Layover at Schiphol

I accidentally posted this to rec.travel.usa-canada and am reposting
it here.
========================

On our recent Christmas trip to New York, we had long layovers at
Schiphol coming and going. I often see questions posted here about
trips into Amsterdam, etc., so I thought it might be useful to post a
report here on our ventures outside the airport.

On the way to New York, we had four hours to kill. We had checked all
our bags except for a small backpack, so we were able to head off to
the city unimpeded. However, there are lockers in the arrival hall
for those who want to leave their hand luggage at the airport. There
is also a tourist office, which can arrange guided tours as well as
give general advice.

Before getting to the arrivals hall, you pass a machine that sells
train tickets. It wasn't accepting cash that day, and another Italian
couple was very frustrated that it also wasn't accepting their
plastic. We had no problem using my ATM card, but in any case, there
are numerous other ticket machines in the arrivals hall, so there's no
need to deal with this one. The train station is right smack in the
middle of the arrivals hall and trains to Amsterdam run about every 15
minutes. The trains don't necessarily announce the next station, but
Amsterdam should be the next stop on most trains. Ask a fellow
passenger if in doubt; most Dutch people speak English. You can
preface your questions with "alstublieft" (AHLST-oo-BLEEFT) to make it
more polite.

When we got to Amsterdam, we considered taking a canal boat cruise.
Some were only an hour long, and we had at least two hours to spare,
as we already had our boarding cards for the ongoing flight. However,
it was rather chilly, so we decided to just walk around.

There is a tourist office (VVV) just outside the station, a bit to
your left.

We passed several Christmas markets, which occupied some of our time,
but they were no big deal compared to Christmas markets we've seen in
Austria and northern (German-speaking) Italy. If you cross the bridge
over the first canal to the right of the tourist office (with your
back to the station) and keep walking straight, more or less, you'll
get to Dam Square. Here there was another ho-hum Christmas market, as
well as the Royal Palace (closed) and the Nieuwe Kerk, a large ???
century church, now used as an exhibition hall. There was an exhibit
about Indonesia going on when we were there, but it seemed a bit
overpriced. The ticket collector told us we couldn't see anything of
the church without going into the exhibit. However, he lied. We went
into the gift shop (free admission!) and found out that there was a
staircase in the shop that led to a second floor display on the
history of the church, where, from a balcony, you could see over the
exhibition a good deal of the interior. We noticed that there was a
large central choir surrounded by a carved screen. This is a feature
seen in many Spanish churches, and must be something left over from
the time that the Netherlands was a Spanish province.

After leaving the Dam Square, we followed a lateral street for a few
blocks until we crossed a canal. This was a pleasant residential
street with little traffic (other than bicycles) and we followed it
back in the general direction of the station. We turned right at one
point to get back on a street leading directly to the station, and on
that little street we passed a few "red light" houses, although I
don't think we were in the red light district, as I remember that
having many more than we saw. In any case, Marcello was pleased to
have seen one of Amsterdam's famous sights.

On our way back to Italy on December 26th, we had an even longer
layover, very early in the morning. I was undecided whether to go to
Hoorn or Leiden, but decided that Leiden, being larger, might have
more possibilities. Leiden is about the same distance from the airport
as Amsterdam, and is a very pretty small city, perhaps more typically
Dutch than Amsterdam. Like Amsterdam, it was one stop from the airport
on the train.

We got to Leiden at about 8:30 AM, when it was still quite dark at
this time of year. Whether because it was a holiday or because the
Dutch are late sleepers, Ledien was closed up as tight as a tick.
Marcello couldn't believe that there were no bars open. In Italy, you
can find an open bar to have coffee and an pastry 365 days a year, as
early as 7 AM, even in small towns.

