Yes I made it safely and honestly if I could fly KLM biz class I would every time. Nothing fell off the plane. I could actually fully lie down and sleep (though I don’t know how Luca would fit. I had plenty of space but he’s a foot taller and it was not THAT roomy?!) Then again it IS a Dutch airline and they are indeed tall. More on that later. Food was fine. I was greeted with bubbly upon getting to my (singles-only side) seat where there was plenty of space for my one bag overhead. And I even got my fix of my latest c-drama fave, Wang YiBo!!?? (Though I’d seen it already and napped through much of it.) Seriously. Oh and after three glasses red wine (montepulciano d’abruzzo) with dinner, as they served the cheese course I asked if they had port and she answered “Sure, Why not?” Very civilized. 

My darling son actually met me at the airport but since we landed early, I was quick off the plane and went thru passport control with no line, and my bag had “priority” so was one of the first bags on the carousel, I had 10 mins to confuse myself about finding a real ATM in Schiphol. Net is, if it says ATM it’s really the currency exchange people … meaning yes, they’ll give you money but it won’t be bank rates. Apparently one needs to look for a “geldmaat” which I couldn’t find to save my life. Though honestly I don’t need much cash (it’s just — you never know?!) and Luca lent me some just in case once he arrived. Which I have yet to use. The public trans all take contactless credit cards now —you’ll always pay full fare (well unless everything is broken — but that’s also another story) but it’s so convenient…. 

In any case, to try to adjust to the local time, I reserved my Rijksmuseum timed tix for the first afternoon. I had hoped to unpack and nap a bit (we got back to his place around 8 am?) and this would force me to get up and out without wasting a day. Of course, I tried for two hours but could not sleep so I decided to just walk the 3km (2mi) to the museum. Luca lives within the highway “ring” that surrounds central Amsterdam but he’s about 4 miles from the Centraal Station that is the main tourist hub. It was a very nice street! And I stopped for a koffie at a cute cafe — which for some reason I pronounced like caffè in Italian (so much for almost a year of duolingo lessons — although combining Dutch with Italian and Chinese was probably not helping) … and also mispronounced groot (large) — the guy actually corrected me — though at least I knew what it was!? Luca’s been telling my accent with vowels is just wrong and apparently he is right. Sigh. Though to jump ahead — I had a small raw herring sandwich today from a street stand (haring broodje) — near the touristy area and of course the guy spoke English but once I threw in the “alstublieft” he said “oh you must live here!!” Tada!!! I did learn something.

Anyway the Rijksmuseum is massive, with a great website that has a bunch of (free) audio guides so with your own phone and headphones you can learn a lot on your own. Quite sophisticated. It’s all about the Dutch “masters” so some Vermeer, Steen, a few Van Goghs, a special exhibit on Frans Hals, and, my fave of the bunch, Rembrandt Van Rijn.

I was tired (started falling asleep as I sat on comfy benches in the Hals special exhibit), so I did their highlights tour and then went back to do all Rembrandts and the Hals exhibit. I didn’t take any pictures but the museum is really lovely and updated.

I did the Van Gogh museum this morning but we need to leave for a late dinner so I’m wrapping up now — so if you’re following me you know I arrived safely.

I’ll finish with a few photos I took at the museumplein (plein=square or piazza). They’re not great but I was pretty tired yesterday!

And will write more soon.