AMSTERDAM
I flew out on Wednesday. In my short layover at Dulles, I tried my Priority Pass club pass for the first time. It was a bit of a mad house in there, with lots of people, but the Turkish Airlines lounge food was really good. Fresh, and light before a long flight.
Day 1
I met my parents and my sister at AMS. Family reunion! It was still early in the morning. We rode the train to the hotel, where we dropped off our bags. Then, we headed into the city by bus. Equipped with the iAmsterdam City Card, we started with a glass ceiling boat tour. They depart from docks right in front of the station. It's a nice way to get a good feel for the city, and learn a little bit about the history and the things to do.
After that, we rode the tram to the Amsterdam Historical Museum. It's nicely done, with high tech and interesting exhibits. You learn more about the city that you're in, before you start exploring.
We wandered over to the floating flower market (bloemenmarkt), which my mom was really interested in seeing. They sold lots of tulip bulbs, and fake souvenir flowers and other souvenirs. It was colorful.
We went to a canal museum called Museum Het Grachtenhuis, next. It's not huge, but it's another nicely done museum. High tech, and able to communicate the history of the canals in an engaging way. It's fun, and I like that it's not huge... you don't want to spend hours walking around... you want impactful exhibits, and then you can continue exploring other parts of the city. It was one of my favorites on my previous trip to Amsterdam. The thing I love most about the city is the history of the place. Just by looking at a map, you can see how the city had logically expanded over the years.
After that museum, we were hungry, and wandered over to a neighborhood called Spui. We stopped at a bakery to get breads for the next morning. We also got raw herring. If you think that's gross, remember that tons of people eat sushi. It's served with pickles and onions, which help to cut the fishiness.
Then, we debated about going to a restaurant, but ended up at a place for Frites. Since we had bought a magnet for a Frites store earlier, we had to get some while we were there. The ones we got were disappointing... not crispy, and not flavorful... just kind of greasy, but I was hungry.
Most museums close at around 5pm, so we had done what we could with the iAmsterdam card. My family was tired and talked about calling it a day, but I was determined to make the most of my time there, so I was going to stay out, even if they went back to the hotel. They decided to stick around, though.
We went to Dam Square and looked around a little. I haven't found a ton to do there, but it feels like it should be the city center, although Central Station is much more like the city center to me.
Next, we walked to a little gem that my mom found on the internet. There's an alleyway with shops that was decorated like an underwater world.
On our way back to Central Station, we meandered through the old part of the city, which has become the Red Light District. It's crazy that the most historic part of the city has turned into this. It's pretty eye-opening and an interesting cultural experience, between the Coffee Shops and the red light windows.
Day 2
My original plan was to visit the windmill I had gone to during my last trip. You can't go to Holland and not visit a windmill. My mom found a nearby city that she really wanted to go to, because it had multiple windmills. She said that all of the people online said it was a must-visit place. Zandaam was awesome, and I'm so glad she recommended it.
It's like a little city restored to show how Holland looked long ago, with canals and windmills everywhere. They have cute shops, too, for cheese, mustard, chocolate, and baked goods. To avoid long rides on public transport from our hotel, we opted for an uber ride there. It wasn't that far, mileage-wise... like only 6 miles, which is incredible. Like, I could've run there.
You can even go inside some of the windmills, and see how they work on the inside.
After Zandaam, we went to the Rijksmuseum. It's massive, and we didn't have a ton of time, but we soaked in what we could, including Nightwatch. Rembrandt is probably my favorite artist. I like the contrast between the darkness and the realistically drawn people who are presented in sharp focus in his paintings. It's striking.
One cool thing about the museum is that they have placemat-sized cards next to many of the paintings. It points out things that you may not have noticed, or it explains the historical or cultural or symbolic significance of different things that were painted, or it talks about the way it was painted and why the artist might've done it that way. It lets you engage with the artwork more, which is good, because I'm often tempted to just look for a few seconds and keep moving and forget about it a minute later.
The Van Gogh museum is open late on Fridays for some reason, so we saved that for this night, to make the most of the day. It was crowded because it's popular. It's interesting to see his works and learn about his life, though. Our legs were sooo tired by this time, and we had to force ourselves to make it through the exhibits.
We got a bit of rest and refreshment at an Italian restaurant. We ended the night with a visit to the "skinny bridge", where legend has it that whoever you kiss on it (or is it under it), you'll fall in love with.
