Recap of day 1.

Our original flight from Austin was supposed to take off at 4 PM. It got bumped a few time eventually taking off at 9:35. It landed in DFW at 10:49 with our next flight due to take off at 10:50. We ran to the sky tram because we landed in terminal A and our next flight was in terminal D. Despite running from the tram to our gate, the plane's door was shut and the jet bridge had been disconnected. There were 4 people in suites with ear pieces watching the plane for around an hour and a half or so from the gate. The flight got delayed but nothing could be done since the doors were closed. Kids started doing just dance in the airport and everyone tried to keep spirits up. After a long talk to Qatar airways and American, seats are being held for us on a flight to Amsterdam but American couldn't book those seats because the flight was booked through Qatar airways. We eventually got rooms at a Wyndham in Dallas. The A/C was set to 80 when we got in the room around 2:30 AM. The layout of the hotel is super odd. The floor of the elevator is super nice which is one of my favorite odd things. Got a few hours of sleep. Woke up and had some oatmeal and coffee at the hotel's continental breakfast which included some curry or tumeric chicken tenders. The breakfast was in the hotel's restaurant/wedding reception ballroom. I had a honey berry smoothie and soft ghosts in Austin before leaving. It was a long travel day and we only made it 3 hours from home. Klein and a couple of the other adults went to the DFW airport at 4:30 AM when the Qatar desk opened and were still there at 8:30 AM when I had breakfast with a few of our crew.

Alright, take 2. Around 10:30 AM we got updates on our flights. We had continental breakfast at the hotel. I think based on the layout that it was probably a medical building or maybe a retirement home. I had oatmeal with raisins, oats, and shredded coconut. I sat with Emma and another girl and caught up on their morning/night. Emma is dealing with an eye issue and trying to get a teladoc but they wouldn't talk to her without her parent. I think she's going to try and do urgent care in Amsterdam. Then I sat with Nate, Alana, eventually Matt, and some of the girls. Then, at 10ish, we got an update on flights. We were split into 4 new travel groups. I am with Grant, Addie, Kaylan, and Lauren. We found out that we were moving from a 3 leg trip to a 4 leg trip which now included a 38 hour layover in Amsterdam and a 12 hour layover in Doha. The girls really want to go to the Anne Frank house. Tickets are sold out until September. However, there were 5 tickets via StubHub. We haven't bought them yet because we're waiting to see if we might be able to get a sooner flight in Amsterdam and not have the overnight layover. I'm going to try and watch Phil at some point to see where he ate. We're all struggling with the days, dates, and times with the 4 travel permutations. I thought we were getting in around midnight between Sunday and Monday but it's actual midnight between Monday and Tuesday. It's a bit of a bummer missing 3 days in Juja but it's out of our control. Ben, Grant, Klein, Blake, and Teresa were at the airport from 4:30 to 10 AM sorting out flights. We got meal vouchers. I spent my $12 on a Mexican chopped salad at twisted root. Eating salads before we get to Nairobi because we can't eat salads there. Since we're getting reimbursed for meals because of the disruption, I upgraded to a wagyu patty. It was a tasty salad. Drizzlelicious Blake seems to be a good kid. He's got a lightning McQueen backup and I'm throwing in jokes to connect. I feel like my disappointment and friction leading up to the trip is melting a bit. I feel like I'm connecting with thes kids to prepare me better for connecting with Abby. I gave Emma an allergy pill because her ears were clogged and then passed out hanitizer sprays. I got dubbed the dad of the group by some of the kids. Summer knows who Abby is. Summer says that Abby is a bit quite and reserved. She also didn't know about Abby's split time between households and was curious if she went to both service times but says it makes sense now with the split time. Summer is super sweet and very similar to Abby. I think we need to be more intentional about being consistent with church especially for the kids. Our flight to Amsterdam is on an American plane. A bit of a bummer because their planes aren't quite the luxury that non-us airlines are but this is all out of our control. I'm in a row with Tiffany and we got fortunate that the middle seat is empty. They did food service really early in the flight. I chose the chicken. It's interesting with a rice and veggie blend with tiny chicken pieces. There's also a Gruyère "flavor gourmet cheese wedge" with the first two ingredients being cheddar and Limburger. There's a roll, brookie, a couple of crackers, and a small salad. It's 6ish and I'm still full from the salad and haven't eaten any of it yet.

Trying to sum up 2 days in Amsterdam. We got in around 7 in the morning yesterday. There were three groups at the airport. Teresa's group stayed in the airport. Klein and our group left the airport. We went to baggage. My bag came off the carousel but no one else's did. Turns out my bag coming off wasn't supposed to happen. Klein and Grant worked on getting us hotel vouchers for about an hour. They went to customer service who sent them to the check in desk who told them they couldn't help them after they waited about an hour. AA said they couldn't do vouchers over the phone because it was international. They went to Swissport desk who said they couldn't help either. Eventually they just booked us two rooms at the Mövenpick near the city center on the water. We took the train from the airport to the central station and then Klein and Grant called Ubers to get us from the train station to the hotel. We couldn't check in yet but could drop bags.

