Amsterdam - Day One

Hallo!!

I'm now in Amsterdam, and actually have been here since Sunday evening.  Travel from Bochum to Amsterdam was quite simple.  Well, not really... I had to take two trains. The first train being a commuter/local train and the second being a regular train.  According to my ticket, I had 8 minutes to make my connnection.  It sounded reasonable, however, the commuter train was late getting into the station where my connection was and I missed the connecting train.  I went to the ticket office and had to go through the process, but was able to get a later train two hours later.  Because the it was the railways fault, I got two vouchers for 2 euro's each to use in the station while I waited, which paid for my iced latte at Starbucks.  I was grateful that the station was a decent one, or I probably would have ended up sitting at a McDonalds for 2 hours.   Starbucks had wifi so I was able to try and catch up with my blog, and I was able to for a bit.

I got on my train and was on my way to Amsterdam.  It was a rather quick ride.  When I got to the station, it was cold and rainy.  My first thought was, "I didn't bring a sweater or a jacket".  Anyway, Melinda met me at the station and we took a ferry across the river where she and Rob lived.

They have a lovely place.  Here is a picture with a view from the downstairs room into the backyard.  With the rain and such, it was beautiful.  Melinda made dinner and then she and I talked and caught up.

First order of business the next day was to find a jacket to wear.  I was a little weary about finding something that would fit, but we ended up and a place where they had big boy sizes and I was able to pick up a jacket that I really liked.  We got the to the store at 11:30am, but the store didn't open until 12:00, so Melinda did some shopping at the organic store while we waited.  I took a picture of this...

And here's the jacket...

Why am I biting my lip in this picture??

Anyhow, we got the jacket and Melinda lent me an umbrella, and I was off to see what I could of Amsterdam in the rain.  I walked up the Main Street and started looking around.  First thing I saw was this

The "new" church I believe it is called, which is on my list of things to check out first thing tomorrow.   Then I saw this.... 

I didn't go in.  As I wondered along, I stopped for some fries on Melinda's recommendation.  Oh man, they were delicious.  Best I've ever had.  You could choose from a long list of sauces, I chose mayonnaise and cheddar cheese  - I'm sure this will gross many people out, but it was really great.

I walked on to the main square and took a picture of the Royal Palace

And Madame Tussaud's

and I was on my way to the Anne Frank house.  The line for the Anne Frank House was quite long, I think all in all it was 2 hours or so.  As I waited I got a few pictures

A poster for a new play about Anne Frank

Canals in Amsterdam

Wait sign, telling you 45 minutes from this spot, but please enjoy the free complimentary WiFi

Street Lamps with crowns....

 Canal tunnel

Entrance to the Anne Frank House.  No pictures inside :(

Outside the Anne Frank House.

I didn't realize how much of this story I remembered.  I must have read the play several times as a kid, I'm sure I read the book also, I saw my good friend Samantha in the play in 1988, but I was amazed at the amount of detail I can remember.  Going through the rooms and reading the quotes from the diary, watching the video screens etc just brought everything much closer to home.  They lived on two levels upstairs from a jam canning plant.  They were there for two years.  I was pondering why this was an important account and why it's so popular.  Most likely, while telling the tale of the Franks and the other family that lived with them, it's also a story for many Jews at the time of WWII, but this story was lucky enough to be written down and after a long time, finally being published.  It's a powerful story and being in the place where it happened made it even more powerful.  The tragic end of this story, as well as the end to a lot of stories like this in WWII chokes me up the most.  I was moved by the stories of the aftermath more than anything.  I don't have any words for this...

After the Anne Frank House, I re-grouped at a cafe and found that it was later than I thought and museums and such were closing.  So I wandered around for a bit....

As we wander, here is Jaques Brel's "Amsterdam"

There are a LOT of cheese shops in Amsterdam.  This one was up against a church.

A church

I thought this a clever name...

For what was inside - banana and Straciatella today.   Not as good as Venice!!! 

This was shop that I almost went into, but the stairs were SO steep, that I wasn't about to attempt them.  I could just imagine falling down the stairs, so I skipped it.

Another picture of the Royal Palace.

So, I wandered around for a good while, and passed many coffeehouses and erotic shops as well as shops that had everything you needed to enjoy some pot.  Lots of pot infused candy out there.  I must say I did not indulge.  Well, today anyway.  But sex and pot seem to be quite present in Amsterdam, at least where I was.

