This year for my Spring Break I decided I wanted to go Amsterdam and Brussels. When I was in Paris and London last spring, I was disappointed I didn’t have more time to keep traveling (isn’t that always the case) and move around Europe a bit more. I had been to Paris and London on my first ever trip to Europe in 2013, and had been back to London in 2016, and then again last year (2022); it is one of my favorite cities ever. I had the same curiosity about going back to Amsterdam that I had with Paris, except Paris had piqued my interest more because of my binge watching of Emily in Paris while I had COVID over winter break ‘21-22 so that city won out.
This time around, it was time for Amsterdam and I decided that I would also head to a new country that was close…Belgium. Add one to the list baby! Flight prices were skyrocketing, but I really wanted to go and since hotels were reasonably priced (more or less), I decided to bite the bullet and go for it. I had saved a bunch of money all winter not going out at all so that is how I rationalized paying for it. Once booked, minus the hotels and a day trip into the countryside, I really didn’t sit down to plan stuff out for a couple of weeks. I did some research and made a list for Amsterdam, but didn’t solidify anything; very unlike my super type-A self. I also remembered when I went there ten years ago, that I was able to get tickets for the Anne Frank House the day of and figured the same this time around for the museums in general.
About two weeks before Spring Break I sat down to plan out the Brussels portion of my trip and also try and get tickets for the Van Gogh museum, Rijksmuseum, and the Anne Frank House. Even though I went to AF ten years ago, I wanted to do it again, but waiting so close to the trip date was a mistake. When I first searched for tickets for Van Gogh and AF, all were sold out. I was super bummed and mad at myself for waiting so long because I know better. I thankfully was able to get Anne Frank tickets, but had zero luck with Van Gogh. And I didn’t think the Rijksmuseum would be difficult since it was so big, so I didn’t even bother checking.
Anyway, fast forward to actually heading to Amsterdam. I was lucky enough to get the entire row of seats to myself on the flight there thanks to stalking the seat map at check-in. Although I didn’t sleep despite my melatonin and benadryl combo, I was able to lie down across it for most of the flight. We arrived at 9:30 am Sunday and it was windy and cold, but the rain that had been predicted leading up to my trip was thankfully out of the forecast. I can handle cold and sunny vs anything and rainy. I hate having wet feet. I really hate it.
Day 1: I had the whole day to do things and in typical me fashion, a large list of places to see. I dropped my stuff at the hotel and set out about town. My hotel had such an amazing location, it was within a 15-minute walk of everything, which was awesome. Amsterdam is a big city, but also super walkable. And bikeable. Man-oh-man, the bikes. There’s just so many of them. And coming from all directions, it just never ends. It's crazy that they don’t have a lot of accidents, AND no one wears helmets either which is insane to me. I am sure as a dutch culture, they are very considerate and efficient on those bikes, but with the sheer number of tourist walking (and some biking) around cluelessly, I can’t imagine that not being an issue in the busier parts of the city.
I forgot to grab a map for myself to get an idea of where I was going, but did use google maps to get where I needed to be. I only walked in the wrong direction a couple of times, as per usual. We all know that I wouldn’t have been able to really read that map all that well. I headed out down a main drag and everything all of a sudden looked so familiar. I surprised myself with how much of it I remembered from ten years ago. I even had an idea of where my hotel was back then too and knew right away where I had gotten frites on my last visit as well. My short-term memory may be shit, but stuff like that comes back to me very quickly. I made my way past Dam Square and saw the Royal Palace of Amsterdam and the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) and the National Monument across the street. I also passed the Pass Beurspassage, which is a pretty little shopping arcade passageway. Then I had hit the Damrak Waterfront and all the boats and beautiful houses along the way (which I would come to learn more about Monday on my canal tour). From there, I made my way to the very famous Red Light District. I remember walking through there last time, also during the day, because I remember hearing it’s not that safe at night, which apparently is still not as true, but it can be very crowded and rowdy then. There were all kinds of sex shops, peep shows, “coffee shops”, and lots of windows with the red curtains down, but a couple where I did see the topless women in the window. That whole thing is so bizarre to me. While I know prostitution in Amsterdam is legal, I can’t wrap my brain around how people, especially tourists, would come here and pay for sex with random women who do that ALL DAY LONG. There are so many ways you can get it for free these days (Tinder, Grindr, literally any dating app), that the need to pay for it blows my mind, but perhaps it is “safer.”
