Merely a 2 hour drive, I wonder why it took us so long to visit the beautiful canal city of Amsterdam. Of course the company only made it better – Kelley & John, our friends from home, started their week in Europe here. The four of us spent the weekend in Amsterdam charmed by the picturesque canals, post-impressionist art and delicious seafood.
We started the weekend off right by climbing all over the famous Iamsterdam sign before hitting up the iconic art housed in the Van Gogh Museum. John favored the earlier paintings depicting the honest farm life, Kelley fawned over the yellow sunflowers, and Jon and I were drawn to the masterful landscapes. There was even a special exhibition presenting various possibilities of Van Gogh’s illness that caused him to cut off his ear.
Grateful for the perfect sunny fall day, we hopped on a small canal cruise (much better than the bigger boat with tons of tourists with selfie sticks) to see the city by boat. The humorous captain alternated between giving us interesting facts about the scenery and making fun of tourists motoring the wrong way down the one-way canals. We learned that any one townhouse along the canals can start at $1,000 per square foot and, that, at one time many of the houses were in danger of sinking, so several of the canal buildings appear crooked.
The real star of Amsterdam was the food and drinks. We ordered a gigantic seafood tower at The Seafood Bar and drank craft beer like locals at the Gollem Beer Cafe. Pancakes! Amsterdam served us some of the best Dutch pancakes in the city (even Kelley could enjoy gluten free ones). Delicious!
Before Kelley & John jetted off to Italy, we browsed the tulip museum shop to stock up on the best Holland tulips bulbs and pick up a few souvenirs for family. We all planned to meet next weekend in….Lake Como!
ontogermany 