Amsterdam Day 2 - Leisure Time

Well, let's face it. When you're only spending three days in a city you actually want to see, you don't really have time for leisure. However, day two of our trip to Amsterdam was the closest we got to that. After our long trip there and first day, we got a very much needed good night of sleep. I think the relaxing vacation pace washed over us and we took our time getting ready and having breakfast at the hotel. Around noon, we pulled out our map and decided what we wanted to do for the day. First on the agenda was the flower kiosks we saw on the map lining the canal. It being Saturday, we were pretty sure that would be a happening place.

Low and behold, the market was a short block and half from our front door. The first (and main) shop we arrived at held the most beautiful sight, one that we flew across the Atlantic to see, tons and tons of tulips! It was so pretty that there were signs up all over the shop stating that no cameras were allowed inside. So, Mike stepped to the street outside to steal a shot of me with the bouquets:

Other than many other floral shops, there were lots of souvenir shops both floating on the canal and in the buildings lining the street. So, we zig zagged back and forth. We did some chochkie shopping for stuff to take back home, enjoyed taking in the sweet floral aroma and did a bit of people watching.

On My Tippy Toes Trying to Fit Into the Hanging Dutch Girl Hat

Market and People

We Were There Too!

Graffitied Alley with Bikes (of course)

Once we were all shopped out, we headed towards Dam Square. It's the home of the Royal Palace and the National Monument. On the way there, we commented on how much construction we saw happening. Big projects seemed to be going on everywhere. At least the Dutch have a sense of humor when it comes to trying to hide it a bit:

We had a sense of humor about it too.

In the square, there was plenty to feast your eyes on. With it being a natural gathering place to hang out, a setting for peaceful protests, festivals, trams, etc., there was no shortage of action.

Archway Leading Into Dam Square

National Monument

Royal Palace (Balloons and tents in front were the site of a music festival going on.)

Us!

We spent some time in the scene then grabbed some sandwiches (love that Subway is world wide) and wandered through the streets down to the main event for the day - the Van Gogh Museum.

Cool Big Music Box Thing
(My Mom told me it was an orchestrion.)

"I amsterdam" - City's Tag Line
Museumplein (Museum Square)
That's me by the "a"

Mike and I are both fans of many of Van Gogh's works of arts and I've definitely seen some in person before. Even so, it was extremely cool to get to see so many of his masterpieces close up enough to view the depth and texture of the paint. The museum did a fantastic job of telling about his fascinating life and also presenting artists that inspired him. Over the years, I've come to realize that art history and context of art brings a much deeper appreciation of the art itself and I love learning about it all. Without a kiddo pulling our attention away, we were able to spend about two and a half hours (until the museum closed) wandering around the exhibits. It was fantastic!

Outside the museum, we just had to get a shot of the hot dog stand. Not sure what the fascination is (since I personally don't love them), but the Dutch apparently are fans of hot dogs...we saw several stands for them all over the city.

Mmmmmm.....ketchup

A Patriotic Hot Dog

Since it had been a day of wandering, we continued that trend. We stopped at the hotel to refresh and then set out on foot again.

Everyone knows the saying, "when in Rome...." well, when in Amsterdam, you have to check out the Red Light District. I was hesitant to go there because 1) well, quite frankly, the famous things it's known for aren't really a draw for me and 2) the only 2 stories I've heard of first hand visitors there (and one was on a televised travel show) involved muggings. And, to be honest, our visit there was very accidental. We were walking around looking for a place to eat, not looking at our map at all, when we were quite suddenly in a large mass of people. Not a claustrophobic kind of crowd but the streets did get very noticeably busy. And somehow, we just were swept upstream with the masses and found ourselves there. And yes, we saw evidence of what it's know for but I was honestly underwhelmed by it. I think my expectations were much worse than what it really was. Plus, once I realized where we were, I pretty quickly was ready to get out. So, that we did and the dinner search continued.

I love the European way of putting the menus out by the door (something I've only seen in the states in areas like Boston's North End). It's easy to determine if you want to go in and eat what they have to offer. We perused several before settling on a price fixed menu at a restaurant called, Humphrey's.

With full, happy bellies, we wandered back to the hotel. We were tired after all that leisure time! Besides, the next day would be our last and there was lots I still wanted to do (and would drag Mike along to do them with me).

Amsterdam Day 1 - Battling the Jet Lag

Here we are a week after our return from our trip. And, even though documenting our trip isn't exactly high on my list of things I want to do tonight (like curling up with a cat and a good book and sending myself to bed early is), I really want to start writing it all done while the trip is still somewhat fresh in my head.

