So, Jen, Julian and myself set out for the last graduation
we will ever attend of our only daughter, Abby. Of course it could not be at a worse time
for the marina as we are busier then a one legged man in an ass kicking contest, but why would we learn our lesson from last year? Plus, your kid only graduates once, right? (not really). I’ve been to so many graduations
I feel like I could buy my own cap and gown.
Anyway, on to the real story. On
the way to the airport to go see our girl.
LaGuardia (LGA) is a shit show and to top it off, Jen accidentally bought
the wrong tickets first so on the second try, we are flying out of LGA and back
into JFK. The greatest problem solver
ever, was able to finagle the LGA smart park to transfer our car to the JFK
smart park for only $75.00. Crisis averted. That is until we checked in on our flight and
did not get seat assignments. Come to
find out after 4 Double IPA’s that the flight was overbooked by 12 people and
when they started boarding with us not having seats yet, I knew we were in trouble. After a very nice conversation with the
manager, we finally got on and took the last 3 spots. Short flight to Philly for transfer and I slept
from wheels up to wheels down. Hustled
to desk to get our seats to Amsterdam and thank God we did. The lady was working so slow that she created
a line 25 deep. We were second in the
line and the guy ahead of us pulled a Bridgett (expired Passport). Dinner
and drinks before we took off and I convinced Julian to play my wine trick and I
was able to secure 5 glasses of wine using Jen and Jules as my mules. Not before I brokered a deal to move 3 people
so I could sit next to Jen and Julian. Watched the best movie in the world, “Miracle
on Ice” because it was the only thing I had downloaded on my ipad. Then to sleep, hands in pants, sweating like
a whore in church till we landed. Took
train to our AIR BNB which was a house boat (small test for our future on a
boat), and waited for Abby and Michael Scott to get there. We fed the cats, Milo and Brooklyn and watered
the plants (as agreed).
It was great to see my baby living in Europe for the last
year. I am so proud of her. We took the train and off to Amsterdam and
walked around, had lunch, and took a tour of the Van Gough Museum. My theory, is that Vince had a “special”
relationship with his mentor and friend Gaudin.
Not being able to come to turns with this, he went crazy and cut his ear
off and eventually died.
Ok, so we went right to get “Coffee” at the “Coffeeshop” as
you can imagine, we were all really tired.
For some reason we all then rallied, including Julian who was like a bobble
head from being so tired. By the way,
what heat wave? It was freezing and none of us had any warm clothes. So, now the funniest thing I have seen in a
while. Walking through the awesome, bicycle
jammed streets, Michael Scott and I see the most beautiful sight, a plate of
churros, stacked just right with chocolate, Nutella on the counter. Michael pointed it out to mom who beelined
and bullied her way to the plate, looked at it, and picked the nicest piece
and ate it. The funny part was watching
the guys paying for the plate they ordered while mom was doing this. You see, it was not a tasting plate, it was a
customer's plate that Jen tasted. Laughed
for a good 30 min and knew I had the title to my blog.
Got home after getting provisions and hung out on the top deck
with everyone, except Julian who almost fell asleep standing up on tram. Smoked a cigar, had a glass or few of wine
and slept like a champ.
Woke up to the heat wave in our house. You see, there Is no air-conditioning in these
places, just heat and for some reason they have the best insulation in the
world so unless you open the doors, it’s like being in a Turkish prison. Abby and Michael Scott, literally go to sleep
with window open (and there are no screens and there are bugs); so they choose
cool air and bugs but to counter act the bugs, they put bug spray on before bed
(this is a true story).
By the way, Leeker boats which I saw at the Greenwich boat
show and look like a bath tub launch are EVERYWHERE here. Also, the bike thing is unexplainable unless
you see it yourself, so I will not even try.
It was cold today so Spez, who did not have a sweatshirt, went into the
closet of our AIR BNB and found a really nice cardigan. From that time forward, he became Professor
Plum to all of us (see Pic). We went on
a walking tour of everything about Anne Frank, except her house and it was
awesome. Apparently, you needed to get
tickets 8 months in advance-that’s not us, we got our hotels 3 days ago. We definitely did not set the best first
impression b/c when our guide asked everyone where we were from, Spez (Michael
Scott Spezial) shouted, YO NEW JERSEY, WOOT, WOOT! Now, we were all labeled. This was just after, professor plum told our
uber driver who was coming to NY, that it smells. Look at the pot (literally 420) calling the
kettle black. Spez was pretty well behaved
and I think Europe has changed him a little.
A long cry from begin in Davos Greece last year, when he netted a rock
the size of my fist into a handmade vase from 6000 BC, followed by a snot rocket
at the visitors center.
We sawNorwegian Victoria 3 times but did not stop to say hello, maybe
it wasn’t her. We decided
to try and find a good place for dinner b/c we always wait too long and we do
not have a foodie with us like Marlo, Roberto, or Sarah, so we always pick wrong
place. Not this time! Yelped a great place and we were home free
until we saw a candy jar on the counter and jen heading towards it looking for
free samples. I don’t think they do that
here.
Went to see the Rembrandt museum as it is the 350th year after his
death and all I can say is, "Eh? (Marlo).
I’ve seen better." Crazy, he died a
poor, street ridden man, but the life of an artist. We ended up going to our favorite bar for the
sangria, Hard Rock Café Amsterdam. Julian
really coming out of his shell now doing impressions of me when I am
working. Good for him. Back to the Mansion Houseboat to feed Mila
and Brooklyn, smoke a cigar, drink wine and hang. Leaving tomorrow to go to Antwerp. Cant wait.
Shout out to my dad who had a little incident and is on the
mend. Love you pop, see you soon.