Day 3
On our last full day, we explored the neighborhood of Jordaan, which is very scenic. We had planned on visiting the Anne Frank House, but first, we found out that the iAmsterdam City Card no longer covered it. Then, we found out that to purchase tickets, you had to pre-purchase them online, and they were already sold out for the day, even before the day began.
So, we strolled around Jordaan. It was Saturday morning, so we came across markets, which was nice. We got cheese, bread, fried fish, brussel sprouts, and avocado.
By the end of our walk, De Prins cafe had opened. We got the famous mini pancakes that Amsterdam is known for... tasted like little pancakes. We also got Bitterballen, which are fried balls filled with gravy. It was... a bit much for me. A big glob of the kind of gravy you find in biscuits and gravy, or in a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup. With a side of mustard to help cut the fat.
We visited a little museum about tulips, and then the House Boat museum, where you get to board a real house boat. I liked that. You get a sense for what life might be like living on one. They started when Amsterdam ran out of housing, so people started living in house boats as a cheap alternative. Now, they're really expensive, like the rest of Amsterdam. But the boats are pretty much permanently docked there, and they have hookups to power and sewer lines and everything. Seems like it would be nice. I wonder how cold it gets, but I think it would be cozy.
I don't remember where we were planning to go next, but we ended up back at Museumplein again, with a stop at the Stedlijk contemporary art museum for the restroom and a look around. Contemporary art is not really my thing, but it's interesting to try to understand and figure out what other people find interesting about it.
Afterwards, we went to Rembrandtplein to see the life-sized NightWatch statues. We happen to run into a big party for some sports event, with lots of ardent fans dressed in bright orange. I fit right in!
I didn't fit in quite as much with the Nightwatch statues, though. The shot below took a lot of patience to finally get, by the way. There were lots of people out there in the evening. We people watched for a long time, especially with all the orange guys, and eventually got this. It's probably quiet in the early mornings, though. This was a Saturday night.
Day 4
The iAmsterdam City card that we got was good for 72 hours, so we had time to enter one more museum on our last day in town, before we had to check out of the hotel and then go back to Central Station to catch the train. We went to Rembrandt's house, which is another great museum. You see where he lived, how he made a living with making and dealing art, and how he collected items to help inspire and sharpen his practice. They have guides who do demos of making paint and making etchings. I hadn't realized that he was more famous for his etchings in his day, than he was for his paintings. We watched the etching demo, which was cool.
We went back to the hotel to pick up our luggage, then waited at Central station for our train. We had a daytime train, which does waste a day that could be spent sightseeing, but
1) it was good to have a rest day, after so many days of sightseeing with tons of walking
2) I don't get to ride trains often, so it's a unique experience
3) you get to see more of the country... or countries, in our case... we went through Belgium and France on our way to England.
There wasn't a ton of scenery... we did see some modern windmills. Brussels was kind of interesting to look at when we switched trains there. The most remarkable part of the journey was we left France as it was just starting to get darker, but the skies had been sunny. We went into the Chunnel. When we emerged from the other side, it was dark and rainy in England. It's crazy how different it was... it felt like we had popped up in another world.
LONDON
It was rainy in London as we pulled in to St. Pancras. We first wanted to see Platform 9 3/4 next door at Kings Cross, so we hauled our luggage over there, only to find a massive line for the picture spot. It was much different than when I had visited last time, when there were only like 3 other groups in front of me. I guess they opened a Harry Potter store next door, so there were tons of kids there. They even had officials who would throw a scarf on you and make it look like the scarf was flying in the wind as you ran towards the wall. We decided to pass on the photo op, since everyone was tired from the journey.
We took the Tube to Paddington Station, where we did find Paddington Bear, with no line. We took pictures, and as we were leaving, a mom with her two little girls started taking pictures of the bench, too. One of the girls had a Paddington Bear stuffed animal and was so excited - a girl after my own heart! Aaaand, as her sister and mom were leaving, she said goodbye to the Paddington Bear painted on the bench with a kiss... hahahahahaha... how many people have touched that bench? I don't think her mom saw, otherwise she might've freaked. But it was adorable.
We then dragged our luggage through the rain to our apartment.
Day 1
We had to pick up our London Pass from a booth near Trafalgar Square, so I planned the first part of the day as a walk to that spot. We went through Hyde Park along the Serpentine, past Buckingham Palace which was already getting crowded from people arriving way early to try to see the Changing of the Guard, down the Mall and through Admiralty Arch, and into Trafalgar Square. We did come across some mounted guards going down the Mall, even if we did miss the CotG.
