Just One of Those Days in Amsterdam

It was just going to be a little rain. Knowing we had only a couple of precious days left for exploring Amsterdam, John and I decided to brave what turned out to be a downpour (a sideways downpour) and attempt to find three different places in this wonderful city.

Have you heard the expression 'two out of three ain't bad?' We felt it was downright wonderful. We were soaked to the skin, and laughing like idiots by the time we finally made it back to the metro, almost by accident.

We couldn't really use the GPS because it was raining too hard. We would have ruined it. Occasionally we would step under a doorway and pull it out and head in the direction it suggested, but I think the weather had effected it. On the other hand, it might have just been having a good time with us. You never can tell with technological objects. The Hermitage, which is what the Russian museum is called, is directly across the street from the Metro station. Nobody bothered to tell us that. It's not in the guide book or anything.

The GPS took us all the way across town, with the help of a few friendly people who would gladly point into the distance and say "four canals" or "three bridges" and tell us to turn left or right. We ended up on Dam Square, someplace we had wanted to see two weeks ago and couldn't find. We don't know how we got there, but did get some marvelous photos. Before we got there, however, we had an "experience."

The photo at the top commemorates the largest bird I have never seen. We were walking along a narrow street. Suddenly I got clobbered with something. Very luckily I was wearing my big sunhat. Otherwise, my jacket and hair would have been disgusting! I had it on to try to protect my glasses from the pouring rain. John looked over at my hat and started to wretch. I had been bombed on by either a flying dog, or the biggest bird known to mankind.

Since John had half a cup of Sprite left, I used that to try to wash it off while John made gagging noises in the background. Finally, I ended up walking into the middle of the street and using a puddle to scrub it in. Then the hat had to go back on my head. As we stood on the side of the little road, I looked up (to see if there were any more birds) and saw this amazing building. Well, maybe the bird served his purpose. With my head down, would I have seen it?

It actually was a great day. This blog is all about the bird, but I'll post about the two museums and Dam Square when we get home. By the way, I washed my wonderful hat out in hot soapy water when we got home and it was dry and perfect the next morning. God bless us, every one.