We walked around for about an hour, and saw two windmills, some old
sailing boats, some pretty streets and a few picturesque bridges. I
remembered a very nice botanical garden at the university, and with
the help of a city map we found along the way, we got to the garden,
which was unfortunately closed and had no sign indicating when it
might open. The tourist office was closed. In fact, we saw nothing at
all open; there was a pancake house that had the lights on and a woman
was outside washing the windows, but she informed us they opened at
10. At this point we were feeling a bit cold and damp and I had a
fairly urgent need to find a bathroom, so we headed back to the
station earlier than we had expected to. There we got some coffees to
warm us up and returned to the airport.

I really don't care for Schiphol airport, but I must say that I
appreciated the semi-reclined chairs with leg rests, where we spent
about an hour napping. I was also tempted by the idea of a massage,
but it was pretty far from our gate.

On a related note, the food was pretty bad on KLM, especially the
breakfast they served that morning on the flight from New York. It
consisted of orange juice, coffee and two sickeningly sweet and heavy
rolls that sat in my stomach like a brick for the rest of the day. How
about a yoghurt or something else with a little protein, KLM?

Lunch, on the next flight was a heavy and tasteless sandwich which
hadn't been thawed quite enough. We ate something in the airport
between flights, and, if we hadn't, we would have been in sad shape
for nourishment that day.

Our trip to New York was mostly a success, although we got there on
the first day of the transit strike. We walked an awful lot, and ate
pretty well on the whole without spending a fortune. Our niece, who
accompanied us on the trip, said that a sandwich we bought in Penn
Station was the best sandwich she had ever eaten in her life. For an
Italian to admit that any food bought outside Italy could compare
favourably to Italian food is rare indeed.

--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

"B Vaughan" wrote news
The train station is right smack in the
middle of the arrivals hall and trains to Amsterdam run about every 15
minutes. The trains don't necessarily announce the next station, but
Amsterdam should be the next stop on most trains.


Most, not all. Some stop at Amsterdam Sloterdijk, one should clearly see
"Amsterdam Centraal" in the station when riding in if one wants to get out
in Amsterdam itself.

We passed several Christmas markets, which occupied some of our time,
but they were no big deal compared to Christmas markets we've seen
[snip]
get to Dam Square. Here there was another ho-hum Christmas market,


I feel they should hang the person who came up with that idea on Dam Square.

[Dec. 26th]
Whether because it was a holiday or because the
Dutch are late sleepers, Leiden was closed up as tight as a tick.
Marcello couldn't believe that there were no bars open.
[snip]
The tourist office was closed. In fact, we saw nothing at
all open.


December 26th (boxing day) is Second Christmas day, a national holiday as
the 25th is. Everything is closed, most people take a walk, go to a park,
the cold and windy beach or go to the outskirts of some towns where the big
furniturestores (like Ikea) are open. All in all a dull day for most.
Leiden has its charm, hope you enjoyed it anyway.
Greetings,

-dam square with a mini xmas-market: yuck-

On Thu, 29 Dec 2005 18:56:56 +0100, "Thur"
wrote:

December 26th (boxing day) is Second Christmas day, a national holiday as
the 25th is. Everything is closed, most people take a walk, go to a park,
the cold and windy beach or go to the outskirts of some towns where the big
furniturestores (like Ikea) are open. All in all a dull day for most.
Leiden has its charm, hope you enjoyed it anyway.
Greetings,

When we left Leiden at around 9:45, everybody was still asleep. We did
enjoy walking around the town, but it was too chilly to walk much
longer without stopping for a coffee or hot chocolate.

The 26th is also a holiday in Italy (Santo Stefano), but in Italy
there is no day of the year where you won't find a bar open. That's
what surprised my husband.
--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

"B Vaughan" wrote in message
news

On our way back to Italy on December 26th, we had an even longer
layover, very early in the morning. I was undecided whether to go to
Hoorn or Leiden, but decided that Leiden, being larger, might have
more possibilities.


We got to Leiden at about 8:30 AM, when it was still quite dark at
this time of year. Whether because it was a holiday or because the
Dutch are late sleepers, Ledien was closed up as tight as a tick.

Apart from it being Boxing Day and therefore a public holiday December 26
was also a Monday!
Most shops and bars are closed every Monday morning in Holland.

