Driving lessons #101

Driving lesson #101

OMG!  I’ve just had the most unusual driving lesson ever - and I’ve had plenty of them over the years.

It all began back at the teenager’s school when I picked him up an hour late today as I’d had a meeting.  As the carpark was empty I suggested a driving lesson but then changed my mind and said wait till we get home to Reem Island as there’s less traffic.

Let me start at the beginning.  Last week I made the momentous decision to buy a car.  Which was a drama in itself.  To cut a long story short, I’d purchased a Chevrolet Malibu with high end specs (you know what I mean - leather seats, sun roof, keyless start, automatic this, that and the other thing).  I must say it’s lovely to drive and I love the new leather smell each morning.  Plus the rear camera is a godsend for parking here.

So I duly drive home and once we’re on the island the teenager is hounding me to stop.  Eventually I pull over on a little used road and let him take the wheel.  Now he’s driven plenty at home in NZ but hasn’t since we’ve been here.  So off he goes.  We’re on the other side of the island that I can see from our window.  As I’d spied someone having lessons there at the weekend it seemed like a good starting point.

So he’s driving down these roads and there is a lot of construction happening so the road is quite full of debris, stones, bits of cloth on the manholes and other such obstacles.  Having no idea where the road goes I just keep on saying go straight.

I’m enjoying not driving and admiring the scenery.  I look across at the “Sea Palace” and say WOW!  That’s impressive.  Then I ask the teenager why there are so many cars parked there?  As he usually knows everything it seemed like a normal question.  Having no idea, he continued driving down the road.

This road is in much better condition and clean without the debris so I say keep going.

Oops!  A dead end onto sand so I say do a u-turn which he does.  Suddenly two Indian men appear out of nowhere walking alongside the road.

Then even more suddenly an Emirate man appears and begins to cross the road with a determined look on his face.  As the teenager doesn’t have a licence to drive here yet I’m getting a bit worried.  So the Emirate crosses the road and stops the two men.  There is much gesturing and pointing.  Fine I think, he just wants directions.  But he’s standing in the middle of the road, blocking our way.  Then he approaches the car - drivers side.  OMG!  I’m thinking to myself.  What now?

He asks where are we from?  NZ or down the road?  Which is the correct answer?  Any form of officialdom here makes you nervous.  The teenager suddenly seems to be mute so I reply that we live on the island and are just looking around.

We are then instructed, yes ‘instructed’ to turn around and go back through the sandy road and construction camp.  I protest and say we’ll just go back the way we’ve come but no!

So next thing the two Indian men are jumping into the back seat and directing us along this back road.  I’ve got visions of having to ring my roadside rescue to get us out of the sand. (Only in the UAE does this come as standard along with running out of petrol)

My phone starts ringing and it's one of my teachers from work wanting to talk to me about something.  I can't concentrate on anything as am watching the driver, listening to the men in the back, listening to the phone, watching the Emirate, yelling directions at the teenager, telling him to make sure he doesn't run over the Emirate while doing a three-point turn, and just generally freaking out.

Remember, this is my brand new car.

Finally we leave the sand track and reach a road of sorts.  The road gets considerably worse then very high speed bumps appear on the bumpy tarmac.  The teenager is still driving and I’m feeling very nervous so tell the teenager to go to the side of the bump to avoid ripping out the bottom of my car.  He does so then the men in the back begin yelling, bus, bus, bus.  WTF?  A bloody workers bus is just about through my door.  Where the hell he came from I don’t know but the teenager never saw him.  It was so close to running over us it wasn’t funny.  The Indian men wondered what the hell they were doing in this car with us.  I was wondering the same thing!

Then the teenagers phone starts ringing - cell phones are such a @#$%&% distraction when you are driving - and he wants me to answer it.  No way, focus on your driving.  Continuing through two sets of traffic lights we drop off our passengers then continue onto home, all in one piece.

Anyway, the story was that the Sheikh and other royalty were meeting over at the Sea Palace.  Now remember this is a building across a stretch of water from where we were driving.  However, no-one, and I mean no-one, was allowed to distract them by walking or driving by.  And I had asked why all the cars were there?  It also explains why this stretch of dead-end road was so clean, just in case they spotted anything moving in the wind or saw some rubbish.

