Clogs, canals, and countryside

Today was another wonderful day in Amsterdam and packed with a full agenda.  Luckily, the scenery is beautiful during our walks to and from trams and bus stops. 

Is this real life??

Totally stealing this idea next summer:

Ok on to the highlights...

Best part of the day:  Today was all around awesome so it's hard to pick a best part but I think it has to go to our excursion outside of the city to Zaanse Schans, a town where part of which has been recreated to look like an authentic 19th century Dutch village. 

My inner history nerd is dying. 

Omg I can't even...

Even the dying hydrangeas are beautiful. 

There was a shop where wooden shoes are made:

(We had to stand behind a line of children to get this pic) 

And Leah and I bought a pair of wooden shoes to split:

Just kidding - we bought these beauties instead, which are handcarved and hand painted. I think I would have maxed out the credit card buying the ones above. 

The houses were super cute and I loved the souvenirs but the BEST part of Zaanse Schans is the windmills! My trip to Holland is complete now that I've taken (many) pictures of windmills. 

Bonus parts of the day: 

After grabbing a street hot dog (surprisingly delicious), we toured the Van Gogh museum. I know it's really cliche but Van Gogh is one of my favorite artists and I am always really excited when I get to see his work so this museum was like the motherload.  It was a really good exhibit and taught me a lot of things about his life that I didn't know previously. It also gave me some tidbits to store for future trivia nights so here's hoping there's an art category.  The museum has an extensive collection of Van Gogh paintings but also some from his friends and painting buddies whom he worked with as well as pictures from a mid 20th century photographer who took pictures inspired by Van Gogh paintings.  If you are at all interested in Van Gogh, I recommend putting this on the list of things to do.  The museum entrance was free with our iamsterdam cards* so it was a no-brainer that this is one of the museums we would visit. And because I do not have enough things to put on my walls already (extreme sarcasm - gonna have to build new walls) I purchased a print of my favorite painting I saw today. 

After the Van Gogh museum, we took a canal cruise tour which was also free with our iamsterdam card*. The tour lasted a little over an hour and it was informative, breezy, and beautiful so win-win-win. This city has a rich history and incredible scenery. 

And then since the fates decided to make this Hard Rock extremely accessible, we were able to hop right off the canal boat and walk across the sidewalk to get my shirt. 

Worst part of the day: Today was a pretty great day for me minus the back pain and my body temperature that rises each time we try to get from place to place. 

Hot as hell on this bus. 

Also, Leah has decided that she wants a frat tank in every city and decided which one to get in Amsterdam from the various ones she saw yesterday.  Of course, when we tried to find a store who sold it, we couldn't and so that was her worst part and I guess mine too for tagging along.  10 souvenir stores down, 45 more to go tomorrow.  

Most awkward moment: Leave it to me to provide an awkward moment when there isn't one.  After returning to the hotel, my lower back was (and still is) hurting very badly. The almost constant walking with a purse and camera has probably created the pain so by the end of the day, I'm done. Leah suggested she would help me out by leading me into some yoga stretches to help relieve the pain.  The session went mostly like this: Leah speaking in a trance-like voice and seriously holding every pose perfectly while I am attempting every pose only to complete it at 50% flexibility and for 3-5 seconds before bursting into laughter at the thought of it all.  Luckily for me and sadly for you, there are no pictures to share but I will say my favorite poses were Happy Baby and Corpse because those I could actually do (see examples below)

Best things we ate:  There are two equally delicious contenders for this category. The first is the soft serve ice cream we had on our (very hot) walk to the Canal Tour from the Van Gogh Museum.  I'm not sure if it was the hunger/heat combination but that soft serve vanilla cone was amazing. 

We also enjoyed a really nice, relaxing dinner at Zaanse Schans. Leah had a roasted spring chicken and I had a roasted lamb filet, both of which were delicious.  However, I think with this view, I could have eaten a grilled cheese and still thought dinner was wonderful:

Lamb filet with steamed veggies

Roasted spring chicken:

We were joined at dinner by a few ducks who were hungry for whatever scraps they were given.  One duck actually walked up to Leah and grabbed a French fry out of her hand that she was offering, much to the amusement of everyone around.  The ducks had purple feathers under their top feathers. The bright purple would show when they moved sometimes and I took at least 20 pictures trying to get a glimpse of the purple.  This is the best I could do:

Tomorrow we have a few more things to check off the Amsterdam list before taking a train to our next destination, Berlin. Thanks for reading! 

*one of the best investments we made was buying an iamsterdam card which allows unlimited access for all public transportation (trams, busses, and metros) and free entrances to over 40 places.  It's awesome and extremely cost effective. We bought a similar pass in London and that came in handy as well. 

iamsterdam

So we arrived in Amsterdam yesterday around 4:00 and it has been quite an amazing and eventul 36 hours.  This city is beautiful and vibrant and we just happened to be here during Gay Pride so that has made it even more interesting. So far, Amsterdam has lived up to the expectations and we are loving it. There was definitely a learning curve for the navigation but Amsterdam has proven to be easier to navigate than London, despite our butchered pronunciation of the names of streets and places. We are constantly looking at a map trying to figure out the best routes. 