So, let's start at the beginning. On Thursday afternoon (a week and a half ago), my parents dropped Mike and I off at the train station. After we said good bye to them and Dylan (and yes, I did shed some real tears after leaving my little boy), we hopped the train and headed to the airport. My Mom, who is now the proficient texter, let me know that Dylan was doing just fine (ie much better than me) and I was able to start relaxing into our trip. We grabbed a drink and a snack at the airport before boarding the plane. The flight left at about 7pm and was scheduled to arrive in Amsterdam between 8 and 9 in the morning. That meant we needed to get some sleep en route.

Mike and I both popped a tylenol pm a little while after boarding and Mike soon arrived in snooze land. I wasn't so lucky. I was in the middle seat, between 2 good sized men and in front of a row of excited, chatty teenagers. Between not having any room to get comfortable and a constant buzz of girl chatter filling my ears, I got little to no sleep. By my estimate, maybe 45 minutes over 3 or 4 naps. By the time we arrived at customs at Schipol airport, I knew it would be a long day!

After consulting with the information desk at the airport and finding out how to get to our hotel, we hopped a train to the central station (after consulting the schedule and route map several times through our jet lagged daze), then caught a tram to our lovely hotel - the Banks Mansion.

Lucky for us, they were able to accommodate our request for an early check in. So, we dropped our bags, freshened up, grabbed some breakfast from the hotel's "kitchen" just as breakfast service was ending, and headed out for some sight seeing. First on the agenda was the Anne Frank house.

View of the Canal from our Room

On the way there, we wandered along the canals, soaking in some of the city's unique architecture.

When we arrived, we took in the sight of the long line we had been told to expect. We had no idea how long the wait was but we decided to stick it out. While waiting, the fatigue really hit me and I was in rough shape. It reminded me, very vividly, of how I often felt through the sleep deprivation of having an infant. Luckily, I only had to keep me standing up and not take care of a little baby...the staying standing part was hard enough.

Anne Frank statue

Anne Frank House (Middle) and Museum (right)

We waited in line for just over an hour (not so bad). Before leaving for Amsterdam, we really had no time to prepare or research the trip so I honestly had no idea what to expect at this museum (or any of them for that matter). Once in, we were treated to a very touching reminder of the story of the Frank family and the experience that young Anne documented in her journal. It has been some years since I read the story (I hope to do so again very soon) but seeing the space and the pictures of faces she so wonderfully described was very moving. We were even able to go behind the book shelf through the secret passage that led to the annex where they hid and see the space they were confined to for so long. It was SO worth the wait to get in!

Beer Bike Tours We Saw a Couple of Times During our Stay
Seriously! Pedalsaloon.com 

Canal Houses with Their Furniture Pulleys

Next on the list was the Rijks Museum. My Aunt Pam recommended this art museum to us so it was definitely tops on our list. I knew it was an art museum but don't think I realized what a wonderful account of Dutch history we would get through the artwork shown there. We spent a couple of hours there before the jet lag screamed and said it was time to get back in the fresh air before I collapsed on the museum floor.

Canal - Rijks Museum in the Distance

Rijks Museum

We wandered back through the canals to our hotel. After a quick shower to wake us both up, we checked in with our sitters. Prior to our leaving, I knew we would want a way to check in with Dylan and my parents. Thanks to face time, it was easy to arrange. At 6:30pm in Amsterdam, we were getting ready for dinner and at 12:30pm in Boston, Dylan would be napping - the perfect time for a face chat! Thankfully, all was going well at home so we headed out for dinner.

The hotel had made reservations for us at an Indonesian restaurant. Either they gave us bad direction or the lack of sleep had killed all brain cells by that point and we could not find the place. To come up with a new plan, we ducked into a swanky place for a cocktail and got a recommendation from the bartender there for a Thai\Indonesian place down the block. Perhaps that was where we were meant to have gone in the first place but it was definitely a different name than the hotel had given us. In any case, they had room to seat us immediately so we were happy. We're pretty open to eating different foods and cultures but I don't think either of us had ever had Indonesian food. Indian, Thai, Vietnamese...lots of other types from that part of the world but not Indonesian specifically. I wanted a sampling so I got a platter of lots of several of their appetizers. Mike zeroed in on an interesting noodle dish. It was a delicious dinner after a very long day.  (And Indonesian was a Dutch experience as far as I was concerned as we saw TONS of Indonesian restaurants throughout the city.)

On the way back to the hotel, we saw one of the many "coffee shops" in the city. Yep, that's where the semi legal stuff is sold. For the cultural experience of it, I went in an asked to "see the menu" (Mike was too chicken and made me do the dirty work). And, what do you know, the guy directed me to a button to push which lit it up (no, really that's what we did but I can't help enjoy the irony of that statement)! The guy working also made all kinds of recommendations...kind of a barista of illegal substance. So weird! Don't worry Mom, that was the extent of it. We released the button that unlit the menu and finished our walk back to the hotel. It had been a VERY long day (about a 37 hour one actually) and we were ready for a serious night's sleep.