Since the reservations were under Grant and I's names we were the ones to check bags. We also got a map from the concierge and were told how to get to the city center. Our group was trying to figure out what to do with our 38 hours. Members of both groups wanted to do a canal tour but everyone wanted food first. I paid the most attention to the directions from the concierge so I landed up leading the group. We past a beautiful Roman Catholic Church which land d up being a land mark for the next 4 or 5 round trips to the city center. Amsterdam was a bit different than what I had pictured in my mind from the last time I was there in high school. It was a lot grander and cleaner and brighter and way more water than I remember. That could have been just because of the area we stayed in previously. Pot was everywhere. Way more than the sparse coffee shops that I remembered. Once we got to the city center, Klein took over in finding food. This was the first time in Europe for most of the group and I was the only person that had been to Amsterdam before. We finally settled on an Italian place. It was very local and cute. There was a orange tabby restaurant cat that walked around and lounged for most of our meal. I got the nicose salad which was a little disappointing because it seemed to have canned tuna on it. However, I have tried to get in as many salads before Kenya as I can because we can't eat them there. I also had a bitter lemon drink that was bright and refreshing. Scarlet was sitting across from me and I could tell she wasn't feeling it. Klein finally firmed up the canal tour plan and asked if everyone wanted to go. I opted out for walking instead because I didn't want to pay the $30 or so and I knew I would fall asleep. At that point, I hadn't slept since the previous morning in Dallas for about 4 hours and I was one of many that felt like we were on a cruise ship with the swaying feeling we had at lunch. Scarlet also said she wanted to walk and I told Klein she could join me on my walk. We all walked to a coffee shop around the corner but I was a bit caffeined out at the point so I waited with a couple of folks outside. I was fortunate to experience a guy on a small motorcycle that seemed to be trying to auction for a Jason Bourne movie. After that, we went our separate ways. \240Scarlet and I headed for the herring place from Phil. We had about an hour and 20 minutes before the group would be done with their boat tour. The herring shop was about an hour round trip and I felt like I could connect with Scarlet and try to pull her out of her funk. A couple minutes into the walk, she mentioned that her parents said she should get fresh juice in Amsterdam. There wasn't a juice place on the way but I could tell it was important so we made a detour. We went to a place that was similar to Juiceland. She got a bottled juice that had coconut water, watermelon, some other stuff and aloe Vera. She wasn't as impressed as she thought she'd be, but I mentioned that the coconut water and aloe Vera probably made it lighter in taste. Which seemed to make it cool with her. We got footed it to herring passing the palace and main square in the process. There was a bit of a pride rally in the square, some light human rights stuff, and a drum circle. Our conversation was rough at first but we eventually started talking about travel and food and she seemed to open up. We finally made it down to the herring spot just past a large street fair/maybe market. The shop is small but popular. I got in line next to a local. When I ordered they asked me if I wanted it with something (turned out to be bread but hearing clearly was hard). I asked them what they thought was best and she said to ask the lady next to me who was local and strongly recommended no bread. The dish came with diced onions and pickles and the hearing was sliced into large pieces with two Dutch flag toothpicks. It was around $4. I paid and took it outside. I eagerly took the first bite all along with your voice in my head saying so many times that you wanted to eat a whole herring in Amsterdam. It was so surprising. It tasted extremely fresh and very meaty. It didn't have a very fatty taste like salmon o the clean taste of tuna. Maybe closer to eel, but very dense and delicious. Very clean finish on the end and became easily a top 10 bite of food for me in my life. I described my thoughts to scarlet who I think could also tell my satisfaction and pleasant surprise with the dish. We had just talked about travel and discovering culture through food. I asked her if she wanted to try I and she did. She also genuinely enjoyed it. She even remarked to other people in our rejoined group later without me around how much she enjoyed it. The pickle slices were sweet but closer to bread and butter and not gerkins. I tried another piece with diced onions inside which was a nice textural add and cut some of the meatiness. Scarlet mentioned that she saw a record store she wanted to poke into. We headed that way. It was a bit of a challenge to find a street trash can. We went in and it was a super quaint store with a good collection. She asked what I liked to listen to and picked up a Jeff Buckley record. She bought that record and we headed back. Music carried the rest of our conversation. She mentioned it was her first record to purchase. I told her about buying my first album on cassette. We talked about concerts and she mentioned Ghost and that she goes to a catholic high school and her parents said she couldn't talk to anyone at school about going to see ghost after they took her. Then we walked the other way against what seemed to be a small pride parade but grew into a parade multiple blocks long with the drum circle drummers from the square plus more who joined in. We eventually rejoined the others and I lead everyone back to the hotel for showers. Half the group went for stroopwaffels so we could only check into the room under my name. The girls that were with Tiffany and I went to that room to shower and Tiffany and I grabbed a couple of Heinekens at the bar. We chatted some more and turns out she has a blended family as well and her oldest step son is gay and came out a few years ago and she asked me if I'd share the picture of the pride flag from the parade so she could send it to him. We talked about our kids and enjoyed a beer made just a few miles down the road. Eventually Grant got there so we could check into the other room. We needed Kaylan's passport as the other two girls had presented there's for the first room. Kaylan was asleep when we called up but came down shortly. Grant and I went up to our room and the ladies went to the other room. Grant showered first and then I showered. Grant warned me that getting in and out of the shower was slippery and they should have a bath mat.

