The Travel Thread - 2022 edition

Just saw this. People in Amsterdam speak better English than Americans do. All the signage in the airport is in English with small Dutch translations underneath. Getting by on English there is incredibly easy. (It may be my favorite city I’ve visited. Enjoy.)

 

Made it to Amsterdam. Unfortunately it’ll be a pretty short trip since I need to get back to London Wednesday since my return trip to the States is Thursday. Can’t be understated…travel to western Europe is a total shitshow right now. I really wanted to take the train from London here but I was warned by some fellow concertgoers the other night not to do it due to the France strikes. Then today we sat on the tarmac at Gatwick for an hour plus because of a) 60 mph winds and b) French and Portuguese air space being shut down due to the strikes, making flights take different routes. When I get back to London, there will be Tube strikes. At least I won’t be in a rush and I know the bus system pretty well now. Won’t affect the train from Gatwick back to London Bridge, or the Heathrow express on Thursday morning. That said, I found a reasonably priced hotel right near the museums and Vondelpark. Going to get a good night’s sleep, hit a coffeeshop in the morning and immerse myself in the museums. Obviously will stroll through the red light district just to say I did it. It’s really a beautiful city to walk through.

 

Finishing up a 9 day trip to Rome, Florence and Venice. We should have patented the Aperol Spritz. About 90% of people have had it at their table from 10 am on.

 

We did Rome, Florence and Naples / Almafi Coast over Spring Break in March. Not many Aperol Spritz, but daily doses of espresso, gelato and red wine.

 

Amsterdam and then a river cruise to see the Dutch tulips at the height of their season is coming up in two weeks or so.

Then in June - - two weeks in Umbria at a cooking school with excursions to wineries, olive oil producers, cheese makers and a chocolate factory in Perugia. My estimate is that this will be a 10-12 pound trip. YUM ...

 

One quick bit of advance re: Amsterdam. If you want to check out some of the museums, buy tickets at least a day or two ahead of time. I really wanted to go to the Van Gogh Museum but there were no spots available the day I was there. The Rijksmuseum is very, very cool though. I may go back at some point just to spend more time in the city and to rent a car and tour the rest of the country. One of the locals told me it was one of the friendliest driving destinations in Europe.

 

Ending week in Bordeaux with our daughter. Long weekend in Paris ahead. Gosh, I've eaten a lot of cheese. Also bread. Also drunk wines that are either unobtainable or too expensive in the States. Prices go down when a bottle is transported 10 miles instead of 4000 to point of sale. Also, daughter is in the business. Professional discounts help, too.

 

My best "France" story was in a little town named Riberac in Dordogne (my wife's cousin has a farm in La Roche Chalais). Went to lunch with a group of about 8. I moved into the booth first and when everybody was seated, I reached for the water pitcher that was on the table while asking if anybody wanted water. It was a pitcher of wine.

 

Has a first on Monday coming back from Venice. We were supposed to fly through Munich (no direct flight to EWR) at 1:30 pm. Wake up in the morning on Monday and while trying to avoid Succession spoilers discovered that our flight was changed overnight to go through Frankfurt and was now at 10 am. Luckily I got up before my alarm and had a mad scramble to get the four of us packed. When we got to the airport, they said that the original flight which we were booked on hadn’t operated for weeks.

 

France update. Dinner in Paris tonight at our favorite bistro Chez Rene on the Left Bank. Leeks vinaigrette, sardines for Alice, duck confit for both of us, fries, and we split a chocolate mousse for dessert (more than enough for two). Carafe of the house wine of the month, a Saint-Emilion. Bill came to 120 euros, service compris. Would've cost three times that much in NYC assuming you can find a place that makes old fashioned French food like that. I am content.

 

I am sitting on an Air France flight from Paris to Berlin and wondering why this plane is so much more comfortable than flights in the US.

 

Heading to Milwaukee for the weekend. Any "must see" spots. I'm definitely hitting the "Bronze Fonz" - maybe the old Catholic Church - mostly I'll be doing a lot of drinking so any favorite spots is appreciated.