Our trip to The Netherlands via Luxembourg… part 13

So this morning, we got up early to come home to Germany. We were checked out of the hotel by 7:40am. Bill had a heck of a time negotiating the streets leaving Haarlem, thanks to a wonky GPS. We finally found our way out and I saw a shot I regretted missing during our walks around Haarlem. Now I have another reason to go back there.

I am really happy I took Rick Steves’ advice and stayed in Haarlem instead of Amsterdam. Don’t get me wrong. Amsterdam is pretty and full of excitement and things to do. I just preferred the smaller, quainter, less overwhelming and crazy atmosphere of Haarlem. It was also a lot cheaper to stay there and it’s only two stops by train to Amsterdam. Haarlem is also very convenient to the airport. So if we go back, we’ll probably stay in Haarlem again. Indeed, I would book the Carlton Square Hotel again too. We liked the location, the rain shower, comfortable bed, and the very generous free minibar. The service was great, too. It’s not a hotel I would necessarily recommend to the price conscious or really young folks– it’s a bit old fashioned and not so cheap. I liked it, though. I’m getting old.

This was our third stay in a Carlton hotel. We’ve enjoyed all three in different cities. Not all offer the free minibar, though. We stayed at The Dominican in Brussels and the only free drinks we got came from the Nespresso machine.

Today’s lone photo… lunch at a German truck stop. I washed it down with Coke for once.

I ate a third and final space cake on the way out of Haarlem and it made the drive back more relaxing and less boring. I should emphasize that I didn’t do any driving on the way home. Bill generally does all the driving on our trips and operates on a strict no marijuana basis. He’s also very careful about not drinking alcohol when he drives.

The only time I got slightly grumpy was when we stopped at a truck stop for a pee and some lunch. Several tour buses full of elderly people got there at the same time we did. The rain was pouring down and I just wanted a whiz, but they were all in line for the potty. I knew it would take awhile and we had to pay 70 cents for the privilege.

Bill was annoyed when I said we should go to the next truck stop. But he obliged me and fortunately it wasn’t long before we came upon it. There was a crowd there too, but it wasn’t as populated as the first place was. I was able to pee and enjoy my burger in peace.

We got home at about 3:40pm. We unloaded everything and I started a load of laundry. Bill went to get the dogs, who were delighted to come home. Apparently, there were no fights between them during our trip, which is a good thing.

I don’t know when our next trip will be. My mom is going to visit next month, so I’m sure we will be entertaining her with the local sights. I’ll get back to looking for local gems.

BeNeLux

Our trip to The Netherlands via Luxembourg… part 12

Yesterday, we decided to take things very easy. Neither Bill nor I felt much like going back to Amsterdam, though we didn’t get to see much of the city. I hope we’ll have another chance to visit before we leave Germany and I’ll be more in the mood to look around and see more than the Red Light district, sex shops, and coffee shops. It’s a great city and there’s a lot to see and do there.

Bill enjoys coffee…

Sunday morning in Haarlem was very peaceful and quiet. After breakfast, we took a walk over by the Basilica and watched people play with their dogs. I saw one mom ride her bike past us with one child sitting on the handlebars and one standing up behind her. None of them were wearing helmets, which I thought was kind of refreshing. It’s the kind of thing my generation did. Of course, if I were a mom, maybe I’d be horrified at the lack of safety consciousness. I think I was just enjoying being in a really cute town in another country.

The basilica…

Electric cars are all the rage… This is a Tesla.

I was tempted to go in here…

At about noon, we went to the Napoli Restaurant, which was very close to our hotel. It was a really nice place for lunch. We had a table right by the window, so I could people watch while we waited for our food. Napoli has a pretty extensive menu and it was hard to choose a dish. I ended up with cannelloni served Bolognese style. Bill had ravioli made with truffles. We started with a shared salad and finished with a piece of tiramisu and a “shake” made with lemon ice cream, vodka, and prosecco. One thing that was really cool about this restaurant is that a lot of stuff is done table side. We watched the waiter mix pasta in a giant wheel of cheese for the people next to us. We watched him make my dessert, too.

Montepulciano for lunch…

Salad dressed tableside.

Cannelloni and ravioli…

The makings of my dessert.

Finished product… the tiramisu was killer!

We picked up two more space cakes from a different guy at Willie Wortel’s Sinsemilla cannabis shop. He was a lot crankier than the first guy was, but we were emboldened. I noticed a whole lot of young folks in there smoking and watching car racing on TV. The air was thick with pot smoke and we had to get out of there quickly.

We went back to the hotel because Bill had some school work to do. I ate a second cake and basically spent the day relaxing. The second space cake wasn’t all that powerful and did nothing but make me doze.

But after awhile, I was ready to scarf down a steak and fries. I think it’s safe to say that marijuana makes me want to eat… even more than I regularly do.

BeNeLux

Our trip to The Netherlands via Luxembourg… part 11

I already blogged about my experiences with my first space cake. Overall, I’ll just say that it was a fun experience. I basically got very relaxed, although the cake seemed to really kick in once we went to dinner at a Croatian restaurant in Haarlem.

I picked up some Cannabis chocolate in Amsterdam. It’s very good chocolate made with hemp seeds. It doesn’t get you high… just makes you fat.

Bill indulged me with a foot massage before I tried my first space cake…

This is it… I pictured it in my post about eating it, but I thought I’d put it here, too.

Ironically, after seeing all the rubber butts, dicks, and boobs in Amsterdam, I found a Jack Chick tract in Dutch. It was not far from where a couple of JWs had set up to proselytize.

