6/6 – Prequel of Day 1
Tonight we left for our European adventure! Travis and I both were able to work a full day before I picked him up and we headed to the airport. My parents came with so they could take my car back home. We got to the airport at about 6, said our see you laters, and made our way inside, through security.
Since it was a Tuesday night the airport wasn’t too busy and security was a breeze. Once through, we made our way to our gate (just to make sure it existed) and decided to grab a snack since we still had some time before we took off. Travis got a sandwich and I got a mini to-go charcuterie board. We sat down at our gate to eat and people watch.
After some time at the gate, we decided it would be a good idea to get up and moving before our flight. We didn’t have a set destination and just decided to wander through the other gates.
It is amazing how the atmosphere, people, sounds, smells, can all vary from gate to gate. Our gate had a vibrant and somewhat chaotic energy while some other gates were calm, clean and welcoming. We migrated towards the gates that were more calm and found some chairs to continue people watching from.
After a while of relaxing we decided to start the trek back to our gate. We followed the same path back, made a pitstop at the convenience store, and found our gate again. The gate was even more chaotic than before, so we stood off to the side as people pushed by, hoping to be the first ones in the plane.
When it was time to board we waited for our section to be called, filed in and found our seats. We were lucky to have a side row so it was just Travis and I sitting together. We settled in for the long flight.
Time flew by (haha get it plane, flew). We both watched a few movies, had a surprisingly good meal and in no time we were landing in Amsterdam.
6/7 – Real Day 1
We landed in Amsterdam!
With the time change we landed at noon here. The flight was uneventful which is always a plus. Once we landed we gather our belonging, made our way off the plane and went to find the train to Amsterdam Central.
We found the train, waiting for a few minuets and we’re off.
When we got to the station we made our way out and got the first real view of Amsterdam. We were met with so many people and languages, the long canals, boats, and street vendors. While this is Travis’ first time here, I am incredibly happy to be back for a third time. Amsterdam is truly one of my favorite cities and I cannot wait to explore even more this time around.
We still had some time before we could check into our AirBnb so we wandered for a while and decided to find some food so we could sit for a while and not have to carry our luggage through the cobblestone streets, for fear of losing a wheel. We found a delicious burger place where we relaxed for a while and continued people watching.
Right across the alley from the the burger place was a giant candy store. After we were stuffed we decided it was safe to check it out since we had a but more self control than before. The store was massive and had just about every kind of sweet treat imaginable! The sweet smell was overwhelmingly delicious and even though I was stuffed, there was still a strong desire to buy at least one of everything.
With our willpower slowly diminishing we left the candy store empty handed…but I have a feeling we will make our way back there before our time here is done.
We still had a bit of time to fill before we could check in so we slowly meandered through the alleyways checking out the different, stores, restaurants, coffee shops, and everything else tucked away. The buildings are immaculate. The architecture is beautiful and incredibly unique. We are very blessed to have the opportunity to travel over here and explore the history of these cities.
At 3 PM we were able to check into our AirBnb. We followed the directions, got the keys and opened the doorway to the stairs leading to our room.
When I say the stairs were steep…no picture could begin to do a justice to how incredible steep they actually were. I have yet to make it up then without tripping at least twice. Other than that our room is perfect! When I booked it I didn’t realize that it was a “private room” and not a “whole apartment” so I was a bit nervous that we were going to have a random room in someone house (yes, that has happened before). We are close to everything, but on a quiet side street so we don’t hear the ruckus from the bars all night.
Once we were all checked in we didn’t have too much time before our first activity, The Anne Frank House. We ended up slowly wandering towards the house and getting a layout of the neighborhood we were staying in. After a bit we ended up at The Anne Frank House and began our tour. It was incredible to learn about her life and get to walk through the rooms where so many were hidden.
When the tour was over we had another hour to explore before our final activity of the evening. We purposefully booked our first day full to help with jet lag. As we wandered, I let Travis lead the way so I could experience the city through his eyes. He would walk and I followed. Looking at areas I’ve seen and those that are new. I really love this city and already cannot wait to come back again to visit and explore even more.
At 5:45, we arrived at the Amsterdam Ice Bar! We checked in and stopped at the front bar to have a drink before our group was called in. Travis had an Artic Ice Bar and I had a Mojito. Shortly after 6 we all filed in to get jackets and gloves and made our way into the -10 Degrees Celsius bar.
The whole place was made of ice! There were ice sculptures, painting in the wall, ice benches and even the cups were made of ice. I whole experience was cool (not sorry for the bad dad joke). One group asked us to take their photo and then thanked me for sacrificing my hand in the cold. I simple laughed and said “this how our temperatures are at home most of the year, so I am used to it.”
When our time in the bar was over we made our way back out into the sunny, warm, spring weather. The night was lovely. There was a warm breeze blowing down the alleyways. People were milling about and sitting along the canals enjoying the night. Since it was dinner time we decided to stop at Spar (a grocery store) to get some grab and go salads and make our way back to the AirBnB for a bit. We forgot fork so we had to eat our salads with tea spoons from the room which was no easy task! Nevertheless, we were able to enjoy our delicious salads and recharge for a bit before heading back out….
But…the “heading back out” did not come to fruition. We were both beat from the over night flight, struggling to even get ready for bed and decided 8 PM was an acceptable time to call it a night.
