Another night of recovery sleep as we are all starting to acclimate to the Europe time zone. We enjoyed another hearty breakfast at XO.couture before packing our bags and leaving the hotel.
Our first mission of the day was to travel to the train station, Amsterdam Centraal and store our luggage for a couple of hours and buy ourselves a bit more Amsterdam touring time. While finding the luggage area wasn't hard, figuring out how to get into it was a bit challenging, as it was located behind turnstiles opened by a train ticket. After some experimentation, we figure out that you could use a 1-way train to the airport ticket to go in and out of the train area, and get to the luggage storage area. With tickets purchased, we made it to the luggage lockers and shoehorned out bags into the lockers and were off.
Travel note - our large bags barely fit into the large lockers at the train station. When traveling, it is probably a good rule of thumb to not take bags bigger than this. A carry-on sized bag fit well in the smaller locker with room to spare.
Back on the streets of Amsterdam, we made our way to the Nine Streets, a shopping area in Amsterdam. We enjoyed walking around the narrow streets and along canals, diving in and out of shops and pastry shops.
Finally, it was time to go to the airport and say goodbye to Amsterdam. However, to give us one final adventure, Amsterdam had one fine trick in store for us. After some debate about the correct train to take to the airport, the crew made its way to the platform to catch the train. The train was already there and leaving in only a few minutes, so we dashed to the train. As we approached, the first conductor whistle blew, letting us know time was short. We started stuffing Sara and the kids on the train. After the third person was loaded the 3 conductor whistle blew and the doors began to close, 3 people on (Sara, Ally, Jeanne) and 3 on the platform (Chris, Katy, Noah). Chris tried, in vain, to stop the doors from closing. A station person watching the calamity called over to let it go, there is another train in 10 minutes. Unfortunately, however, Sara was standing at the window of the train, as it pulled away, with all of the train tickets in her hand.
Travel note - Always have folks carry their tickets when boarding and unboarding transit. This was our mistake. Other good advice that we did follow, have an adult get on train/subways first and last, with kids in the middle. That allows an adult to always be available in case things like this happen and you get separated.
Fortunately, the nice station attendant sais she would accompany the 3 left-behinds and talk to the next train's conductor to allow them passage without buying additional tickets. The station attendant was successful, and we boarded the next train to the airport. Whew!
Getting checked in and through security was a bit of an adventure, as we had limited experience with local European flights. Check-in went smooth enough, but the baggage drop was a bit interesting. It was automated, where you put your bag a locker area, and go through a kiosk to check your bag and get your bag tag. After a few failed attempts, we learned that you have to put your bag in with a certain orientation, and the bag tag has to be at the top of your bag in that orientation. The locker sucks your bag in from the back and sends it on the way.
Getting through security was pretty straight-forward, but they seemed a bit more particular about the number of cables in my bag, requiring them to pull the bag aside and unpack several things to scan again.
The KLM flight to Bordeaux was quick and uneventful. A nice little Embraer 4 seat wide regional jet. And it was quite easy to make our way through the nice little Bordeaux airport.
Welcome to France and Bordeaux! Country 2 on the trip. And hello to 100 degree weather. Quite a change from the 70's in Amsterdam
To get to our hotel from the airport, we decided to take an Uber. Was fairly straight forward to use the app to hail a ride. However, finding where to meet your ride can be a bit more challenging, particularly when you are not familiar with the airport. Calling the first driver to clarify reminded us that we don't speak French, and it isn't guaranteed that your Uber driver will speak English :). Apparently meeting at the "wine bottle" is the common pick-up spot. After some consultation with a passing airport worker, we found out that the "wine bottle" was next to a pedestrian crosswalk, about 2 feet tall on top of a culvert. It was the right spot, as the uber drivers showed up a few minutes later and we were off to Bordeaux.
It seems that my car had the cranky French Uber driver who was a bit particular about his car. Was concerned about my bag rubbing against his dash. Ah, I guess that is why there is a star rating system in Uber, and I'm guessing French Uber drivers have lower average star rating than US :).
Sausage shark
Adventures in luguage storage
Walking tour of the nine streets
Separated by train
Airport baggage eater
Flight to Bordeaux
First Europe Uber experience
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