thank goodness. lol The train ride seemed really short given how long some of the others have been. It was nice and I enjoyed getting to watch the change in scenery between Germany and the Netherlands. Sally and I decided to room together again, so I'm excited about that. I always love spending time with her!

When we got to our hotel, it was really nice, but I was exceptionally excited to see we have a canal view. Awesome sauce! We checked out the room and it was pretty posh. My favorite part is the bathroom. We have both a tub and a shower (separate) and the shower wall seems to be lined with river stones. What a pain to clean, but not my problem. It's SO BEAUTIFUL! I also love that we have one of those raining shower head things that are really big and are directly overhead. I've always wondered what those were like. Now I'll know! I think this is my favorite bathroom since we've been traveling!

https://www.viator.com/tours/Amsterdam/Skip-the-Line-Van-Gogh-Museum-and-Amsterd...

Sally wanted to go to the Van Gogh museum. I don't really have a lot of opinion about him one way or the other, but it is one of the most popular museums in the world so it seems a shame to be so close and not go. We joined up with Jellyfish in Morocco, Lyn's a Witchy Woman, and Spacecat for the day.

Just approaching the museum I knew this would be interesting. It was an odd shape with half of it being made of glass. Cool. Best of all, I left there with a greater appreciation of him and all he did. I had no idea he was such a writer. I don't mean like an author, but just that he wrote so many letters. They have over 700 of them. Imagine how many he wrote over his lifetime. Well, admittedly, they didn't have e-mail, but still, I was impressed. It was cool.

We're doing an evening canal tour so we can enjoy this
http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/visiting/about-amsterdam/unesco-sites/canal-ring

The canal tour was fascinating. I had no idea the canal ring was over 400 years old! Those architects should be VERY proud of themselves! And not only are the canals beautiful, but they've really helped contribute to the economy--even better! lol It was also amazing to see the lights of the city reflected in the canals...BEAUTIFUL!

Before we do some clubbing Amsterdam style
http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/visiting/whats-on/clubbing-nightlife-amsterdam/danc...

Well, I'm not much of a clubber, but that was what was on the docket for this evening. I thought about dipping out, but I've done that a couple of times on the trip and didn't want to be a party pooper, so I grabbed my ear plugs (music and loud noise set off my PTSD thanks to Iraq) and headed off with everyone else.

We ended up in a club that seemed to have a wide variety of folks, so hopefully no one was too uncomfortable. I'm not much of a dancer and the noise and crowd was starting to get to me so Sally suggested I get a drink and see if that helped. Well, some, but not as much as the 2nd drink did. lol Thanks for the suggestion, Sally. All of a sudden I was out dancing on the floor like, like, like I knew how to dance or something. Hahaha It ended up being a much better evening than expected. I even had a guy at the bar trying to flirt with me and impress me with his knowledge of the apparently famous DJ. Well, I'm not that into music and even less into DJs. You'd be amazed at how little I care about DJs in foreign countries. Poor guy needs a better pickup line if he wants to pick me up. lol

When it was time to go, Sally suggested everyone come to our room for some coffee. Boy was I glad I didn't stay behind. I probably wouldn't have been happy about a bunch of folks coming in at 3 a.m. Hahaha As it was, I'd been drinking drinks with Coke and what I think was probably the Netherlands version of Red Bull and I was PUMPED! I wasn't about to sleep any time soon. Creeper Of The Realm, Fivesixer, Jellyfish in Morocco, and NaNoKit joined us.

Apparently we weren't being super quiet because SB Musing heard us from the hallway on her way to her room and stopped by as well. We were up till nearly dawn. Well, I WAS up till dawn, but most everyone was asleep by then. Unfortunately, I had too much caffeine running through my veins...at least I HOPE that was caffeine. This IS Amsterdam, after all.