Amsterdam

Hello all, we are mostly resting and getting to know our way around.  Yesterday, we walked to Cental Station to check on transportation passes around the city.  Found out we have to have a Dutch bank account to get the best rate senior discout card.  Not meant for tourists.  Ah well, may cost a little more, but trams are the best way around the city.  They go most everywhere in the city and there the  trains to outlying cities.  Anyway, while at the information center, we asked the girl who helped us if she knew where we could get a set of keys made (Teo, our landlord only gave Terry one set), so we decided to get one made in case we both went in different directions).  Both the street door and the loft door have separate keys. Anyway, she did know of a locksmith right next to a must see market.  Well 13,000 steps later, we finally found the market (not so great and not so must see).  Never did find the locksmith.  Obviously, our legs were falling off, so we caught a tram back to Central Station and wearily hoofed it back to the loft (had to stop for a cold Amstel on the way).  We stayed in for dinner and fixed a salad and pasta.  Very good.  Went to bed.  Took awhile to go to sleep as everything hurt, lower back, ankles, feet.  Yikes!!!

Woke up this morning and we decided to make this a stay home and rest, do laundry day.  The weather was quite cool, so it was a good day to do that.  Googled locksmiths in Amsterdam.  Guess what, there is one just around the corner from us.  Duh! and Duh!.  Wonder why we didn't do this in the first place.  Would have saved a heck of a lot of shoe leather, not to mention my aching back.

We finally went out around 5:00 o'clock to find the locksmith and he was right where google said he was.  Then walked back to the little neighborhood bar to get a drink before dinner.  We introduced ourselves to the bartender by trying to say hello in Dutch (we didn't get it right.  Not enough gutteral sounds.  Dutch is a little like German, but not).  This bar/coffee house has been around since the 1700's.  Jon (pronounced Yon) is the bartender and is quite friendly once you start talking to him.  We told him we were living here for 4 months and he said welcome and gave us our first lesson in saying hello.   We then walked down the street to another tapas restaurant (this one quiet unlike the rowdy one we were at the other night) and had dinner.  It was good.  

Not being quite full, we stopped back at our local bar (the corner of the building across the bridge)

and had one huge piece of apple pie (dutch style, more like a tort) with whipped cream and decaf coffees.  It was yummy.  Not often that you see apple pie in a bar.  It was a quiet night at the bar.  Last night, we could hear them from our loft (World Cup football and The Netherlands won).  Barges on the canal blew horns and everybody was cheering and having a good time.  

We walked across the bridge and home for an early night.