I wanted to start sightseeing, but my sister was hungry, so we found a nearby spot that ended up being great - Steak & Co.
It was pretty chilly in London, so it was nice to warm up inside. We went by Horse Guards and Whitehall on our way to the Churchill War Rooms. There was a long line, and we waited about 45 min. There had been a bit of a line last time, too, so we decided to stick it out. I wanted to take my family there, since it's a special place. You can find museums in any major city, but London has some unique historical places like this secret bunker from which Churchill had directed WWII with his team.
When we made the turn to where you'd normally see Big Ben, I was surprised to find the tower sheathed in scaffolding! I wasn't expecting that! Too bad my family didn't get to see the most iconic monument in London. It's not every day you get to see it like this, though!
Since we were next to it, we went into Westminster Abbey next. I've seen many Cathedrals, and I though this would be just another one. But, it's the most well-maintained and fancy one I've ever been to. There are plaques and monuments to famous people everywhere. They don't allow pictures inside, so I don't have any to share, but it's something else. You can feel the history oozing from it.
We kind of got out of there as they were closing, and we were rushed out of different sections. They had a service or something. We had gone in just in time.
After that, we walked by Parliament, where some people were still trying to convince people to go against Brexit. Last time I was in London, 2 years ago, the vote had already taken place, so I was surprised to still see that.
We went on a Thames River cruise, just from Parliament to the Tower of London. We could've gone all the way to Greenwhich, but we stopped at the tower. I stayed on the exposed upper deck, despite the cold, to try to take more in, while my family stayed down below.
We went to a Tesco Express near the tower to get some groceries, before heading back to the apartment.
Day 2
The next morning, we went out to the Globe at opening. We wanted to avoid having to wait in long lines for popular attractions again. We got the first tour. It's not the original globe, since that burned down a couple of times and now has a parking garage where it once stood. However, they faithfully reproduced it. The tour guide was very funny and informative.
We also went by St. Paul's, Millenium Bridge, and Borough Market.
Our second stop of the day was at the Shard. I was glad to hit a good number of spots that I hadn't seen on previous trips, and this was one of them. It ended up exceeding expectations. We picked our day to visit a bit strategically, but it worked out really well, because this ended up being the most beautiful and least cloudy day. They make it a nice experience, with 2 levels you can go to to see things... one is enclosed, with some images to help you identify the landmarks that you can see through the window. The level above has air flowing through.
And if you have to use the bathroom there, you're in for a special surprise!
We walked along the river a bit, on our way to the Tower of London. My mom was really excited when we walked over London Bridge, even though that bridge, whose name is often mis-applied to Tower Bridge, looks like nothing special. A stairway on the other side of it did give me this cool shot, though.
We did the warden's tour and walked around the Tower of London as long as our feet could bear.
We finished the day back at Borough Market for Ethiopian Food and a Meat Pie.
Day 3
We started our last full day in London with a walk through Kenginston Gardens and a visit to Kensington Palace.
My dad really liked Kensington palace, for some reason. Also, I had been thinking that royals still lived there, for some reason, but they must be at some other palace. This is from olden times. They had a temporary exhibit on Diana and her dresses, which was nice.
We were starting to run out of the big things we wanted to hit, so we chose to go on the Hop On / Hop Off bus next. It was lightly raining. I sat on top, partly for the experience, but also because there weren't any more seats in the lower deck.
We got off at Picadilly Circus to look around. We were hungry, so we found a pub that ended up being fantastic - Queen's Head. They had cask ales and good food.
We got back on the bus, and we rode for a while, and we decided to get off at Tower Bridge again, mostly to use the restroom, but it was a good excuse, since I wanted to see it anyways. It ended up being pretty cool. They have glass floors that you can walk on, while watching the cars and people pass below.
After that, we did a quick run to Leadenhall Market, since my sister really wanted to see it. It inspired Diagon Alley from Harry Potter. It wasn't as "happening" as I expected, at least in the evening. The shops there were normal kinds of shops... not like Borough Market, which is food-oriented. It was pretty, especially at night, but not quite what I was expecting in terms of fun and excitement.
Day 4 - Stonehenge
We made a trip to Stonehenge. I had wanted to go in the past, but with few days, I had always opted for staying in London and doing what I could there. This time, since there was a group of us, it was worth it to get a car and drive out there. It's not a long drive... an hour and a half, maybe. I needed a car, anyways, for the race, since that was outside the city. I'd just rent it a day early.
