Amsterdam

Author: Ale /

Amsterdam is AMAZING!!
Sorry it has taken me so long to update this...blogger just up and decided to tell me I ran out of space for pictures on here so I had to fix that little situation before I could post.
This is a long one so bear with me!
We took an overnight bus from Paris to Amsterdam…and it was torturous.
I slept for the first 45 minutes or so until the guys sitting behind us decided EVERYTHING was funny.
So they sat up and talked loudly, and snorted with laugher, and ate food, and kicked my seat, and kept the light on…. ALL NIGHT.
Pure unadulterated hate.
We arrived in Amsterdam at 6:30 in the morning and and angel was there to pick us up and drive us to his clean apartment and a waiting bed :)
Meryl’s host brother, Stephan, is from the Netherlands and was kind enough to let us stay at his flat in Amsterdam for the tree nights we were there- he also took us all over Amsterdam, the Hague, and Rotterdam – he was the perfect tour guide and we got to do so much!
Our first stop in Amsterdam (after a nap of course) was a canal cruise and the Anne Frank house.

Here are some pictures from around town and on the cruise:


Marine Museum




Look familiar? The Best Two Years was filmed here people
Waiting outside for the Anne Frank house.
It was a little chilly so I look kinda cold...


This was our second attempt to get me looking normal...


We are still waiting in line at this point so I walked around taking pictures...


I've actually already been to the Anne Frank museum here, but it was fun to see it again. 
This is the house where eight people hid from the Nazis and Anne wrote in her little checked journal about life in hiding.
It is an eerie sort of place because Otto Frank (Anne's father who was the only one to make it out of the concentration camps alive) asked that the rooms always stay empty to remind people of all the emptiness left behind by those who died.
The rooms are small and dark and it's hard to imagine living there for years, never seeing the light of day, and having to be as quiet as possible all day long.



After the Anne Frank house we walked around a bit more


I want to live on one of these house boats!


Such a gorgeous city! 
Amsterdam has a reputation for being rather wild, but it's really not like that at all...it's actually very chill.
People sit outdoors in the summer to eat dinner, they cruise in boats along the canal just for fun and bike riding is just a way of life...but more on that later. 





Stephan just started his own business. It's called Aunty Bep and they basically deliver food to companies from higher-end restaurants in the Hague and Amsterdam.
Cool logo huh?


We also went to a cheese shop to get some delectables for dinner.
All the shops in Amsterdam are very specialized- this one was right across the street from one that only sold olive oil and mustard. Crazy huh?
I tried more strong tasting cheese here than I think I will ever eat again, but it was a fun experience.
Apparently, this cheese shop won the best in Amsterdam award.


Stephan also got us to try krokets (I'm not sure if I'm spelling that right...) basically, it's veel, and stew stuff breaded and fried.  


After the Anne Frank house, Stephen took us on a canal cruise to see the city from the waterways



The last time I was in Holland was for the world cup- so explosions of orange and footballs is how I remember the place :)







That night Stephan made us a 7 course meal with delicacies we would never try in the United States.
We had raw clams...
Salty and slimy, but I kinda liked them


Then he baked them....this was so good! 


Then we had raw beef...he didn't tell us until after what we were eating...
It wasn't too bad actually, but I probably wouldn't get this at a restaurant :)


Then came the escargot...
It was like eating my pet snail Stella, and a slimy brown eraser all at once...ugh...
No, it actually was pretty good once you got over the texture   


Then we had duck liver with caramelized apples
It may sound gross, but it was actually really good


He made us a stew as well...sorry I didn't get a pretty picture of this one.


Then we had some cheese from our shopping excursion 


And then we topped it off with chocolate cake baked into a cup- the middle was gooey and delicious.
We almost died of a food coma, but it was all amazing and so awesome of Stephan to put all that work into opening our eyes to the finer foods in life :)


The next day we went to Volendam - a little seaside town on the coast
I want to live here so SO much!
Meryl said as soon as we got here that she could see me living here so it has to happen at some point in my life



Stephan took us to get our picture taken in traditional Dutch clothing....


