Planes, trams and bikes, oh my!

We made it to Amsterdam!  The long plane ride was thankfully uneventful, thanks to on-demand TV and movies in each seat back.  The last time I flew internationally was in the dark ages, so I didn't account for our new "on-demand" lifestyle.  I packed entirely too much "entertainment" in their carry-ons, which wasn't necessary.  The kids attempted to sleep on the plane.  I think Jack was the only one to actually sleep, which required me to wrap my body around him like a pretzel.  Great for him...not so comfy for me.  After we landed and took trains and trams to our apartment, we all crashed for a nap.

The biggest adjustment so far has been the massive amounts of bike transportation.  EVERYONE rides bikes -- even women in dresses and heels on cell phones.  There are about six lanes to cross a street, including a non-descript bike lane.  You have to be careful to dodge long streams of bikes, cars and trams in the middle of each street.  It feels like a human game of Frogger.

After our nap, we wandered over to the Vondelpark in search of hedgehogs. There were no hedgehog sightings, but we did find some amazing gelato.

After ice cream, we visited the Anne Frank house (which deserves a post all its own), wandered around a bit and enjoyed dinner outside at Le Pub.  We finally experienced frites (french fries) in Amsterdam and they were delicious.