Aaaand... we're back! Wow. What an amazing trip! I am sad to come back to Tucson. I could've stayed much longer in London, absolutely in love with that city. I guess it didn't hurt that we stayed in a gorgeous rental apartment in Kensington/Notting Hill, but still. ;)
Since there are about 1500(!) photos for me to sort through, I think I'll blog by chronological destinations, starting with our first stop, Amsterdam. My goal is one post every other day, but we shall see!
We began our travel day at 5:00AM, and after 2 layovers and 24 hours, we made it to Amsterdam. First task at hand, meeting up with my brother, Kevin, who got to fly direct (only a 6 hour flight) from JFK, at the Amsterdam airport without the aid of our cell phones. His instructions were to wait for us at his gate, where we'd meet him. Of course, he didn't listen, but we luckily ran into him on our way over to his gate anyway.
By this time, we had reached the other side of the city and decided to refuel with a few lattes and free wifi before the walk back to the apartment.
After a quick bus ride, we made it to the rental apartment. I just love the European aesthetic when it comes to home decoration. Mostly all the rentals we were in were furnished completely with Ikea furniture, but I feel like in the US, Ikea furniture rarely fits. Everything was just stylish and perfect.
After getting some general information about the layout of the city and the best tourist attractions from the rental's owner, who by the way spoke perfect English, we resisted the urge to take a nap and journeyed out to find our first meal there.
We ended up at a cafe with a good selection of Dutch plates and plenty of seating along the canal. I had a savory Dutch pancake, and Galen had a dish of Dutch ham and gorgeously orange-yolked fried eggs.
After eating, Kev and Galen crashed while Mom, Dad, and I mapped out where we should go next and also sipped on espresso to stay awake.
We ended up just walking around and taking in the city. It was enough to just be with the architecture and the canals. There were a ton of cute little shops to look in as well.
From our short time there, I noticed two distinctive characteristics of Amsterdam: its house boats and the bicycles everywhere.
The whole city was just so clean and charming. What little trash there was, was even beautiful in its own way.
After a quick nap back at the apartment...
we decided to go to the infamous Red Light district. By the time we all woke up, it was around 8:00PM, but the sun was far from setting. We stopped for some schawarma and chips along the way, and then as we were walking out of the little restaurant, we ran into one of Kevin's friends from NY! The first funny coincidence on this trip... next one happened in London.
She stopped there by herself on the way home from a work trip and was also heading over to the Red Light District, so we all went together.
These are a few photos of a square that is basically on the edge of the Red Light District. I heard scary stories of bouncers throwing and breaking tourists' cameras, so we thought it best not to even try to take any pictures.
The feeling there wasn't sketchy or scary at all though. There were tons of people walking around, having a beer at the pubs, and sitting along the canals, all right next to the working women in their individual rooms with glass doors.
Galen and I didn't get much attention walking through the area, but my brother got a couple of come-hither winks that made him blush a nice rosy color. ;)
The next day, we decided to get an early start to see the Anne Frank House. The line, we read, can reach a two hour wait, so we set out right after having breakfast at the apartment.
Well, we didn't beat the line at all...
We decided persevere, and made it inside after about a 1.5 hour wait. I can't remember if there were photos allowed inside or not, but I didn't take any because it just didn't seem like the sort of thing to be taking photos of.
With about half the day left, we just strolled around the canals some more. The city is relatively small compared to New York or London, so we basically walked from one end to the other.
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| This bike had a really cute child seat attached to the front. |
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| American influences |
Amsterdam felt so charming and unreal, it was like being in a Dutch themed park. It was so perfect, and for a lack of a better word, cute. It was exactly as someone who hadn't ever been there would have pictured it. I think I could have spent a few more leisurely days there sipping coffee and dangling my feet over the canals. I was sad to leave, but excited to get on with the trip.
Next stop... Paris!
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