After all that, I walked up and down the streets and canals all around a bit more. The canals are just so pretty!! This city is way less confusing to get around than I remember, which always makes things easier. All the streets and canals all look the same to me, more or less, but I am sure the locals are very familiar with them. After wandering, I decided to head to the Rijksmuseum and Museumplein to walk around and get an idea of how to get there for my run the following morning and find the IAMsterdam public art structure. I remember seeing it when I left the airport, but assumed there were multiple ones around the city. When I didn’t see it in the museum area, I looked up where it was and apparently now they move it all around and the airport one was the only one and where it currently resides. Guess I won’t be getting a picture with it. Sigh. There were some pretty planted tulips that were starting to bloom and a couple cherry blossoms, and although a bit chilly out, the blue skies and sun really made it feel like spring is upon us. I had one more place on my list to tackle and that was the Jewish museum. There is a lot of jewish history in Amsterdam and I figured I’d get a little bit of a history lesson (and appease my mother a little), especially using my student ID to get a discount on admission. Always such a score.
The museum was pretty small, but had some beautiful Jewish antiques and information about the Jewish populations in Amsterdam before WW2, during WW2, and after the war. Because of the war, the Jewish population never really got to what it once was since so many were killed and didn’t come back or stay afterwards because it was just too difficult. The two pieces of information that I did learn was that a bris takes place after exactly eight days after a male baby is born (I didn’t know it was a set number of days) and that orthodox and hasidic jewish girls don’t get bat mitzvahed. I guess I should’ve assumed the latter, based on what I know about women’s rights, or lack thereof, for those that are super religious. (If you’ve never read Unorthodox or seen the movie on Netflix, it's infuriating, but fascinating nonetheless. I recommend it.)
At this point, it was a little after 4 and I was getting tired and hungry. I had walked around all day without eating and the whole no sleep on the airplane was hitting me. I headed back toward the hotel, stopped to see the Bloemenmarkt, a giant flower market along the canals, picked up a sandwich and got back to the hotel. I asked if the concierge could book me a ticket to the Rijksmuseum since I couldn’t find any good time slots online and thankfully he was able to. A solid win. Then I ate my food, took a shower, and got in bed with the sun still out. I had a super productive first day and wanted to get up early on day two for a run and more to do.
Day 2: Unfortunately I didn’t sleep very much or very well Sunday night, but I had a full day again Monday starting with a run to the Rijksmuseum. I wanted a picture of it with no people in it which is pretty much impossible during the day so this was my time. I got that and some other cool artsy ones and then made my way to Vondelpark. That is like the Amsterdam equivalent of Central Park on a much smaller scale. I had initially thought the Museumplein was Vondelpark so thought I had been there before, but after looking at a map and realizing they are in fact, very different and I had not been there. It is a very nice park and there were lots of runners out and about. I did a loop of the park and then started to make my way back toward the hotel. I ran up and down a couple of other streets, but wanted to shower and rest a bit before my 10:30 Rijksmuseum ticket time. I thought I’d be able to pick up some breakfast on the way back, but apparently most things don’t open until 9 or 10 and it was only 8:15 so I was out of luck and was glad I had packed myself some protein bars.
