Day 2 - Amsterdam
After falling asleep at 5pm the first evening, we were wide awake at 6am and the sun was already high in the sky (it comes up around 4:30am). We set out for a walk in the neighborhood where we are staying and found a delicious French toast breakfast at a place called Teds. We also discovered that many places do not open for service until closer to 8am. We had a walking tour scheduled for 11am at Centraal Train Station, which was only a 30 minute walk, so we began to wander the city. We found beautiful bridges along the canal and churches hidden in the middle of neighborhoods. We also stumbled into Begijnhof, a quiet garden in the middle of some residences for women of the church. The flowers were incredible, as they are all over the city. I can't believe how the hollyhocks grow like weeds in sidewalk cracks.
We then made our way to Centraal Station and saw a parking garage of nothing but bikes. The bikes here are everywhere. You have to keep your eye out or you will be run over. We met our guide, Niko, and discovered we were the only ones on the tour! I want to take a minute to talk about AirBnB. I had always heard about it, but I had never used it. For this trip, we have three things booked through the site: our place to stay in Amsterdam, our flat in London, and this tour which was an AirBnB Experience. Our tour was advertised as a maximum of 10 people, 3 hour walking tour including tastings of local foods, and was very highly rated. Our cost was about $22 each, very inexpensive. Then to find out we were the only ones, it was perfect. Niko had lived in Amsterdam for 13 years and had 3 Master's degrees, so he was very knowledgeable about everything we were seeing. He took us to the library, the science museum, around several churches, and taught us much of the history of Amsterdam. I wanted to see the Red Light District because you always hear about it, but I wasn't quite sure how to tackle that with my 14 year old son. Niko was the perfect solution. He walked us through the area, explaining the history, how the women are respected, and the ways they are working to fight the problems of human trafficking associated with the sex industry. We then got to try some local cheeses (which I'm having shipped back home), Amsterdam chocolate, and even herring "Dutch style". If you are not familiar with the herring, let me share. It is a herring fish that has be gutted, had the head removed, salted, and then served up with onions and pickles. Notice I did not say cooked. If you are picturing bait, you have a good idea. You are to pick it up by the tail and bite it off in chunks. Austin was a brave champ at this. I tried, got it in my mouth, and then came close to embarrassing myself in the streets of Amsterdam. Also, you then smell like fish for the next 5 hours because it is all over your hands.
After we parted ways with Niko, we headed to the Anne Frank House. Tickets for this are very hard to get. They can only be purchased online and you must do so as soon as they go on sale, 2 months before your visit date. Even with that, it is very crowded. You cannot take photos inside, but it was incredibly well done. You first walk through the lower floors of the building she hid in and are told the story of life before the Nazi invasion and how things changed during the war. You continue to ascend the stairs up the home until to reach the room with the original bookcase that the secret entrance is hidden behind. You pass through the tiny entrance and see the dimly lit rooms the family and others occupied. You can still see the pencil marks on the wall marking the girls' growth and where they mapped the progression of the war. The rooms were all very dark with low ceilings and no windows. Finally you reach the top level with the one tiny window she would peek from to see outside. All while walking through the home, the bells of the nearby church she wrote about were sounding. It was really something.
After visiting the house, we crossed the bridge and met our guide for an evening canal boat ride. Throughout the city you see many large boats with glass roofs taking tourists through the canals. We found a small company called Those Dam Boat Guys, and we had a small electric boat which was silent and open to the air. We had a very peaceful 90 minute tour where they showed us all parts of Amsterdam and shared some pretty funny stories. If you visit Amsterdam, I highly recommend them.
After all this fun, we were really beat. We headed back to our BnB and had dinner at a cafe close by. When we left, it was almost dark and 11:30pm. I'm very interested to see how little darkness we have once we move further north. I did get a photo of the stairs going into our apartment. I don't know if it will really do the steepness justice. We have 3 flights of the steepest stairs ever. I will post more tomorrow if I don't fall down them.
We then made our way to Centraal Station and saw a parking garage of nothing but bikes. The bikes here are everywhere. You have to keep your eye out or you will be run over. We met our guide, Niko, and discovered we were the only ones on the tour! I want to take a minute to talk about AirBnB. I had always heard about it, but I had never used it. For this trip, we have three things booked through the site: our place to stay in Amsterdam, our flat in London, and this tour which was an AirBnB Experience. Our tour was advertised as a maximum of 10 people, 3 hour walking tour including tastings of local foods, and was very highly rated. Our cost was about $22 each, very inexpensive. Then to find out we were the only ones, it was perfect. Niko had lived in Amsterdam for 13 years and had 3 Master's degrees, so he was very knowledgeable about everything we were seeing. He took us to the library, the science museum, around several churches, and taught us much of the history of Amsterdam. I wanted to see the Red Light District because you always hear about it, but I wasn't quite sure how to tackle that with my 14 year old son. Niko was the perfect solution. He walked us through the area, explaining the history, how the women are respected, and the ways they are working to fight the problems of human trafficking associated with the sex industry. We then got to try some local cheeses (which I'm having shipped back home), Amsterdam chocolate, and even herring "Dutch style". If you are not familiar with the herring, let me share. It is a herring fish that has be gutted, had the head removed, salted, and then served up with onions and pickles. Notice I did not say cooked. If you are picturing bait, you have a good idea. You are to pick it up by the tail and bite it off in chunks. Austin was a brave champ at this. I tried, got it in my mouth, and then came close to embarrassing myself in the streets of Amsterdam. Also, you then smell like fish for the next 5 hours because it is all over your hands.
After we parted ways with Niko, we headed to the Anne Frank House. Tickets for this are very hard to get. They can only be purchased online and you must do so as soon as they go on sale, 2 months before your visit date. Even with that, it is very crowded. You cannot take photos inside, but it was incredibly well done. You first walk through the lower floors of the building she hid in and are told the story of life before the Nazi invasion and how things changed during the war. You continue to ascend the stairs up the home until to reach the room with the original bookcase that the secret entrance is hidden behind. You pass through the tiny entrance and see the dimly lit rooms the family and others occupied. You can still see the pencil marks on the wall marking the girls' growth and where they mapped the progression of the war. The rooms were all very dark with low ceilings and no windows. Finally you reach the top level with the one tiny window she would peek from to see outside. All while walking through the home, the bells of the nearby church she wrote about were sounding. It was really something.
After visiting the house, we crossed the bridge and met our guide for an evening canal boat ride. Throughout the city you see many large boats with glass roofs taking tourists through the canals. We found a small company called Those Dam Boat Guys, and we had a small electric boat which was silent and open to the air. We had a very peaceful 90 minute tour where they showed us all parts of Amsterdam and shared some pretty funny stories. If you visit Amsterdam, I highly recommend them.
After all this fun, we were really beat. We headed back to our BnB and had dinner at a cafe close by. When we left, it was almost dark and 11:30pm. I'm very interested to see how little darkness we have once we move further north. I did get a photo of the stairs going into our apartment. I don't know if it will really do the steepness justice. We have 3 flights of the steepest stairs ever. I will post more tomorrow if I don't fall down them.
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ReplyDeleteAmy, I’m so sorry to be messing with your fantastic blog! I’m not sure how to navigate this sight and am having to learn as I go (and make mistakes!).
DeleteThese were very much like the flights of stairs we had at our lodging in Haarlem, Netherlands. Photos just do NOT accurately capture the narrowness and steepness of the staircases!
ReplyDelete