Destination Amsterdam

It's those backpacks again! Only this time, we traded a day pack for a little package in a baby bjorn! To add to the fun, joining the caravan were mom, Pammi, Hari, and Anoushka. Talinn was in great spirits on the day of our journey. His mind was in an excited tizzy just like all of ours. He enjoyed his dinner at the airport bar while the rest of us toasted to our trip. We were terribly psyched when he nodded off to sleep just before our 8pm boarding. He could potentially sleep through the entire ten hour flight! Now that's the definition of wishful thinking. Talinn woke up barely a few minutes into the flight, refused to sleep at first, screamed non-stop at the top of his lungs for the next few hours, and then slept fitfully in our tired arms as we struggled to keep him from bawling. Oh and did I mention fending off unwelcome advise from strangers on how to manage the unhappy rascal. I was about ready to palm him off to the expert advisors. Anyway, we survived the night and the flight to London. The next couple of hours at the shiny new Heathrow Terminal 5 was a blur of countless escalators (escalator heaven for Anoushka pie), endless lines, confusion, diaper changes, and rushing into the next flight to Amsterdam. Talinn was tired enough by now to catch some shut-eye. Writing journals, reading a book, strolling, shopping? Those were pre-baby indulgences we happily kissed goodbye.Talinn shrieked with excitement at Amsterdam Schiphol airport. The rush of shops and people was a welcome change from the airplane claustrophobia. I have to admit, it lifted all of our spirits too. We called the apartment agency to meet us at the apartment with keys, bought metro tickets, and tumbled into the local train. Five adults, one infant, one toddler, eights bags, one stroller = one confused heap. A friendly local girl in the train informed us of the impending warm weather, urged us to try pofrtjes (mini pancakes... what do you mean you can't pronounce it), and offered some helpful hints.Our apartment was supposedly a ten minute walk from Centraal station. Not a brilliant plan given our stats. No taxis were forthcoming, so we jumped into the tram, despite warnings. A pleasant surprise; it was certainly roomier than the train. The driver said our apartment on Rapunburgerstraat was near the stop "missavissaplein". Well, that's what he said. After a tempting glimpse of the city, including the famous Sex Museum, we got off at Mr. Visserplein - a convenient two minute walk from the apartment. Talinn was a happy camper on the bjorn and took in Amsterdam without any hint of exhaustion. It was 8pm Friday night local time but only Friday morning in CA. How could he be ready for bed again? Joy!Home in Amsterdam was a bright two bedroom apartment with a stunning red and white murano chandelier in the living room. The hint of music and conversations wafting in from the apartment above should have clued us into our neighbors' designs for the night. But we were too pleased to think about anything negative. Quick not to waste any time, we packed the kids up and walked out to explore and hunt for dinner. Anoushka went off to sleep along the way. Not Talinn.Since Indonesia was a dutch colony, Amsterdam has it's fair share of Indonesian flavors. We noticed Indrapura and other Indonesian joints right away at the nearby Rembrandtplein. (I also noticed a chocolate bar along the way and promised to come back later but that never happened.) Indonesian dinner was super super pricey and nothing to write home about. I tried an interesting green color banana liqueur. Talinn who was asleep by this time woke up in the middle of dinner and forced Nagesh to parade outside the restaurant. Poor nana!We had grand plans to walk the red-light district after dinner. Oh the ultra-enthusiastic five! Thankfully, we dropped the plans and decided to call it quits for the day. But wait, remember the upstairs-neighbors-on-the-verge-of-a-party?! Midnight was the kick-off hour and the rumpus was just starting. Loud thumping music, louder thumping feet, drunken revelry, breaking glass, inebriated fools running up and down the stairs - it just got louder by the hour. Until Nagesh threatened to call the cops on them. That's when they moved the party to a higher floor. It was 4am by this time. Talinn, our own home-bred-jet-lagged party animal was also just about ready to go to bed (yes, he was busy playing and fighting sleep this whole time). So we all slept for about five hours until 9am the next morning.