I downloaded the app for the Rijksmuseum because it had a “highlights” tour on it of the most popular and famous paintings and art pieces in there. While I am not a big art fan, I knew if I didn’t go here, I would’ve felt like I missed out. I was in and out of there within an hour and really only knew of 1.5 of the pieces that were considered to be well known. The one I really knew was the self-portrait of Van Gogh. I’m not quite sure why that isn’t in his museum, but since I couldn’t get tickets, I was actually looking forward to seeing it. I also saw Rembrandt’s self portrait and his famous “Night Watch”. And let me tell you, this thing was more protected than the Mona Lisa. It had a giant glass case like 50 feet around it. Although it’s much bigger than the Mona Lisa, I don’t get it. Relax. I saw a few more famous paintings (Rembrandt’s “Jewish Bride”, Paul Gabriel’s “In the Month of July”, Jan Asseljin’s “Threatened Swan”, etc…) and then some others I just thought were pretty. Unpopular opinion, but sometimes I look at these works of art and think, “what is so special about it?” I guess that’s art for ya. The beauty and appreciation is definitely in the eye of the beholder.
I was hungry after this and headed over to the Albert Cuyp Market. It’s a big outdoor street market (kind of like on Portobello Road in London), and has food, clothing, jewelry, and even toiletries. I was planning on getting some frites and kibbering (little chunks of fried fish), and some licorice (called drops here), but only ended up with the frites. After those, I didn’t want anything else fried, and all the licorice was black, which yuck. I know my mom likes black licorice, but there were so many different kinds, I didn’t know what to get her to bring back and figured it may also get hard, so mama, if you’re reading this, sorry!
Next up was to walk around the neighborhood of Jordaan, which is supposed to be very cute, and not super touristy. I walked around a bit, but I had been go-go-go all morning that my legs needed a rest and I had some time to just chill before my Anne Frank House tickets. I found myself a bench and just sat there in the sun for a half hour. It felt great on the mind and the legs. Even though it was only 45 degrees, the sun felt amazing and you know I’ll take a UV index of 4. Hehehe. I decided to take a gamble and head to Anne Frank a bit early. I stopped to see her statute and then to see if they’d let me go ahead of my scheduled time. Since I was just one person (story of my life), they did. This tour was just as powerful and emotional as the first time I did it. I was pretty much holding back tears the entire time. I can’t even imagine going through what every Jew during that time did, especially a child. From the discrimination, to going into hiding, to being separated from family, to the concentration camps. It’s all unbelievable heartbreaking. And then to think that there are some crazies out there who don’t even think the Holocaust was real, is just infuriating. And with the rise of antisemitism in this country thanks to Trump (and Kanye) and all the white nationalist groups, unfortunately it’s not impossible to think something like this could happen again.
Outside the Anne Frank House, it is all remodeled and you wouldn’t know it existed if not for the sign. People were posing for photos next to the sign, which very much rubbed me the wrong way. This isn’t something you smile next to knowing what happened here. It very much gave me the same feelings as people that pose for pics (or even worse, take selfies) at plantations, at concentration camps, or at the 9/11 memorial. It’s gross. It’s distasteful. And it’s straight up disrespectful. I completely understand taking a picture of it by itself as it is a historical site, but to take pictures WITH it is hard no. Anyway, off my soapbox now and onto my canal boat tour.
Near the entrance of AF is a location where you can get a canal boat tour. I wanted to do one of these to not only see the city from a different perspective (in the water), but to get some history. If you get good guides on these tours, they are usually great. And mine was! It was a smaller boat of about 20 people and our guides did a great job bringing humor in with all the information. I truly learned a lot and didn’t totally realize it until I was walking later and the next day and saw some of the landmarks from back on land, not realizing I had passed them a couple of times already not even knowing what I was walking by. SMH. Some of the more interesting facts that I learned and wanted to share were:
Owning a home in Amsterdam is very expensive. This obviously also depends on size and location. There are canals that are considered fancier than others and living on them can be important. One of the narrowest houses in Amsterdam is located on the most expensive canal because that person wanted an address on that street. It was eventually bought out by a wealthier neighbor and turned into their walk-in closets.
The Red Light District is called that because so many of the prostitutes back in the day had syphilis and had sores on their faces that they’d scratch and bleed. The red lights would essentially filter that out so the men wouldn’t notice. GROSS. Then since so many of the men were sailors and stronger men from important industries in the city, they were also getting syphilis from the women and getting sick and couldn’t do their jobs. This is one of the main reasons they legalized prostitution there, so then the women could get better healthcare and not spread the STD’s and STI’s to these men cause they were needed.