So us arriving, driving by very slowly with blacked out windows, probably caused a bit of unease on the part of the Emirate man whose own 4WD was parked behind a fence now that I think about it.

What a hoot!  Lucky we weren’t the next international incident!

Wedding belle

Wedding belles

I finally got invited to a wedding.  Everyone says if you are invited you must go just so you can see what goes on.  One of my Emirate teachers at school was getting married so we were all invited.

I drove to the Wedding Hall, a massive structure covered in fairy lights that is set up for weddings.  Often when driving past I’ve thought what a magnificent sight it is and tonight it was my turn to go there.

The teacher had told me to get my hair done, put on makeup (we wear none compared to them), wear my party dress and heels.

So I followed all her instructions as I’d been told that the dresses are to die for, red carpet style.  I often see the beautiful frocks in shops here and wonder who wears them.  Well, now I know.

We arrived a bit early before 8pm and I parked the car.  I travelled with another teacher so didn’t arrive alone.  We’d been told to make sure we went to the woman’s side but of course we didn’t know where it was and had to do a loop, walking in my high heels and very long dress, around the block, past many wee shops full of men.

A few other woman were dropped off by their sons and we waiting outside.  Not sure of the protocol I walked back to the car and drove around and parked right outside the woman’s entrance.  Finally we wandered in and were greeted at the door by an assembly line of woman.  I later found out who they all were but most of them were the groom’s family.  I think they pay for the wedding.

So we chose a table and sat ourselves down.  Taking our cue from the others there we unwrapped the various dishes of food on our table and ate.  A mixture of typical dishes were served, most savoury but some sweet.

We ate hummus with bread, fattoush, vine leaves, a basket of fruit, a sweet junket like desert, and other treats.

Waitresses circulated offering us another sweet, stick desert with nuts.  Then mini deep fried donuts with a sweet sticky sauce.

Perfumed oil was continually offered to anoint ourselves with and the ever-present Oud incense was offered for us to waft the fragrance onto ourselves.

Our side of the hall consisted of 30 tables set for 8.  In the middle of the hall was a giant stage with a catwalk.  Loud Arabic music blared out while we were offered continual drinks of fresh juices (strawberry, guava & orange), Arabic coffee, 4 different teas, and more sweet nibbles.

After two hours the food itself arrived.  On each table a huge platter was placed of biriyani - a rice dish - topped with a baby goat or lamb.  We never did decide which it was and the two are interchangeable here.  Chick peas were sprinkled on top of the meat.  Each table received this bounty, it didn’t matter if there were only two sitting there.  This was accompanied by 6 other dishes, saffron rice, spciy vege soup out of a can, meat & pasta dish, samosa, and a glue like gelatinous substance that tasted foul.  Whatever that is is very popular here and I’ve seen it at all our school functions.

For dessert a bread & cream type pudding arrived and then two types of cake.  All the food was hurriedly taken away with hardly any being eaten.  I hope it didn’t all go to waste as there are many hungry, low paid workers in this city.

I imagine a duplicate meal was happening on the men’s side.  You see, the men and the women are in separate venues, well the same venue but separate side of the hall.

After the food the lights dimmed in anticipation of the arrival of the bride.  A guard of honour of beautifully dressed young women lined the red-carpet.  The doors were shut, the two photographers were in place, the rose-petal holder all ready, then the bride appeared in the doorway.  It was like a beauty pagent.  A spotlight followed her as she slowly made her way along the red-carpet to the stairs leading to the stage.

The older women made this bloodcurdling noise at the arrival of the bride.  I’m not sure if it is a sign of excitement or to scare the enemy but it’s an unforgetable sound.

The bride was unrecognisable from the woman I see daily at work.  She glittered from head to toe in a sparkling white and silver dress.  A movie camera filmed her every move as she glided under the coloured lights.  It probably took her ½ hour to cover the short distance but it’s all about being seen and admired.

Her dress was beautiful with a long train fanning out behind her.  The veil was held in place by a glittering tiara and the dress was fishtailed with ruffles.

Being sleeveless we could admire her hennaed arms.  She looked a million dollars sparkling everywhere.