Rob picked me up at the ferry and we went home and had dinner and some sparking conversation.  Melinda suggested that I play some piano for them, and I just happened to have my iPad with all my music with me, so I gave them a little recital, and we talked a lot about music, classical, theatre, etc and had a great time.  Afterward, we listened to some opera and had a few shots of this...

Tot ziens! Maestro

Trains, Trains, Trains: Starlight Express!!!!!!

Hi everyone!!

Wow, today was pretty much incredible.  However, it didn't really start out that way.

I got up a little after 5:00am because I had a 6:52am train and I didn't want to be late.  On top of that, I wasn't sure how to get to the station using the tram.  So, I got myself together and headed downstairs to check out.  The people at Hotel Allegro in Vienna are very nice, they look nice, smile nice, but on the whole, not very helpful.  Maybe it was a language thing, but still not really helpful.  I ask the lovely lady at the desk how to get to the train station that I needed to be at and she instructed me what to do.  Told me what trams to board, etc.  

So I headed across the street and started to look for the tram I needed.  And I looked, and I looked.  I found numbers that matched what she told me, but as for the direction, nothing was right.  I was up and down stairs so quickly to look for the tram I needed.  I couldn't piece together what I needed to in order to board the right tram.  PANIC set in.  So I hauled myself back up to the street and went back to the hotel and told the lovely lady that I could not make sense of what she told me and to please call me a taxi.  She kept saying, "it's right over there (pointing to the station)"  I thanked her and told her "I'm sure it is, but I don't have time to find it"

The taxi got me to the right station on time.  I bought some snacks and got on the train.  I asked for a window seat, which I got, but this was my view....

Big fail.  Oh well, no pics from the train.  I was alone in my seat until a group of English senior citizen tourists got on, and a lovely little English lady who when she talked sounded a bit like Angela Lansbury sat next to me.   A little while later, their tour director came and said there was a seat farther back at a table of four if she wanted to sit with her friends.  So, she left, and I had the row to myself again.

A word about trains in Europe (and I think I have mentioned this before, you have to have a ticket, and if you want a seat, you have to have a reservation.  So, say if I boarded a train and there was someone in my reserved seat, I would have to ask them to move.  Also, there will be times when people are strewed out in the aisles or the corridors without a seat - and that, I guess is ok.  So, this lady, in a way, was taking two seats, one next to me which she wasn't using, and one that wasn't reserved for her.  So, when people asked me if the seat beside me was taken, I had to say yes because I knew someone actually had that ticket reserved.  Some guy even tried to argue with me, I told him that someone had that seat, so he put his luggage down and sat on it in the middle of the aisle blocking the way.  The conductor came by, they conversed in German, and he left, while the conductor muttered something about a tour.  

Anyway, I made it to Frankfurt.  I got some more snacks and then boarded the train for Bochum

The ride from Frankfurt to Bochum was short, the train was basically empty.  I got the Bochum and I took a taxi to my hotel, checked in and relaxed for a bit before my dinner reservation. 

Hotel room at the Renaissance Inn by Marriott

And this was in the lobby

 Dinner ended up to be a buffet, and it was included in my hotel stay.  Not much to get excited about, so there are no pictures.  However, my stay did include the "Starlight" cocktail, which I'm pretty sure was a grapefruit something-or-other.  

  

The next section needs some music.

After dinner, I walked up the street to the "Starlight Express" theatre.  This is what I saw outside the theatre.

Kinda cool.   This is the front of the theatre 

Ticket!

As i entered the building, the site was pretty incredible.  It was like a Disney attraction in the sense the experience started before the actual attraction.  There was a bar in the center

Several different places for snacks, two sets of restrooms, etc.  I tried taking more pictures, but I wasn't sure if I could because someone kept blowing a whistle.  Not sure why but it happened as I was about to take a picture of the Guiness Book of World Records sign for the longest running musical in Bochem at one theatre.  I think it was 13,000+ performances.

However, in the theatre, people were taking pictures.  So I took some, also!! (in the US, you'd be kicked out if you took pictures in the theatre, or at least your camera taken away - or Patti LuPone calling you out in the middle of a performance.)

