A few days in Amsterdam!

DAK

8 years ago

Amsterdam!

First of all – We loved our Viking Rhine River Cruise and have already planned other trips based on the stops we made. The Viking Cruise included one week of travel from Basel to Amsterdam. We were able to tour castles and villages along the Rhine with tour guides who reside in the areas they were discussing. Our tours usually included stories about their lives as well as the history of the area. It made touring so much more authentic.

Once the cruise was over, and since we were already in Amsterdam, we decided to extend our stay by four more days. Viking offers up some hotels to stay at and they offer additional support in the city if needed, but we went with Marriott hotels because the price was more affordable. I have mentioned this before on this blog, but the reason we stay at Marriott’s when we travel is because we belong to their rewards program. In addition to early check in and late checkout, we get free WiFi and best of all access to the concierge lounge. We love Marriott for this reason alone. When staying at the Marriott, Gold members can enjoy a breakfast Monday – Thursday and a light dinner Sunday – Thursday. Since we are not foodies, we love the option that Marriott offers. When we travel it’s more about the views and culture and less about expensive restaurants. We have never been disappointed by the food choices Marriott offers. In fact, side note here, when traveling to Hawaii a few years ago, Dave and I flew out on Thanksgiving and I was super sad to miss my favorite meal of the year- Turkey and stuffing. To our splendid surprise, in the concierge lounge that night was a full Thanksgiving spread – one that could rival any fine restaurant. I was so delighted to eat my traditional Thanksgiving meal! Anyway, spending four days in Amsterdam is expensive, but when you don’t have to pay for breakfast or dinner it’s much easier on the budget. Plus, there is more money in the budget for craft beer and museums and plays and concerts-you get the picture. The only meal we bought was lunch and then we usually opted for a baguette sandwich from a scrumptious bakery. The Marriott we stayed at was near the train station and if you are staying in Amsterdam we suggest you stay at this hotel. The train station is a 3 min. walk. Renaissance Amersterdam Hotel on Kattengat 1

Here is how we spent our days in Amsterdam.

July 1-Our first afternoon in Amsterdam. Viking provided a walking tour even though our cruise was over and they were preparing the boat for the new passengers who would go the opposite way back to Basel. Viking was so gracious they even suggested we come back for lunch before the walking tour. They didn’t have to do this but it was so nice that they did. The tour guide walked us through the city along the canals so we could get a good look around. He loved “his Amsterdam” and you could tell by the excited way he talked to us. He was thrilled for us to explore his city. We walked and walked and took in the beautiful views. We ended up at Dam Square where we saw the Nieuwe Kerk and the Royal Palace. It was a beautiful sunny day and I think all of Amsterdam was in the Square. We were amazed at the amount of bikes there were in Amsterdam. The guide told us that there are more bikes than residents in Amsterdam. Each year they dig out 20,000 bikes from the canals. There is a YouTube video on it here

We came across this place called The Jolly Joker and had to take a picture of it. Dave calls everyone a Joker and his nick name from his brothers is Jolly 🙂

Once we got settled into our hotel room, we walked through the streets along the canals. We felt more familiar now that we had a tour of the city from Viking. We located the Anne Frank house. We didn’t buy tickets ahead of time, we agreed it was not worth the wait in line. We both are familiar with the diary, as we have read it and I have taught it to hundreds of students. We just wanted to see the house. video from YouTube here At night we took a slow walk through the Red Light district. The locals don’t encourage or endorse prostitution but they realize it happens and according to our Viking guide when they legalized it in Amsterdam the sex slave trade diminished and the sex women (and men and in-between) became empowered to make their own money and decisions about their bodies. It does feel sleazy, but it is fascinating at the same time. As we wandered through the streets, we could smell pot from all corners as there are tons of coffee houses in the city proper.

Our bible for this trip. We love how Rick Steves organizes his books while giving great descriptions of sights to see. He also tells you if it’s a waste of time. 🙂

July 2- Today we rented bikes and rode to Volendam, an old fishing town known for its authentic Dutch character and traditional clothing. Open air fish markets are abundant and we enjoyed our lunch of fish tacos.

We took the ferry over to Marken for the afternoon and spent some time wandering the fishing village with the houses built on stilts. The bike ride from Marken back to Amsterdam was spectacular. We passed majestic windmills, farms with lots of cows and sheep and small villages. The bike lane was safe and on a protected dike so the few passing cars could not harm us. It was such a wonderful day that is has become one of my many take-away special memories of North Holland. The biking ( 40 miles), the views, the people, the fresh fish sandwich, the shopping, the bridges and windmills- just magical.

Back on our bikes heading back to Amsterdam I noticed a cooler filled with goodies for sale on the side of the road. The sale is based on an honor system where you leave money in the bucket and take whatever treat you want.

This display was in someones yard. Flowers and herbs placed as works of art.

That evening we took a canal ride (Lovers Canal) to enjoy the beautiful city of Amsterdam. The tour guide was enthusiastic and very informative.

July 3- We woke to a wonderful breakfast and headed out to the train station. Our Marriott was located near the train station and it took only minutes to get to the train. We were headed to Haarlem and wanted to get there early so we could enjoy the city.

Getting off the train one of the first stores we saw was a cheese store. That’s all cheese.

Walking around Haarlem.

We ended up renting bikes in Haarlem and biking to the beach for a swim in the North Sea. The path was paved, well marked and full of other bikers.

July 4-A day in Delft. OK, this is where I want to spend my last days on this earth. It is so quaint and exactly where I imagined Vermeer lived. We took the train to Delft.

Pinch me

Painter Frans Hals

Painter Dirck de Bray

There was a special exhibition at the museum on conserving paintings.

It was remarkable to see the difference once the painting was restored. They left the top right corner untouched so the viewer could see the difference. The color is more vibrant once restored.

Everything in Delft is of blue and white ceramic even a bathroom mirror.

Master craftsman working his magic on the blue/white ceramic Delft is famous for.

We needed a refreshment after all of the walking. 🙂

We found a cute bar that was serving Founder’s KBS! What? You can’t even get this Michigan beer in Michigan, let alone the United States, and we found it in Holland!

At the bar we met this gentleman, a local craft beer fan, but he told us about a restaurant that served the best burger in town and we followed him there. I am always up for an adventure, Dave was a little skeptical.

As I looked around I noticed this above the restaurant door, must have been fate (or Vermeer) that brought us there. The burger was good too!

This was our dessert- Apple Kuchen

Delft…Hands down one of the prettiest cities in the world. I was able to pick up some wonderful gifts of the famous blue and white ceramic, had an amazing lunch with one of the locals and saw the most beautiful art in the world!

July 5 Our last full day in Amsterdam and we decided to take in the entire city. We walked 36,000 steps according to our smart watches and our feet felt it. 🙂

In the morning we headed to the Rembrandt museum and toured his house.

Rembrandt’s sleeping quarters.

His hearth

His kitchen

His painting studio with a stretched canvas. I especially enjoyed learning about Rembrandt’s sketches.

I am looking on Amazon to order two coffee table books, one on Vermeer and his life and works and the other on Rembrandt.

The tulip store. They will ship or package your bulbs to take home. We walked to the Museumplein and the canal belt. There was a wonderful outdoor market where we took our time looking at the local goods. We found the nine streets of shopping near the canal belt and were amazed at the wonderful shops. We walked and walked and felt like we knew Amsterdam. We had a wonderful vacation! We loved the Viking cruise and really enjoyed our time in Amsterdam. After spending four days in the city and venturing out on the train to nearby cities like Delft, we feel like we were fully immersed in the culture and can now check it off our list.

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