The bridal walk went on and on.  We were all give heart shaped biscuits iced like the bride & groom.  The brides mum was dressed like a bride herself in cream and wearing a veil.

The younger women did the most incredible hip-shaking dance which they must learn from birth.  I had not seen this before but they all put on black belts around their mostly ample hips and shook their booty.  One girl even had a thick belt with bells on it.  Boy, could they shake!  It was an impressive display and made us all the more certain that we were not going to be up there dancing.

The song fat-bottomed girls came to mind as I watched.  Did you know that a big bum is considered an asset here and the bigger the better.  My friend refers to it as the table bum, you can sit a cup of tea on it.  And if you’re a bit too slim you can buy padded panties to give you some shape.  Imagine that!  “Does my bum look too small in this?”  Yes, dear!

The bride finally made it to the white couch where she would sit like royalty while everyone came to pay their respects to her.  Some of us went up, braving the steps and walking the catwalk to wish her well.  As I was leaving the floor after meeting her mother and sisters, I was accosted by the grooms sister who had been asking us to dance.  Now she was another shaker of some repute and I was anxious to get down from the catwalk but no, she grabbed my hand and I had to dance a couple of songs up there with her.  Then the grooms mother came along with a fist full of fivers and threw the money at us.  Reminded me of Bailey’s 21st but in this case the workers just about knocked us over grabbing the money.  And I thought it was for my amazing efforts!

Suddenly all the women cover up, including the bride who now wears a white satin hood - reminded me of the Clu clux clan - and words goes around that the groom is coming.

So to much ado he is escorted in by his mum and sisters.  He is dressed in his best finery, looking like a Sheikh (he could be for all I know) wearing a black and gold robe over his white kandora.  He carries the shepards crock that is commonplace here, but it’s probably a camel crock.  His white headdress is held in place by a black rope, the camel rope.  He looks incredibly smart and it must have been daunting walking into that room full of woman alone.  But he holds his head high and walks the carpet and catwalk to meet his bride.  Eventually they undo the three knots of her hood and he can see her face.

We left just after this as it was a work night and it was already 11pm.  Apparently more men came in, family I believe, and they took some photos.

The whole performance, and that’s what it was, a beauty pagent, is so different to our weddings.  A ceremony had taken place a week earlier which is the marriage itself, like a civil service.  Tonight was all about show.  I hate to think what it cost in terms of food, and her dress.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Sunday 7th April, 2013

The ship docked in Amsterdam at 4am.  An early breakfast was available for those catching early flights.  Everything was well organised with bags colour coded.  We’d opted to stay on board for a bit as we couldn’t book into our hotel until the afternoon (a real hassle when arriving in a city early in the morning).

So after a leisurely breakfast we joined the remaining passengers in the lounge and relaxed on-board until 10am, our departure time.  After a while we decided to leave early as it seemed a waste to sit onboard for any longer while we were in such a bustling port.

We discussed booking a taxi but decided to walk - it didn’t look far on the map.  Thankfully it was an easy walk even with 3 suitcases between the two of us.

Beware of cyclists!  Stick to the walking lanes and look carefully before crossing roads.  There are trams and cyclists everywhere.

We cut through the railway station, joining a throng of other tourists.  As we emerged from the station our hotel was in front of us across several busy streets.  A grand old lady, The Park Plaza Victoria, was positioned in a prime spot.  Booking hotels close to the railway stations is a bonus and something I’d recommend to other travellers.

We arrived at the hotel before 10am with the intention of leaving our luggage but to our surprise our room was available so we checked in.

Once again we’re in an older annex but the room is quiet.  It has tea and coffee with a fridge.  Beds are comfy, heating more than adequate.  Room has an annex with writing desk & 2 chairs.  Plenty of room for us and our bags.  The bathroom is basic with a shower over the bath.

There isn’t much soundproofing between the rooms and we can hear our neighbour snoring then talking on the phone later that evening.

But no time to waste lamenting over hotel rooms.  By 11am we’re on the red bus taking in the sights (17 euro).  We stop at the Jewish museum (1 euro), Gassons diamonds tour, and Hard Rock Café for coffee (3,35 euro - where our neighbours are asked to leave as it must be the only place in town where you can’t smoke a joint).  We find a wonderful seat outside on the canal in the sun.  Later it’s back to the hotel for a cuppa.  We buy some milk and food (4,25 euro).

