Amsterdam Vacation

We've been back from our Amsterdam Vacation for a month. I guess I'm pretty slow with the posts?! I'm trying to enjoy what we cook, where we eat, where we travel and not think about posting. I find that not sharing on social media instantly, or ever, or much, or every little thing, helps. We had a great vacation and loved Amsterdam. It wasn't especially warm when we were there so I was always bundled up and when it rained and was windy, oh my gosh it was cold!

When I think of Holland, I think windmills, clogs, tulips, canals, skinny houses. Sometimes windmills on clogs surrounded by tulips.

I loved the architecture. I always recognized where I was, but honestly, I could not navigate to save my life. Darn rings of canals and alleys and twists and turns. 

Here's what we did in Amsterdam:

Walking Tour

Rode a ferry

A'dam Lookout

Royal Palace / Dam Square

Anne Frank House

Blue Boat Canal Cruise

Museumplein

Van Gogh Museum

Vondelpark

Rijksmuseum

Albert Cuyp Market

Rembrandt House / Statue / Rembrandtplein

Dutch Resistance Museum

We did a lot of walking. We walked through the Red Light District - in the afternoon, not evening. We also explored a lot of the other Amsterdam squares: Munt, Spui, Leidseplein, Nieuwmarkt, Westermarkt and Nordermarkt, Waterloo. Before the trip, I was overwhelmed by all the different areas and couldn't keep them straight but by the end of the trip, I pretty much knew which area had which stuff. I just didn't know how to navigate to/from the areas!

We also made some trips out of the city. One was to Delft to tour the city and the Royal Delft Factory.

Delft is beautiful. It's the birthplace of Vermeer, has a leaning church tower, was where the Dutch East India Company had a large presence, and is famous for its blue & white pottery (of which only one factory remains open).

Another trip was to Keukenhof Gardens to see the tulips. It was at times sunny and beautiful and at other times rainy, windy and cold, but fortunately there were buildings to get out of the cold and rain. At one point, we had our rain coats on over our winter coats (which are not very water resistant).

We also spent a day touring Zaanse Schans, Edam, and Volendam. Volendam is an old fishing village and while there, we were a bit hungry. Our tour guide got some raw herring with raw onion, SP ate some fried fish since he wasn't sure about the onion and fish, and I ate cheese fries. 

We sampled cheese, made sure we got some freshly made stroopwafel, ate lots of poffertjes (tiny pancakes), and tried stamppot. More on the food in upcoming posts.

I really like Amsterdam.  I hope someday we make it back.