Landed safely in the Netherlands...

After a 10 hour flight, we landed safely at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam at around 9:00 a.m. We took a taxi from the airport to the apartment.  Michael, working at the front desk of the complex, showed us to our room. He then took us around the building to see the workout room and the room on the top floor where you can get a 360 degree view of the Amsterdam area!

After traveling all day we felt a little grungy, so we took a quick shower then went out to take a look at the neighborhood.  We found a grocery store a few blocks away so we stopped and bought a few things and brought them back to the apartment.  Grocery shopping here was quite an experience!  I don't recognize most of the products and even some of the produce was foreign. Next time I go I've decided to bring a pen and paper and write down things that look interesting and look them up when I get "home"! Looking forward to getting another "smart phone" so I can look words up right there.

We took the Tram to the Museum area and had dinner at a little cafe.  While walking through the area I saw this cute building, set up for the holidays!  Everything looks so festive here this time of year.

It's now 6:00 p.m. and we're both exhausted. We're trying to stay awake till at least 7:30 so we're not up all night.

Lessons learned today:
1. Wear my glasses when I leave the apartment so I can see where I'm going (hmmm, that would be nice!)
2. Bring a scarf and gloves when I go out-it's cold!
3. Learn to speak and understand more Dutch, as I couldn't tell the difference between the laundry detergent and the dish soap at the store!