Hop Hop

We hit the ground running once we got back from Amsterdam. And, although I did take some time to upload pictures for the blog, I'm still working on the text to document our trip. The pace of this coming week should be somewhat slower and we did have a great recuperation day at home yesterday (thank you rainy day!) so I should have the time and energy to write some stuff up in the coming days. For now, you'll just have to be satisfied with our bunny tales (pun intended). While you're wrapping up your Easter holiday (or regular ol' Sunday for those of other religions), sit back, relax and have a good time reading about ours.

Our holiday fun started on Friday night. While I thought I had done a good job preparing for the holiday before our travel extravaganza, after taking inventory we realized we needed lots more stuff. So our wonderful teenage neighbor graciously offered to sit at our house and listen to the monitor after we put Dylan to bed while Mike and I ran to the store to do the rest of the shopping for Dylan together.

On Saturday, Mike went to soccer practice and Dylan had a play date while my friend Kari and I went to work out. Always a great way to start out the day. With a good sweat under my belt, Dylan and I went back to the house, had a bite to eat (1st breakfast for me and 2nd for him) then hit up our local bakery for some of the best cupcakes in town (this would be our Easter dinner contribution). Sometime during our breakfast, the rain clouds settled in and started releasing the drops. So, once home, we jamified (technical term for getting snuggly in our pj's) and settled in to have a relaxing day at home. The big event of the day would be dying Easter eggs!

After Dylan's nap, we boiled up the eggs and set up the crafting scene. I got out the smock for Dylan (which he saw and said "painting" since that's what he normally does in it) and my cooking apron for me (to which Dylan said "pizza" since the only time I ever put it on is when I'm rolling out pizza dough), Mike set up all the dye in cups and we were ready to go. Either Mike and I didn't dye eggs enough when we were young or it's been way too long since we'd done so, because we didn't remember exactly what to do. Good thing it's not an exact science and there's plenty of room for error! We experimented with different methods, made a huge mess and had a great time!

Since Painting was what he wanted, we let him decorate that way too.

Due to our inexperience with dye, it didn't occur to us that we maybe shouldn't have our hands in it so much. Yeah, not the smartest thing to forget. In any case, Dylan went straight to the bath afterwards for a long soak to hopefully turn his yellow\green hands back to flesh color (Mike and I just did a lot of scrubbing at the sink). After that bath (which mostly did the trick), it was time to eat the special, huge bunny cookie we got at the bakery that day. I might have helped him with it a little bit.

Mmm....rabbit foot!

Our Beautiful Eggs

After Dylan went to bed, Mike and I did our Easter bunny prep - set up the loot and stuffed the eggs for the hunt with candy.

The Loot

On Sunday morning, we all slept in until the late late time of 7:55am! Wahoo to sleep! Then it was time for Easter fun! Dylan got in his chair and checked out all the goods Mr. hop hop had left him.

Fun Light Up Toy

Lots of Choo Choos

It was then time (after I ran out and hid the eggs...well, placed in plain site really) for Dylan's very first Easter egg hunt. I tried to explain it to him but the best way to teach a kid that kind of thing at this age is to show him. So, we headed out the door and came across the first couple of eggs by the deck stairs. At that point, he really didn't get the basket concept and tried to hold all that we found. Once we got a couple more, he finally relented and put some in the basket. After collecting about 6 in total, it was time to take inventory and take them in and out of the basket.

Ready for the Hunt

Inventory

This went on for the next few eggs as well. Dylan really hit his Easter egg stride for the last half of the eggs and really started to get into the collect the eggs and drop them in the basket concept. 

I Think I'm Getting This Now

Yeah, Totally Getting It

Easter Egg Hunts Rock

He loved it so much that we then had a hard time getting him to head inside to open all the eggs. So, we did a little intro to that on his play set. He tried out the chocolate in the first egg and enjoyed it so much, he shared with Mom.

After convincing him we'd open the rest inside, he relented and followed us in. And, he's glad that he did! For this special holiday, we had desert after breakfast!

Dylan's Very First Peep

We then dressed to the nines and took the hour drive up to Mike's uncle's place in Gloucester. There, we enjoyed a great time with family. Keeping up with our little one (who had a fabulous time with his cousins) and also trying to balance conversations with so many people made the day fast and chaotic but it was a great day.

Sharp Dressed Man

Cousin Justin and Dylan

Cousin Ryan

The Kids Tables

The Boys Playing

Cousins Jacob and Corwin

With only a brief nap on the way to the family event, Dylan was exhausted and had another little nap on the way home. He was awake for just an hour before his early bedtime....just enough time for a quick bite to eat (he was too busy playing to eat much Easter dinner) and, of course, a little Harry Potter (as usual). Now, Mike and I are having a much needed quiet evening on the couch. Ahhh.....post chaos relaxation is always the best!

Happy Easter everyone!

Easter Cuteness