Dukey1

I've tried doing these "ongoing" things before and for a variety of reasons I always failed to complete them: internet issues were usually the biggest reasons.

I will do it once more and endeavor to actually complete one this time.

Perhaps this should be called a "blog." If it's any good it should be as if somebody stole your diary key and read your entries while you weren't looking. Regardless, some will care, others won't, and that's OK.

The trip: two weeks (last year it was three) and conceived in September 2013 when I bought the airfare tickets; <B>some</B> of the opera tickets went on-sale soon afterward. A total of six performances.

The itinerary: flying to Amsterdam tonight from our home in Fort Lauderdale through Philadelphia. Will stay in A-dam for only one night in order to visit the finally reopened Rijksmuseum. We've been periodically during the "renovation-oops we discovered asbestos-so-it-will-take-even-longer" period but happy to see the place fully re-opened.

Paris for three nights (one opera performance at the Bastille)

Munich for five nights (three performances). Would we have done this had we <B>known</B> the opera house in Munich is <B>not</B> air-conditioned? July? Munich? <B>humidity</B>????? Well, Bayreuth isn't air conditioned, either so how bad can this be? I'll let you know next week.

Verona. This will be our third time in the Arena and we saw several really interesting performances last July which we enjoyed. Three more this year and we really need to see more of the city itself this time around.

Rome. Just two nights and no operas; will be our jumping off point for home.

Hotels: as usual I have bounced around in some cities (A-dam/Paris/Munich) all of which we have been to before; stayed put in Verona (we really do know the hotel now) and trying something new in Rome (Albergo del Senato). I know ALL the hotels in Paris now for certain if only having looked at them on-line (is there <B>any</B> hotel <B>anywhere</B> that everybody likes? Oh, really, but surely all those reviews on TA about that one must be fake, right?

The Kings: we refuse to be known as "opera queens" for a variety of reasons. We do not know all the details of Maria Callas' (or Eva Marton's for that matter) or Domingo's, etc.'etc., etc. lives. We do not refer to anyone as "La Divina" and we do not relate much to anyone currently on TV. Well, I have to say I kinda did relate to a couple of the inmates on The Wire once.

We are, as one poster here so delicately put it: "elderly" which means one of us has reached the age of 70 with the other a bit further along. No walker or canes yet but I do hate Arthritis.

After getting the luggage out of the store room more than two weeks ago we finally finished packing...last night. Too many clothes and for an itinerary stretching from the 60's in A-dam to the 80"s (or more) in Italy. But after many, many trips to Europe I am taking and wearing shorts and Pumas this year and to hell with it!

Why is my partner's boarding pass not showing TSA Pre-Check yet he is a Trusted Traveler and the airline knows this? Upcoming potential battle at the check-in counter I am hoping will not occur.

Dog sitter flew in last night. Credit card travel alerts posted. New chip and pin card in-hand. Saved Euros from last trip at the ready. I'm gonna hunker down and watch Wimbledon on ESPN now and hope you all have an absolutely <B>wonderful</B> day and will check in later.

PalenQ

Are you the fat lady? Good report so far but don't get to much off key!

swandav2000

Well, while anything can happen in a week, I'll be surprised if you find Munich's night to be warm & humid next week. Today's high is 64 deg. F.

Looking forward to your report!

s

Judy

We've been told that TSA precheck will randomly not show on boarding pass. amwosu said that when it was not on her pass, she just followed her husband through that line without a problem.

Last month this happened to my husband....not on his pass but on mine. We asked about it and he was ushered to the regular line. Good luck getting it changed! I'd love to hear how that goes.

Looking forward to your report!

LowCountryIslander

Same TSA Pre-check issue happened with me and my mom at LaGuardia in late May. She had pre-check on her boarding pass, I didn't on mine (but usually do), she was waved through pre-check line and I was told to "hit" the regular line. Good Luck with changing it.

On another note, I've stayed at the Albergo del Senato in Rome several times and enjoyed it, hope your experience is as good!

PalenQ

topping

denisea

Not sure that trusted traveler guarantees no random security checks. Wouldn't waste any breath arguing with a TSA agent in the line.