We decide to walk over to the Anne Frank House later that evening and join the queue (9 euro).  What an experience that was.  You could feel the fear as you climbed the narrow steps to the top where the family hid for all that time.  Looking out the windows at the neighbouring homes you wonder how they managed to stay hidden at all.  As with many museums we’ve visited you don’t have time to stop and admire the exhibits, it’s just keep moving in a line as it’s so busy so they need to keep people moving.  I’m keen to read her diary again.

Monday 8th April 2013

Downstairs for a fabulous breakfast - just as if we were still on the ship.  Hot variety, yoghurt, cereal & fresh fruits, toast, breads & pastries, cold meats & cheese, juices, hot tea & coffee.

By 9.30am we’re back on the first red bus of the day to have another trip around town.  As you pay for a 24 hour ticket we want to get our moneys worth.

Then it’s back to the hotel for a cuppa and dutch currant bun.

Suitably revitalised it’s off again walking to the flower market where we find a fabulous selection of vendors in floating tent-like stalls.  Tasted cheese, cheese and more cheese and some wonderful mustards to go with them.  There is an absence of fresh flowers but plenty of wooden tulips and bulbs and packs of seeds.  This isn’t looking good for the purpose of our trip here - to see the tulips!

These clogs would even be too big for the teenager!  With all this wonderful merchandise on display I buy myself a small tulip carry bag and an Amsterdam themed ashtray for one of my sons.  Needing to find a bathroom (always an issue when travelling) we head into McDonalds and pay 0,30 E!  Not even a free loo in there.

We catch the tram back to our hotel for hot soup and another bun.  Real cheap eating so far.

I decide to buy an umbrellas in anticipation of rain.  Why I don’t know as it’s the second sunny day and town is still rocking with so many holidaymakers.

A new sound, the sound of Amsterdam, is the continual clatter of rolling suitcases over cobblestones.

I’ve never seen so many bicycles or people in one place, most sitting in cafes in rows worshipping the sun.  Very strange, almost like a cult and we snap photos from inside the bus. I wonder what sort of people live here but perhaps it’s what you do when you haven’t seen the sun in over 3 months.

We head off across the street from our hotel for 1 hour canal cruise @ 4.30pm.  Interesting!  We began out in harbour by where our cruise ship docked then head through one of 11 sets of lock gates into the canals.  We pass by merchant’s houses - magnificent.  Most are too expensive for private ownership now so are owned by Embassy, banks & insurance companies.

Amsterdam must have been wealthy in it’s heyday.

With the cruise (15 euro) we purchased a reduced price Red Light walking tour for 10 euro leaving at 7pm.

So it’s home to the hotel at 5.30pm then get rugged up and out again by 6pm.  Stopped at a vegetarian restaurant for falafel - biggest ever had and you could refill salads.  Very busy and I imagine successful business franchise.  I ate too much, paused to look in a couple of clothes shops, then walked to Dam Square by 7pm to meet our tour guide.

I’m surprised by how many are there for the tour - around 60 on a cold Monday night.
Apparently Amsterdam is second most popular tourist destination in the world behind San Francisco.

The tour is informative, guide young Aussie, Julian.  Not as many girls in the Red Light District as I’d imagined.  Tiny, tiny rooms they work in.  Not many customers.  Plenty looking - don’t know how many buying.  We’ve been asked not to take photos unless we want trouble.  Our tour group all took in a peep show - priceless!  The look on some of the faces was worth the euro we paid.

The area isn’t as seedy as I’d thought.  There are plenty of ‘coffee houses’ to tempt smokers.  By now we’ve learnt that cafes are where you buy a cup of coffee, coffee houses are where you smoke.

The sex shops are something else - funniest condom & blow up toys I’ve ever seen or imagined.  Just imagine, a Maggie Simpson condom!  Condoms are made to measure at several establishments.

We walked back to our hotel by 8.30pm.  Big day - 11 hours out.  I’m in bed by 9.30pm to write up diary, accompanied by loud noise from our neighbour.  We can’t help but wonder what she’s doing here, asleep all day, up all night???


