Amsterdam: Day 1

APRIL 2016
Let's jump into spring, shall we?

On a Monday morning in early April, B, his parents, and I hopped on a plane to Amsterdam! Amsterdam Schipol airport is LARGE, y'all. If you ever have to have a layover in Europe, I would definitely suggest that you do it at AMS. Even though it's large, it is SO well planned out.

We exited the plane, grabbed our luggage, and made our way to Shipol Plaza. Schipol Plaza is within the airport, and basically is a large area where all of the Arrivals gates converge. In the Plaza you can find food, ticket counters/machines, souvenirs, and take an escalator down to the subway. Lines for the automatic train ticket machines were outrageous, so we got our train tickets from the ticket counters. Normally, we would expect those to be slower, but thank goodness they were quick! Almost all of the residents of Amsterdam have resident public transit passes, so knowing that almost everyone arrives/departs this airport by train goes to show that this wasn't the ticket agent's first rodeo!

We hopped on our city direct train to Amsterdam Centraal, which was only a few steps away from our hotel. Thank goodness, because it was pouring down rain.

Amsterdam Centraal Train Station

Due to the weather, we elected to take a taxi. It was nice to stay dry, but due to all of the one way streets, pedestrian streets, and canals, it took forever to get to the hotel! We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Amsterdam City Centre, and it was a spectacular decision. We needed a bit of American comfort, and the large rooms with elevators were a nice alternative to most accommodations in Amsterdam. 

All of the homes in Amsterdam are skinny and tall. In the early days, people were taxed based on the width of their home, so citizens chose to have super skinny houses. Most of these homes housed shops or restaurants on the main floor, the families lived on the middle floors, and their warehouses were on the top floor. Above the top floor on the exterior of the house, there were pulleys that would allow the resident/shop owner to load the merchandise on the top floor and carefully lower it to the ground floor. Think about it- large boxes + tiny stairs = a disaster waiting to happen. This pulley system was very innovative!

Shortly after we checked into the hotel, we headed to lunch. Luckily, the rain let up just in time for us to get our first true glimpse of the city on foot.

We thought that beautiful building was some kind of landmark... nope, it's a mall.

We headed towards Dam Square in search of food and a tram stop. We stopped at the first place we saw, 't Nieuwe Kafe, simply because it was convenient. I had planned a lunch that was a little farther away, but the weather slowed us down a bit to start the day, and this place hit the spot. It had a wonderful view of the Royal Palace and National Monument, and had Heineken, which is all that really matters in Amsterdam. 

Royal Palace on Dam Square

After lunch, we hopped on Tram 16 towards the Heineken brewery and our canal cruise. I had reserved a 1:00 time slot in advance online, so I went into the small gift shop to confirm our tickets and get ready to board. As I finished getting our ticket, we saw a rather large group of, um, elderly tourists board the boat. I turned right back around and kindly asked the lady at the desk if we could just hop on the next boat. She said it would be no problem, and all we had to do was wait 30 minutes. To us, that sounded like a perfect excuse to enjoy another Heineken. Are you sensing a theme?

The canal cruise was a great way to get an overview of the city with a limited amount of time. It was also different than the typical "big bus" situation, because we got to coast along all of the canals throughout the city. All of the windows on the boat opened, and not only provided a wonderful breeze, but also a wonderful opportunity for some great photos!

Anne Frank House Museum

House boats!

We sailed past multiple museums, homes (on water and land), and even the Anne Frank house! There was also a well-timed audioguide and tabletop map that made it easy to follow along. Thank goodness I had my headphones in my purse after our flight earlier in the day, because the ones they provided were not spectacular.

After the cruise finished, we walked to the Van Gogh Museum. It was a combo ticket with the cruise, so it was super affordable. We're not typically art museum people, but for Van Gogh, we had to make an exception! There were no photos allowed inside, but trust me, its definitely worth a visit. We didn't use any audioguides, which was fine because the descriptions next to the paintings we recognized were more than enough! They also had wall-sized captions describing his life. 

The most interesting thing I learned about Van Gogh is that he was only active in the 'art scene' for about 10 years. WHAT. Less than 10 years, hundreds of paintings, and dozens that I could recognize as an amateur art lover. That is amazing. He seemed to be one of those people that felt all the feelings of the world so strongly, he couldn't help but paint it in his perspective. 

We headed back to the hotel to freshen up and rest for a little bit, and then left for dinner. I made reservations at Haesje Claes, which based on everything I read, seemed to be known for traditional Dutch food. We were not disappointed! Most of the food seemed to consist of sausage, potatoes, and sauerkraut. It wasn't fried like German cuisine (which sounds similar), but it was definitely the kind of food made to stick to your bones and keep you warm. I enjoyed a stamppot, which is a small pot full of mashed potatoes, carrots, and some sausage on top. Delicious!

Stay tuned for day 2 in Amsterdam - and be prepared for more flower photos :)