Which chip and pin card did you get?

HappyTrvlr

In the past six weeks, my husband and I have had 8 sets of boarding passes. One of us always got TSA Pre-Check but we both got it only twice.
Dukey, have a wonderful opera filled trip!

Cathinjoetown

Really looking forward to following your travels, please be sure to include hotel reviews and of course reviews of the operas. I've heard the Munich opera house is magnificent.

I was very hot in the amphitheatre in Verona, several people on the stone seats fainted. Water and more water. We saw Turandot and Aïda, I didn't make it back after Aïda's second interval, totally wimped out.

Dukey1

OK, and thanks so very much to everyone who replied or asked questions which I will try to answer,

I am typing this from our hotel room in A-dam and right now it is about 9:25 PM local time and, as usual, still quite light out but that is beginning to fade.

As to the ride over: we were able to get the TSA Pre-check issue resolved at the USAirways check-in counter when we dropped our checked bags off. The process took several attempts by the agent and about 10 minutes. Evidently this has happened before.

Trip to Philadelphia uneventful and the plane was full as they all seem to be these days. Had less than 2 hours layover in Philadelphia and then onwards. In Business Class; service was fine and we had the use of Galaxy tablets for the "in-flight entertainment."

I have to say that the food we were served was pretty poor; entree barely warm, etc., and therefore, especially at these ticket prices, disappointing. The seats were "cradle" types rather than lie-flats but I actually got a couple hours sleep and without resorting to Melatonin.

The Galaxy tab was fun to play with and despite my rather poor hand-eye coordination skills I started becoming addicted to the game "Bejeweled." It must be a combination of my advancing age and being attracted to all those bright and shiny objects on the screen. And you don't even have to spell anything (as in "Bespelled" which I admit to playing a few years ago in the office between patients when I should have been writing chart notes...there, I said it!).

I can see why folks easily become glued to telephone screen games.

Amsterdam!! Arrived to one of those absolutely wonderful blue sky and big puffy clouds days. I've been coming to this city since the late 1960's (sometimes for purely hedonistic reasons) and it never seems to disappoint.

For the first time we took the hotel shuttle rather than the train. I had bought the tickets on line. Luggage arrived promptly, Immigration was the usual friendly breeze, and Schiphol I think is one of the better-signed airports. Got some additional cash out of one of the several ATMs and we were on the shuttle and underway very quickly.

Two stops ahead of our own and then into the hotel. The city looks great and it seems more charming the further out from the "centrum" you go. Lots of flowers in bloom: day lillies, lavender, plenty of gerania in pots; the trees and grass look great. And somehow when you see actual trees growing in a place that is so very densely populated it makes it seem more habitable and civilized somehow.

The shuttle trip took a bit longer than i would have expected since there seems to be a good deal of street construction going on near the center which caused some short detours. If I am fortunate enough to visit again, and depending on the hotel chosen, I think I'd go back to taking the train into the city.

For this trip we decided to stay at the Crowne Plaza located close to Centraal Station since we will take the Thalys late tomorrow morning to Paris and can easily walk over with our luggage.

Hotel staff are very friendly and the room was ready which is always nice to have. Bought tram tickets at the hotel front desk, dumped the luggage, and onto Tram 2 for the Rijksmuseum.
It is kinda mentally interesting when you can be on one of these trams and you remember the various stops and in the correct order.

Had bought admission tickets on line so we bypassed the ticket counter and rolled right in around 11 AM. The renovation looks great and we headed immediately up to the 2nd floor for the Rembrandt "fix."

The "Night Watch" was, as usual, "popular" as was my more favorite "The Sampling Officials" but not irritatingly so. I love just standing or sitting and contemplating (OK, "staring at") some of these works. We browsed around looking at the other works like "The Sick Child" and the "Milkmaid" and that iconic windmill, the Delft room as I call it, the warships on a very choppy sea, a music lesson, St. Paul healing the lame man, and on and on.

I just enjoy being <B>in</B> the Rijksmuseum, period. I am continually amazed at how some of these artists were able to turn oil paint into things that seem like photographs.

