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Published: June 21st 2010
And we’re off...
So we had an interesting start to our World Cup trip even before we got on the plane in Calgary. Janel took the day off to pack while I worked until 2:30. We drove to my mom’s house for her to take us to the airport, and just as we were arriving at the airport, it hit me: I forgot my Brazil jerseys!!!! Now you may think that’s not that big of an issue, but you just can’t go to a World Cup, and of all things, forget your Brazil jerseys, specially if you’re from Brazil. I compare it to going to the Artic and only taking a speedo... it’s just not the way it’s meant to be.
So my poor mother dropped us off to check-in and drove to our house and back with the ever-important jerseys. I felt bad because she ended up getting stuck in rush hour, but like the wonderful mother that she is, not a single peep or sign of complaint. While she was gone, we cleared security, then I came back out to meet my mom and ended up making it to the gate right as we began boarding.
The 8.25hr flight was good, smooth, and KLM served some good food. Overall, it was one of the best flights I’ve ever been on. We didn’t sleep that much or that well, but we made it just fine.
Amsterdam
At the airport, we checked our big bags into a locker and made our way to our hotel. It was raining once we reached Centraal Station (yes, with 2 A’s), but it soon stopped and the sun came out. We spen most of the afternoon walking around Amsterdam,visiting some key spots and taking pictures. We managed to find a few empty seats in a restaurant, ordered a couple of Heinekens (which to my surprise was delicious - Heinekens usually taste like crap to me) and watched most of the Holland - Japan game. Everyone was wearing orange today in Amsterdam, although I thought I’d see more people on the streets than we did. Afterwards, we visited the Red Light District, Anne Frank’s house and came back to the hotel to rest.
A few interesting things we saw today:
• A scary transvestite took a photo for us (of us), and half of the picture was the sidewalk
• We
saw an Asian lady walking around with one shoe missing...it looked like she had just lost her other shoe, not sure how
• We were walking on the sidewalk, and some weirdo, with glossy eyes, looked at Janel and tried to whistle...it was creepy and funny at the same time
At night, we went for a walk, had some frites (fries with mayo) and went to the Red Light district again to see it lit up. Janel thought it was strange and gross seeing guys go in and out of windows, and that the talent sure improved at night. 😊
Once we got back to the hostel, we watched the end of the Cameroon game and discovered our path to the final. Since Cameroon lost to Denmark 2-1, we will for sure follow the group winner, which is what we wanted all along. Leave it to us to choose to follow the first team eliminated from the World Cup. So we have yet to land in South Africa but already know that we will need to go to Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town again before the big Final. Now we can start booking accomodation and transportation
for the remainder of the trip. We figure we will fly to Durban, then rent a car for about 10 days while we make our way back to Cape Town semi-final (via Port Elizabeth for the quarter-final). Sad to see Cameroon go home so soon, but we’re glad we might have a chance to see Brazil play if they finish 1st in the group. We’ll see soon enough.
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Michelle
non-member comment
Wow!
Beautiful pics! How lucky you both are to visit there. Can't wait to read about your experiences and see your pics each day. Have fun you two!