Amsterdam

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We arrived by train in Amsterdam around 6:30, and attempted to take tram 9 as we were instructed by the hotel. After 20 minutes of waiting for tram 9, we asked someone and realized that it wasn’t running that day. We decided to make the trek (about 1 km) on foot, which was a pretty walk through canals and residential neighborhoods. We arrived at the hotel exhausted but happy, and after checking in to our room, went around the corner to eat. We picked a cute smoky bar/café to eat in, where we were treated to some local cuisine - croquettes, Indonesian sate, and some Belgian beers on tap.

On our first full day in Amsterdam, we started by getting some laundry done at the nearby laundromat. After that, we took a little walking tour of the old city, where we had a picnic in the Vondelpark and then headed to the Van Gogh museum. While the kids were a bit antsy, we still managed to spend an hour or two looking at the paintings, which gave us a full (though by no means complete) view of Van Gogh’s artistic career. We then took a boat ride through the city and the Isselmir. On our way back we stopped for Italian food, and then we rented a movie for the kids so that the adults could go out to have some drinks. Jennipher and I got to see the touristy part of Amsterdam, but after inhaling the nauseating smell of Subway bread baking, headed back to our hotel neighborhood.

The next day, we decided to rent bikes and then take turns at the Rijksmuseum, which is an art museum entirely devoted to 17th century Dutch and Flemish art. They have a huge collection of Rembrandt, including “The Night Watch”, as well as a few Vermeers such as “Woman with Milk Jug (?)”. Jennipher rode bikes with the kids and had lunch while I had my turn, then while Jennipher had her turn, I took the boys to the Tropenmuseum, which is a sort of monument to Dutch colonialism with loads of art and artifacts from Indonesia, New Guinea, and Africa. They also had a haute couture fashion exhibit which the boys enjoyed for all of 10 minutes, including amazing dresses worn by Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, and Greta Garbo, old flapper dresses, as well as newer dresses by Versace, Yves Saint-Laurent, and other top designers. Jennipher and Acacia also went to the Anne Frank house, braving the long lines but being rewarded with a very moving experience. That evening, after finding the Dutch restaurant recommended by the person at our hotel closed, we ended up eating Spanish/Argentinean tapas and steak. (Our medium rare steaks ended up bloody as hell, so we had to send them back to the kitchen for more cooking time).

On our final day, we had to ride our bikes through the rain back to the bike rental place. After that, we went to find a museum devoted entirely to cats called the “Katten Kabinet”, which ended up being closed. After wandering around the city for a couple more hours, we headed back towards the hotel to pick up our backpacks, and then went back to the same restaurant we ate at the first night for more local cuisine, before heading to the train station.

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