We went to Amsterdam.

Oh my gosh, Amsterdam.

We did so much!

And we loved all of it. So I kind of don't know where to start, except to give a little recap of our trip followed up by a zillion photos. These are for you, Mom. 

We arrived Saturday morning from our red-eye flight & after checking into our first hotel - at Dam Square - found the nearest bakery that served fresh scones + cream / berries + hot chocolate. And then, armed with our rainboots, a map & a great guide book, we wandered.

We walked through the Westerstraat Market (think lots of fresh bread, cheese & flowers), weaved our way through Jordaan, ate fries with mayonnaise on top (!! - but not nearly as good as Pommes Frites, in my humble opinion), smelled our way through the floating flower market, picked up some amazing falafel (& subsequently went back twice during the trip), walked through Rembrandt Square, ate the best gelato we've ever had in the Spiegelwartier (the art & antique district), browsed through the fashion & museum district, toured the Anne Frank House & had dinner at Tujuh Maret (a great Indonesian / Tibetan restaurant we'd heard about & loved).

(Tired!)

We woke up to sunshine on Sunday morning. Such a happy surprise (we lucked out with the weather the next few days). Everyone has heard of Dutch Pancakes but I'd never actually had them, so we had scouted out the best & grabbed breakfast at Pancake! - frequented by both locals & tourists alike. It was delicious. Afterwards - we walked through the Red Light District (so quaint & pretty - we just had to avert our eyes every so often), visited Amsterdam's most narrow house, explored Zeedijk, saw a zillion bikes (+ families on bikes, babies on bikes & tourists getting hit by bikes!), went on a canal tour through the city, had amazing Middle Eastern (Iranian?) food for lunch in de Pijp & spent some time in the Van Gogh museum. The Rijksmuseum was going through massive renovations & was mostly closed, so we decided to save the Euros & passed. Maybe next time.

(Tired!)

Monday meant more sunshine & a train ride from Centraal Station out to the Dutch 'burbs. Since we were a bit too early for tulips, we visited Zaanse Schans for their windmills & cheese. Beautiful! We ran into missionaries which made us happy (I sent their photos to their mothers, who all wrote me the nicest emails in response - loved it). The best part about this little town - it smells like chocolate. All of it! The local chocolate factory means that the entire town smells just like a chocolate molten cake fresh out of the oven. The shopkeeper we talked to didn't seem to especially love this, but we thought it was wonderful - although it required that we stop for hot chocolate in a shop almost immediately.

The 2nd hotel we stayed at was right on Vondelpark, so we took advantage Monday night & went on a nice walk in the evening. I'm glad that they have their own Central Park, but the comparison isn't even close. I love, love Central Park. Vondelpark is... a reasonably sized park. Anyway. We enjoyed walking through it, & later grabbed ice cream + waffles for dessert (love, love the waffles - must find an equivalent in NYC) & crashed early.

(So tired!)

I left Tuesday mid-day (after sleeping in & having room service for breakfast - we were tired after walking a zillion miles), & Mike stayed behind for 2 days of meetings in The Hague & Brussles. I wish I could have stayed with him - I'd have loved to have seen both & his hotel in the The Hague was beautiful.  But I had tickets to Regina. And that was worth it, I think.

We wish we could have explored more - in the countryside, specifically - but we'll go back some day & see tulips & the coast. In the meantime, it was a perfect trip visiting the city. A lovely mini getaway, the perfect length of time to explore what is actually a relatively small city, reasonable & mild weather, perfect food & really great unplanned finds... I have no complaints. We're happy to be home in our New Amsterdam now, but how fun to jump across the Atlantic for just a few days. And to think the flight over was faster than getting to Spokane (I try not to think about that).

My favorite things about Amsterdam: The architecture (loved recognizing the strong Dutch influence that is concentrated in certain parts of New York), the friendliness of the people, the accessibility of everything (we walked just about everywhere, easily - only taking the tram twice), the bike culture (everywhere!), the diversity - of people, food, everything, & the canals (more than Venice - & so beautiful!).