Back to the hotel for a nap and then out for a meal. We passed up the "fine dining" scene for some relaxed people watching at one of the restaurants at the Leidseplein and we enjoyed that passing show for over an hour. The food was fine; the ambiance, as usual, memorable in its own way.

We discussed the possibility of leaving our Florida condo for a period of time and renting a place here if for only a month or two. I'd want to bring the dog but don't relish the idea of shipping him back and forth in a crate so until he passes away this will never happen for us.

There are orange balloons, pennants, and lots of other "decorations" all over the place due to the ongoing World Cup action and The Netherlands' winning success. Do I really <B>need</B> to comment on the remarkable variety of clothing being worn over here? No, I didn't think so.

After eating we spent time being entertained by a rather brazen street performer in the area adjacent to the actual tram stop. It involved everything from passing his entire body through an unstrung tennis racket to fake flaming torch swallowing to pulling someone sitting on a skateboard across a space using chains attached to earlobe hooks (I kid you not).

Grotesque and lowest common denominator? No, it's one of the reasons you travel I suppose <G>.

Kinda pooped now so will stop.

To answer the question above: I usually use a CapOne Visa when in Europe to avoid foreign currency conversion charges. This trip I am using a new Barclaycard Arrival+ card with an embedded chip.

HappyTrvlr

Thanks for taking us along with you to Amsterdam, one of my favorite places. You accomplished a lot on your arrival day!

PalenQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y2RHMGqbWk

Just hope this don't happen to you - best wishes for a successful tour!

YankyGal

I need to get back to the Rijksmuseum since I think it truly is my favorite museum in the world.

Thanks for taking us along, safe travels, and looking forward to more!

Judy

I so understand your feeling of just being happy being in a certain museum (Musee d'Orsay for me)....a reason to keep traveling

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

Trophywife007

I love your trip reports, Dukey. Count me in.

ParisAmsterdam

>>>
I am continually amazed at how some of these artists were able to turn oil paint into things that seem like photographs...
<<<

Since you find this interesting, once you get home, track down a movie called "Tim's Vermeer". The protagonist is also fascinated by the camera-like quality of many Dutch Master's paintings and may well have discovered just how it was done.

Looking forward to more of your travels even though all I know about opera I learned from Bugs Bunny and the Marx Brothers! ;^)

sandralist

>>I'd want to bring the dog but don't relish the idea of shipping him back and forth in a crate<<

Would you and dog be okay with going by ship transatlantic? Some of the large ships have kennels for dogs and play spaces and you can visit with them each day.

PalenQ

do dogs travel well - do they not want to be on their own turf - I can just see a dog marking his territory in every hotel room - I think pets should be left in the comfort of their own homes, with proper care givers of course.

sandralist

>>I can just see a dog marking his territory in every hotel room<<

OP already said they were thinking in terms of a long-term apartment rental.

Actual dogs might disagree with your ideology.

Dukey1

Thanks, everyone for your kind replies. To answer the dog transport question: I didn't even think about doing the back and forth by ship and yes would most definitely consider doing so.

Wednesday 2 July. Last night I learned that the A-dam trams apparently stop running around 1 AM. I know this because that's when the rumbling sounds outside our hotel room windows (despite double glazing) stopped. Not too much of a bother since I drifted in and out of sleep trying to get body rhythm-adjusted.

We had a leisurely breakfast in the hotel this morning which dawned more or less overcast and mild temp-wise. Took the brief walk to the train station and a warning here: today's "installment' will probably be as much about travel minutia as anything else.

I had read that the Centraal Station had installed some sort of ticket-activated turnstiles and sure enough when we walked in, there they were with the green and red lights and passengers rolling through and tapping tickets as in some Metros.

Would ours (printed out at home) work? What to do? FIRST lesson: when in doubt look at the situation more closely. We suddenly figured out that despite those red and green lights all of the gates were OPEN rather than opening and closing with each passenger. A real "DUH" moment and then we simply walked through with the luggage and headed for the platform.

