Amsterdam Day 27: SAIL Amsterdam

Jaimee and I were sitting having a conversation with another couple that moved from the states to Amsterdam the same week we did. We were discussing tourism things that are around that would be fun to do that weekend. He happened to mention that SAIL Amsterdam was happening this week. It bills itself as the largest free event in the Netherlands. As far as I can tell, a bunch of big ships come from all over the world and showcase themselves in Amsterdam for the week. So I thought it would be fun to drag a 2 year old, a 5 year old, a 6 year old, a 9 year old, a a whiny teenager into town to see the big boats. 

We started out trek on the train into central station. Our first clue that this may be a bad idea was when we boarded the train. We are a little outside the city so normally there are plenty of places to sit. Not this time though. It was completely crazy. No problem, Charlie had a stroller and the other kids can stand. 5 minutes later all of them, except Jac, were arguing with each other and whining about standing. 5 minutes later they were   Complaining about how many stops were left. Then they started hitting each other and bumping in to other passenger. Basically doing any annoying thing that they can think of. 

We arrive at Central Station and start the walk to the docks to see the big boats. It is crowded already. What I thought was a quick 6 minute walk turned into a 25 minute walk with people everywhere. And then we stopped for fries, and then ice cream, and then hot dogs. But we finally made it to the ships. The ships were all quite impressive and they were everywhere. There were traffic jams with boats in all the canals. There were horns from ships sounding off everywhere, scaring Beverly every time. She is scared easily though.  It basically has the feel of a giant air show, just with giant sail boats instead of cool prop planes and military aircraft. 

We were allowed to board the ships but the lines were horrible. We finally settled on the Esmeralda from Chile. The kids did love exploring the ship, looking at crew quarters, steering the ship, and turning things. They were able to enjoy these 10 minutes of this journey that felt like 15 hours. 

And then we decided to leave. But by that time Cameron really had to pee. But in Amsterdam, there are no free toilets. We developed a strategy. Apparently no one cares when the little kids just wander into the bathrooms. So I sent Cameron in and watched from the door. 50 cents saved there. That's like 56 cents when compared to the America dollar. 

We were then headed to the "beach" for a church gathering. The only tram line to the beach was shutdown because of electricity failure though so they directed us to a bus stop. 20 minutes later still no bus. By this time we were just frustrated and ready to go. So we called 2 ubers and we were off to the "beach".  

The "beach" was not exactly what we are used to when visiting Destin, Florida. There was sand. There were swimsuits. And there were volleyball nets. It was not what I would call a beautiful beach, but the kids absolutely loved it. We had some great conversation. We chased Charlie around when he took his clothes off again. I feel like we are doing that often these days. And the kids got to swim and build sand castles. It was a pretty good time to end what started out as a pretty awful day.