Way back in February Chris & I started talking about taking a trip to Europe (actually…it was more like August of 2007 but then he had to travel for work so it got delayed). Sunday March 2 our plane tickets were purchased! We were set to fly from Minneapolis to Amsterdam on Friday October 3. Yikes. What the heck was I supposed to do with myself for 7 months! Well, somehow I survived and during those 7 months we planned an amazing trip!!

Northwest Airlines flies direct from Minneapolis to Amsterdam and I think that is the main factor in why we decided to start our trip there. That and the fact that Chris had visited there before which meant we wouldn’t be starting out completely lost.

We landed in Amsterdam and found our B&B, Jordaan. We got the garden room and it was wonderful! Our host gave us some ideas of places to eat and sites to see and provided a yummy breakfast to our room each morning. I have decided that B&B is the way to go when traveling to an unfamiliar city. It is so nice to be informed about local restaurants and receive other tips before setting out into the city.

First stop…lunch. Of course I had to have an Amstel because we were in Amsterdam! Then we decided to walk around town so I could get a feel for the city.

Our walk led us to the Van Gogh Museum. This was something Chris said he wanted to do when we were planning our visit. The permanent collection is very impressive! We weren’t allowed to take pictures but they have images of each of his works on the website. I always enjoy seeing artwork in person that I’ve read about or seen in a book or on tv or a movie.

On Sunday we first went to the Anne Frank House…bright & early in the morning. We were glad to be there when we were because as we left there was a line out the door and around the building…with everyone standing in the rain! After that somber visit we walked some more and ended up at the Amsterdam Historical Museum and based on our hosts recommendation we went inside. There was a cool screen that showed how the city had grown and a weird one where the paintings were of anatomy lessons.

From there we walked to an outdoor market that is on the water. It happened to rain ALL day on Sunday so we were thankful for our rain jackets! The market sold flowers (although it’s not tulip season), tons of tulip bulbs and other touristy stuff but we managed to just look & not buy.

Chris & I shared some delicious Fries in the rain. I had heard all about how I had to have some fries w/mayo while we were there…I think we found the best ones! You get a cone of fries with the sauce all on top and then you eat it with a mini pitch fork. One weird thing about Europe…sauces cost extra! Even at McDonald’s…you have to pay for ketchup!

Ever since we had arrived in Amsterdam Chris had wanted to go to a Belgian Bar. I put my foot down and said “No Way! We’re going to be IN Belgium in 2 days.” Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to hold my ground…but fortunately we really enjoyed ourselves (and the beer) there.

The next day we got all packed up and headed back to Central Station to catch a train to Bruges! However, once we got there I saw a sign that led me to believe we might not actually make it to Belgium. Belgium rail strike! Boo.

Well, after we talked to a less than helpful person at the train station we decided to try to find a car to drive ourselves rather than take a bus that would only get us to Brussels. Amazingly we found an Avis…and I think I was speechless when I heard the total to get a car for one day, one way to Bruges. Ready for it? $600! That is not even including gas! Yikes. Needless to say we declined. Next it was off to the Bus station where we found out that all buses were full for the day so we made the difficult decision to buy tickets for the next morning and go try to find a hotel.

The strike was only one day long so it ended up that we used our rail tickets anyway and our extra day in Amsterdam was relaxing & enjoyable so I guess it turned out okay. I would have preferred to have the day in Bruges but since this was the worst thing that happened to us…I’ll take it. We enjoyed the nice day for a while and then found a bar to sit and play some cards before calling it an early night so we could get on the first train to Bruges.

For more photos of our time in Amsterdam, click here.

Other cities on our 2008 Amazing European Adventure include:
Bruges
Brussels
Munich
Vienna
Prague

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