Canals, diamonds and red lights – an Amsterdam getaway COMPLETED - Page 18 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Just getting caught up! Great pictures of the museum and the chuches. When I saw the pictures of the cow stuff at the gift shop, my first thought was, I wonder how much of that stuff went home with Cheryl!
Just a few bits... I had to restrain myself, as I could've gone totally nuts in there!
What a perfect gift shop for you! Ok, I have to be honest here...the photos you've posted have been beautiful! I love the architecture, the history, the chunks of ice floating in the canal...but I think from here on out, I'm going to remember this as the trip where you visited the best souvenir shop ever! I would've left that shop a pauper with all the cute things I would've purchased there!
Classic! I'm sure Amsterdam will be delighted to know that's how you remember them....
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Wow, that was Cowtopia for you!!
Maybe they have an online catalog - Mark would never again be at a loss for ideas for birthdays, Christmas, Valentine's, Wednesday.....
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Wow, that was Cowtopia for you!!
Maybe they have an online catalog - Mark would never again be at a loss for ideas for birthdays, Christmas, Valentine's, Wednesday.....
Friday 10 February – part nine: enjoying Amsterdam after dark
We headed out again about 7:00 pm and scored the same luck with the trams as for much of the rest of the trip, waiting for ages for a number five. During that time, we saw about four go the other way. Go figure. It was absolutely freezing there, with the wind really whipping through this street. By the time the tram arrived, I was cold, hungry and tired, not a good combination with my chronic fatigue. I was not impressed when the tram pulled up further along from the stop and we had to run for it. Not what I needed.
We made it to Leidesplein and got off. Almost at once, I could feel the cold again. We went and had a look round and tried an all-you-can-eat sushi place, which had been advertised as being €18.50 each, but when we got there, we discovered that was the lunchtime price, and because tonight was a Friday night, we were looking at €26.50 each, which felt like a lot of money.
We started to walk down the road with the great Italian in that we’d eaten at last night and I eventually decided that we’d just go back there, as we knew we’d get a good meal there.
I started with the caprese or mozzarella and tomatoes, and this was absolutely perfect, exactly how I expect it to be. If you read my Disney trip report from April 2011, you’ll know I had this dish a number of times, both on the Dream and at Walt Disney World and a lot of the time it didn’t live up to my expectation, but this definitely did.
Mark had the garlic fried mushrooms and seemed very pleased with his choice.
For main course, we both went for pizza. I had the miramare, which came with a variety of seafood, including salmon, shrimps, tuna, squid and mussels. It was very good, but the tuna did make it a bit too salty for my taste.
Mark had the calzone and had no idea what it what he’d ordered until he saw another one go out to someone else. I knew exactly what it is – essentially it’s a huge pastry with all the filling tucked inside it, if you’re not sure, but he was mortified. Sure enough, that’s exactly what he ended up with:
He set about it with determination and dissected it, removing the filling and eating all of it and pretty much leaving the pastry, so that worked.
Neither of us had room for dessert, but we both had room for limoncello and it seemed like we got a bigger measure this evening.
Our server got a photo of the two of us after we finished eating:
We paid up, with the bill coming to €57, just a little cheaper than last night, due to no doubt to having no dessert.
Cucina Typica Italiana:
Appetiser 9½ 9
Entree 8 8½
Service 8½ 8½
Atmosphere 8½ 9
Value for money 9 9
Average score: 8.75
When we came out of there, we decided, despite the temperature, that we’d go for a walk to see if the canals were lit up. This was the first sight we saw when we came out:
Well, the first canal we came to wasn’t lit up, but it was absolutely packed with skaters, which was very neat to see.
We then grabbed a tram to head a little further up the road and got off again, wandering along the main shopping street that was, by now, pretty quiet. However, one thing was open....
Yes it was bakery that we’d been to the day before, so we headed in there to get a hot chocolate.
We carried on walking and found an interesting knife rack..
The next canal had no-one skating on it, so we jumped back on the tram up to Dam Square to see what it looked like at night. Some things were lit up, but not as much as I’d hoped, which was a shame. I was hoping to see the town hall all lit up, but it wasn’t to be...
Once we’d finished there, we hopped on a tram back to the hotel. It was the end of another day long, but rewarding day.
Total amount we got “free” from the I Amsterdam card today:
Troppenmuseum €10
Maritime Museum €15
Museum Our Lord in the Attic € 8
Oude Kerk € 5
Total for today: €38
The weather today was sunny, but cold with temperatures in the mid to high 20s. The best thing today was the Museum Lord of the Attic. The worst thing today was freezing every time we went outside! The funniest thing today was seeing the cows on the ceiling of the souvenir shop! Today we tried visiting the Troppenmuseum And the result was it’s a fascinating museum and well worth a visit. The most magical moment today was seeing the canals packed with skaters in the evening.
Wonderful shots of the skaters at night. It sounds like they've got the winter we usually have this year. We've got no ice and snow at all, and I'm not complaining! Just reading your description of the cold wind whipping around while you wait for the tram... brrrrr. That caprese looks perfect!
Glad you had a great dinner! Great shots of the canals. When we were there, there was a carnival in Dam Square, so it was hopping! I guess you wouldn't expect that in the winter though! More please!
That knife rack is hilarious! Where do I get one?!! I'm glad you enjoyed another delicious Italian dinner. The photos of the people on the canals are definitely something to remember.
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Tanya
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I do love the cow section of that store. What a fun place to shop.
In the last update you have a picture of the lemoncello as the site you see when you go outside...I don't think that is what it was supposed to be. LOL
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I had to restrain myself, as I could've gone totally nuts in there! 
It was absolutely freezing there, with the wind really whipping through this street. By the time the tram arrived, I was cold, hungry and tired, not a good combination with my chronic fatigue. I was not impressed when the tram pulled up further along from the stop and we had to run for it. Not what I needed. 
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