Day 1-2

Goodbye Chicago! See you in a bit. Hopefully that guy who was catapulted from his Lexus SUV onto the golf course next to I-90 made it out alright. (It wouldn't be a true Wicks family vacay without seeing the remnants of a horrific auto accident.) We were able to make our flight on-time despite the slight gapers block.


Hello Amsterdam! Neither of us slept very well on the flight (Amy had the upperhand with her hot pink blanket, pillow, and 2 pd. bag of gummy bears/sour patch kids). But what a beautiful city to wake up in. Many windmills were visible from the plane. Thanks to our flight attendant Pam and Amy's Aunt Mary Ewert who hooked us up with a bottle of champagne for the first leg of the journey.

Had some trouble figuring out the transit system but we arrived at our apartment safe and sound. Our 'home' has three levels - top floor = sitting area and kitchen, second floor = outdoor garden and patio, bottom floor = bedroom and bathroom. Its very cozy so Kathy and Jan can put their minds at ease!



Just showered up and we're ready to hit the town. Not sure of today's agenda but pancakes are definitely on the to-eat list.

BTW, it take almost 2 minutes to upload each picture. Once we have some more time, we'll upload more or link up to a site that is quicker. Also, Amy wanted everyone to know that she is wearing skinny jeans.

NO PANCAKES!!! But replenished ourselves with an egg sandwich and beer:

Made the most of our first day even though we were up for 30 hours straight. The overnight flight definitely put a damper on our energy (and had a direct effect on getting lost every time we took the tram). So... our first stop was the Van Gogh Museum. A real treat for art lovers - Van Gogh, Gauguin, Monet, Manet, Breton, Rodin, Redon, and Toulouse-Lautrec. Of course the highlight was Van Gogh's work everything from Self portraits, Sunflowers, Irises, and the ever-so famous Bedroom. We even were able to send PBJ (Paulie) a video message email from the museum!
After the museum, we walked through Vondelpark which is 120 yards of beautiful land with gardens, sculptures, museums, and even an open air music theater. Looking it up on wiki, I realize we gave up well before we hit the highth of its beauty. Nate was comparing it to Krape Park and I was convinced it was something like Central Park in NY. Apparently we missed out on a Picasso sculpture. Luckily, we have two more days!
Also stopped at stopped at the Bull Dog and Mellow Yellow cafes.
On our way back to the apartment, we picked up a delicious 5 euro pizza. Ate that and went to bed at 7 p.m.

Some advice to other Amsterdam travelers - Don't look down when you're walking. The bike riders are ruthless!