Gerrit - Oz

On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 10:02:47 +0100, Martin wrote:

On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 00:55:18 +0100, B wrote:

On Thu, 29 Dec 2005 18:56:56 +0100, "Thur"
wrote:

December 26th (boxing day) is Second Christmas day, a national holiday as
the 25th is. Everything is closed, most people take a walk, go to a park,
the cold and windy beach or go to the outskirts of some towns where the big
furniturestores (like Ikea) are open. All in all a dull day for most.
Leiden has its charm, hope you enjoyed it anyway.
Greetings,

When we left Leiden at around 9:45, everybody was still asleep.

We were awake, but you didn't say you were coming.

Do you live in Leiden?

Actually, we didn't decide to go there until that morning. I wasn't
sure we'd be up for it after an overnight flight.

--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 11:45:17 +0100, Martin wrote:

On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 17:34:48 +0800, "Gerrit 't Hart"
wrote:

Apart from it being Boxing Day and therefore a public holiday December 26
was also a Monday!
Most shops and bars are closed every Monday morning in Holland.

I was surprised that even McDs in Leiden was closed.

Many shops and bars are closed all day on Monday in Leiden.

Italy is such a civilized country; the bars take turns closing so that
there are always several open.
--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

B Vaughan wrote:

On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 11:45:17 +0100, Martin wrote:

On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 17:34:48 +0800, "Gerrit 't Hart"
wrote:

Apart from it being Boxing Day and therefore a public holiday December 26
was also a Monday!
Most shops and bars are closed every Monday morning in Holland.

I was surprised that even McDs in Leiden was closed.

Many shops and bars are closed all day on Monday in Leiden.

Italy is such a civilized country; the bars take turns closing so that
there are always several open.

In Massachussetts, the liquor stores were closed on Monday, because
Christmas fell on a Sunday, when they are also normally closed. Bizarre.
I'm staying in a dry town (Arlington) which forbids liquor stores
anyway- even the local Trader Joe's isn't allowed to sell alcohol, and
they have some nice beers. It puts the generally more relaxed, or should
I say civilised, attitude in Europe towards alcohol in sharp relief!

--
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer http://soundjunction.org

On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 11:12:15 -0500,
(David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and
prestwich tesco 24h offy) wrote:

In Massachussetts, the liquor stores were closed on Monday, because
Christmas fell on a Sunday, when they are also normally closed.

In the US, any holiday that falls on a Sunday is almost always
observed on the Monday. I have a feeling liquor stores would be closed
on Christmas anyway, even if it fell on a Thursday.


--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 18:45:41 +0100, Magda
wrote:

On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 11:12:15 -0500, in rec.travel.europe,
(David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of besses
o' th' barn and prestwich tesco 24h offy) arranged some electrons, so they looked like
this :

...
... In Massachussetts, the liquor stores were closed on Monday, because
... Christmas fell on a Sunday, when they are also normally closed. Bizarre.
... I'm staying in a dry town (Arlington) which forbids liquor stores
... anyway- even the local Trader Joe's isn't allowed to sell alcohol, and
... they have some nice beers. It puts the generally more relaxed, or should
... I say civilised, attitude in Europe towards alcohol in sharp relief!

Those little guys haven't understood the concept of "forbidden fruit" yet??

However, since binge drinking among the young seems to be even more
common in the UK than in the US, the concept doesn't seem to apply.

--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 15:22:25 +0100, Magda
wrote:

On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 11:58:34 +0100, in rec.travel.europe, B
arranged some electrons, so they looked like this :

... On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 18:45:41 +0100, Magda
... wrote:

... Those little guys haven't understood the concept of "forbidden fruit" yet??
...
... However, since binge drinking among the young seems to be even more
... common in the UK than in the US, the concept doesn't seem to apply.

What about the rest of Europe?

The US doesn't stand out for heavy drinking among youth.

Here is an international comparison in a WHO study:

http://www.euro.who.int/document/e82923_part_3.pdf

The US is below the average in most measures.
--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup