Tom DöhlerThis was it – our last day living in Amsterdam. I jolted awake 10 minutes before the alarm was supposed to go off, sure I’m hearing burglars trying to find their way in despite the alarm system that we had hastily installed after our last episode with these guys. Fortunately it must have been all in my head, which was admittedly still a bit fuzzy after our big good-bye-night-out.
It was a fantastic night, with all of our friends giving us a proper send off, and now it was time to get up and leave the misty shores of the flat lands forever. It is a weird thing to leave a country for good – you really have no idea what to expect in the new place. After a quick cuddle and a few tears in our lovely garden we hurled our luggage into the cab, and were ready to leave, if it would not have been for our neighbors cat, who desperately wanted to stay in our house an kept running in. Omen? I don’t think so. The uber driver decided to take the scenic route, and we arrived a bit later than planned at Schiphol, but still with plenty of time. The flight itself was pretty uneventful, and the plants that we had carefully placed under the seats seemed to have survived just fine.
We are staying in a temporary apartment for the first three weeks, and had to check in with the front desk to get the keys. The guy behind the counter was extremely grumpy, and I convinced myself that service here is going to be even worse than in Amsterdam. After lots of shuffling, signing and stapling of papers we started talking to the grumpy front desk guy, and he turned out to be really nice. We exchanged war stories about stair cases in Amsterdam, and he gave us the most elaborate explanation of towel exchange services I have ever heard. After carrying tons and tons of bags up into our apartment, it was time for a little Siesta – it’s best to immerse yourself in local culture as quickly as possible. 😉
Later that afternoon we strolled through the narrow streets around Las Ramblas, and found a cute little tapas place called “Momo”. Mmmm … the Tortilla was outstanding! Next on the list was going down to Port Vell, where we are going to keep Bon Bini. It’s hard to believe that this area used to be a run down collection of abandoned factories and railway stations. The port was build as part of the program prior to the Olympics in 1992, and hosts some jaw dropping super yachts these days. One of these monsters is pictured below – superyacht Ulysses. Apparently this baby has been build as an expedition yacht for New Zealand gazillionaire Graeme Hart. It was built by the Norwegian shipbuilder Kleven, and finished in Bremerhaven. My plan is to send Camilla over in a Bikini and get us an invitation.;-)
After strolling around these boats bigger than the average house in Amsterdam we went to a final provisioning run on Las Ramblas. The only super market there is cramped full of tourists, and even buying just the basic stuff is an exercise in patience.
All in all it was a fantastic first day in Barcelona, and we are looking forward to our next adventures here!
