Amy & Phil G.: Amsterdam with Gram

We had an early morning flight on Saturday to Amsterdam so we decided to stay at a hotel near the airport. This meant leaving Friday after work. Since we were passing through Verona and had to eat we stopped at "Nastro Azzuro" a delicious place we had eaten with Brian, again the food did not disappoint. But it did mean a late arrival at the hotel followed by a very early morning. However, this allowed us to have the whole day on Saturday in the Netherlands instead of spending it travelling. Having forgotten some of my research that I had scooped out for the tulip festival and thus not realizing that the flower parade was on Saturday we decided to head to the windmills first. There are original working windmills about 20 minutes north of Amsterdam that are still functioning. Gram experienced a rare moment of utter chaos when Phil and I combined could not figure out what train we were supposed to be on. So after 4 train rides each of which passed the stop we wanted but didn't stop and wasting hours of what we had saved from being a travel day we decided to give up and take a taxi instead. This did allow us to wander through Zaandam a town we otherwise would have missed. It was a small quaint little place with a miniature river walk for those of you who have been in San Antonio.

Zaandam Modern architecture house hotel.
Mind you we saw this house 3 different times from the train
before we actually walked through Zaandam.

Though not sure the windmills (Zaanse Schans) were worth the chaos they were very pretty and very interesting. We saw one in motion making cinnamon which smelled delicious, another one that made dye for paintings, and more for oil and lumber.

Gram and Me in Zaanse Schans visiting all the working windmills.

Zaanse Schans Windmills.

An attempt to use my photography skills at Zaanse Schans.

Zaanse Schans Lumber windmill, still works.

Then after a short walk through Zaandijk looking at all the old homes, we headed back to Amsterdam on the train that we should have taken there, we were in Amsterdam in only 20 minutes. By this time exhausted from our early morning and the chaos we opted for an early dinner - which is actually normal in Amsterdam - and then an early night.

Which brings me to our hotel. I usually opt for non-chain and reasonable in the city center when I search for the hotel. Well all the hotels were outrageous for the weekend, so that was out the window the other two facts I found but apparently didn't notice some of the comments from other viewers such as "We where greeted by Sonia when we arrived, who was lovely and gave us a cheeky little welcome gift ;)." I was greeted by Maya but offered the same "cheeky" gift I indicated that I was not interested but told Maya that Gram might be - she told me if I was serious it was all hers - I opted for no on her behalf. So the room was up two small flights of rickety stairs that I was sure were going to be the end of Gram, but she was a champ. It had two twin beds and then two futons that flattened into beds - I opted for the futon as the beds were lopsided - leaning toward the middle of the room from the walls as with most old places in Amsterdam the building was noticeably crooked. The room also came with a full stock of pipes - which we did not put to use!

Sunday we decided to spend the day in Amsterdam and explore. We started at the Delft museum which was very interesting and makes me hopeful that someday we will make it back to Delft and see the actual factory along with a trip to Rotterdam that we didn't make it to. Delft is responsible for the famous blue pottery of the Netherlands.

Royal Delft experience building on the canal.

So after the Delft tour we wandered the flower market where we sadly learned of the difficulty we would experience in buying tulips but did get to see some beautiful flowers but mostly bulbs.

Amsterdam flower/bulb market.

Next up was a stop at what we thought was a diamond factory but instead just a store.

View of the Diamond factory on the way to the open market.

We were getting a bit hungry so I thought I would bring us to another market that our housekeep told me had great stroopwaffles (I will explain later). We got off the tram just a few blocks from the market but were detoured when we saw the Heineken Factory. The tour was quite extensive and included of course a few tastings along the way - you should check out the video of Gram here.

Old Copper Vats in the Heineken Brewery

Gram making beer at Heineken Brewery.

Clink the link to see Gram and I riding Heineken Bikes around Amsterdam.

So after that detour it was time to really get some food - we wandered to the market where we found stroopwaffles and were not disappointed. Stroopwaffles are pancake thin waffles cut in half, hot caramel and chocolate are spread in the middle and then it is stuck back together like a sandwich - mmmmm good!

Stroopwaffles in the making, very good street food.

After that we headed to a canal tour, well actually we were trying to take a free shuttle boat to get a free souvenir but somehow ended up on a tour that we didn't pay for (mind you we had pre-purchased a similar tour which we then ended up not using). The tour was rather interesting and gave us a good overview of Amsterdam.

House boats and Warehouse apartments along the canal.

Dutch Warehouses turned into apartments, the shuttered building were all along the canals.

We took a short walk to the museum area only to discover that the museums would be closing in less than an hour so instead we just wandered the grounds and found some great stuff.

Our first sighting of beautiful tulips!

"I amsterdam" sign in front of the Museum.

So instead we headed to Leidseplein where we had a nice dinner before heading to Dam Square. We had learned that 4 May 2014 is the Netherlands' Liberation Day. This is celebrated with a short ceremony including the laying of wreaths at the war memorial. The most moving part of the ceremony is that the square is literally full of people but nearly silent the whole time. Then at 8pm, the square goes completely silent for two minutes. For 100,000 people to be silent enough to hear the wings of the birds flapping was amazing.

Monday we finally headed to the tulip fields. Unfortunately we were too late in the season and most of the tulip heads had been cut off. However, Keukenhof, the gardens, was still beautiful. There are acres and acres of flower beds many of which were still quite lovely. There were also various pavilions with different types of flowers as well - my favorite was the orchid pavilion.

Gram and I in the Keukenhof surrounded by Tulips.

Keukenhof gardens with thousands of pink tulips.

Orange Dutch Tulips.

...and more Tulips.

The only working windmill at the Keukenhof.

Keukenhof fields, we were a bit late ...
but we caught a few - see the yellow strip still there.

Windmill and wooden drawbridge at the Keukenhof.

... and more Tulips.

Me falling out of wheel in a field of tulips.

Afterwards, we headed to the Anne Frank house - so much beauty followed by so much despair but also inspiration. Not much I can say here except that it was moving and I would highly recommend to anyone. You can buy tickets in advance and skip the line but even with the 45 minute wait it was worth it.

Anne Frank Huis or House as we say.

Then we dragged Gram to a bar known for its dutch beers. It was dragging because she was hungry and we had already walked a lot, but she hung in there and enjoyed a cheese museum and the canals along the way.

Gram buying some Dutch Goat cheese at the cheese museum
I wasn't sure we were ever going to get here out of there.

Bikes Bikes Everywhere!

Old port at dusk near central Amsterdam.

Finally we arrived at Arendsnest, a bar known for its Dutch Beer. We were not disappointed. They had over 30 Dutch beers on tap. We each tried a couple before asking for a dinner reservation.

Gram drinking the Blonde Dutch Beer.

Dutch Beer Bar, tried the 10% beers, very good.

The good news - the restaurant the waitress recommended was right next door and turned out to be both delicious and different. Lieve had three options for menu each came with a unique table decoration. We opted for the most extensive option - 5 appetizers paired with 2 types of beers, 6 entrees paired with 3 types of beers, and 5 desserts paired with 2 types of beer all to be shared among the table. It was a lovely and delicious dinner.

Dutch Beer Pairing 5 course dinner.

Afterwards Phil and I dropped Gram off and decided to head to the red light district. I mean you can't go to Amsterdam and not go to the red light district. It was definitely an experience.