JWs at work…

I had noticed the Croatian restaurant to and from the train station. I figured it would offer a nice change from all the stuff we had been eating this week. I had never had Croatian food and Croatia is on the list for a future trip. So off we went… Bill ordered a bottle of dry red wine and the waiter brought this one from Macedonia. It was pretty good.

Macedonian wine… perhaps another country we could see?

Bill tastes it…

I had a giggle fit over this piece of buttered French bread. The space cake was at its peak at that point, since my laughing fit went on for several minutes.

This restaurant had little plate warmers generated by candles. Made for easily keeping things warm.

I had salmon and Bill had grilled meat with mashed potatoes and gravy…

I had fries…

And for dessert, I had Irish coffee and Bill had Croatian coffee, which was made with a pear liqueur.

If you want to try Croatian food in Haarlem, Dubrovnik is a good bet.

On the way back to the hotel, I shot some more scenes around Haarlem. It really is a cute town and a great alternative to Amsterdam.

Even the McDonald’s is cute.

BeNeLux

Our trip to The Netherlands via Luxembourg… part 10

So today is my birthday… We started off with breakfast at the hotel and being stared down by some grumpy looking guy. I declared him an asshole. Then we walked through an antique market and came back to the hotel, where I changed shoes and put on sandals and socks because we decided to go to Amsterdam and I knew my feet would kill me in my warmer clogs.

We walked to the main square in Haarlem and wandered around. I was able to take some nice photos before we went into the cathedral. It was five euros for both of us to go in, but it was well worth the cost because a choir was rehearsing. Their singing was beautiful and the acoustics were amazing. I got all teary as I heard it… I wanted to join in, but I also really just wanted to listen. It was very moving.

Yes, this is an ad for an opera about the Costa Concordia…

And there are sex shops in Haarlem too.

And cool old bikes.

Then we walked to the train station. Haarlem is just two stops from Amsterdam. It takes maybe fifteen minutes to get there. Once you do, wow… Amsterdam is huge, busy, and obnoxious with people! There were literally throngs of people pouring out of the train station.

Bill and I found our way deeper into the city and were soon confronted by lots of sex shops, coffeeshops, and prostitutes. Amsterdam is definitely a city where a person can sin freely. We soon ran into a group of men, one of whom was wearing a pacifier around his neck. He was obviously drunk and waiting for his companion to finish peeing at one of the pissoirs in the city. After we passed them, we ran across a sex shop with a replica of a woman’s butt made out of rubber. Next to it were huge fake boobs and a couple of male versions of fake genitals. There were plenty of didos, harness gags, and leather outfits offered, too. I saw many bored looking hos.

We walked around for awhile and when we got hungry, stopped by a little hole in the wall restaurant. The guy cooking and waiting tables was wearing a chef’s outfit and appeared to know what he was doing. Bill had piri piri chicken and I had another cheeseburger. The Dutch seem to season their meat differently than we do. The burger tasted a little like sausage. It wasn’t bad, but I kind of missed American burgers.

I thought about having some cheesecake, but decided I just wanted to move on… Parts of Amsterdam are truly pretty, but it was just too busy and noisy for my liking. We got back on the train to Haarlem and I discovered that there is free WiFi offered, which is really awesome.

On the way back to the hotel, Bill and I stopped into the coffeeshop and picked up a space cake. I ate it about an hour ago. It’s my first experience with marijuana ever. I’m still waiting for it to kick in… Maybe I will blog once it does.

Yeah… Blogging is essential.

BeNeLux

Our trip to The Netherlands via Luxembourg… part 9

Yesterday, we moved on from Apeldoorn to Haarlem. Originally, I had planned to stay in Amsterdam, but Rick Steves advises that Haarlem is much homier and friendlier and less crowded. Also, I found the hotel prices were much more affordable. Before we went to Haarlem, we decided to visit Apenheul, a special zoo that is home to monkeys and other related creatures. I knew it would be a very kid friendly place, but it was also fun for us to explore. We got there fairly early. As it turned out, getting there somewhat early was a good thing. The park wasn’t too crowded and there was plenty of parking available. It was 17,50 euros for each ticket, which was less than I was expecting.

We saw gorillas, ring tailed lemurs, orangutans, and other adorable primates, many of which were free range and allowed to walk among the masses. Most of them didn’t mingle too much with park visitors, but there were a few that were practically tame. Some people carried monkey bags with them because if you aren’t careful, they can get into your stuff. We had no such trouble. The only trouble we had involved rain, which got a little harder as we were leaving the park. We got out of there at just the right time.

It took about 90 minutes to get to Haarlem. Once we did, we found the hotel and the vast parking garage located right next to it. We checked into the executive suite I booked. I was lucky enough to have a $150 coupon, so it was really a steal. We are staying at the Carlton Square Hotel, which features a full and complimentary minibar. And when I say full, I mean full. There are generous decanters of whisky and cognac as well as vodka, gin, wine and beer. There are also soft drinks, peanuts, and chocolates… We stayed at the Carlton George Hotel in Glasgow and The Dominican hotel in Brussels. Both are sister hotels, but only the Carlton George had a free bar in it. The Carlton George wasn’t as nice as this hotel is. I have decided I like this chain, though. I would have booked their Amsterdam property, but it was too pricey.

Nice bed.

After offloading our stuff, we went to a local restaurant and enjoyed some beer and burgers. Just across the street is a coffeeshop, where one can buy weed. Bill was a little put off by it, but I read up on it and it actually gets pretty good ratings.

Later, we went to the hotel bar, which offers a nice selection of whiskys and great 80s music, which did a lot to make me feel less old. Bill and I downed a few rounds as I said goodbye to my 42nd year on the planet…