The theatre was in the round, with ramps all around the theatre.  When there was a "race", the barriers would raise and lower, which was cool.  In the areas in front of me, the seats were on swivels so they could spin around and see the action.  It was really cool.  The design was designed by the same people that designed the original London Production, and the design included this cool bridge that floated over the playing area, almost like a character itself.

Here's a picture of the bridge that I stole from google images.

The show was in German, of course, but who needs English when you already know the words?  For me, it was more of an experience to see the original design, costumes, etc then knowing what they were saying.  I saw the touring production in 2004 and of course, it pales in comparison.  I'm glad I got to see the show in what is probably as close to the original London production as I could.

I could go on about music, songs, etc.... but I won't.  If you want to know more, let's have coffee and I'll tell you all about it.

After the show, I headed back to my hotel room worked on the blog and went to bed.  The last night in a hotel!!  Tomorrow will be the last train ride also, as I'm headed to Amsterdam and am fortunate to spend some time with my cousin Melinda and her husband Rob and see Amsterdam.

Auf wiedersehen, Germany.
Maestro

The Gist of Vienna Tour

Mein damen und herren, Willkommen!

I tell you, it's a shock going from Italian to German, especially since I stink at even attempting to speak either one.  I don't even admit to knowing a thing about either, except from what I may know from church latin, musicals or music markings.  I must have said, "Si" a dozen times today.  Granted people do speak some English in Vienna and I was able to get around just fine today without a problem.

Here's some music for you as you read...

Despite my trepidations at the beginning of my stay here in Vienna, I did have a plan for today.  I planned to get up, have breakfast at the hotel (8 euro!!  But warm food!) and head to the Vienna City Center and take some Rick Steves tours.  I bought an all day tram pass and waited for the tram that was going to City Center.  I can read and understand a tram map, so getting there wasn't a problem.   Of course I stayed on too long and started to recognize things I'd seen minutes before, so I got off and went back to the end of the line and followed Rick Steves directions to a T.

When I got off the tram, I saw this....

Angela mentioned this stand on Facebook, so I took a picture

I eventually got on the right tram that would travel on the outer edge of the Ringstrasse.  We were actually traveling along what used to be a medieval wall that Emperor Franz Josef had torn down and replaced with a grand boulevard 190 feet wide.   It outlines Old Vienna which comprises a good amount of the Vienna City Center, which include the Opera House and St Stephens church.

Anyhow, I sat on the correct side of the tram this time and was able to catch a lot of the sites mentioned in the book.  I guess I could have listened to the podcast, but I DEFINITELY left my headphones in my other backpack.  I was reading so I didn't have a chance to take pictures.  I missed some things because I was reading the book, also.  Can't win :(    Anyhow, I had to transfer at a certain point.  As I got out, I was near a gelato stand and since I had time, the elderberry gelato was very refreshing.

The tram arrived, and I was on my way again.  A sign for the Vienna production of "Mamma Mia!" caught my eye, and I made a mental note to see if it was still playing and maybe I could see it this evening.

The tram brought us back to the Opera House, and I headed to the City Center to check it out. Here are a few pics of the Opera House

Side of the Opera House

A Fountain  on the side of the Opera House

Front of the Opera House

So, I kept walking, and then I saw this....

And a ticket booth nearby, so I checked it out.  Well, turns out that all the musicals in Vienna are off for the summer.  Vienna is such a tease!!!  Oh, well I would soon see an English musical soon enough.  So, I took off up the middle of the City Center and saw this.... 

Wow, I hadn't had a decent iced coffee since I left California.  That Cafe Freddo in Rome just didn't cut it.  Now, I posted this on Facebook and was met with a lot of "Why are you going to Starbucks in Europe when you are in the city where coffee houses were invented."   Yes, I agree with that statement quite a bit.  But I'm a huge fan of iced coffee and 9 times out of 10 that's what I drink as hot coffee and I sometimes "don't get along" and on vacation I wasn't taking chances.  I have had a few hot latte's on this trip, but I jumped at the chance for an iced one.  After all, drinks with ice in them are scarce to none around here.  Things are cold, of course, but just have no ice in them

After my Starbucks indulgence,  I realized I hadn't picked up my Vienna hat yet, so I found a souvenir shop and picked up a hat and a few other small things.

Hat selfie

My glasses look like they are falling off and it looks like I'm winking at someone.  It wasn't until later in the day that I realized the hat said "Austria" and not "Vienna".  Damn, now I had to pick up a hat that said "Vienna".  Later...