I think after today though, we have got it. (Although I'm writing this blog from a tram stop where the tram may actually not be running this late? Idk I guess we will find out.) update: trams stop running at 1:00 am. Lesson learned, cab hailed. 

Here are the highlights of Amsterdam so far: 

Best part of the day(s): Despite some personal reservations, Leah and I bought tickets to the Sky City Music Festival as soon as we found out back in June that Avicii and other DJs were performing. Leah had a wish to go see Avicii or someone like that while we were on our trip and as luck would have it, he was actually playing the day we would be in Amsterdam. She was ecstatic while I was secretly dreading it as I am not a huge fan of electronic music, dancing, or outdoor all-day festivals. It turns out that I was very wrong. We got there at 7:30 right before Afrojack was beginning. Europeans definitely know how to party and this festival was an incredible time. We both had a blast and got to see Afrojack and Avicii.  The shows were full energy, people were dancing/fist pumping in mapris (man capris), jorts, and frat tanks and everyone had a great time. Did I mention the almost constant stream of confetti, smoke, and pyrotechnics? And to top it all off, the last song of the night was a mix of a Coldplay song. I was in heaven. So much fun that it makes me want to find other similar events in Berlin. I will post some videos on Instagram to give a good idea of what it was like. 

Fist pumping!

Pyrotechnics!

Confetti!

Jorts!

Fireworks!

Best thing we ate:   Leah's guidebook recommended a restaurant that sounded pretty cool as it did not have a set menu but featured specials that changed daily. We thought it would be a neat culinary experience so we set off to find it. Unfortunately, the address we were given turned out to be a pot shop and since we didn't have an appetite for weed brownies, we went to the place across the street, Stout.  It ended up being a phenomenal dinner. We sat outside for a couple of hours and leisurely enjoyed their tasting menu which consisted of five small appetizers, five small entrees, and five small desserts. It was a fusion restaurant and we could tell there was an Asian influence. It was very delicious and fun to try so many different dishes like octopus, Peking duck, best risotto, and mackerel croquette.  

Worst part of the day:   On our first venture out, we found ourselves in a very touristy part of the city walking amongst a vast amount of people.  All of a sudden, we saw a man running through the crowd with people chasing after him. A teenager yanked the backpack off his back and the man was continued to be chased by police officers. Apparently he had tried to steal the teen's bookbag. Good news is the kid snatched it back from him. Bad news is we were a little paranoid to walk around that area now but so far so good.

Bonus highlight:  despite a torrential downpour, we stuck it out and stood in line for an hour to visit the Anne Frank house and museum. It was totally worth it and I really enjoyed seeing where they stayed during their two years in hiding. It was an emotional museum but I would highly recommend it for any visitors. The line to get in is long but you won't regret it. 

Torrential downpour. I'm soaked at the moment while waiting in line but actually happy bc the temp had dropped 10 degrees. Leah, not so much. 

Another major bonus is that we are here during Gay Pride week.  Leah and I are both LGBTQ Allies and this has been great to experience the pride events. Participants are everywhere and having a blast and we are having a blast taking it all in. 

Today was the big Pride Parade and we managed to find a really great spot on the canal so we could watch the pride parade. It was fabulous complete with choreographed dancing, bubbles, and Cleopatra. Videos will be posted on Instagram if you're interested in checking them out but here are some photo still highlights: 

Cleopatra in all her glory. Clearly the Egyptian themed float was my fave. 

So much pink:

Reenactment of Blurred Lines video:

Synchronized dancing:

Most awkward moment: Late night last night can be classified as a series of awkward events. Leah and I went down to the Red Light District and witnessed some Amsterdam "entertainment" that basically left us with this expression the entire time and that's all I'm going to say about that...

When trying to leave the RLD,  we attempted to hail a cab. A car stopped that didn't have a taxi sign on top and I told him to just keep on going when he rolled down the window and offered us a ride. I'm pretty sure that would have ended badly. And don't worry mom, we hailed a legitimate cab and got home safe and sound. 

Quote of the day:  "What accents do we trust and which ones do we not?" After seeing Taken a few times, we decided it's good to have a schema of who is "safe" and "not safe" to talk to. Guy in random car = not safe. It's worked well so far. 

Whirlwind London

Sorry for the late post but yesterday was incredibly exhausting so I am composing from the London City Airport as we wait for our flight to Amsterdam.  Our time in London was quite a whirlwind but I think we managed to hit some of the highlights.  Here is a traveling tip that was learned the hard way.  I had brought some cash with me and exchanged it for pounds once we arrived at the airport in London.  My exchange rate was abysmal and much higher than I had anticipated: $200 transferred into £99.....say what?!? Sensing that something wasn't right with this rate, Leah decided to withdraw £100 straight from the ATM. After checking her bank statement today, the conversion rate was $175 including the foreign transaction fee. So if you're ever abroad, I would recommend just withdrawing money from local ATMs instead of transferring it at a currency exchange center.  Ok, on to the highlights.  

