We just got back from a 4.5 day trip to the Netherlands.  Alot has changed since the last time I visited in 2003.  If you’re planning a trip, here are a few things I picked up:

•  The weather was beautiful and it was Easter weekend, so the lines at all the museums were completely out of control!  There was a 2 hour wait for the Anne Frank House, 1 hour for the Van Gogh and even a line at the Heineken Experience.  We didn’t go in, but the Rijks Museum had a huge line as well.  My advice: Skip the lines and buy online.  All the places do online sales of tickets – after you buy online you can just walk straight in.  The lines are for ticket PURCHASES, or so it seems.  FYI, the Anne Frank House was consistently the worst as far as lines.  We were able to be the third party in line by showing up at 8:20am (they open at 9:00am).  This was because the online was sold out so far in advance that we were forced to find another strategy to get in.  By the way, don’t buy the Holland Pass – this still requires you to go to the ticket booth (which means waiting in line again).
• The only way to get to/from the airport is the Train.  Don’t bother with a cab.  Its way too pricey and the trains go every 15 minutes.
• The best time to visit the Keukenhof is late April.  Even in mid-April there were tons of displays not ready yet.
• I’ve perfected my cross-atlantic time-shift strategy (it only took 30 trips!) – just stay up your first day until the sun goes down and then wake up early the next day.  Sounds easier than it really is, but resist the temptation to nap and you’ll be fine every time.
• For those of you interested in the world-famous Schiphol plane spotting, it seemed to me that they have shut down a lot of the parking areas around the airport…?  But, we still found a great area to sit and watch some planes operate.
• Next time we travel internationally I’m going to look into those companies that let you order foriegn currency and have it shipped to your house.  The rates for ATM withdrawls from BOA are insane and I’m unsure the rate is much better either.

So, all in all another successful trip!  Photos coming soon from both Maine and the Netherlands!