Oh my God. I have never had such a good time anywhere in my life. I will have to sit and tell of our adventures when I can catch my breath. The storm that hit the east coast made us spend an entire day at the airport yesterday only to return back to our hotel. I was shocked to see how bad the City is here! But, thank goodness we made it home today! We had such a great time! I hope 8 rolls of film covered as much as it could. My wife told our daughter, "Dad took 800 pictures and 600 of them are of trams and trains". Well, she's damn right! We rode the Spoorweg to three different cities. Of course we also rode it to and from the airport, but also to Haarlem, Utrecht and Delft. And we rode many trams with our strippenkarts! We rode in a couple of buses and even a couple of taxis too. We covered all the bases! I am sure that even someone my age can still believe in fairy tales after seeing those incredible Medieval places.........I am in complete awe.
Sounds like my holiday pictures! Glad you had a great time, and look forward to seeing some of your photo's.
Welcome back Johnny! Did you get to wear some Sabots and eat a bit of wurst? Mr. Dinglehoofer was your Tram driver wasn't he? Did you remember to trade some patches? Tell us all about it and show some photos.
WATASH!!!!!!!!!!! Hi! How are you???? Oh boy, I will be sending Brother Russ some photos and I hope he can post them for me! About the wurst, well I didn't eat that but did enjoy a couple of steaks, ham and cheese sandwiches, cheese plates, Dutch beer (Wieckse Witte), lake perch, cappuccinos, and best of all, hot chocolate with deadly amounts of whipped cream floating on top! Yum! I was totally taken in when we arrived at the airport, and rode the train into Amsterdam Centraal Station. All along the way I saw trams, a subway line (third rail!), many other NS trains passing us, and a few freight cars here and there. (Later on in the trip I did see two long freights that were just too far away to capture on film. Drat.) I was stunned, and I do mean stunned when we left Centraal Station, and I turned back and saw how not only big it is, but how beautiful too. Wow, I mean beautiful. Next was a nice long walk with our luggage to our hotel. We didn't want to lug it onto a crowded tram. Now, speaking of the trams, I was going mad watching all these neat trams passing by us one right after the other! They were my favorite subject to photograph! There were several different kind and many had full car shrink wrapped advertisements on them! "DING DING! DING DING!" We had a fancy hotel room overlooking the Keizersgracht. I was glued to the window for 10 minutes before I could move! We got settled in and went for a canal boat ride! That sure was a different experience for me! And we of course walked and walked and walked all around! We saw the Red Light District which was interesting (LOL) but also kind of sleazy too. (LOL). That was different to say the least! The next day we rode trams to and from the Van Gogh Museum and Rembrandt's house and then rode our first train out of Amsterdam to Haarlem. That was really cool and we had fun walking along this neat street where I saw cool stuff like a construction scene, a fire engine, and we stopped and bought postcards.........and we had a late lunch/ early dinner consiting of an Indonesian Rice Table. The next day we rode to Utrecht to see the railway museum there. Wow, it was so beautiful too. It was just so cold that it wasn't easy to stay in one place for more than a minute so we kinda went through it faster than I would have liked. It was bitter cold. You could smell the sea air from the North Sea. The equipment there was so different than anything I have ever seen.........amazing. A total class act. We then spent another day going to Delft. That was the icing on the cake. I could not believe how I felt like I was in a fairy tale there. The old buildings and canals and churches just made us speechless. It was right out of a fairy tale. Again it was very raw and cold. We also saw the Rijks Museum which was beyond words too. We couldn't get home Monday night because of the 20 inches of snow that fell in the City. But, coming home finally on Tuesday, we flew way north over Greenland, and that was a jaw dropping scene. I had packed my camera away after having around my neck for 7 hours the day before at the airport........so, I was sad that I couldn't photograph that wild scenery......... It's good to be home. But, if ever I need to move somewhere else, Holland is so much like a home away from home. We just felt as if we belonged there which is such a great feeling when you go on vacation and just settle yourself in so well. I hope to get the photos to Russ by early next week. Thanks again for the "Welcome Homes"! Oh, Alan, Martyn.......when the pilot said we were flying over Liverpool......hmmmmm........maybe next year.........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JT
Johnny, I am so glad that you had fun but I have to get some things straight here: You went to Amsterdam and wound up in Harlem? Would that be Spanish Harlem or Al Sharpton's Harlem? OH!!!!! It was Haarlem with 2 "a"s. Silly me! You didn't partake in the "best of the wurst"? You could have solved the energy crisis with some of them! You also said that you saw some "NS" trains over there. What are those? I didn't know that Norfolk Southern was big over there. Sounds like an interesting lunch too! An Indonesian rice table!!! You always said (while railfanning) that you were so hungry that you could eat a table but I didn't think that you really meant it!!!LOL!!! Then finally you went to Utrecht. You go from Harlem to Brooklyn in one trip! (Seriously though....seeing those names reminds you a lot of New Amsterdam.......errr New York's heritage) I look forward to your package from the red light district (I mean the photos-LOL) Happy railroading! Russ
Johnny, from your description, I get the impression that you enjoyed your trip I also look forward to the pictures
Russ, I grew up on Amsterdam Ave and live just a quick bus ride away from Harlem too! And I've been through all the Dutch areas of Brooklyn too. How about Gravesend? Well, I sent you some pics if you can post them! They are a couple of my favorite trams, one of the sun setting on Haarlem Centraal Station, and a couple from the railway museum. And yes, it doesn't take much to excite me, lol, but it was a trip that will never ever be forgotten! I will never forget all that beautiful railway equipment and all those beautiful girls who constantly ride past you on their bicycles. All that bike riding does wonderful things to them.