I had been a little apprehensive about driving on the left side of the road, wondering how I'd do with it, but it ended up being ok. Just remind yourself about where you need to be before you start, focus, and you'll also naturally go to the correct lanes because of where the other cars are, and because you're on the right side of the car, and it makes sense to drive on the left side.
The prolific roundabouts were the most challenging part... you had to position yourself in the appropriate lane based on which exit you wanted to take. It's the craziest around the airport, where there are tons of roundabouts pointing every which way. We had gotten a mobile hotspot, so we used phone GPS, so I didn't even really use the normal GPS that I had in my possession.
It was kind of crazy, driving along, and suddenly seeing Stonehenge in the middle of a field, when we got to the area. We parked, looked around the museum, then took the bus to the stones. There's a path you're directed on around the stones. There's an audio tour you can download for free on an app. You can't walk among the stones, but you get pretty close near the end of the route.
It's crazy how the meaning behind the rocks is still a mystery to us. And it's also crazy to think that most of the original gene pool of England got wiped out along the way. I guess it happens on every continent, with different peoples across the ages. Poor people. It's a reminder that kingdoms don't last forever, as much as they may seem to dominate in a certain period.
After we rode back to the visitor center, we decided to walk a bit. We had seen others walking instead of riding the bus. The route takes you past sheep, a canola? field, and huge expanses of grassy fields. There are even remnants of earthworks that the ancient people built, just sitting there out in the open. It was amazing to be able to walk alongside it. There was even a physical geocache nearby!
We made a FamHenge, too!
We drove into Salisbury for dinner, since we were hungry. We had one non-home-made meal each day during our trip. I think that's a good balance. Eating out takes a lot of time and takes away from sightseeing, which is what I prefer to do. It is nice to get a feel for the local food, though, and you gotta eat anyways. We found Haunch of Venison, a 14th century pub. I had never had venison before, and I was excited to try that, along with their cask ales. Venison sausage tasted like normal sausage to me, although I don't like sausage and therefore don't eat it and am not an expert in it. The steak was good, though, and the shredded venison was acceptable. The atmosphere and all of the deer decorations were the best.
The next day, we dropped off my sister at the airport. I dislike driving around Heathrow. There are so many roundabouts and lanes that force you to go a certain way. We made it, though, and we were off to packet pickup for OCRWC.
OCRWC Packet Pickup
We got to the site of Nuclear Races, after driving through some more countryside-style land. We parked on top of a hill, and made our way back to the festival. The 3Kers were out and about, and others were picking up their packet. The excitement was palpable.
There was a little bit of a line, particularly for t-shirts, but nothing too bad. After getting my lanyard, shirt, timing chip, and completion band, I went to the merch tent. They had a much wider selection this year, and had women-specific gear this time. It was great. Last year, they only had mens gear, and the small size jacket consumed people my size. They also had some other vendors, and I spent a bunch. YOLO.
Afterwards, we walked around to see the obstacles in the area. I wanted to get a preview of what I'd encounter the next day, and try to see the secrets to success. They had a nice area with food trucks, although I just chose to partake in a specially brewed OCRWC beer. That's awesome. Last year, the special surprise was fireworks. This year, it was a beer. Both awesome.
OCRWC Packet Pickup
We got to the site of Nuclear Races, after driving through some more countryside-style land. We parked on top of a hill, and made our way back to the festival. The 3Kers were out and about, and others were picking up their packet. The excitement was palpable.
There was a little bit of a line, particularly for t-shirts, but nothing too bad. After getting my lanyard, shirt, timing chip, and completion band, I went to the merch tent. They had a much wider selection this year, and had women-specific gear this time. It was great. Last year, they only had mens gear, and the small size jacket consumed people my size. They also had some other vendors, and I spent a bunch. YOLO.
Afterwards, we walked around to see the obstacles in the area. I wanted to get a preview of what I'd encounter the next day, and try to see the secrets to success. They had a nice area with food trucks, although I just chose to partake in a specially brewed OCRWC beer. That's awesome. Last year, the special surprise was fireworks. This year, it was a beer. Both awesome.
They had a nice tent next to a couple of the obstacles, some vendors, and the merch shop. We hung out there for a while. I enjoyed the special beer while soaking in the atmosphere.
One scary discovery, though, was that there would be 100 obstacles. I've never done a course with that many, before. I guess they made up for the lack of ski slope terrain with lots of obstacles.
