....With Amsterdam. This might be my new favorite city....ok really I still love London but this place is a close second. Possibly even a tie. From the gorgeous canals with stone bridges crossing them. Too all the crooked buildings...yes they really are crooked. It looks a bit like an illusion at first but it's for real. All the people here are so nice and are happy to help you out. We have had people come up to us a couple of times when we looked a bit lost and offered to help and pointed us in the right direction. This lovely little town is helping to restore my faith is the goodness of mankind.
The first night here we wondered down the street to find food and stumbled upon a gem of a restaurant. The food was really great and
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| Canals and Bikes! |
the interior made you feel like you were eating dinner at Anthropolgy. We called the night over early so that we could get up and get an early start on our adventure in this city. We definitely hit the ground running at 8:00 am and headed to the Anne Frank house. Most everyone knows this story but nothing can prepare you for how you will feel being in the spot where it all took place. I was completely overcome with emotion walking through and living the story that I studied in school. Standing inches from the famous diary and then seeing the dates and images of all the people whose lives were hidden in this attic then still ended up being lost to the awful camps was overwhelming. I teared up many times just thinking about the life they had to lead and how they tried to make it normal...decorating the walls with cut outs from magazines and the hash marks near the door way showing how the kids were growing through the years. And we complain we have it rough sometimes.....puts life in perspective to be exposed to the things that have happened in our past not just reading about them. After the Anne Frank
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| Flower Market |
House we just ended up walking and taking in the town. During our walk we went to 2 different street markets. One was filled with so many lovely fabrics and they were so cheap....I could have just bought everything however I don't think good ole Back up betty (my suitcase) could have handled all I wanted to get. I did however finally replace my purse that was stolen in Nice. I got a really great hand made one....best part about it is it's made from old Army tents. We also found a beautiful flower market. One of the stalls had the entire roof covered with hanging flowers. Such a beautiful sight. The last
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| I Heart Cheese.... |
great find was a cheese museum. Kelsey and I both have a genuine love of cheese. It might be bordering on an obsession over here. This "cheese museum" (which was really just a cleverly named shop) had just about any kind of gouda (a favorite of ours) you could think of. Best part about the museum....taste testing!!! It was heavenly. The very old gouda is the best if you were wondering. By the time we got home that evening we had been walking for 10 hours. Needless to say after dinner we were pretty spent so we just relaxed, read and hung out. Pretty much every part of my body was angry with me so just sitting and doing nothing was much needed.
The next morning we let our selves have a bit of a lie in before we headed to the Rykes museum to check out all the art work. The museum is under construction so we didn't get to see everything but what we did see was lovely. There is just something about being that close to original art work that is quite moving. It is also nice when you can see quite a few different pieces from the same artist over a period of time. It helps to give you a better feel of their over all story they were telling with their art and career. I was really moved by the Rembrandt pieces we were exposed to in this museum.
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| ....and beer |
After we had our culture experience for the morning we went and checked out the local brewery...Heineken. You learned all about how the family bought the brewery with out knowing anything about how to brew but he decided he was going to make it a happen and did. It is still run by a family member which I really like. There is always more of an investment and want to make something exceptional when your name is attached to it. Apparently they have some secret yeast recipe that no one else has and that's what make Heineken what it is. I will be honest...not my favorite beer but it was a fun tour. They have all these little "experiences" you go on along the way. At one point you actually are on a motion platform that is taking you through the process of being brewed. It was fun and clever. One of the best parts about the tour, besides drinking beer, was all the copper kettles they use. They had the little windows opened up,where you would normally pour in which ever item should go in. When you looked in the window a little movie explaining how
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| I'm on a boat... |
the process worked was showing. It was quite clever. Ok so let me back up just a bit....when we walked in we were given bracelets with little buttons to redeem at the end for our beers and then also there was a 3rd button that would get us either a "free gift"....you know those always end up cheesy...or we could take a canal boat ride. Score! Kels and I had wanted to take one and this would be perfect... one it's free and....2 theres beer involved! The boat ride was nice. It was cool to see the town from the water. Our tour guide gave us all sorts of little facts about the town and the canals. For instance the canal house boats are insanely expensive. One that probably isn't even the size of most peoples houses just sold for 800,000 euros. Crazy right! I couldn't believe it. Along the boat ride we also passed one of the most posh hotels and the famous bridge that raises up and down. All in all it was a lovely day...and if you are concerned for my safety since there is a guy creepy staring at me in the boat photo no need....I had my bodyguard take care of him. Just kidding....didn't even notice the guy till we were looking at the photos...pretty funny though. Always someone creepin'
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| One day this will be my house. |
The next day was quite similar in the schedule...Culture in the morning and alcohol in the afternoon.
The morning was spent at the Van Gogh museum. Walking into it we passed a lovely canal lined with gorgeous houses. They all backed directly up to the water and had boats and back terraces. Some even had roof top terraces. If only I was rich.....
Walking through the Van Gogh museum was a great learning experience for me. We all think we know about all these artist from the bits and pieces we pick up along the way in life but being there made me realize there was so much I really didn't know. The biggest shock was the amount of time that he was an artist was so short and he produced so much in that short amount of time. His paintings are ones that you just have to see in real life to appreciate them. The depth and texture he creates with the paint is amazing. I highly recommend if you ever get a chance anywhere to see his work do it!
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| Smelling... |
Ok, culture taken in....on to the House of Bols. Kels had found this little tour of what we thought was where a brand of gin was made. Turns out it was actually where genever was made which is what the recipe for gin came from. It was a great little tour. I learned a lot I didn't know. They had you go through and smell all the different types for liqueurs to figure out what they were. It was interesting seeing how this brand has maintained it's name and integrity over all the years. It has been around since the 1500's. That's a long time to keep up brand integrity.
Once we got to the end of the tour you got to choose your own cocktail and try 2 different flavored liqueurs. They were very yummy.
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| ...and sipping |
The bartender made us some tasty drinks that definitely involved being lit on fire. Quite a show. My drink was a bit full in the beginning so he made me take a drink with out touching the glass before I picked it up so that I wouldn't lose any of it. I am very thankful since it was such a good drink. It would have been tragic for one little bit to have been wasted.
The experience at the House of Bols was well worth it and I am glad my travel buddy found it.
We are now moving into our last days here. I can't believe we only have one day left. It has gone by too fast. If this is any indication of how the next month will go I am going to blink and it will be over.
I am going to saver the last moment here and will update you all again soon!
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| With Love from Amsterdam! |
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