Ahoy,
No one had checked our tickets on the train ride. We arrived to Amsterdam and gawked for a bit at the clean, modern-looking train station. It was on the edge of raining all day. I hurried us over to our airbnb to connect to the wifi so I could figure out how to meet up with K and M. Our tiny room was up the stairs from a souvenir shop. The stairs were so steep- we were practically climbing up a ladder.
We found each other outside Hema at the train station. We began our pilgrimage towards the I Amsterdam sign - that was surprisingly far from the train station. Task #1 was to get an umbrella for A because we had been using our hosts' umbrellas and he was holding out for a specific fancy umbrella (of course, cue eyeroll). But at this point, he just needed an umbrella. Our first food stop was at this health food place that took so long to make a sandwich - I imagined they were raising the cows to make the cheese in the panini. Poor A was starving. We walked for what seemed like a while to get to a brewery that M had been to a few times before. Despite the crowds, we found seating for a few rounds. It was great catching up with K and M. Our next stop for dinner would be Indonesian food at a bar. Yum! It was pretty rainy by now, but we weren't far from where we needed to be to send K and M off back to Groningen.
Our next day started off incredibly windy. Motorcycles were blowing over. Managing the wind made the rain seem like a breeze. It was raining a little, but so windy it would come sideways at us. We opened and closed our umbrellas a bunch of times; mine finally snapped. After wandering around for an acceptable ATM, we got some cash and went into a diner-like place where we watched people get blown around from inside. It was really quite entertaining.
I had gotten us tickets to the Anne Frank house for noon, which was right when they opened. This was a good time because it gave us a place to be inside until the wind died down and there wasn't a line yet. When we came out, there was a big queue around the building. The museum was sad, but still such an important part of history to get perspective on. I was rereading her diary and it was cool to be able to imagine her writing in her diary in this secret annex. We spent the rest of the day wandering around the canal bridges, me peeking in too many shops, A being anxious about walking in and buying nothing. What a hufflepuff! I had to make daily stops in to Dille & Kamille, a housewares and gardening store.
The next morning we got Dutch pancakes, which are more crepelike, and continued our pedestrian tour of the City. We went into the Royal Palace Museum where we learned a bit about Dutch history. They have this self-guided tour over personal speaker thingers. Such a great way to see a museum. A gawked at the Royal dishware. Also, we picked up sandwiches from Hema - an Ikea-like store.
After a few more canal bridges, we took the train to the airport. I was excited to get to our last destination before going home. It was nice to be almost home.
best,
jt
No one had checked our tickets on the train ride. We arrived to Amsterdam and gawked for a bit at the clean, modern-looking train station. It was on the edge of raining all day. I hurried us over to our airbnb to connect to the wifi so I could figure out how to meet up with K and M. Our tiny room was up the stairs from a souvenir shop. The stairs were so steep- we were practically climbing up a ladder.
We found each other outside Hema at the train station. We began our pilgrimage towards the I Amsterdam sign - that was surprisingly far from the train station. Task #1 was to get an umbrella for A because we had been using our hosts' umbrellas and he was holding out for a specific fancy umbrella (of course, cue eyeroll). But at this point, he just needed an umbrella. Our first food stop was at this health food place that took so long to make a sandwich - I imagined they were raising the cows to make the cheese in the panini. Poor A was starving. We walked for what seemed like a while to get to a brewery that M had been to a few times before. Despite the crowds, we found seating for a few rounds. It was great catching up with K and M. Our next stop for dinner would be Indonesian food at a bar. Yum! It was pretty rainy by now, but we weren't far from where we needed to be to send K and M off back to Groningen.
Our next day started off incredibly windy. Motorcycles were blowing over. Managing the wind made the rain seem like a breeze. It was raining a little, but so windy it would come sideways at us. We opened and closed our umbrellas a bunch of times; mine finally snapped. After wandering around for an acceptable ATM, we got some cash and went into a diner-like place where we watched people get blown around from inside. It was really quite entertaining.
I had gotten us tickets to the Anne Frank house for noon, which was right when they opened. This was a good time because it gave us a place to be inside until the wind died down and there wasn't a line yet. When we came out, there was a big queue around the building. The museum was sad, but still such an important part of history to get perspective on. I was rereading her diary and it was cool to be able to imagine her writing in her diary in this secret annex. We spent the rest of the day wandering around the canal bridges, me peeking in too many shops, A being anxious about walking in and buying nothing. What a hufflepuff! I had to make daily stops in to Dille & Kamille, a housewares and gardening store.
The next morning we got Dutch pancakes, which are more crepelike, and continued our pedestrian tour of the City. We went into the Royal Palace Museum where we learned a bit about Dutch history. They have this self-guided tour over personal speaker thingers. Such a great way to see a museum. A gawked at the Royal dishware. Also, we picked up sandwiches from Hema - an Ikea-like store.
After a few more canal bridges, we took the train to the airport. I was excited to get to our last destination before going home. It was nice to be almost home.
best,
jt
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