Best part of the day: So yesterday started off with a lot of hope and promise. We had a pretty packed agenda in order to successfully navigate and make it to all of the places on our to-do list. So we started off heading down to a nearby market and making a few small purchases - scarves for me and a London frat tank for Leah. For those of you not familiar with frat tanks, they're tanks usually worn by drunken fraternity brothers or AC Slater that we have discovered are incredibly comfortable and starting to become a wardrobe staple.  After the market we traveled to the Tower of London and toured that for about an hour.  I had been previously but it was my favorite tourist spot and Leah was interested in going. This is definitely a top tourist spot and for good reason as it is really neat and has a lot of history. Sir Walter Raleigh was even imprisoned there for 13 years. 

This is the entrance to the Tower of London. The red flowers are actually handmade poppies that are a memorial to the fallen soldiers of World War I. 

 

Inside the square of the fortress. The guard is not there for show and actually guarding the residence of the governor.  

 Sir Walter Raleigh's "prison cell". It's definitely no Rikers - perks of being the Queen's friend, I guess. 

King's bedroom in the Medeival Palace

Obligatory tourist pic

View of Tower Bridge (commonly confused as the London Bridge) from the fortress

After the Tower of London tour, we took a Thames River cruise in order to see some of the sights down the Thames. This was probably my happiest part of the day as it was very breezy on the river and I was quite comfortable instead of my usual hot mess.  

Notice the pure joy radiating from me because there is a good breeze. 

Big Ben and Parliament

More joy and happiness

Fun fact: Big Ben is actually the name of the bell inside this tower and so you technically only hear Big Ben, not see it. 

After the tour, shot with the London Eye. 

Bonus experience:  For any fellow fans of the amazing BBC series Sherlock or, I suppose, the Sherlock Holmes books for the nerds, I was determined to locate 221B Baker St. If you have not seen Sherlock, I highly suggest binge watching this weekend as it is wonderful and highly entertaining (available on PBS and Netflix). So after the river cruise, we headed to Baker St. to find his "house" and go to the Sherlock Holmes museum. Upon arrival, we found that the line to enter was 1.5 - 2 hours so no museum for us. In the spirit of a true fan, I did manage to get a few pics of the building though. 

Since we had time to kill before tea, we found an antique's shop that would make my mother cry tears of joy and then tears of sorrow after looking at the price tags. Leah and I both left with antique prints because one can never have too much wall art. 

Best thing we ate:  Yesterday's culinary highlight was high tea at Dean St. Townhouse, which I had researched and found to be one of the best places for traditional high tea in our price range. It was quite delicious and everything I had hoped it would be.  It has inspired me to buy a tea set at T. J. Maxx to recreate the event, although Leah pointed out that the only people who would provably want to have tea with us like that are each other. 

Earl Gray heaven

The spread: 

Most awkward moment: After tea, we were pretty exhausted and our bodies literally ached as if we had walked a marathon distance. Leah suggested that we find a cheap place to get a foot massage, citing that she had seen one where we could pay £10 for 10-15 minutes. Screw the conversion rates, it sounded amazing and I was sold. We found a Chinese massage parlor near the restaurant and tried to order a quick foot massage. They said they couldn't do both feet in 15 minutes and since we were on a schedule, we settled for a quick neck, shoulder, and back massage.  I was seated in a massage chair in the front of the building while Leah was whisked back to a private room, told to undress, and ended up with a deluxe session (I think I was jipped).  Anyway, while I was getting my massage up front, I heard a man walk in and ask my lady where the "sexual health clinic" was. She said she didn't know and so he left. But when Leah came out and we were walking away, she stated that she thought it was totally a "happy ending" massage parlor, which was even further evidenced by the unsatisfied potential male customer I had heard. I guess I should care more where those hands had been but I don't because it felt amazing and I was rejeuvented enough to continue the last part of the itinerary. 

Worst part of the day:  The worst part of the day is actually many parts because it is related to navigation.  I consider myself to be an excellent navigator and have never had issues finding my way around any city - foreign or domestic. London is a different story since everyone seems to be on metric time by extreme underestimation of time spent getting places (10 min walk metric = 25 min walk standard measurement). Additionally, the maps we have suck and are not to scale and leave out a lot of little streets that make navigation much more difficult when you don't realize there are four more blocks instead of one to go.  Anyway, our navigation had us running around like crazy and everything took much longer to get to than anticipated. For example, our pit stop to the Hard Rock Cafe was supposed to be right off the tube and it took about 20 minutes one way. See amateur map below:

  

By the end of the day, we were doing the grandma shuffle because we were so tired and aching. Harrod's was our last stop and it was very difficult to enjoy when we are walking at the pace of an 85 year old woman with arthritis. But still beautiful:

A shoe display: 

Best quote: "These maps ain't loyal" sung to the tune of a popular rap song (see worst part of the day) and "That card doesn't like you" by one of the many tube workers who had to manually swipe me in and out of every tube we took because my card never worked today or yesterday.