Canal Cruise, City Bus Tour, & Singel Canal Market

DAY THREE: On our last full day in Amsterdam we used our remaining tickets from the Holland Pass to take a Blue Boat Canal Cruise and Amsterdam City Bus Tour. The Canal Cruise was fantastic. The canals are what Amsterdam's all about and it provided a really neat view! I was battling with the reflection from the glass windows on the boat and it was far too cold to open the windows. So unfortunately there are only a few pictures. (I know there's a way to deal with it on manual setting on my Canon, but I haven't figured that out yet.) The City Bus Tour was just eh. RC enjoyed the history aspects from the audio tour while we drove around, but I wasn't too impressed. It was neat to see the business districts of Amsterdam, but they made a random stop at a diamond factory. We didn't know about this pit stop until we were on the bus. It was neat to see how diamonds were cut and polished, but I could have done with out this detour. 

After we finished the City Bus Tour we still had a good bit of the day left. I really wanted to see some tulips since we apparently missed the spring season at Keukenhof Gardens. So we headed over to the Singel Canal which is famous for its floating flower market. I was expecting to see fully bloomed tulips galore. It seemed that tulip bulbs and wooden or wax tulips were really the only thing for sale or displayed at these shops.  I was a little disappointed until we reached the last couple shops at the end of the canal. Finally fresh REAL tulips. I think you'll be able to tell which were real in the pictures below.

Our last stop was the iconic I AMSTERDAM sign out front the Rjiksmuseum. 

(If you don't know what I'm talking about here's a great picture- LINK.) 

We'd tried to get pictures a couple times throughout the weekend- even at different times of the day..

 But it was always pretty crowded. Here I am on the E! :) ... with 50 other people. 

Anne Frank House, Rjiksmuseum, & Heineken Experience

DAY ONE: By the time we got to our hotel room, it was time for a quick unpack and then out to dinner we went. The Pancake Bakery, a well known pancake house located on Prisengracht near the Anne Frank House, came highly recommended. Their menu boasted over 75 different kinds of pancakes and omelets. I love breakfast for dinner so this sounded like a great choice. Well, we were quite surprised when we found out the traditional Dutch pancake, pannkoeken, and was essentially a crepe. We were thinking hearty, thick pancakes. Should have researched a bit more! A unique, authentic meal- but a bit overpriced when you're spending 10+ Europe for a glorified crepe. 

After dinner we walked around the beautiful canals along Prisengracht. 

They were some of my favorite in all of Amsterdam. 

DAY TWO: First on the agenda for the day was a visit to the Anne Frank House. The museum opened at 9 am and by 10:30, when we arrived, the line was down the street and around the block. We didn't keep track of time, but it was probably around 30-45 minutes before we got inside the museum. It was well-worth the wait! The Anne Frank House was one of my favorite tours to date. It was an incredibly sobering and very well presented. The tour was self-guided which allowed you to go at your own place. They did an excellent job of preserving the building which allows you to gain a much more realistic understanding of what they went through. Standing inside those small rooms gave incredible insight to the lengths at which the families took to hide out and really made the story come alive. 

After the Anne Frank House we grabbed a quick bite at an Italian restaurant and then headed over to the Rijksmuseum. Another long line which wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't cold and windy that day. Once inside we were able to see the collection of Van Gogh as well as Rembrandt's Night Watch. 

The Heineken Experience was the final item on our list and a great way to close out the day. We took a tour through the brewing process like most places, but truly got the 'Heineken Experience'  with all of their interactive activities. We were able to watch Heineken advertisements in a comfy lounge chair, perfected our technique for achieving the perfect pour, got a history of the company, and of course the most interactive part of all- drank 2 Heineken beers. 

RECAP:: Amsterdam, the Netherlands

FLIGHT: Lufthansa

On Friday afternoon we flew into the Schriphol Airport in Amsterdam. It was our first time flying with Lufthansa and we were definitely impressed. Either Lufthansa keeps their planes in pristine condition ... Or we had the good fortune of flying on two newer airplanes. Both were so clean! 

TRANSPORTATION

Several friends had recommended the Holland Pass so RC & I purchased our passes in the airport. This was super convenient because one of the tickets covers 24 transportation. Allowing us to take the metro from the Schriphol Airport to Central Station - Then from Central Station to our hotel via the tram. I am so glad we went this route. We both feared a taxi would have been pretty pricey. The public transportation in Amsterdam was fantastic. 

HOTEL: Best Western Delphi Hotel

We had a tram stop less than 200 m from our hotel. The two main lines (5, 24) came to our stop 'Apollolan'. They took us to almost all of the major attractions we wanted to see. The Rijksmuseum and I AMsterdam sign were just 2 stops away. Most of the time we would take the tram to the area we wanted to explore. Then walk around and sightsee. It really cut down on time which allowed us to see so many of the city in the short time we were there. 

More on TRANSPORTATION

Bicycles are everywhere in Amsterdam. It is the main way of transportation for locals. I think I read that somewhere around 60% of people use bikes within the city. There is a special bike lane throughout the city for cyclists. We had seen this in Munich, but not on this level! The bike lanes have their own traffic signals and you better check the bike lane before you decide to cross the street! They fly and you better hope you're not in the way. Normally they'll ring the bell on their bike before they approach an intersection to remind you that they're coming through. 

Somehow I was able to take a picture of an empty street so you could get an idea of what one looks like in Amsterdam. On the far left you have bike lane which is often a different color from the rest of the street. In this case, it's a burnt red. Next is the car lane. Most people do not commute by car as parking is expensive and with so many pedestrian areas it's overall discouraged. You will mostly see taxis in this lane. Across the checkered median to the right is the track for the trams. Bus stops can also be found in this center area. Crossing the checkered median again to the right is another car lane and then bike lane. Finally on the outside you will have the pedestrian area. 

Now fill this street with cyclists, trams, buses, cars, & people and imagine crossing in total about 6 lanes of traffic. 

At times I felt like it was a human game of Frogger!