Just as a reminder, this post is taken from my travel journal that I kept when I went to Europe for the first time in 2000. Last post, we talked about my first day in Amsterdam, dealing with emotional museums and jet lag. Today's post will deal with beautiful flowers and motion sickness. You can probably hardly wait, right? :) April 29, 2000: The Hotel Ibis had a complimentary breakfast buffet, so before heading out to Keukenhof, aka (in my words) the Disney World of Tulips, we sat down and had a little breakfast of scrambled eggs and homemade bread for toast. I guess that was my first mistake. That, and the fact that I was SO excited to see the tulips.
We walked the short distance over to Centraal Station to catch the train to Keukenhof - wow, there were a ton of people in the train station! It was like Times Square on New Year's Eve! It took us quite a while to find the correct window to get our tickets, though thankfully they sold combo tickets for the train/bus/park. At least we only had to go through that line once. [I've borrowed a few photos from the internet, since I didn't get any non-tulip photos during this portion of the trip. As always, I'll remove the photos if asked.]GFFMO decided to read his guidebook the entire train ride, so I was left to my own unwell devices. Motion sickness reared its ugly head and I started to feel quite unwell on the train. It took all my powers of concentration to get through the trip without being sick. Once we arrived, I made a pit stop in the train station's restroom before we got on the bus to head to Keukenhof. Then the bus that took us to Keukenhof was a bit shaky and wobbly - it did not help with the motion sickness. I was completely unprepared for feeling so unwell. I had so looked forward to this trip and all I wanted to do was see and experience everything with a happy heart and happy stomach, but it was not to be. I'm guessing my unsympathetic travel companion didn't help any.
Finally, after the bumpiest bus ride ever [of course, the Amalfi Coast bus ride in 2007 made this Amsterdam bus ride seem like child's play], we arrived at Keukenhof. And it is REALLY the Disney World of Tulips! The entrance, the buses, the tourists! It's a destination, all right. But it is the most gloriously beautiful place. I guess I had it in my head that this was a small tulip farm or something, but it's an enormous garden installation. Stunning! And my mother would love it. First thing - I bought my mom a t-shirt. Had to do the really important things first. 
We were at Keukenhof for over three hours. Even though the weather was drizzly, it was still just amazingly gorgeous. There really are no words for the beauty. I'll just put a couple of photos here and lots more at the end of the post. If you ever have the opportunity, go. It's like you stepped into a tulip fairyland. I made one pit stop during our touring of the tulips and received attitude from my travel companion. Clearly, this became an issue for the rest of the trip. Too bad it started on the second day. Sigh. 
Reluctantly, I got back onto the wobbly bus to the train station. Then we took the train to Haarlem, a cute little town outside of Amsterdam. GFFMO had to go there, since the da*n guidebook [which is how I referred to the book for the rest of the trip] said we had to stop there. But it wasn't a hardship. There was even a little carnival in the middle of town! I tried to win one of those stuffed animals for my newborn nephew, but didn't. It felt silly playing goofy state fair games in the Netherlands, but oh well! I guess it was a good thing I didn't win - can you see me carrying that thing throughout Europe?! I can't.
The da*n guidebook also told GFFMO that trying an Indonesian rice table was something you had to try when in Amsterdam. So, in Haarlem, we stopped at a recommended spot and tried the food. I still wasn't all that hungry, but I did try most of the food. I had my first tofu there! It was good, especially the fried tofu chips. But all of the food was good - I just ate sparingly, just in case, since we had to get back on a train to get back to the hotel. This photo is from the internet.
As we walked back through Haarlem to the train station, we started to notice that people were gathering for something - a parade for Queen's Day? That was the rumor, so we hung around for about a half hour, hoping to see the queen. We saw motor boats zip through the canals, but no queen. Since it began to pour the rain, we trudged back to the train to Amsterdam.
We decided to nap a bit before going back out to experience Amsterdam nightlife. Well, at least to experience a club recommended by the da*n guidebook. But, oh heavens, walking through Amsterdam at night after the Queen's Day revelries was disgusting! People were throwing up everywhere. We just had to really watch where we were stepping. Note to self - don't go to Amsterdam on Queen's Day next time. Blech. After walking around in circles, since navigation is not my or GFFMO's forte, we finally found the disco. We stood in a very long line and when we got to the front, the doorman wouldn't let us in. Ha! I'm embarrassed to admit I laughed. Bad karma, I know. I'm thinking they didn't let us in because I looked like death warmed over by this time of night, but who knows. GFFMO was extremely displeased. After we wandered around some more, looking for another disco, and seeing more people vomiting into the canals, I decided I had had enough and went back to the hotel by myself. I'm quite proud that I made it back to the hotel on my own. And to celebrate the pride in myself, I stopped at a stand and got an Oliebollen (a fried dough ball). It was as delicious as only fried dough can be. I mean, hello, when in Amsterdam...
So ended my trip to Amsterdam. The next morning, we took another train to Brussels. I'll save all that for another post. I remember loving the warmth of the Dutch people, and the easy accessibility of everything, but I also remember jet lag and motion sickness. Most everything else is a blur. I definitely have to go back to make happier memories. Someday, I swear. Enjoy the beautiful Keukenhof photos, which I DID take...
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