Canals, diamonds and red lights – an Amsterdam getaway COMPLETED - Page 7 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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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:
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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.
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I often wonder why airlines can't "plan" a little better to avoid empty planes like that (I'm sure scheduling is very difficult, and they never know how many people will be on a particular flight). They must lose so much money just on gas to fly empty planes like that.
They must, but I remember when we flew to the States in 1987. It was the Wednesday after Black Monday - the stock market crash, remember that? - well, there were 30 of us in economy out of over 300 seats and they told us they could still afford to fly, as business class was full of traders flying out to New York, who were all in a real panic! That said something to us about where their margin is on flights that they could still make money with that many empty seats...
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Kind of funny, I've been to both Gatwick and Schipol but have never flown from one to the other! At Gatwick, I stayed at the Yotel. Have you ever seen it? It's right inside the South Terminal. It was when I was flying home, I knew I was gonna get to the airport late at night and had a flight early in the morning so I simply booked the Yotel for about 5 hours. The rooms are tiny but perfectly comfortable, and it sure beat sitting around in the terminal all night!
Kind of funny, I've been to both Gatwick and Schipol but have never flown from one to the other! At Gatwick, I stayed at the Yotel. Have you ever seen it? It's right inside the South Terminal. It was when I was flying home, I knew I was gonna get to the airport late at night and had a flight early in the morning so I simply booked the Yotel for about 5 hours. The rooms are tiny but perfectly comfortable, and it sure beat sitting around in the terminal all night!
Thursday 9 February – part three: I’m sorry... you want to charge me HOW MUCH to use the restrooms?
We headed back towards where we’d got off the tram, finding a little enclave of the Red Light District, which is in another part of Amsterdam, on the way.
How ironic to have a church smack in the middle!
You’re not supposed to photograph the women in the windows, so this was the best shot I could sneak...
We made our way towards the Nieuwe Kerk, or new church, and tried to find our way in. Wouldn’t you know it? The entrance was almost back at the beginning and we’d gone the wrong way! At least on the way, we saw the Koninklijk Paleis, which is still used by the Dutch Royal family today. Sadly it’s not open to the public at this time of the year.
So we headed into the Nieuwe Kerk and discovered that there was a massive exhibition on Judaism inside. As a result, sadly we could only take photos before we went into the exhibition, which was a shame, as I wanted to see the church.
However, having said that, the exhibition was fascinating and I learnt a lot about a religion that actually I knew very little about. The artefacts on display were absolutely amazing. The gold and silver that went into them were quite something.
At the end we also watched a documentary about how they got the approval from Israel for some of the items to be brought over here, which shows how important they are. The next video, which Mark had a sleep in was equally fascinating and we learnt all about the Sabbath and how it’s all about reconnecting with the family and not anything else, so everything electrical is turned off. I couldn’t do that with the computer one day a week!
Eventually, we headed out, with me getting a couple of postcards of the beautiful interior of the church in the shop on the way out.
We came out and food was the next priority. We looked around the square to see if there was anything to eat and Mark pointed out Magna Plaza, a shopping plaza nearby, as we figured that must have food in it. Well, it was certainly the most amazing place inside and I was very glad we went in, as it made for some beautiful photos, but there was no cafe to be found in here.
So it was back across the road to the square. We saw a couple of places, but some of them had their doors open and I wanted warmth as well as food!
Mark spotted the golden arches down a side road, so we set off that way, figuring that we’d see something else on the way. We didn’t, so McDonald’s it was and I got a Fillet of Fish and Mark got a Big Mac. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the fries had salt on them, something they’ve stopped doing in the UK recently. We also both got a tea (English tea – we were offered a range of choices in a little box, very cute! ) and settled down in the coolest chairs ever upstairs to enjoy it...
When we were done, I went to the restrooms and got mugged by a guy who turned out to be a restroom attendant on the way out. I couldn’t believe it – there was a 50 cent charge to use them! He was exceptionally insistent and it was just like being mugged. I was so angry. When Mark heard that, he decided that there was no way in hell he was going in there...
We headed out and further down the road, we saw the entrance to the Amsterdam Museum, which focuses on the history of the city.
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Great pics! Such a beautiful city! Love all the bicycles, even though there is snow on the ground! I think I went into that church when I was there! And McD's doesn't put salt on their fries in the UK anymore? Blasphemy!!! That's the best part!
Also, if I were on a family trip and had to pay every time one of us had to us the bathroom, that would probably be the majority of our budget! I have two boys with very tiny bladders. CRAZY!
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Maybe they did that because the red light "employees" needed a place to confess their sins.
When I went to Italy, I was told that there were places that would require you to pay for using the restroom, however, if you were a paying customer, most places would waive the fee. I guess that's not how it's done in Amsterdam. I mean, you just spent money in their establishment, and now they expect you to pay to pee????
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Melissa
Last edited by honeybee723; 02-15-2012 at 10:55 AM..
Did we miss getting "Thursday, Part 2"? The "Why can't we get off this tram?" segment seems to be missing.
I can't believe the restroom charge-- at McDonalds, no less! This had better not be a trend! Great photos of the Amsterdam architecture. Also can't believe there were no cafes or delis inside that big shopping mall.
What's up with "no salt on fries at McD's in the UK"??? That just ain't right!!! They better not start with that over here...
Yeah, lots of places in bigger cities over here make you pay to use their restrooms but that's only if you're not a paying customer! The way it works, though, is that the bathroom attendant is only earning what people are paying - just something to keep in mind even if you might think it's ridiculous (which oftentimes it is ). I've never seen this at a McDonald's though
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we've seen that one and Schipol had one as well.
We also both got a tea (English tea – we were offered a range of choices in a little box, very cute! 
) and settled down in the coolest chairs ever upstairs to enjoy it... 
He was exceptionally insistent and it was just like being mugged. I was so angry. 
Tricia
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