I sat down and consulted the guide book.  Then I remembered -- OPERA HOUSE TOUR!!!!  I turned around and headed back toward the Opera House and bought my ticket for a tour just as the English tour was gathering.  Here are some pics of the tour, which I loved!!!

Chandelier in one of the Intermission rooms

One of many tapestries that depicted scenes from Mozart's "The Magic Flute".  These tapestries were commissioned  after the opera house was bombed and re-built after WWII and took 6 years to complete.  There were several of them , here is one.

More chandeliers in the other intermission hall

Art in the intermission hall

View of the stage from what was the box of the Royal Family

The room off the box that can be used for intermission.  You can rent this room for the duration of intermission for 500 euro and that doesn't include tea.  This room is part of the original Opera House structure that survived the bombing

Stairs - aren't they grand?

Opera House mirror selfie.

Ceiling of the room with the mirror

Busts of famous composers

And my favorite part of the tour, BACKSTAGE!!!

I find it fascinating that the Vienna Opera puts on an Opera everyday during its season, and never the same production two times in a row.  This coming season there are 9 operas in the season.  I also found it that they have an emergency opera that is permanently stored in the opera house.  "Tosca" can be up and ready to go in 2 hours in case of a problem with whatever opera is suppose to go on.

Tracks in the floor for scenery.

Fly system

First electric

Load-in

Stage Manager spot

View of the house from the orchestra pit

No chandelier in this opera house.  Just this light ring thingy

Iron curtain

View of a box

The stage

At the end of the tour, they exited us through the gift shop, of course.  I was surprised to see this CD on display.  It's about 17 years old....

After the tour, it was time for the infamous Sacher Torte at the Sacher hotel, which happened to be nearby. 

After the snack, I wondered up the City Center to St. Stephen's Church - the Heart of the Vienna City Center

Outside - all angles

Here's one with a filter... did I do that?

I kinda snuck in the sanctuary, I think there was a charge, but I just walked in.  Here are some pictures, mostly of pipes.

Tomb of Frederick III

Small organ in a side chapel

Saints

Sanctuary close up

Ambo, which was very close to the back of the church!!

Pipes of the main organ

Sanctuary from the back of the church

Another smaller organ toward the front of the church

Sanctuary

I was lucky enough to hear most of the this concert.  They sang a lot of a-capella things, mostly Mass settings, but at the end they sang the Bach/Gounod "Ave Maria" and the Mozart "Ave Verum Corpus" with organ accompaniment.  

After the concert, they cleared the sanctuary area.  So I left.  I wasn't feeling great, so I walked slowly around the City Center some more.  Saw some horse and buggy things...

I found a restroom at McDonalds, snuck in there, too, as there was a code they gave you after you bought something, which I didn't, but I got away with it!  Took care of some business and began to feel better (Hey, this is my blog and I'll write what I'd like!!!)

Saw this in Vienna and in Venice.  I took a picture here for Diana.

I was walking around and decided maybe I'd take a bus tour.  So I did.  I got on the Red Bus City Tour and took a tour around the city.  The tour bus provided headphones with the tour in your language of choice, mine was English, of course, and while the narration happened, the background music was Mozart's "Eine Kline Nachtmusik" but only the first 2 movements.  Over and over again.  Here are some pictures from the bus tour.....

Austrian Parliament

City Hall

Somewhere over there is one of  Beethoven's apartments

A votive church (one built to give thanks)

Barracks

Very old Ferris wheel Prater amusement park

The Blue Danube... which isn't really blue :(

We stopped for 30 minutes at the Schonbrunn estate.  Long enough for pictures, a WC break, and to buy a hat that said "Vienna" and not "Austra)  Pictures of the outside of the palace

When the tour was over, I was pretty hungry, so I went to the Gastro Haus for dinner and had some authentic Austrian food.  I really wanted Schnitzel with noodles as the song goes, but they didn't have the noodle part, so I settled for Wiener Schnitzel, potato salad, cucumber salad with sour green and dill and a Campari spritzer (I'm growing quite found of those)

After dinner, I walked a bit (it was raining a little), and then I bought one these and headed back to the hotel

It was actually quite strong and yummy!!!

Well, tomorrow is a long journey day.  Trains to see trains, I like to call it.  But I'm sure it will be worth it.

Auf Wiedersehen, 

Maestro