There is also a purple light district for transgender people and a blue light district for gay men.
Marijuana isn’t actually legal in Amsterdam. If you get it in a coffee shop, you are technically supposed to smoke or eat it there, and not around town on the streets. You can get a ticket for smoking weed in public outside. You ARE allowed to legally carry a certain amount of weed on you, but again, can’t sell or smoke it out and about. There are also no open container laws so you can’t drink out in public either. And no public urination. There are signs about all of this around the main tourist areas.
Each year they find about 15,000 (!!) bikes in the canals. There are two people who work for the city whose job is to fish them out throughout the year. About four cars a year too. The canals are about 3-4 meters deep, so people CAN drown in them if they fall in drunk.
Hope you enjoyed those fun facts. Our guide also pointed out the “Dancing Ladies” houses, the most expensive hotel in Amsterdam that takes up an entire block (the Waldorf Astoria), and also the longest straight canal in Amsterdam where if you look, you can see down all 8 aligned bridges. All of these are things I noticed the next day that I had of course passed a bunch, but now had the knowledge about.
After the tour, I walked back to the hotel, grabbed a sandwich, and called it a night while the sun was still out once again. I had another long, busy day and was still running on what seemed like a lot of fumes.
Day 3: I again started today with an early morning run, this time going in a different direction than yesterday. I went back to the waterfront so I could get some sunrise pictures with no boats and people and with the gorgeous reflections of the buildings on the Damrak waterfront. I finally realized the “Dancing Ladies” were right there this entire time. Facepalm. I made my way down and around the streets around the train station and then back toward the hotel. I passed the Waldorf Astoria hotel and the longest canal, all things that I had not realized were so close to me.
I showered and relaxed for a short time, then headed out to meet my tour group for the day. I had booked a day trip out to the countryside to see the tulips, some old dutch windmills and some clog making. The Netherlands are famous for their tulips in the spring so when I booked this trip, I knew I had to try to see them. It would be iffy if they were in full bloom, but I knew I had to take the risk. I met with my tour group, who were three couples from Canada and an older teacher from Virginia who was also traveling solo. Her and I quickly bonded over how unhappy we are with our jobs and the parallels of all the issues her school and mine have. To be in totally different states, in a city school vs. a suburban school, and to have such similar experiences this year is crazy. Educators everywhere are in the struggle so this was a much needed break for both of us.
Our first stop on the tour was the Keukenhof Gardens. It is a giant garden with all kinds of flowers, but especially tulips. While not fully in bloom, they were so so pretty to see and I am sure it’s even more gorgeous at full bloom. With all the rain last week and the unseasonably cold weather, we were still a bit early in tulip season, but I am super glad I went. We had two hours there and I covered the whole place in a little over an hour so then had time to roam around a bit more before we left and went to lunch. We got to choose from a couple of things from a pre-fixed menu and my food (tomato soup, veal croquettes, and a carpaccio sandwich) was absolutely delicious. Then we went off to our last stop to the village of Zaanse Schans to walk around and also see some fully functional old school windmills (and go up in one) and watch wooden clogs be made. Both things were very cool and it was nice to get outside the city for the day. I tried on some clogs and woof, they were uncomfy. I’ll stick to my crocs!
The ride back was pretty quick and when we arrived back in the city, the teacher and I decided we wanted to scope out the train station to see where we had to go for our trains out of Amsterdam the next day. We both had anxiety over not knowing where to go and what to do because the station is so huge. We walked together over there and thought we figured things out and both felt much better about our journeys ahead. We walked back to the main part of the city and then parted ways. I wandered around a bit, grabbed a burger, and then actually had the energy to stay up until sunset to go back outside and walk around a bit more to see it, finally!
My three days in Amsterdam were wonderful! And while so much of it looked familiar to me, so much was also new and I am now a much more experienced, comfortable, and confident traveler than I was that first time. Tomorrow is off to a new country and more adventures!
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