Amsterdam

The first day of our vacation started September 30th. Our flight did not leave until 9:30PM so we thought it would be nice to stop off in Oakville for dinner. My wife had purchased a Wagjag for a Mexican restaurant near Trafalgar Road in Oakville. Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed when we got there. Without a fall back plan we decided just to go to the airport and see what we could find there. We were at the airport just after 7:00PM. We checked in and got through security without much problem. I had decided that we should just go to the Maple Leaf lounge. With all the travel that I did to China and Mexico these last few years I earned access to Air Canada's Maple leaf lounge in terminal 1. Since my wife was traveling with me she was admitted as my guest. We had a nice meal from the buffet that is always available. Adding a glass of wine and desert and coffee we felt satisfied. After eating we relaxed in the comfortable chairs in the lounge. Since there was no reason to hurry we stayed in the Maple Leaf Lounge until it was time to board.

Having priority status we were one the first people to get on the plane so we could get ourselves settled before everyone else got on the plane. I know it seems elitist but it is one of the only perks that I got for spending all the time that I did away from home and living in hotels in China and Mexico.We took the 9:30PM flight from Toronto to Frankfurt and then on to Amsterdam. We arrived in Amsterdam at 3:00PM( which would have been 9:00AM) on October 1st. We lost six hours by crossing time zones. After getting off the plane, collecting our luggage from baggage claim We took the number 197 bus from the airport to the museum district where our hotel was located, it was four o'clock in the afternoon when we arrived at the hotel. We checked in at the hotel, dropped our baggage off in our small but comfortable room then we went for dinner. Not knowing the area we did not want to wander too far from the hotel. The hotel keeper told us that there were places to eat around the museum area so we walked up the street to the major intersection and past the music conservatory we found a Indonesian restaurant named Djanoko.

We decided to have the special that was posted outside the restaurant. It was a good meal, tasty and satisfying.

The Dutch have a great passion for Indonesian food which can be traced back to the period when Holland was a major trading power on the four seas especially in Asia and in particular Indonesia. . After dinner we stopped  at Renso's Delicatessen and bought some Sfogliatelle (Italian Lobster Claws) a pastry that we ate when we were in Italy a few years ago. we took them back to our hotel room where we ate four of the pastries with Nesspresso, there was a machine in our room. Also, on the way back to the hotel we saw a sign for a supermarket that was underground at the Museum square. We made a point to visit the supermarket the next day. After having our coffee and pastry we decided that that was enough for our first in Amsterdam.