The best and least expensive way from Schiphol airport to Central Amsterdam is to take the train from the airport and then change to a Metro or tram car at Amsterdam Centraal to get to your hotel. I was feeling exhausted from travel: it was about 9:30 am Boston time and I hadn’t really slept. There had been a long though needed walk from my arrival gate to the airport exit, and I was feeling expansive since I’d found an electronics shop in the airport which had a power cable for my laptop. I took a cab to my hotel – quieter and maybe a bit faster but much more expensive. It’s a common theme I expect: group transport is cheap, individual motor transport is more expensive. That is true in Boston comparing taxi or ride share transport to subway and bus transport, but the price differential is higher here (maybe to discourage individual transport). During the drive into town, I noticed several things … even in my mental fog:

• There are more interesting buildings here – more asymmetry, more shapes, more color.
• There are smooth quiet roads Boston could only wish for (though Amsterdam does not have New England type winters).
• It’s quieter here: trams make about as much noise as a Tesla, fewer honking car horns. It reminded me of the experience of leaving a crowded noisy restaurant and going out into a quiet evening.

Check in was quite nice with a sampling of local made chocolate brought to me as I waited in line – yes I admit it now. I’m not a Londoner, I don’t queue well but with chocolate… Once I checked in, my goal was to stay awake until about 9 pm local time. My hotel room had a lovely view and two surprises: a letter from Railbookers wishing me Bon Voyage and a wine tray. After I unpacked, I checked my itinerary. My timed entry ticket had me due at the Rijksmuseum at 9 am the next day; the GVB transit (Amsterdam metro, tram and bus) app on my phone let me know that I would have to leave the hotel by 8:15 am to get to the museum by 9 am. Hotel breakfast starts at 7 am so I would have to rise by 6:30 am to shower, dress and eat before I left the hotel. The wine tray was definitely not what I needed to stay awake – the chocolate helped but the wine did not really help me stay awake. I went for a walk around the hotel with very sore legs. I did manage stay awake until after 9; long enough to take the picture above from my room. I did set an alarm, but since I woke at 2, 3, 4 & 5 am it was not needed. Jet-lag!