Tuesday 9th April

I’ve made myself a note to take a bag to breakfast so we can ‘procure’ our lunch.  We’ve been furtively taking a bun but noticing everyone else does the same quite openly we’re getting brazen to the point of making a sandwich which we then wrap in serviettes and pop into our bag for lunch.

After a sleep in - our room was too hot again and I had to open the window in the night, it’s down to a leisurely breakfast 8.45-10am.

We decide to take the tram today and buy a 24 hour tram ticket for 7,50E rather than 2,80E  for one hour.  Caught the tram from the station to the Heritage Museum.  Had to walk 0.6km as closest tram stop is closed.  Lots of roadworks meant several stops on red bus were also missed.

Van Gogh exhibition is small and temporary as VG museum is shut, along with Rijks museum.  Just our luck!  Coldest winter in 100 years so no tulips then two main art museums shut.

I manage to spend a bit at the museum shop though.
Sunflower bag 27,50 E
2 Van Gogh carry bags 2,95E each
Museum entry 15,00E

Back at the hotel mid-afternoon I’m shocked by the news that Iran had a 6.3 earthquake and my 63 story building in Abu Dhabi has been evacuated..  Frantically I try to contact the teenager who is home alone.  (Yes, you’ve been wondering where he was.)   As per normal he slept through the whole event and didn’t even wake up.  Lucky it was only precautionary when after shocks hit rather than the real deal.  Another similar event after my return home has me running down 28 flights of stairs.  Not something to take lightly, I couldn’t walk for days due to such sore legs!

Then it’s off out for a walk to see the sights.  Found a Kings sports shop around the corner down the back alley and bought some brand name t-shirts for the teenager. We’d been so focused on the shops out on the main street we hadn’t been down the back streets which are teeming with life.

We stopped at Burger King for a bite and hot chocolate then I grabbed a slice of pizza for my dinner on the way home.

Went back out later to check out the buses for tomorrow’s outing (easier said than done as rail station staff not very helpful).  Rode the tram down & back to Spui to get our moneys worth from day ticket.


Wednesday 10th April, 2013

Up at 7.30, down to breakfast 8am.  Then it’s over to the station to attempt catching a bus to Edam.  There are plenty of tours but they all cost around 40 euros so are trying to do it ourselves.  Obviously Amsterdam relies on tours as difficult to get any information to do it yourself.  After the 3rd information desk we finally found a bus just sitting waiting for us!

10 euro for a day pass.  A helpful Malaysian tourist has map and shows us where to go.  Obviously he’s done his homework.

Tourist tip:
Central station for trains only.
Trams and metro leave out front.
City buses across tram lines (GVB).  Only do inside city.
Countryside buses very hard to find.  3rd stop lucky.  Walk through to back of station, nothing obvious but luck was with us.  Bus to Edam waiting - yellow buses 10E for day pass.  Left within 3 mins of us arriving just before 10am.  Buy ticket from driver.  Newspapers on bus but not in English.
Volandam is the first stop before Edam so get off t here first.  Can catch bus & change to go to Marken which saves getting ferry & all included in 10E!
Tip: Get map from info centre opposite front of station.

The landscape is flat - no growth in fields.  Fields are dotted with white swans - like on Rhine.  We see our first cows in fields.  We pass picturesque villages along the busy 2 lane road.  I’m not used to that and find the oncoming traffic is very close to us.

The fishing village of Volandam is our first stop.  Wow!  We’ve bet the tour buses and are first on the scene.  Getting off at the bus stop you have no idea what a treat is in store for you once you walk down to the waterfront.  A quaint, yet working fishing village with all the tourist facilites you could want.   We opt for De Boors café for a hot chocolate and slice of apple cake (4,40 E).

As we stare out at the North Sea it feels like we are at the Arctic with the cold wind blowing.  Still, it doesn’t stop us enjoying a freshly cooked meal of fried fish fillet on bread roll for lunch (4E).  Delicious!  It’s worth braving the cold to sit on an outside bench with the harbour backdrop.

There is so much selection from the fish vendors it’s difficult to know what to choose.  Many other tourists opt for the pickled herrings but I don’t think I’ll be able to stomach them.  Most of the vendors look like they were born there doing the same job all their lives.