I went into the bathroom and the setup was odd with the shower having a high step and only half a shower door. I found the rolled up bath mat when I was looking for my towel and put it in the shower. It did look a little grody though. The shower was fantastic and I finally got to use my toothbrush instead of a finger for a brush. I got out and let Grant know there was good news and bad news. There was a bath mat, but he didn't get to use it. We hung out for a bit and talked about a couple of dinner options and options for activities the next day. We went down to see the other group off that was flying out that night. The lobby was a bit busier due to the guests from the docked Viking River cruise. We saw the group off and head to a local brewpub in the town center. It was about a 20 minute walk and in an alley way but definitely seemed to be a local spot in an older building. There was even a little bridge that took you from the entrance and bar to the restaurant. The A/C wasn't working so it was a bit warm but definitely felt local and lively but not \240loud. We sat down and ordered and I got a NE IPA and Grant got a beer. Lauren ordered a toasty, Addie and I got the fish and chips, Grant tried to order a brat without sauerkraut but the chef came out and let him know it didn't come on bread so he switched to a New York hot dog. I think Kaylan got a salad. The fish was very tasty and fresh and very much English style but no malt vinegar. The fries were definitely fresh and crispy but nothing too crazy. It also came with a nice salad with butter lettuce and cucumbers and tomatoes. We enjoyed the meal and then headed to go clothes shopping for the girls and Grant. The nicer stores were closed but we did find the European version of TJMAXX called TKMAXX. It was nicer, cleaner, and 4 stories. I kept an eye on the girls, while Grant shopped, who started by looking for moo-moos. They soon got serious and grabbed some things to try on. Grant came back with his purchase and we hung out outside the dressing room. A couple came by with their maybe frenchton but probably just a Boston. They could tell I was complimenting their dog and trying to snap a picture to send to you. They had the dog come over for pets. Then, when I wanted to take the dog's picture to send to you, they made sure that the dog was properly posed even enlisting a treat for motivation. We wrapped up just in the nick of time. There was even one customer who must have tried on a few things because a worker came over to her and let her know the store was closing and she couldn't try anything else on. We left and went back to the hotel. We were all cooked. We decided to go to the Rijks museum the next day after the Anne Frank house tickets were going to be $48 after fees on StubHub and the Van Gogh museum was sold out. The girls went upstairs and Grant and I grabbed old fashions at the bar to take to our room. Grant let me know the story behind the two drink max rule and why you have to be 21 to drink on the trip regardless of local law. He was part of the trip that necessitated the creation of those rules. The drinks were a little lighter and sweeter than normal and had an orange wedge in them. We went up to our rooms. I tried to find something on TV to fall asleep to but couldn't find something quickly and just took meds and went to bed. The room was a little warm even with the key card driven "A/C". I tossed and turned a little but slept mostly until 5 when I got up to take my malaria pill. I did manage to go back to sleep until about 7:30. We got up around 7:50 or so. I made us both espressos and we showered again since we didn't know when we would have another chance. Then we repacked our bags and headed down to the lobby to meet the girls at 9. We all checked our bags with the concierge and headed out to get pancakes. The place from Phil didn't open until noon. I jumped on yelp to find a place. It was the second rated spot. Turns out it was also a filming location for Ted Lasso. It was a little cafe at the bottom of a hotel. The pancakes were not the best. They were little silver dollar "Dutch" pancakes. They were still tasty but the flat white was fantastic. Thick foam at the top like New Zealand. That made me happy and think of you which also made me happy. We could go there for coffee and skip the pancakes. They were dusted with powdered sugar and had what I thought was syrup beneath them on the plate. Turned out to be butter? Then we took a leisurely stroll towards the flower market and museum but our museum time was noon and the flower market didn't open until 11. We stopped at a convenience store and got drinks. I got 3 drinks per the rule, but the luxuriation choice was non-alcoholic. Then we went to a McDonald's at Grant's request to see if they had anything fun. They had some fun, not found in the US items including a Big McTasty. He got some spicy nuggs and the three varieties of pop dots. The girls went to the bathroom and got a couple of things. We sat at the window and people watched while we tried our items. Turns out that the pop dots are more or less denser doughnut holes that are slight filled and iced with crunchy pearls on top. We cut them into fourths so everyone could try some. We all agreed that Stracciatella was our favorite followed by strawberry. We finished and went to the flower market. It was pretty cool but I thought it was more fresh flowers when it turned out to be mostly bulbs. I would've bought some to take back home but I thought it could be an issue with customs either in Doha or Kenya. Then we saw the steeple of a church and went to check it out. We passed by a small canal that looked familiar. I snapped a pic and looked it up. Turns out it was the canal that Rebecca fell into in Ted Lasso and then went into the guy's house boat. The church was super cool. Then I went and took a pic of the bridge. Then we headed to the museum. There was a moment walking down the cobblestone road close to the museum where a woman on a bike yelled HALLO! HALLO! at me because I had taken a step off the sidewalk into the bike street. It scared all of us.