Back in February, we had a great deal pop up for a flight to Amsterdam for $300! We ordered the tickets within twenty minutes. The next, we tried to recruit anyone and everyone and ended up convincing Megan and her husband (Josh) and Pita and her husband (Gabe). We were so stoked!
It ended up being the best quick little trip! We spent one full day together and then did our own thing the rest of the trip. Amsterdam is an absolute dream and I'm still trying to convince Dan that we should retire in a little town just outside of Amsterdam.
The first day was a little rough with the jet lag. We got in early around eleven their time (which felt like the middle of the night for us) and it was so stressful trying to find the trams to get to our airbnb. Dan and I were already at each other haha. We ended up waiting like an hour before we realized the tram we needed wasn't coming and had to take a different route. When we got to our airbnb, we were so exhausted, we passed out for like four hours. We stayed in a family's house, so it was a little loud with all of the kids, not to mention the busy street right outside our window! We must have been tired. When we finally woke up, we had missed most of the day, so we ended up finding a little Thai restaurant (The Golden Brown Bar), which was super yummy! Then we just spent the night walking around the city. So beautiful!! I loved just walking around the quiet streets with Daniel. We found the yummiest crepes churros that night too with Nutella. I'm dreaming of them now.
The next day we were so tired, but had to buckle down and enjoy the trip! Dan went and found yummy toasted sandwiches and brought them back to eat while we got ready, then we ventured out to the city. We had some time to walk around and look at some shops before we met up with our friends. It was nice to just walk the streets. We found this cute little gift shop with some very interesting mugs... I'll post a picture below. We got to to the heart of Amsterdam and see the palace and the birds flocked all over people.
We absolutely loved the Anne Frank House! It was so amazing to learn about all of the details of her story and get to actually walk through the house they stayed in for so long. We loved getting to do this with the friends! It was nice to see some familiar faces in a big new city. After that, we did the canal tour. It was so cool to see the city from a different perspective. We got to cozy up with blankets and just relax and enjoy the view for a while! Dan convinced everyone to go to De Japanner that night for dinner, which he was pumped out of his mind about. It was basically all you can eat Japanese food. It was good, but wouldn't have been my pick. Dan and Gabe sure enjoyed themselves. Meg and Josh ended up heading out early and went to find some other food. The rest of us went to get ice cream after and the cutest little place and then took a looooong walk back to our airbnb. It was a beautiful night!! We loved walking through Vondel Park.
Lots of time spent under these waiting for the trams...
Saturday we woke up to a very rainy and wet day, so we decided to do as many indoor things as we could! We started off trying the Pancake House, but we weren't big fans. They were basically giant pancakes with random pieces of meat or banana in them. I could have made it back when I was five years old. Then we were off to the Rembrandt House, which we thought was so cool! It was amazing being able to walk through an artist's house and see all of his paintings and learn about his life. Also, we got to keep dry, so that was a plus. We were pretty starving after that so dan found the yummiest fish and chips place. That was probably our favorite meal! It was just so yummy and a cute little place to stop and relax. The rest of the evening was spent doing the Heineken Museum tour and walking around souvenir shops to find the rest of the souvenirs we wanted. Dan even got me to walk through the Red Light District... very interesting. It was not nearly as bad as I was expecting though. We finished off the night at the cutest little Italian restaurant called This Amore. We loved the atmosphere there and it was a great end to our night.
Our very last day was our favorite. We decided to get out of the city and go to a more quiet part. So we hopped on a train that morning and went far out to a little windmill town called Zaanse Schans. It was so peaceful and quiet. I'm glad we went early because we beat the crowds. We spent most of the morning riding bikes around the most quiet and beautiful streets of the little town. The smell of chocolate made it even better. I just wanted to stay in that moment forever. After our bike ride, we bought some chocolate and found the cutest little cafe to eat at. So actually, this was our favorite place to eat. It was TO DIE FOR. I had the yummiest sandwich and Dan had a burger. It was just so dang cozy. That's the town I want to retire in. After that, we hopped on another train to take us to Muiderslot Castle. It was amazing! What was even more amazing than touring the castle, were the beautiful grounds with barely anyone on them. We just got to walk around and talk and it was magical.
We finally had to head back and we stopped at the World of Food food court and both got some yummy food. I had asian food and I can't remember what Dan had... I think he got food from a couple places because he just couldn't decide. Now here's the crazy part... so we headed back on the train and got all the way back to the city only to realize my wallet was missing. I had left it at the food court. We got back on the train, ran back to the food court (this all took at least thirty minutes) and got back there to find the nicest guys just sitting with my wallet. They said they had seen us get up and walk away and then noticed the wallet, so they just sat with it until we came back. What a blessing!!
We spent the rest of that night playing mini pool with Pita and Gabe. We had to head out early the next morning to go home! Sad day, but what an amazing trip!!
Our adventure wasn't quite over yet... when we got to our layover in Chicago, there was a giant snow storm, so we spent the night at the airport!!! What a crazy night it was. We barely slept. We got out on an early flight the next day. Made for some great memories though.
Traveling is so good for the soul. My heart needed this trip. Can't wait to go back again one day!
XOXO
Kenz