How did you like the Nasi? I had to eat Nasi and Bami for days while the cook at the facrory I was working at, was on an Indonesian Kick. The next week he was on a Krokets and Fricandel kick! Yuk! You get used to Fritsause on your fries, and Worst all the time though. Now if you want to talk Chocolates, and Vlaii, they did a real good job on those!
JT, I am saving your description of your trip. It is one we have had on our list for a while. The ideas you have given us will help us in our planning for the next year or two. Your trip sure sounds great--looking forward to your pictures.
Hey JT, glad you had a good time. Hope you didn't do any "window shopping". Heck, I don't even know what I'm talking about. I have landed in Schipol airport many times and accumulated a lot of tulips, but never really saw the city. This was some 30 years ago.
Hmmm, I've got folks thinking about their favorite or maybe not so favorite Dutch foods! LOL! Fitz, I won't comment on the window shopping, heh heh heh. It was quite different than what one would see in Times Square. But in the mean time I found a couple of turnoffs too. Such as the woman who obviously was about 7 or 8 months along with child, and still hawking her wares. I kinda had enough after that. Peirce, I must tell you that Amsterdam was really quaint, and had the best web of trams and trains to ride, but Delft was the magic city. It was an hour from Amsterdam by train. When we go back, I think we'll stay a least a couple of nights in Delft instead of all of them in Amsterdam. The ride to Utrecht was neat as we passed a wide canal (maybe a river?) that had many cargo boats on it. They carried bulk cargo, propane gas and many had a tiny small car on the roof of the bridge! (Guess the Captain needs to go window shopping when he gets to port). The boats were cool smaller versions of their big brother tankers and such. The ride to the Spoorweg Museum meant an hour on the train from Amsterdam, a 10-15 minutes ride on the #3 bus and then a good half mile walk I'd say. But you walk down this mall that is really beautiful! I want to thank Russ for scanning my pictures too. I sent him a dozen. There's plenty more where they came from.
Sounds like you had a fantastic time there johnny! I once knew a very beautiful girl from holland, she used to tell me about it. I'd love to visit there myself one day
As promised here are some of JT's pics. I will post the others when I get them. #1- JT's wife wanted to go down by the river and see some cranes (You know, the long necked birds) This is what JT took her to see: #2- The trip wasn't entirely free however. Here is JT performing some community service. I told him to stay away from that red light district! #3- Always know where the restrooms are when on vacation! Notice on the side of the truck it says "DE NR 1 OP DE BOUWLOKATIE" which I think translates into "The number one company in bowl cleaning" or something similar. Well, JT thought that it was a public restroom and was busy with "DE NR 2" #4- You wondered how he hauled around all those souvenirs...... Russ [ 26. February 2003, 14:29: Message edited by: rush2ny ]
Nice shots Rus. Those buildings look just like San Francisco. Mixed new typ apartments with the old bay window type
Ok.....needless to say I am shocked. Russ, I sent those pictures to you AFTER I sent a PRIORITY MAIL box to you with the pictures of the trams and train museum!!!!!!! Those pictures were for you to keep, and the others were for TB! (All of them are for you to keep if you wish!!!) Thanks for posting these, but I sure hope you got the box with the other photos and your gift! And yes I have a fascination with trucks and things, but I can't wait for everyone to see the other ones I picked out! LOL! Railroading stuff! But anyway, the crane in Haarlem was a telescoping one! It unfolded itself right in front of me! Most fascinating! The street sweeper in Amsterdam was cool riding along the tram tracks. One night we saw sanitation guys walking ahead of a sweeper, and they were sweeping the litter on the sidewalks into the gutter with large straw witches brooms! The Budget truck was fun because it reminds me of home. That was taken in Delft. The Porta-Potty truck was irresistable! And before everyone thinks that I am really nuts, I do have scenic photos too. LOL! Thanks again Russ. I hope you can get the others on here for me. I am still shaking my head in shock! Darn Post Office!
By the way Russ, the community service comment was excellent. I'm using it on my neighbors tomorrow when I show them our photo album. LOL. Very creative my good friend. LMAO!
