A few things went into my decision to include Amsterdam into this journey. It was not the destination but rather a way to the destination that made it attractive as a stop. Since I like to talk to people about their travel experiences, I had been told the Netherlands is a lovely country to visit and I had never been before, excluding a brief layover at the airport where we didn’t even have to exit the plane. Two of my children who had been in Amsterdam recently recommended it as a worthwhile place to visit. With that in mind, I found I could book a flight to the southern part of Africa much cheaper and earn loyalty points with my airline alliance without paying as much as a nonstop, round-trip flight to Cape Town from the USA. The airline loyalty points have become important to me lately because, as many of my fellow travelers have suggested, having access to a good lounge makes the airport part of the travel experience less taxing. I don’t really mind sitting in the back of the plane (especially considering the price difference), but if I can keep my wife happy by maintaining lounge access, it is worth it. My wife is my favorite travel companion, but she is a reluctant traveler. She has expressed to me that waiting in line to check in, going through security (sometimes being treated badly), rushing and wondering if the plane will depart on time or at all, and carrying luggage through the airport are all difficult and stressful for her. I don’t like any of those things either, but arriving early helps both of us when a comfortable lounge awaits; with smiling faces that help ease the stress of getting there (and back). Anyway, adding this leg of the flight allowed me to get the points I needed to maintain status for another year. Let’s hope the upcoming year is full of new adventures and the lounge access comes in handy.
As you might guess from the name of this website, I like to travel as much as I can and since I am retired from teaching and coaching (since 2018), my options are much broader now than they were when I had to keep in mind the school calendar and sports seasons. I wouldn’t pick October as the prime time of year to visit Amsterdam, but it would give me and my wife a chance to see if it could be a place worth returning to in the future. For sure you can’t see it all in a day, and with so many places to see in the world that really intrigue me (and I keep learning of more as I meet fellow travelers) and the fact that I will probably not be able to do as much exotic travel as I age; it makes sense (to me at least) to try to scout out potential future destinations that might appeal to both of us as we limit ourselves to places that are frequented by people in our age bracket and above.
I generally prefer to eliminate airport layovers because I view every landing as an opportunity to explore, but also because it helps to relieve the stress of making a connecting flight. Amsterdam Schiphol is the hub for one of the airlines that is in the alliance I travel with and it has a reputation as an easy airport to transit through. Making a stop rather than laying over, allows another day to adjust to the time zone of the primary location of our planned adventure. One of the problems of crossing time zones is the adjustment to the difference, especially as you age and sleeping becomes a challenge. Adding the stop also is a hedge against flight delays. Missing the stop in Amsterdam wouldn’t be good, but it is preferable to landing in Africa behind schedule for our busy itinerary. So, it seemed prudent to add the “cushion” in the Netherlands for peace of mind.
Now that you know more than you probably wanted to know about the reasons for stopping in Amsterdam, let’s cover what we did with our time. We had a little more than 24 hours and as luck would have it, the weather was rainy. We stayed near the airport in the village of Amstelveen at a lovely Bed and Breakfast that used to be a train station, now called Hotel Station Amstelveen. It was highly rated and fairly priced. The owners were great to deal with and breakfast was wonderful. Since our flight and taxi to Amstelveen had us arriving before sunrise, we arranged to have breakfast and drop off our bags with our host, Johan. He also provided us with a wealth of information on things to do and how to navigate using public transport to get to the city sites. He made a reservation for us for dinner at The WineKitchen at Sea, which is only steps away from the front door of the hotel.
After breakfast and a short walk to the bus station, we started our day visiting the highly regarded national museum of the Netherlands, the Rijksmuseum, where many of the works by Dutch masters can be found, including Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn, and Jacob van Ruisdael; but probably my favorite Dutch painter exhibited in the museum was Vincent van Gogh. After a few hours walking the galleries, we made our way to one of the tour-boat docks to navigate the iconic canals of Amsterdam. They are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and even though it was raining steadily during the tour, it was possible to stay dry in the covered vessel, learn some history, and take photos of the charming scenery and architecture. By the time we finished, it was time to head back to Amstelveen to make our dinner reservation. As the name suggests, the restaurant specializes in wine paired with fresh seafood. The service was great and the food was carefully prepared and delicious.
We certainly didn’t see it all, but we saw enough to know we want to return someday. I hope we will get better weather next time. I highly recommend both the place we stayed and the restaurant! We felt welcomed at both.
To see photos of our short stay in Amsterdam click here. The last photo in the gallery is an early-morning photo of the place we stayed in Amstelveen, which I took while waiting for the taxi back to the airport.