Dottie in NL: Part I

After a fun-filled two days picking Dottie up from Schiphol and touring around Amsterdam, we are back in Enschede. Everything went well with the flight and we were able to meet her right outside customs. Someone who is always ready to strike up a conversation, Dottie was ready to chat after 8 hours sitting next to a woman who didn't speak English... and then the adventures began. We chose a rental apartment close to the central train station to make things easy, but it really made things complicated. It turns out we were too close to the station to get a taxi or use public transportation, which meant walking was necessary. There were many stops and starts as we attempted to manuever one baby carriage, 2 suitcases, several smaller bags, and one curious grandma around through car, bike, tram and bus traffic. Tiny street signs leading down wrong turns, a sea of varying cobblestone heights, and bikers zooming past only added to the fun. Old European cities are charming at a price; making your way through the old streets is like hiking some pretty uneven terrain. Dottie had a great time musing aloud about what everyone might be carrying in their backpacks. Mike finally said "Mom, why don't you just ask them... I think they can hear you anyway". Alas, she did not ask and we may never know. We rented an apartment built in the 1600s, which was gorgeous but had the sort of issues you might expect from a place with that much age. There was plenty of room, but in odd spaces. The only really difficult element was a steep winding staircase with no handrail leading to Dottie's room. It was beautifully remodeled and suited our purposes nicely. On the first day we went trekking in the neighborhood around our rental place. We found a place for a late lunch. Our strategy is to eat out in restaurants only in the 3-6 time period, so that the fewest possible diners are burdened by our wiggly guy. We had a nice lunch at the Waag building. It was pleasant and the weather was just right the entire time in Amsterdam.

The Waag was part of a fortification of the city wall a long time ago-



We straggled back to the apartment and all went to bed early the first night. On day two we went to Artis zoo. It is such a large place we managed to just get through the birds, the ape house and the reptile rooms before crashing. We had lunch at their cafe and all enjoyed a hearty meal. The soup won Dot's approval. We went to the zoo via the Canalbus, which gives a great view of life in the city from a canal perspective; its really the way to see how the city functions-



Lots of great drawbridges and houseboats of every size and shape-










Waiting for the Canalbus-



Kiss ZaZa the zebra, please-



More adventures soon- Dottie's queries about coffeeshops as well as how Katharine got on the bus and left us all standing on the sidewalk! I leave you with this tiny car-