"Sex, Love and Bikes"

Our flight into Amsterdam was a quick 45 minute jaunt. We flew over the English Channel right at sunset, making for some gorgeous views. When we arrived at the airport we took a train to Amsterdam Centraal, central station, and from there caught a tram to our stop in Dam Square. Our tram driver was quite the character. As we were all hustling onto the tram, trying to fish out the euros from our pockets to buy our tickets and hand them to the lady in the window, the driver yells over the intercom, "hurry up my little snails!" seasoned with a very thick Dutch accent. Most likely referencing the fact that we had no idea what was going on and we all had our huge backpacks. It was a perfect welcome to Amsterdam!

Our hotel was only a few blocks from Dam Square so we made our way walking in the dark. When we got to the lovely Hotel Galerij, we rang the bell to be buzzed in only to see the the most treacherous stairs in the world, I'm pretty sure. The stairs went straight up, might as well have been climbing a ladder. :) We got quite the workout coming and going during the 4 nights we stayed here. We had a private room with our own shower, sink, 3 beds and a great terrace right off of our bedroom looking over the city. It was a pretty cool place to stay and very central to downtown Amsterdam.







We had our sights set on several different events throughout our time in Amsterdam. Although it seems just walking down the streets and looking up at all the rooftops is something close to a history lesson. Amsterdam is full of churches and museums so we decided to hit a few touristy spots. We started at the Van Gogh museum, a few miles south of our hotel. We took the tram down to the museum, but realized the €2.60 it cost wasn't worth the ride. After the museum, and a brief refresher on the transition from Impressionism to pointillism and beyond, we walked home and didn't fail to stop at a Turkish food mart for some quick shoarma.

Through our walk home I found it odd to imagine a German occupied Amsterdam city. The people today, while hustling on bikes and vespas, seem so relaxed and carefree. We are all lucky to be able to share time in this gorgeous city. I absolutely loved the many canals that carved through the intercity, we decided to take a Canal tour which provided some insight into the history of the town.







Another highlight of our time in Amsterdam was touring the Heineken factory. Matt and I are fans of this delicious brew, so we were looking forward to this for quite some time. Neil and Charley, his dad, brew their own beer at home so this experience was especially enticing to Neil.























Amsterdam is most definitely a biker's heaven. There are bikes everywhere and everyone does it. If you're too small to ride a bike the parents would just strap the children on and off they went. The parking garages are not full of vehicles like in the U.S. they are full of BIKES. It's awesome. This city was so much fun, some memories are unsharable ;)







We loved Amsterdam, and now it's off to Paris!

On a sad note, RIP Tiffany's bracelet, looks like you found a new home in Amsterdam. I'm really sad you decided to fall off my wrist while walking down the street.


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Location:Amsterdam