Getting high on sugar & altitude

A sugar high and some high-flying (38,000 ft) today.

This was our last day in Amsterdam. Since calorie intake is at an all-time high, we decided to have one more big feast of sugar at a local pancake place for breakfast. Pancakes in Amsterdam are like crepes, not the fluffy pancakes that we might normally call pancakes. But, New Year's Day we had noticed a place about 15 min walk from our hotel that had both Dutch 'pancakes' and what they referred to as 'American' pancakes. So, off we went to sample some of each.

Afterwards, Walt & Marisa went off in one direction to do some last-minute shopping and we were off to the Van Gogh Museum. I've always liked the work of Van Gogh, particularly in the last couple of years before his death and this is one of the biggest collections of Van Gogh's work in existence. It's hard to believe that he managed to produce so many well-known (now) pieces of work in a very short 10 year career.

If you ever travel to a city and want to go to museums, it would be worthwhile to purchase the tickets online or from the hotel concierge desk (if they offer the service) before you go. If you have tickets in hand, you rarely have to wait in line and can walk right in. The line up for the Van Gogh Museum had about an hour wait time and thankfully, we did not have to wait.

As we left the museum, we noticed a big gathering at a park beside the museum. It was a protest against Israel's attacks on Gaza and the fact that the Dutch government was not verbally condemning those attacks. It was a vocal, but seemingly peaceful protest. We found out later that similar protests were being held in many major international cities.

Rather than taking the tram and train to the airport (like we did on the way into Amsterdam), we opted for the more direct route of an airport shuttle and ended up getting there almost 3 hours early. The pre-boarding process on these flights can be quite lengthy and while we didn't need three hours, it made it a bit less hectic.

While a blog cannot replace actual hugs or talking with friends and family at home, it sure has been a treat for us to keep in contact while being half-way around the world. Thank you for the comments and the emails while we've been away.

It has been a great adventure and we have already begun talking about which ruts & ledges we might want to explore next.

Let's go exploring...