August 31 2022 - Start of our European Adventure
Our trip to Europe started off well. The Portland to Chicago flight went off without a hitch. Upon landing in Chicago though, we got an alert from United that said our flight to Frankfurt was cancelled and re-scheduled for the next day. Jeri and I headed to the United Club, figuring it would be easier to have one of the agents there help us. We spoke with Mary, who quickly got us a hotel voucher and meal vouchers. Since Blaine was flying business class to Frankfurt, Mary escorted us to the Polaris lounge where we waited until out luggage could be re-claimed. After we got our luggage, we caught a shuttle bus to the Renaissance O’Hare Suites Hotel.
While at the hotel in Chicago on the morning of September 1, Blaine got an email from Lufthansa, cancelling our flight from Frankfurt to Oslo. We had no idea why, but when we got to Frankfurt, we found out the Lufthansa pilots had just gone on strike that day. Since we had bought space available tickets, we certainly were not going to be getting on any Lufthansa flights for a couple of days with the backlog of passengers. Oh, what to do!!
Oh, by the way, because we re-claimed our bags in Chicago, we had to re-check them for our rescheduled flight. There were 2 flight 907 scheduled for September 1. Ours, which was the one rescheduled from 8/31, and the regular flight 907 for that day. We were told to leave the original bag tags from the previous day, and United would get them on the correct flight 907. They did not. We had to wait 3.5 hours in Frankfurt for our bags to arrive on the later flight.
After getting our bags, we decided to take a train to Oslo. That option was quickly shot down by the nice train reservation agent. There goes Plan B. Plan C, take a train to Amsterdam. 4.5 hours later, we arrive in Amsterdam!!! Time to get some rest!!!
September 2, 2022
Our hotel, the Doubletree Hilton was only a short walk from the train station. It’s a great location, next to all the trams and buses. Our room overlooked the canal. The first night we decided to eat at a casual cafe around the corner from our hotel. It was called the Grand Cafe, but it was anything but casual. When we walked in, the place was empty. We asked for a table and the hostess told us they didn’t have a table for us. WTF? Apparently, they were fully booked beginning at 6:30 and with us showing up at 5:30 they didn’t think we would finish in time. I ordered fish and Jeri had vegetarian lasagna.
Saturday September 3, 2022
Since we had not planned on coming to Amsterdam, we didn’t have any tours arranged. Blaine tried to book a tour of the Anne Frank house, but there were no times available until Monday, and we planned to try to fly to Oslo on Monday. We did get a tour of the Rijksmuseum scheduled for Sunday. As we were walking around getting our bearings, we came across one of the canal tour boats and decided that would be a fun way to see part of the city. It was a beautiful tour through the small canals. What’s really nice about the canals is that they were dug out and are supported by block walls on the sides. None of the water touches the house and buildings like they do in Venice. After our canal tour we decided to find the Rijksmuseum so we didn’t get stressed trying to find it tomorrow. We bought metro tickets, which are good on all the trams and buses. Our first trip was to Dam Square. There we were supposed to switch trams and ride on the number 2 or 12 tram. Blaine messed up and we ended up boarding the #4. We soon realized we were heading in the wrong direction, so we jumped off and caught a tram back to Dam Square. We eventually found the right tram and successfully navigated our way to the Rijksmuseum. In the evening we decided to visit the red light district. It was only a 10 minute walk from our hotel. The area is packed with bars and restaurants. It was really crowded. There were a few windows with women standing inside, but most of the red light windows were covered with curtains. Must have been a busy night!
Sunday September 4, 2022
Today we decided to at least walk by the Anne Frank house before we went on our museum tour. Once again we jumped on the tram and headed to Dam Square. From there it was a 10 minute walk to the house. The house sits on a quiet street fronting one of the canals. It was hard to imagine the suffering and brutality that was carried out on this beautiful peaceful street. On our walk back to catch the tram we stopped so Blaine could enjoy a latte and pastry. That is what Europe is all about!!
Our tour of the Rijksmuseum was fabulous. We spent 5 hours enjoying all the beautiful paintings and exhibits.
