First night in Amsterdam and Pancake House

It's time to leave for Amsterdam and John has finally shed the

shackles of Ted Walker’s legacy long enough to order taxis for us to go to the train station.  Ted was the previous leader of these trips and who John learned from, but he enjoyed making the kids “rough it”.  Well, there’s only so much luggage that you need to pull through cobblestone streets making a horrific racket and looking like you have no sense.  So, finally, some sense.  Train to Antwerp is fun, the train station in Antwerp is fantastic and then we have to descend into the bowels of hell to reach our next train to Amsterdam.  Which is very full and Oscar is again in my lap.  Now, I see why airlines won’t let you go above the age of two with a lap child.  Of course, Oscar looks like he is 5 at times and when you put him on my lap in a train, he looks 12.  John gets to switch seats with the guy next to me and Oscar prefers daddy’s lap anyway.  YEAH!!!  Oscar also gets to

check in tickets which makes him very happy and will most likely lead to more games of having to go places in the hotel room.  We have a hike to the taxi stand because everyone takes trams or bikes in Amsterdam and finally get into two taxis.  Each of these rides is more of a carnival ride for the students, this one actually made one think that she was going to be ill.  There’s a few of us meeting up with a former 

student of John and Rachel’s DC and NYC study abroad who is at the University in Utrecht right now for dinner.   And I head up to the room to freshen up or something but then have to come back down and ask John if there is a room that is lower down that we can have.  There is no elevator, the stairs are steep, winding, dark, narrow and Oscar has to climb them with his hands and feet like a ladder.  Because they number floors differently than we do, our room 32, contains 3 flights of these stairs instead of 2 and I can’t imagine doing it

 several times a day with Oscar.  There is no AC and by the time you get to the top, you think that you’re having a heart attack.  So, now instead of “freshen up”, I need a shower.  Two students on the first floor offer to switch with us, but they’re on the side that faces the loud street with trams, loud people and I realize that I won’t be able to sleep there.  We’ll just make it.  I’ll minimize trips up and down the stairs for sure though.  The student we’re meeting has made reservations at a place called the Pancake House and I’m a little surprised that you need a reservation for pancakes, but these are not pancakes people.  They are crepes that you don’t fold with anything you want on them.  I had bacon, cheese, and apple and it was freaking amazing.  Just like crepes, you can get sweet or savory or a mixture of the two.  So, if you’re ever in Amsterdam and you think to yourself that you don’t want a pancake for dinner, think again.