7/8 – Day Two
Good morning day two!
After a warm night of sleep we were both ready to get out of the room and into the cool, crisp morning. The streets were buzzing with people in their way to work. We passed many delivery vehicles, street cleaners and construction workers eager to start their day.
Our original plan for breakfast was to just grab some pastries, but we quickly discovered that pancakes were very popular! There were many restaurants open, so we chose one and had some of the best Dutch pancakes. I had mine with Nutella and Strawberries and Travis had Apple and Bacon. They were wonderful and very filling!
Once a good food coma was beginning we waddled our full bellies out of the restaurants. As much as we wanted to just sit or take a nap we didn’t want to waist the day, so we set off on a slow meander through the city. We wound through the main streets and eventually ended up in a gorgeous residential neighborhood that was serene. We found a place by the canal, sat and enjoyed the peaceful calm, away from the city center.
After a while we decided to start walking back towards our AirBnB so we could get ready for boat tour at 1 PM. Since we hadn’t had lunch we decided to try one of the many hotdog food trucks the city had to offer. We each got a hotdog and Fanta (lemon and exotic) and sat in Dam Square listening to a clarinet player and the hum of people.
We listened and people watched for a while before making our way to the AirBnB. As we reached one of the main shopping streets, I wanted to go to into Primark (a trendy, inexpensive clothing store) so we made a pit stop. Travis limited me to 4 items and reminded me we were just starting our trip. This was a good reminder since there was so much I wanted to buy. I got my four things, we dropped them in our room and walked down to the docks to meet our boat.
We signed up for a wine and cheese boat tour through the canals. We got to try two different kinds of Gouda cheese made it Gouda, Netherlands and they were paired with a Dutch Mustard for dipping. I was in heaven! Plus, wine on top of everything made the whole experience serene. I would highly recommend the tour!
Some fun facts we learned:
• The houses are so narrow and have such steep stairs that most houses have a pulley system on the outside to bring in large items. Also, because of this the houses are all built leaning forward so when you are pulling everything in through the windows it doesn’t hit and damage the house.
• The houses are also leaning side to side because all of Amsterdam is build on a swamp and so to be able to create the city they had to built it all on wooden posts which are all rotting now causing the houses to lean side to side.
• 20,000 bikes were pulled out of the canals last year.
• The Waldorf Astoria hotel is the most expensive hotel in Amsterdam. Rooms range from $750 – $25,000/night and have hosted many famous people. While we were in Amsterdam Harry Styles stayed for a night in the hotel.
• To get the rights to have a houseboat on the canal is about €300,000 and then to actually buy a houseboat it is anywhere between €1M – €1.5M.
• The canals are 12 feet deep and took 30 years to make one.
After an hour of history, snacks, and wine we were back from the tour and ready for more exploring. We ended up making our way towards an area we had yet to explore. There were many restaurants and shops. People exploring. Drinking. Eating dinner. The aroma of the restaurants were delicious and making us hungry. Many places were filled or just had indoor seating. Since it was such a beautiful night we wanted to try and fine a place outside. We found a restaurant on the river with room and decided to try it…
Little did we know, the reason it had room was one, because it was a huge place, but two it was incredibly fancy and expense. I had to google most everything on the menu just to know what it was. And yes, the menu was in English! I decided on Buratta and Travis got a Pork Tenderloin Poke Bowl (the two items we had some idea what they were). The food was okay, but we will remember to do a bit more research next time! However, it was all worth it because we met an amazing couple from Canada and spent a few hours chatting with them! Plus, we got the most delicious dessert I have ever had. It was called Triple Chocolate. It had a white chocolate crème brûlée, a chocolate molten cake and chocolate ice cream.
With our bellies full once again, we decided to do a bit of souvenirs shopping before going to check out the red light district.
In Travis’ words, “it’s like nothing I have ever seen before. The United States would not approve.”
And that is all I will say on the Red Light District. If you want more info; Google.
Once we had seen all we wanted it was close to midnight. We ordered some frites with fritessause (fries was a Dutch sauce) and sat in Dam Square and watched the night life. For being midnight the night was still alive and bursting with energy.
We ate our frites, shared a black current Fanta and after a while decided to call it a night.
7/9 Day 3
Last day in Amsterdam.
Today we slept in a bit since we were up late the night before. Once we were up and moving we packed everything up and made our way down the insanity steep steps to take one last walk through the alleys of Amsterdam.
After walking for a while we decided to stop at the coffee shop right by our AirBnB for a quick snack. We each got a muffin (apple cinnamon and raspberry cream cheese) and I got a Latte. Our alley was quiet this morning. We listened as a few people spoke in different languages, heard the church bells chime and watch someone, very impressively, back up in a narrow space without hitting anything. It was the perfect was to spend our last morning in Amsterdam.
At 10:30 AM we made our way up to our room one last time. We finished packing and lugged our bags down the stairs and decided to enjoy the sun and hang out by the canal. We baked in the sun and people watched for about an hour before deciding to get some lunch before our train to Paris. We stopped at a burger place (burgers are extremely popular in Amsterdam) and had some lunch. It was nice to be able to kill some time and not have to carry our bags everywhere with us.
Closer to 1:30 we walked over to the train station to find our platform and make our way to Paris!
ROVE 