After strolling the many shops we wander back along the side streets to the bus stop.  I am amazed to find a shoe shop selling sandals in my size so take the opportunity to buy a pair (59,95e).  This was one thing I wanted to do in Amsterdam as they don’t stock many shoes in my size in UAE.  Still they are harder to find here than I’d imagined.

 
Next stop Edam.  Now I’d be expecting to see a big cheese or something - well that’s what you’d get in NZ.  But we nearly missed the town as there were no directions once we got off the bus.  Not sure where to go and looking like we’d been dropped on the outskirts of the town we spy a large church dominating the skyline so cross the road and head down past a busy technical college with students catching buses outside.

As we approach the church the landscape around us is barren & desolate with foggy grey horizon.  I spy a paddock of sheep by the church, the first sheep we’ve seen on our trip.

We wander back along the opposite side of the road towards our bus stop and stumble onto a cheese market, just packing up.  They have the most beautiful fresh fish for sale here which seems odd!

Into a pub for the obligatory hot chocolate - the best and hottest one we’ve had yet on trip (2,25e).  Sadly we couldn’t fit in any cheese as still full from our earlier stop.

We run into a group of ‘Red Hat’ ladies exiting from a pub lunch at Dam Hotel.  As I’m wearing purple & red I join in their photo.  They remind me of my Aunty Pat with her zest for life and her red hats so I send her a photo that night.

Stopping at a bakery we get some cakes for supper (3,35e) then head back to catch the 110 bus towards Amsterdam.  Our plan is to change bus at Mannehke for Marken but once back on the bus we decide to forgo Marken as it’s too cold and foggy for an island visit.

We admire the front windows of the houses we pass on the bus.  Front window floral displays are a source of pride & possibly competition between neighbours.  They look like show windows or museum displays.

Edam is a quaint village with narrow cobbled streets and many locks and canals.  The brick houses are joined together.  I’m so pleased we didn’t miss the town of Edam.  What a gem!

Back at the hotel it’s time for a cuppa to warm up then we head downstairs to have a beer (3,40e) in the bar and soak up the ambience of our busy inner city hotel.

One quirky aspect of Amsterdam (other than drugs and sex) is the fascination with hot chips.  I’ve never seen so many oversized advertisements and so many people queuing to buy chips.  They come with a selection of toppings which make them look even less desirable.  However, tonight we’ve finally succumbed to chips!  Not even nice.  Small overcooked ends, nothing like the ones on display, no real chips at all (3,50e).  I opted for a curry sauce as couldn’t handle the mayonnaise or cheese most people choose.

Tonight is a night for succumbing and next stop is a visit to the sex museum - which is more like a porn show! (4 e)  The interactive models were a hoot (flasher, pisser, red light naked men, loo sex).  After close scrutiny of exhibits we return home to the hotel.  I wonder if kids here have a better attitude to sex than other countries as I see young kids playing with explicit toys in the many tourist shops we go into.  There is none of the ‘dirtiness’ attached to it here.

Another aspect we’ve noticed is even though Amsterdam is party heaven and filled with tourists, many large groups of guys arriving for a weekend, in our time here we only saw one drunk person.  So even though everyone’s smoking & drinking up large, the public behaviour is much better than you’d see in any town in NZ.  Food for thought!

We’ve been lucky with our hotels on this trip.  I can’t emphasise enough how important location is when choosing a hotel, especially in a new city.  Another must for me is having tea & coffee facilities as this saves you so much money when travelling.  I may live in a different world than I’m used to back in NZ but old habits die hard and I’ll always be a budget traveller.  My sisters may laugh at me turning up with my teabags and thermos but it’s stood me in good stead for many a holiday.  When travelling abroad the best option is having breakfast included as this can be a substantial meal to start your day thus reducing your food budget significantly.

We are thankful for our hotel as we witness many older people lugging their suitcases up narrow flights of stairs into seedy looking hotels in the back streets.  We take the time to check out the other newer side of our hotel with more expensive rooms.  We go back happy with what we’ve got, better towels would go a long way to upgrade the feel as would sound-proofing the walls.  But for what we’ve paid, we’re happy. We hear others complaining at reception but some people are never satisfied.



