Three days in Amsterdam came and went so quickly! We immediately loved the vibrancy of the city; it was sunny and bustling when we arrived, and it continued to be busy and lively with people, music, bikes, and (watch out for the--!) trams.
We walked around to get a feel for the place, figuring out the patterns of roads, canals, and bridges, and deciding that this crazy place must be lacking traffic laws. That afternoon (this was Friday), we visited the Anne Frank house/museum, learning what it was like for the Frank family in hiding. Then we wandered the nearby Jordaan neighborhood, finding a nice place for dinner. We walked back down to Leidseplein to see the shops, street performers, etc, and then went to Vondelpark for the night. In Vondelpark, we watched the summer performance of the night: Modern Dance. Then we got fairly lost in Vondelpark, which was a little scary, but then funny once we were safely outside.
Saturday, we lead ourselves on a walking tour (thank you, Rick Steves) of "the city", but doing it backwards so that we started near our home and ended at our next walking tour: the Red Light District. The city was nice to see, had some interesting sights and history. The Red Light District was unlike anything we've seen, and we just kept shaking our heads that this is really the norm here.
After working up an appetite with all our walking, we got a late lunch of Amsterdam's delicacy: Dutch pancakes! Then we spent the entire afternoon at the Heinekin Experience, learning all about the history, making, and culture of Heinekin Beer.
That night, we had dinner at a rijsttafel--an Indonesian rice table. A friend recommended doing this in Amsterdam, and they were right. It was about 20 small plates of deliciously spiced and sauced foods. We worked as a team to conquer the rice table and, in the end, succeed.
Today (Sunday), we went on a Canal Cruise of the city, seeing Amsterdam from a new perspective. It was a relaxing and informative end to our stay here in Amsterdam.
Now, to the airport...
We walked around to get a feel for the place, figuring out the patterns of roads, canals, and bridges, and deciding that this crazy place must be lacking traffic laws. That afternoon (this was Friday), we visited the Anne Frank house/museum, learning what it was like for the Frank family in hiding. Then we wandered the nearby Jordaan neighborhood, finding a nice place for dinner. We walked back down to Leidseplein to see the shops, street performers, etc, and then went to Vondelpark for the night. In Vondelpark, we watched the summer performance of the night: Modern Dance. Then we got fairly lost in Vondelpark, which was a little scary, but then funny once we were safely outside.
Saturday, we lead ourselves on a walking tour (thank you, Rick Steves) of "the city", but doing it backwards so that we started near our home and ended at our next walking tour: the Red Light District. The city was nice to see, had some interesting sights and history. The Red Light District was unlike anything we've seen, and we just kept shaking our heads that this is really the norm here.
After working up an appetite with all our walking, we got a late lunch of Amsterdam's delicacy: Dutch pancakes! Then we spent the entire afternoon at the Heinekin Experience, learning all about the history, making, and culture of Heinekin Beer.
That night, we had dinner at a rijsttafel--an Indonesian rice table. A friend recommended doing this in Amsterdam, and they were right. It was about 20 small plates of deliciously spiced and sauced foods. We worked as a team to conquer the rice table and, in the end, succeed.
Today (Sunday), we went on a Canal Cruise of the city, seeing Amsterdam from a new perspective. It was a relaxing and informative end to our stay here in Amsterdam.
Now, to the airport...
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