My favorite part of the outfit was the wooden clogs


Now prepare yourself...

cute huh?


This was a traditional fisherman town and I loved every bit of it



Meryl tried some waffles with strawberries 


and I just took pictures of boats.


We left Volendam and Stephan drove us out to the dike built here over the course of 60 years to keep all of Amsterdam and the surrounding towns and cities from flooding.


It was so long....I think I fell asleep somewhere around the middle...



Then we went back to Amsterdam ... here is a fun little coffee shop- you don't drink coffee in coffee shops here- these are strictly for marijuana selling and smoking...it looks almost too cute for that though huh?


We headed to the central train station to rent some bikes.
They really love their bikes here...seriously there are more bikes per person here than anywhere else in the world


We rode all over the city :)


Lovely isn't it?


I could definitely do this every day


These are some shots around town






We stopped at a lomography store


I can't even tell you how much self control it took not to buy one of these cameras.
Ever heard of instagram? 
That's the kind of photography lomography is... it just came before the smart phone app...






Terrible picture (I was on a bike give me a break) but isn't it just lovely that people bring their tables outside to eat dinner at night? 
I love it!




Later that night we rode over to a park by Stephan's flat 


They were having a food festival here


and there were SO many people


Every single one of the booths was set up to look so cool- it was kind of an effortless bohemian vintage look we can never quite achieve in the US


Meryl decided these two children were miniature versions of us when we were little- yes I'm the curly headed one


Stephan's friend was running this booth


He got us smoked chicken sandwiches and they were AMAZING


Walking around the rest of the festival...
cool huh?


Meryl, Me and Stephan









This morning we needed to return our bikes...it was raining so we looked a little worse for wear after


Then we went to the store for some breakfast...
So this isn't the most flattering picture, but I needed to show you the juice here.
It's basically the best thing you will ever taste in your life.
I've missed it every day for the past two years since I last drank it.
Imagine 50 strawberries, a banana, a pineapple, and apple and a pear all stuffed into that bottle in liquid form.
That right...pure fruit juice...and it is heaven on earth.
I drank a LOT while were were here...


Stephan drove us out to the Hague to see the office for his new business.
This is one of their delivery bikes :)


He drove us past one of the courts in the Hague... gorgeous huh?
I wish we could have gone inside


Stroopwaffles!
Best thing in the world...two thin waffles with carmel-y goodness in the middle- you have not lived unless you have eaten one of these things fresh and hot.
Stephan made sure we had them first thing in the morning...and in the afternoon :)


The government buildings in The Hague




Just walking around The Hague






On of the Queen's palaces in the Hague


It was a fun Sunday.
We couldn't make it to the ward here, but we did go see the temple!








Stephan then took us to his family's home in Rotterdam
This is his dog- 


Meryl caught me looking like this
I kinda fell in love if you didn't notice...


Stephan's family home


with a pond off the back porch!



The fuzz needed to be documented
Meryl was kind enough to get a picture of the fuzziness that is my hair in the humidity today 
I might come back with dreads- I'm not even kidding


ducks in the pond!


The meal Stephan's mom made us :) Yes that is a hard boiled egg and white asparagus on my plate


After lunch we drove around a bit more of Rotterdam and then Stephan took us to the Hague airport for our flight to Vienna


Stephan was so kind to us and we could not have been more grateful for his help-
Amsterdam is amazing is it not?
I really would love to live there someday 
Maybe I'll just live in a houseboat on the canal :)
We are safely in Vienna now and headed off to bed!
Sorry again this post was so long!

Love,
Ale

P.S. My parents keep telling me they are embarrassed by my horrible spelling on here...I just figured out my spell check isn't working and to be fair, I'm often writing late at night- 
let's be honest I'm not the best or more attentive speller at the best of times so late night writing is the worst.
So if any one else thinks I'm illiterate I apologize! :)


2 comments:

jem said...

Ale==thanks so much for the fun pictures!! Glad everything is going well!=jeanine

Jessica said...

You make me homesick. For Europe. Are you still staying with elisabeth?

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