We’re back! We had a fabulous time visiting friends in Europe and I’ve got lots of photos to share. I've got lots of blogs and emails to catch up with, so I'm going to break the trip down into smaller posts that feature each city that we visited.
We flew into Amsterdam last Saturday and spent two days exploring the city. We saw the big sites (the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House), rented bikes for an afternoon, took a canal boat tour of the city and pinched ourselves because we still couldn’t believe that we had finally made it to Europe.
The museums were fabulous and the Rijksmuseum ended up being our favorite museum of the trip. The audio guide was excellent, even though we were fighting back tiredness as we listened to the soothing voice of the narrator. It was so surreal to go through the Anne Frank House. I loved reading her diary when I was younger and it was so moving to see the place where she spent all of her time.
Anne Frank House
I went to a Dutch college, so it was a lot of fun to be in Amsterdam and be familiar with lots of Dutch vocabulary and last names that I was first introduced to in school. Plus, the Dutch are some of the tallest people in the world, so I didn't have to duck to take a shower at the hotel (can't say the same about our trip to Japan).
We rented bikes on Sunday morning and rode in the direction of the Van Gogh museum. Jon and I ended up getting separated two different sides of the Amsterdam Marathon route (crazy and frustrating, yes!). Fortunately we were able to find a spot up the street with less traffic and police officers and sneak across to the other side to meet up with each other again.
We stayed at a cute little hotel on the Herengracht Canal that we’d definitely recommend, chic&basic Amsterdam. It’s a Spanish chain hotel that was recommended in the Rick Steves Best of Europe guide (our most used book of the week). The staff at the hotel was so friendly and helpful and welcoming and we had a great canal view from our room.
During our first day in Amsterdam we starting looking for a place to eat lunch a little too late and we were both a bit cranky and really hungry. After we almost settled on lunch at an average café, we turned around and saw "Maoz Vegetarian" calling our name. This is a chain falafel place that has a few locations in the US and had a great selection of Middle eastern salads and toppings to add to the falafel sandwich. I wish they would open up a place in Detroit, although we are very spoiled with Middle eastern food here.
Many thanks to Rick Steves for also recommending one of our favorite food stops of the trip, the café at La Place (trip advisor review here). It was basically a clean, fresh gourmet food court with tons of options...fresh fruit, stir fry, breads and pastries, salads and side dishes. Jon and I both had an Asian stir fry with tons of random vegetables. Vegetables were rare to come by in the bread and carb filled culinary world of Europe, so we stocked up here!
Here's the rest of my Amsterdam pictures: Amsterdam flickr set.
And here's a design*sponge Amsterdam city guide. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to visit some of the places that we had wanted to from this list (the common theme throughout most of our trip!).
welcome back!!! it a great city?
Posted by: montague | 28 October 2009 at 01:04 PM
Welcome back! I love your pictures and look forward to hearing more of your trip!
Posted by: Amy - parkcitygirl | 28 October 2009 at 02:02 PM
How fun - that hotel looks so cute and it sounds like a wonderful trip! Can't wait to hear more...
Posted by: Amber | 28 October 2009 at 02:06 PM
Welcome home! Looks like you had a great time... the pictures are gorgeous! Amsterdam's definitely on our to-visit list :)
Posted by: Audrie | 28 October 2009 at 02:13 PM
Welcome back! I am so happy to hear that your trip was so much fun. Your first post is great and I am looking forward to reading more. No baby yet.
Posted by: Melissa | 28 October 2009 at 02:25 PM
Hey, glad to see you back in blogging action! I loved Amsterdam when I was there a few years ago, but I'm really looking forward to your post about Berlin, especially since you seem to like it a lot. It's my favourite city, probably because I was born there :) No bias, eh?
Posted by: Christine | 28 October 2009 at 05:16 PM
What an awesome experience!! Looking forward to more stories and photos of your trip. Amsterdam looked amazing, how fun to ride bikes everywhere. When my sister was at school in Oxford England, I had the opportunity to visit. Our main transportation was by foot or bike, I too wish I could trade in my car and just use my bike for everything. Somehow I don't see that working too well for me, with a little one.
Posted by: Stephanie | 28 October 2009 at 07:40 PM
oooh what lovely sunny pictures! We were poured upon several times while in Amsterdam - looks like you had great weather. Looking forward to seeing more pictures and stories1
Posted by: Clever Karen | 28 October 2009 at 08:00 PM
Spectacular! I've only been to the airport :(
One day we'll get there!
Posted by: Cascade Lily | 28 October 2009 at 08:31 PM
That looks spectacular! I'm so glad you took so many pictures. Yeah, it'd be a little difficult riding your bike around Detroit, lol....Amsterdam looks wonderful!
Posted by: Allie | 28 October 2009 at 10:24 PM
welcome back! looooove all the pictures, thank you so much for sharing! amsterdam looks spectacular!
that reflection shot is amazingly cool - love it!
and all those bikes.... wonderful!
i've already snooped through all your flickr pictures (i just couldn't help myself), but i can't wait to hear about everything first hand!
Posted by: melissa | 28 October 2009 at 11:48 PM
Welcome home! What an amazing trip! So lucky! Thank you sharing the wonderful photos.
Posted by: Oiyi | 29 October 2009 at 07:48 AM
Good to hear that you had a great trip. Love the pictures. It makes me want to go back!
Posted by: MichelleB | 29 October 2009 at 09:59 AM
great pictures!!!! Amsterdam looks so fantastic!!! thanks for sharing!
Posted by: RosaMaría | 29 October 2009 at 11:07 AM
I am reading these vacation posts backwards! Fun to see pictures from Amsterdam and read about the city. How cool to see Anne Frank's house. I don't know how anyone would find their bike in that bike parking area. It looks like a challenge they had on Amazing Race. Maybe it is the same place!
Posted by: Trisha | 29 October 2009 at 03:43 PM
Amsterdam looks amazing! I seriously want to travel here. What great architecture.
Posted by: Cami | 30 October 2009 at 11:13 AM
Welcome welcome! What a great time! Loving the pictures.
Posted by: Rima Aranha | 01 November 2009 at 05:49 AM
Oh, SO lovely. Now I want to got to Amsterdam immediately! My family is from Holland, so it always has such a draw for me. So nice to see all your pics, and hear the stories. Also, you said you went to a Dutch college. I did too! Which one? Was it in the US or Canada?
Posted by: finger thumb | 01 November 2009 at 10:58 AM
so glad to hear you had such a wonderful time! i love that reflection picture- so beautiful! and the bikes! how fun!
Posted by: CMV | 01 November 2009 at 09:41 PM