828.863.4235
MindStretch Travel Adventures - Summer Travel Camp for Boys
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Director/Staff
    • FAQ
    • How a Day Unfolds
    • What They're Saying
    • MTA Newsletters
    • Nature Deficit
  • We're Unique!
  • Colorado Rockies 2023
    • More to Know
    • Application Colorado Rockies >
      • 2023 Extra Notes
  • Ramblings
  • Photos
  • Contact Me
    • Suggest a Friend

Fun times and a few more hitches...

7/12/2013

0 Comments

 
PictureWaiting in line for the Anne Frank Huis.
It was another long day…but a nice day to spend it. We were able to do a little splitting up with one group and leader going one direction and another leader and boys going in another…meeting up in the end. In the morning a small group (say two boys and one leader) went to the world-famous Rijks Museum which houses original Dutch art work from the 1100s to present day. Those culturally-minded guys met up with the other group at a rather large flea market not too far away which they enjoyed. Small groups divided up for our standard street-food lunch.

After a short rest period (mostly for the leaders) at the hotel we headed out for our evening program which included stops to take some photos of the canals, canals with houseboats, canals bridges with street musicians, all the while trying to avoid being run over by bicycles…thousands of them. We had dinner at the train station while Mark started the process of picking up the replacement Eurail passes. Mark stayed at the station while the boys took their 30-minute stroll through one of Amsterdam’s most famous attractions, the “Red Light District.” I don’t think anyone was particularly impressed and we were early enough that the streets were relatively tame. The final stop was at the Anne Frank House for a self-guiding tour of the rooms in the attic hiding place of Anne Frank and her family and a family of friends.

PictureThis was an Amsterdam Pancake I ate. Yum!
Post Script to the Lost Items Saga

We picked up the replacement passports in the afternoon. That was easy. The evening chore of buying new eurail passes proved to be quite the challenge. After waiting in the queue for about 45 minutes my turn came to purchase the passes. All went well until the moment it was time to pay and then started a very memorable period of sheer panic. I handed the agent my usual trip credit card and she said, “Sorry, but we can’t take that card. It has to have a microchip on the front.” There was a sign clearly stating that, but I just assumed the hologram you see on all the US cards was the microchip. So, I went through the other four cards I was carrying and of course none had the microchip. She said I would have to go find the cash somehow, somewhere and come back. They closed at 9. At this stage I was only in a mild panic figuring I could handle this…after all my cards had plenty of credit limit on them. I knew I couldn’t get that kind of money from the ATM machines (looking for 3186 euros). I thought, okay…no problem I’ll just go to the Western Union office which dispenses all kinds of currencies and loans, etc. and see what they could do. They said, no problem…they could get me money from each of my cards. I pulled out that wad of cards and he said, “Sorry sir, but without the microchip I can only give you 500 euros on each card.” That sounded closer to being doable so I handed him my cards and then he asked for my passport. “Sorry sir, but this isn’t you!”

“What do you mean it’s not me, yes it is,” was my reply. He said, “Well sir, your passport says you’re David Mark Levin but all of these cards say you’re Mark Levin so I can only give you 500 euros for the card with David Mark Levin and nothing for the other cards.” I tried to explain that in the good old USA we usually just go by two of our names and use the other one for formal purposes only. He wasn’t humored and said, “Sorry….he couldn’t help me – perhaps I had a relative or something in Amsterdam or that I could wait until Monday to go to the bank.” I asked if he would like to adopt me on the spot, but he was not in a joke-making mood by this time and the line behind me was getting impatient.” My panic had moved up to a more appropriate severe level by now and a usually calm and collected trip director was starting to think Donner Party! (You’ll have to look that up.)

This story is getting long, but I whipped out my trusty International Phone (which I’ve never carried before) and started calling the two banks back home I was using for this trip. And within a few minutes I had upped the withdrawal limits on my two main debit cards. It would take a few minutes for everything to be reset and by this time the Eurail office would be closed and I needed to meet the group at the Anne Frank House. I wasn’t about to go to the ATMs and see if would dispense that kind of money without back-up behind me and then walk home with a pocket full of bills after people had witnessed me hitting what would look like a Las Vegas jackpot.

I walked the twenty minutes or so to the group, many of whom were still inside the house, and started to retell my story. I will say it got better and better with each version. And then, before retiring for the evening…we took the tram back to the station and put in the card for the first withdrawal. I tried 2000 euros first and the transaction was declined. A minor panic started to return, as I figured one of two things: either the resetting of limits hadn’t worked by my bank or the ATM machine had limits. I’m happy to report it was the latter and after three consecutive withdrawals of 1000 euros each (all in twenty euro bills) and with another small transaction…I had more than a pocketful of euros and more than enough to pay for the tickets though that would have to wait until the next day. But, I was feeling much better about all of this working. I still didn’t have the passes in hand but was tasting success.


0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Mark Levin

    I never imagined that when I started taking kids on travel trips in 1978 that I would still be taking trips today! It has been a great ride and I'm looking forward to more.

    Over the years I've had the fortune to travel across the US several times, visit Canada several times, experienced Alaska, the Bahamas, Mexico, and Europe several times. 

    Archives

    March 2021
    November 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011

    Categories

    All
    Alaska
    Biking
    Buffalo Bill
    Camper Achievements
    Canada
    Cass Scenic Railroad
    Colorado
    Colorado Rockies
    Colorado Wolf And Education Center
    Craig Jolly
    Dubois
    Electronics At Camp
    Eurail
    Europe
    Flying W Ranch
    Geocaching
    Grand Tetons
    Great Smoky Mountains National Park
    Greenbrier River Trail
    Hiking
    Hugh Neff
    International Campers
    Montana
    National Parks
    New England
    New Mexico
    North Carolina
    Rocky Mountain National Park
    Roswell
    Royal Gorge
    Second Generation Campers
    Storytellers
    Street Musicians
    Virginia
    West Virginia
    Whitehorse
    Wyoming
    Yellowstone

(c) 2023 MindStretch Travel Adventures