Soon, it was late enough for us to check in at the hotel. We weren't as close to the venue as we could be, but the HIE had a huge grocery store next door, so we had plenty of food options. They had a great beer selection, too, but there was too little time left in the trip to make good use of it.
The Race
We drove back out to the venue the next morning. While the 3K had pros start at the end of the day, they started at the beginning of the day for the 15K. I didn't have much time to spare, but it was ok, and it meant less standing out in the cold.
We were off, into the foggy morning. The first few obstacles were a sandbag carry and some easier obstacles that are more for slowing you down and thinning the crowd, than for taking anyone's bands. I was close to the very back of the pack, but I was there to do my best, and enjoy the experience of racing against the world's best on a premier course.
Next, some harder obstacles. One that hung up a bunch of people was called Minions, which was big floating balls that you could put some weight on with your legs, while hanging on to short ropes to try to walk across the balls. It felt very similar to some of the ropes courses at the Whitewater Center... it's that kind of movement pattern, so I had an advantage of experience there.
The first time that I was at risk of losing my band was at parallel bars that you had to shuffle over with just your arms. I failed the first few times. I thought that was going to take my band. But, on one of my last tries, it started to work. I figured out a technique that helped. I'd drastically shift weight from one arm to another, allowing the pressure and center of gravity to sit more on whatever arm was holding my weight, instead of having the CoG be off-center. That made it more manageable. When I got to the end, I couldn't believe it. I'll have to practice that one more, if I ever see it again in a park. I think the last time I remember seeing parallel bars at a park might've been at my elementary and middle school, though.
There was a hoist and monkey bars that were doable. Then, a zip line, which was unique, followed by a water slide that kicked you up into the air. I've seen pictures of those at other events... the flipping in the air kind, but that was my first time doing it.
Stairway to Heaven came some time after that. I was far from being able to finish that, last year. It had also come near the middle of the course. I gave it a couple of tries, but had the experience to know to not try a million times on that one this year. I wanted to save some energy for the obstacles later on, rather than having nothing left for the second half of the course. I especially didn't want to fail on the ones where my parents and the other spectators were, especially if they'd normally be doable. I also didn't want to fail the last obstacle, which is a tough wall with short ropes.
Unfortunately, I was moderately sapped by then. I put up a good fight at the Platinum Rig, but couldn't manage the final string of monkey bars. I normally beast the monkey bars... I don't know what it was about these... that they came after a series of rings and ropes, or if it was the first half of the course wearing on me, or if it was that the pipes had smaller diameters than usual. In any case, after like 6 attempts, I gave up on it. I had already lost my band at Stairway, so it was just for bragging rights by that time.
The next couple of obstacles didn't go much better... the Saga, and the Force 5. I did manage the Trapeze, though, thankfully, so it was not all a loss.
A little later in the course, there was a Dragon's Back. It was one of my favorite obstacles last year, because it looks absolutely crazy, but it's doable, if you can mentally overcome your fears. My biggest challenge was going to be getting to the start of it, since you had to run up a ramp to even begin the the first jump. I tried maybe 12 times, and was near the point of giving up, when I finally managed to get up. A whole bunch of spectators were cheering for me by the time I finally made it. Unbeknownst to me, my mom was among them, and managed to capture the jumping part of the obstacle on video.
For the most part, the rest were manageable under normal circumstances. There was one curveball, an impossible sled drag... I was having trouble budging it, and then a guy came along behind me, and he couldn't budge it either, so I knew I was justified in giving up on it.
Weaver was fun and different. It had been described in the rule book on the previous year, so I looked into it. I was excited to get to try it this time.
There were some more manageable carries. Even Skull Valley was doable for the skull part. Last year, one gripe I had was that a number of the rigs were impossible for short people to even get to start on. I couldn't even get up to the first element. This year, they had ways for you to at least get up to the start. I could do the skull part OK, but then those monkey bars got me again. I was glad to have finally gotten to try the skulls, though. Maybe in the future, I'll try the 3K and be able to focus my strength on fewer obstacles and less distance.
At the very end, there was tubes, followed by the wall. I was glad that I did have enough to get over the wall. I lost my band, and I was near the back of the pack, but I put up a good fight, and I feel like I did better than last year. I had learned how to manage my efforts better on this mandatory completion course.
Afterwards, more food. Then, flying back the next day. It was a great trip with my family.
