Back to Amsterdam

Wow, I can’t believe how long it has been since my last update!

We did make it to the Van Ludwig Castle the next day. It was pretty awesome! It turns out that there is another castle there too. Ludwig’s Fathers place. The Disney one was built by the son to outdo his Father. After building it, he was told that his family was going to commit him to the insane asylum and the next day he was found dead in the pond!! His death is mystery to this day. It is also one the most visited places in Germany and we happened to go on a Saturday. There were a lot of busses and a ton of people. You are forced to take 30 minute guided tours and only a few were in English.

The castles were amazing, especially the Disney one. Some of the furnishings were as impressive as the castle itself. One room had the largest pool table I have ever seen.

We planned to go to Switzerland next to ride some of the scenic railroads that are covered by our rail passes. However, the weather was not cooperating and the forecast called for rain for the next several days. We figure that it doesn’t make sense to hang out in the rain when we have rail passes. So, based on the satellite image, we decided to go back to Amsterdam. We were planning to go back anyway because It was so cold and rainy the first time we were there.

We stopped in Frankfurt Germany for an overnight along the way and had time to walk around the city a bit. Not much I can say about Frankfurt, it is a city known for banking, not tourism. We did find a decent laundromat though and that was awesome. We ate dinner at a little hole in the wall bar next to the laundromat. A real “locals only” type place, great Brats!

The next day we took the train to Amsterdam and stayed at a really nice hotel next to Vondel Park. It is a really nice park that is a lot like Central Park in New York. Our hotel was right on the edge of the park and was one of the nicest places we have stayed in. The room had a great view of the park and Amsterdam. Somehow we were able to book it on Expedia for only $40/night!!

We only planned to stay for a few days, but when I got in touch with our buddy Dave he told me that his apartment here in Amsterdam would be vacant for the next few weeks and we could use it if we wanted to!  We were very grateful and weren't about to turn down a free place to stay! We have been here for a week now and will probably hang around for another week or so. His apartment is really nice and is located right in the heart of Amsterdam. It is close to everything, and only a 20 minute walk to the train station. We took the train for a couple of day trips and then we rented a car for this weekend. We have been using the car to go to places off the rail and have been having a great time. Next week we are planning day trips on the train to Belgium and several other places here in the Netherlands.

I am going to try putting the pics in a separate post - See ya!