While waiting for the 1118 Thalys departure a young man sat next to us and started a conversation with the oft-heard, "Where are you from?" This young man is from Korea and both my husbear and I have been there more than once.

The man seemed delighted. He now works in Singapore and was headed to Paris as he continues to "check Europe out." Then suddenly this: "There's really nothing here [in Amsterdam] and you guys belong in Asia." [Pause from both of us] "What am I going to do in Paris? I'm flying home in a few days and I might as well leave sooner."

This was one conversation I was not prepared to engage in and from one so young it somehow seemed odd and perhaps slightly scary.

The Thalys: somebody definitely forgot to send the Fodors memo about traveling "light" to some of the passengers boarding. I mean it makes boarding aircraft at home seem ultra refined and civilized. Big suitcases moving down the center aisle and in BOTH directions. Announcements over the PA about the possibility of pickpockets so store as much luggage as possible above your seats. More announcements about not leaving luggage in the passageway between coaches. Several people in the wrong seats and the fumble for the ticket in the huge suitcase or jammed backpack routine.

No shouting, though and the train left on time. It is always nice to watch as you speed past those greenhouses wondering what is inside; those European "moderne" buildings; passing everything on the highways, etc.

We had the usual snack and beverage offering first (those microscope-sized cans of soft and fruit juice drinks are <B>still</B> around (they really should start calling them "three swallow size").

By the time we reached Paris and on time all the clouds had disappeared and somehow Amsterdam with its somewhat narrow streets and activity suddenly seems like a backwater compared to Paris! The Gare du Nord was jammed; the taxis and traffic just outside with drivers jockeying for position; those tour buses; waves of pedestrians; the heat and bright sunlight. This part of Paris doesn't seem as much romantic as it does just plain busy.

By the time we got a taxi and to the Le Grand Hotel it was a bit after three and the room definitely was not ready. We barged into the Intercontinental Club room on the 5th floor and the staff there couldn't have been nicer. And amazingly enough I actually had a macaron which was not as dry as a bone ( the individual blancmanges were better, tho).

We settled in and I started watching the Andy Murray Wimbledon tennis match on TV. Unfortunately, a couple who were not happy with seeing their apparent countryman Murray being absolutely destroyed by Dimitrov decided to switch back and forth from one channel to another while the rest of us somehow became invisible.

When Murray finally bit the grass someone else in the non-remote controlling masses proclaimed rather loudly, "Wow. Andy blew it again!" (Cue cameras and cast of thousands for the start of WW III near the Paris Opera, folks; I retreated for another one of the free drinks.)

Three hours later we finally made it into the room which was ready, then it wasn't ready, then it was again' then an electrical problem. This was a hard afternoon and we immediately took the Metro (mistake) for the Louvre.

I love the Paris Metro, especially when I need <B>exercise</B> and a stair climbing workout. Today was not one of those days.
The Louvre is open late on Wednesdays and since it is now after 6 PM we just knew things there would be quieter: wrong answer as half the visitors in Paris were there and the other half were in the several Starbucks on the way <B>to</B> the Louvre.

We did some of the Egyptian rooms and the Greek sculpture as well as some of the French painters. In some of the rooms I enjoy the room decorations as much as I do some of the hung/displayed works; reminds me somewhat of the Hermitage.

Despite the raft of people getting tickets, etc., once inside things were nicer. We left just as the place was closing and then decided to watch the passing show from the Cafe de la Paix at back at the hotel. This is strictly a very VERY expensive rest stop IMO. Yes, the food is good and all that but it really is over the top money-wise and especially when there are so so many more reasonable places to eat and nearby, also.

I must comment now on the "clothing" issue and after observing today, and all day, I can honestly tell you that whenever anybody asks here or anywhere else, "What should I wear in Paris?" I will definitely respond, "Anything you want to because believe me it is all here."

I've been particularly amused by some of the men who have decided that they need a scarf...in July. A fashion statement or are these people's pictures in the dictionary when you look up the term "affectation?" And trust me as a gay man these are not all gay men, either.

OK, enough ranting. More non-gush news tomorrow.