The Netherlands, or should I say Never-Never lands…

26 May 2013

We entered the Netherlands around 10:30 this morning. There was no dramatic physical change as we crossed the border from Belgium in The Netherlands, but I am pretty such my pulse speeds up every time we enter a new place. I have loved exploring the many different countries here in England, this will be my 6th since I left the States (England, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands) or the 8th if you count Monaco and the Vatican. Sometimes I go a little crazy on trains because I get so anxious and excited to see the new place we are going. When I hop out of the train station sometimes I just cant control my excitement and um yeah…

We are on the train headed to Amsterdam right now. It is our last stop before we head over to Berlin to begin our Eastern Europe tour! I am quite excited for the adventures that lie ahead of us…when my mom backpacked Europe, Prague, Budapest, and many other modern european destinations were behind the iron curtain and unaccessible to tourists. We will be going to many of theses places, so it feels like I will be stepping in new territory…

For some reason the houses in Amsterdam remind me of a Dr. Seuss book…they look like they jumped right out of the pages! They are so funky and cute, with unique designs and colors that just catch your eye.

Amsterdam is a lively place, hustling and bustling with people all over the place. There is a large University here with a diversity of college students, as well as a large population of families and tourists. The city runs along the Amster River and contains a variety of canals of all shapes and sizes in which boats carry people and goods from place to place all hours of the day. It is pretty much the larger scaled version of Venice…it is the Venice of the North.

Dutch shoes…they really are wooden and horribly uncomfortable I must say!

Guess what? Even though we are further North, the weather is beautiful! No rain, woohoo! Coming to the Northern part of Europe makes me want to continue on to Sweden and Norway…but I know I don’t have time, at least right now. I want to take a trip to northern, northern Europe on one of my free weekends at Cambridge. When I come back on another European adventure (like next summer with my sister and mom) I am definitely going to take a few days to go to Northern Europe… Ahhhh oh the possibilities in life! Let’s keep on Rocking and Rolling, Europe!

Look, a bench made out of books!

Amsterdam is famous for several reasons, and those reasons are made very apparent the moment you step off your train platform and start wandering the streets. You see and smell things that are not common in cities in the United States. Despite the fact that Amsterdam is an adventurous city, it can be cozy and charming to all types of travelers. You get out of it what you want. Anne Frank’s house is in the center of the city, as well as several famous Jewish Heritage sites and famous neighborhoods. The canals are beautiful and are surrounded by some of the cutest dutch buildings you can imagine. Amsterdam is home to one of the most famous streets in the world for the largest variety of restaurant ethnicities. Whether you want Chinese, Indian, Argentinian, Mexican, Thai, Hawaiian, etc… It is all there, so go indulge yourself! Chinatown, Rampart’s home, the largest Van Gogh collection, and a vast array of museums fill the streets and corners of the entire city. It is also home to the famous I Amsterdam sign and the giant chessboard.

The giant stairs we had to walk up to get to our hotel…

I would definitely visit Amsterdam again on one of my free weekends this summer, or in future years. It may not be the best place for a family vacation, but for the adventuresome traveler or avid photographer it is quite the unique place to visit. I actually took Amsterdam off of our destination list, but decided to add it back on when we found ourself running ahead of schedule. Boy, am I glad I did!

Amsterdam is a great place, you can experience more culture in that one city than most people do traveling the world. We walked pretty much the entire city in one day…let me say, we sure are getting good at walking! We saw so many incredible things and it was just fun to see the variety of people in the world…because I am pretty sure you can see them all in Amsterdam.

Dam Square holds one of the National Monuments for The Netherlands. It stands just across the square from the Royal Palace, the home of the King and Queen of The Netherlands. Did you know that The Netherlands had a King and a Queen? I sure didn’t! Although they do not live there most of the year, the Palace plays an important role in celebrations that occur all year round.

This is the largest floating flower market in the world…but then again how many floating flower markets are there in the world?

Cheese. Amsterdam has THEE BEST cheese. It is also pretty great that whenever you walk into a cheese market, they have tons and tons of samples for you to try… I think I have tried all the colors, shapes, consistencies, and flavors of cheese by now.

Graffiti walls line the streets of Amsterdam. It really goes with the theme of the city, anything goes. Amsterdam is world known for it’s creative and unique graffiti designs, so if you go…make sure you keep an eye out for colored paint splattered on the buildings.

Since I have been in Europe, I love bread. By now you probably know that…but look at this, it’s huge! I was so excited to buy it and guess what? Yep, it was gone the next day…

Giant Chessboard
When you see lots of people, it means you have usually reached your destination…at least when you are looking for touristy things. When we found the “giant chessboard” there was a little boy (about the age of 12) stomping the snot out of a middle aged man who was smoking a cigarette. It was so awesome, the kid was incredible.

The Iconic image for Amsterdam is a red and white sign that reads IAMSTERDAM…I don’t really know why, I just knew I wanted to take a picture of it!

Amsterdam is unique, it has it’s own flavor. It is a city of art, voice, opinion, and culture….so fun, and I love it!!!