Thursday 11th April, 2013

When it’s spring again, I’ll bring again, tulips from Amsterdam...

Today is the big day I’ve waited for for 9 months.  No, not a baby, a trip to see the tulips in Amsterdam.  This was why I booked this cruise to fulfill a lifelong dream.  Only problem is that no-one told me that it was going to be the coldest winter in 100 years and the tulips wouldn’t be flowering.  I’d even timed the cruise so that we were on the river first to give us an extra week before arriving here just in case the bulbs were late in flowering.  But this late is ridiculous.  All week we’ve been looking at floral displays planted in tubs and measuring the rate of growth.  All week we’ve been asking our concierge if we should go today.  He kept saying go as late as you can, give them some more sun.  Well, it’s now as late as we can go so today is the day!

We’ve booked a 10.15am tour so we can have a leisurely, relaxed breakfast.  Made our daily snack for lunch along with currant bun & an orange.

Wouldn’t you know it?  Today is the first day of real rain since we arrived in Amsterdam.  We are wet by the time we walk down to the tour centre.  There are heaps of people there.  I think we’ve made a mistake paying 40 euro for the tour and should have persevered over at the station to catch the train and a bus.  No great saving in cost though.

Most people leave so we feel better until we realise they are already on our double-decker bus before us.  Bus must seat 80-100 & it’s nearly full.

We set off, sitting upstairs.  It’s wet, cold and bleak so we are wondering what we are doing visiting today.  We kept putting it off to allow the tulips time to flower.

Our reluctance is heightened by the constant talking of our guide - 1st in one language then in another.  On the way back it’s 3 languages.  45 minutes of this is too much!

As we pass through the Dutch countryside we see yellow fields of daffidols but no tulips blooming.

We arrive at Keukenhof gardens to find hundreds already there.  The gardens are magnificent but way off being ready.  The ‘most beautiful spring gardens in the world’ just awaits spring!

Crocuses are out and daffodils.  There are a few red tulips but most are not ready.  Cameras at the ready we pose for photograph after photograph.

However, once we discover the indoor pavilions filled with colourful displays and tulips of every colour imaginable we are in our element.  I take so many photos of tulips that my phone goes flat!  Whatever will I do with all these photos?

The outdoor gardens are interesting with stepping stones in a lake fill of swans.  It’s icy cold in places as we walk around admiring the many displays.  I buy a jigsaw at the gift shop to remind me of this day.

We spend a magical 3 ½ hours there then it’s a 45 minute drive back, once again listening to our guide.  Why do guides think they have to talk for the whole trip?  Are they paid on a word count?

As it’s our final night in Amsterdam and I’ve spent all my cash, I get some money out.  Then it’s back to the Kings shop for some more clothes buying before a final walk around the red light district and coffee shops.

Time to pack for the journey home.

Friday 12th April, 2013

After breakfast today we head over to the railway station to take a train out to the airport.  Public transport is easy to use here, once you figure it out.

The sounds of Amsterdam continue to haunt me:
Clatter of suitcases on cobblestones
clang of tram bells before they start
screech of trams on lines
chatter of school groups
tinkle of bicycle bells

The train carriage we hop into is full so we push and fight our way through with our bags into an empty section.  Why are others standing when this is empty?  We sit down and relax.  Later we find out it’s the first class section but no conductor comes along so we stay put.  It wasn’t worth the upgrade to buy first class but having a seat was worth it.  Seen we didn’t upgrade all was good.

We’re at the airport really early and hover around wondering what to do.  We’re told the check-in doesn’t open for a couple of hours so McDonalds for a coffee seems like a great idea and we head upstairs to find it.

We end up being second in the queue but this doesn’t mean much as others get through much quicker than us.

It might be easy to get into Amsterdam but it’s not easy to get out.  Security at the airport is tight - in fact it’s more like a prison than an airport.  We are x-rayed with our arms up while guards walk around acting like they are goalers, barking out orders to those waiting in the line.

The holiday is over.  What happens in Amsterdam, stays in Amsterdam...

We fly Emirates back to Dubai where I tearfully farewell my sister, Pam.  Then it’s onto the bus back to Abu Dhabi for me while Pam stops over ready for her long flight home tomorrow.

Memories of this trip will last me a lifetime.