Hallo from Amsterdam, Netherlands!
We arrived in Amsterdam, Netherlands in the late afternoon via our most expensive travel day. Ever. The Amsterdam Centraal train station is beautiful. Huge, clean, bright and airy, and that is just from the inside. Wait until you see the outside of this place.
The train ride here was breathtaking. Rolling green hills scattered with windmills, vast fields of wild flowers, and of course, tulips. When you exit the train station, you are met with a beautiful and busy view of The River IJ. All along the station are waiting taxis. We decided to get a ride instead of walking. We were physically and emotionally exhausted from trying to escape London. 15 minutes later we arrived at The Eden Hotel. It sits right along the canal, and it is stunning. It’s very clean and modern inside, and claims that no room is the same. The interior of our room was dark and the bathroom nice and bright. It made me want to get ready for the day, then immediately go to bed. We decided to grab a quick bite in the hotel, and go to bed. We’ll start this adventure in the morning.
The Rijksmuseum
We woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning. We had planned this day before we left, and it was going to be a busy one. Today was the day for expanding our minds! Nothing like a day of museums to make you feel oh so cultured. We started the day off at the Rijksmuseum! It is located in museum square, which looks like a huge park scattered with brilliant buildings. Majority of these buildings being museums.. Obviously.
We found a cute coffee shop and stopped for some much needed breakfast. After that we made our way through the square towards the famous “i amsterdam” sign. These signs are always crowded, so prepare to get there first thing in the morning if you want a pic of yourself, by yourself, in front of this sign. Our tickets into the museum cost about $25 per person, and totally worth it. We stopped and stared at paintings by Rembrandt (The Night Watch to be exact, and I will forever get this question right on Jeopardy), Vermeer, and Van Gogh. We walked around for about 3 hours before we were off to our next stop.
The Van Gogh Museum
Next on the list was the Van Gogh museum, which whoa, is located in Museum Square. What are the chances? Here, we learned all the Van Gogh things. It is a smaller, but still beautiful, museum that starts from when he was born, up until his death, and the effects his art has had on the world long after his death. Leaving here, I felt like I knew him. Me and good ol’ Gogh? Oh we go way back.
The Moco Museum
The last stop on our Amsterdam museum extravaganza was the Bansky exhibit at the Moco Museum, a one minute walk from The Van Gogh museum. How convenient. We have been super into Banksy’s work since we first came across it, and we were so excited to finally see these pieces in real life. As much as I loved the Rijksmuseum, the Moco Museum stole the show. Bright, colorful, whimsical. It sucked me in. It was filled with bright colors, the interior resembling an old house. You went upstairs and downstairs, art being displayed over fireplaces. There were quirky and modern statues outside in the “backyard”. I like art that makes you think, makes you question the world. Gets you curious.
Eat Like a Local
Now I have said this before, and I will keep on saying it because it’s weirdly true, but looking at pretty things makes me hungry. It really doesn’t take much. We walked around exploring/hunting for food. The streets were filled with people. We turned a corner and came across an outdoor market. Canopies covered the stalls, and hanging from the canopies were flowers. Fresh and dried flowers covered every square inch of canopy. It was beautiful, and unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The smell of flowers and fried food filled the air. This was the perfect place to post up, get some food, and people watch. We enjoyed some “bitterballen” which is a fried little ball of meat and cheese deliciousness.
Wrong Impressions
I have always had this picture of Amsterdam, Netherlands in my head. I thought everyone would be walking around smoking weed, doing drugs, renting “ladies” for the night. We did not see any of this. We did find the “red light district” and saw some pretty interesting things, but it was not being flaunted all over the city like I had envisioned. Upon further investigation, we found that Amsterdam is actually one of the safest cities in the world. When we saw police officers walking about, they were being greeted by everyone. People were genuinely happy to see them, and thanking them for doing their jobs. They are very well respected, and held in high regards. What a different experience than the US!
The Amstel
Our last night here, we decided to grab some dinner. We ate at the Amstel restaurant, which sits along the Amstel river, and enjoyed a cold Amstel beer. Ahhh. Perfection. The food we ate was delicious, and we ended it with the most amazing dutch apple pie. Could life get any better?
I honestly did not think I would enjoy this city as much as I did. I was nervous about the nightlife, and the pricing of everything. Now having been to Amsterdam, Netherlands, I cannot wait to come back. Some places you go, you can actually picture yourself living there. This was one of those places. Even now after having a child, I still feel exactly the same way. There is still so much to see and do here, and I can’t wait to come back.
Follow along as we go on the road trip of a lifetime!..
