Europe Trip Part 2

It's so hard to blog about trips. There is so much to talk about, but it's hard to portray the trip accurately on a blog. From Frankfurt we traveled up to Amsterdam for a few days. Our morning started early on Tuesday as we went to catch our bus. The bus drivers did not speak English, Dutch or German and so it was interesting for everyone on the bus to try and figure out whether or not we were on the right bus or anything for that matter. It was definitely a beautiful trip, we got to see some of the gorgeous dutch countryside. I was amazed at how fairytale-like the farms with the old houses are with the windmills and gorgeous churches in the background.

Day 1:
After walking around Central Station for a LONG time in order to find the ferry to our hotel, we finally arrived at the infamous Amstel Botel. Oh yes we did....we stayed at a houseboat like hotel. It was close to town and kind of cool because it was on the water, but definitely not the most romantic of hotels.

We took a canal tours, which was so cool. Amsterdam was literally built on top of water; there are over a 100 different canals. The architecture as we floated along the water was breathtaking. We were continually in awe of all that we saw.We ended the night with a very quick walk through the Red Light District and then had dinner. We had yummy falafel's and then got the famous waffle desserts. You could get waffles stacked with whatever topping you wanted, chocolate, fruit, nuts, etc.

Day 2:
This was an amazing day. We started off with the free walking tour through the city. There was so much to learn about the history of the Amsterdam, the coffee shops, the leaning houses, and so much more. I was mesmerized again by the beautiful architecture.

We learned about the royal palace, the original shipping house, and saw some beautiful churches and courtyards. Our last activity of the day was probably my favorite. We went to the Anne Frank house, yes, THE ANNE FRANK HOUSE where they hid for over 2 years. It was powerful to walk through the secret annex and read about the experiences they had. I'm still so in awe at all they had to go through and the power that a little girls diary can have. We were exhausted by the end of the night. We literally stood or walked the entire day. It's so interesting though to walk through the city and observe the people, endure the smell of constant smoke, and dodge the bicycles. I loved it!

Day 3:

This day started out with a beautiful stroll through the city. I loved it because there weren't a lot of people around and it seemed so peaceful. The Van Gogh Museum was our first stop. They have over 200 original paintings of his on display. It was really neat to see some of the originals of paintings I learned about when I was younger.

In order to take in the full experience of being in Amsterdam, we took a bike tour. I'll be honest, I was a little nervous to ride a bike in such a fast paced, crowded, unknown city, but it was so fun. Our guide took us through the gorgeous Vondelpark, into some darling neighborhoods, and more. We saw a unique windmill in the middle of the city, learned about the Heineken brewery, and road along the harbor.

This day was also filled with great food. The hotels we stayed in each offered a free breakfast buffet. Every morning was the same spread, lots of breads, cheeses, sausages and pork, and of course, Nutella. I seriously ate so much yummy bread and Nutella every single morning. And as if that was not enough, we stopped at the Vlaams Frites Haus for the most amazing fries; twice. They serve them with garlic mayo or peanut sauce.... I loved them both. Duh. For our first course of dinner we had dutch pancakes at a darling cafe and ended our night with Wok to Walk. It's a darling Asian restaurant that cooks what you want right in front of you. I'm still thinking about this food and how good it was. Man, if only I could have some right now.

Day 4:

We headed back to Frankfurt in order to fly back home the next morning. Our trip was great! We certainly had some laughs and frustrations as we tried to navigate our way through foreign cities and cuddling on twin beds. It was just so nice to be together and explore a different world. I'm excited for many more trips ahead.