Josh and I are so excited to make our first blog post about our journey! We will be trading off the duty of writing the posts.
Let's begin at the beginning! Our first flight left Pittsburgh at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, September 1st. While waiting for our flight we started talking to another man waiting as well and we discovered that he was the inventor of the popular music education program SmartMusic! We will absolutely be using this program when we have our own music programs, so this was a really exciting moment for us music nerds!
Josh and I with the inventor of SmartMusic, Dr. Robert Dannenberg
The flight from the Burgh to Philly was rather short, only about 40 minutes. The flight from Philly to London was about 6 and a half hours, but the plane was so beautiful that we both wouldn't have minded if it were longer! We were on an amazing new aircraft from British Airways and were lucky enough to be seated in the very back of the plane where there were only two seats. We felt like we had VIP seating alone!
The sick display with a pop-out remote. We were able to chat back and forth on our screens using the keypads in the backsides of the remotes. There were so many movies to choose from and in the end we watched the Amazing Spiderman 2.
Our VIP seats at where no one else could bother us!
For our last flight of the trip we boarded a small British Airways puddle jumper and arrived in around 45 minutes. Luckily, we both received our luggage rather quickly and we were off! As you can imagine, we were absolutely exhausted by this point. We were running on about 4 hours of sleep each, so instead of figuring out the tram schedule for how to get to our hostel we decided to take the blow of a cab ride. Twenty minutes and €47 later, we had reached hostel Orfeo. Yes, we know we got totally hosed, but live and learn!
The iconic "I Amsterdam" sign at Schiphol International Airport. There is another one located near the Rijksmuseum in the city.
Staying in a hostel has been an interesting experience. We've found that the other guests have been extremely respectful of our space and sleep schedules. Since we're both feeling the effects of jet lag mixed with little sleep, we've been hitting the hay rather early, whereas the other 20-something guests stay up far later. They whisper so we're able to fall asleep. We have really appreciated that!
To start off our city exploring, we ate at a cute little cafe with outdoor seating for dinner. We were fortunate enough to find a seat right at the edge of the canal. It was quite the beautiful scenery for our simple dinner of fish and chips with, of course, Heineken. You can't escape Heineken in this city!
We were having a hard time finding our bearings, so we decided to just wander the city and go from there. Now at the end of day two we barely need a map! Anyone who knows us knows that this is certainly due to Josh's sense of direction and not mine! 😁
As we were exploring this incredible city we happened to stumble upon a Tesla store! If Josh didn't already decide he had liked Amsterdam then this definitely sealed the deal. The store was closed, but we were able to go in on day 2 and speak to the Tesla Specialist.
Almost immediately after discovering the Tesla store we came upon the Anne Frank house. It was about 8:15 and the museum closes at 9:00, but we decided to go in anyways. We are so glad we did! There were very few people inside with us, so we made it through the whole museum and walked out one minute before closing. It was such an amazing yet somber experience.
To conclude day 1, we chose to utilize the incredible Rick Steves' Amsterdam book we purchased and go on a self-guided walking tour from the Jordaan to Dam Square, the "Times Square of Amsterdam", as Rick describes it. It was a great way to see the city for free and filled with information. His book includes maps showing the exact route you should follow for his tours and there are paragraphs of information for all of the major sights you will pass. We would highly recommend the Rick Steves' pocket guides! It has been our BEST FRIEND in Amsterdam!
Kicking off day 2, we enjoyed the hostel's underwhelming breakfast consisting of just bread, peanut butter, and strawberry jelly. European coffee is incredibly strong and we were lucky enough to find a Starbucks one street over from where we're staying so we picked up two Americanized coffees.
We went to the Van Gogh museum next and were absolutely floored! Neither of us would identify ourselves as big Van Gogh fans, but the museum was set up in chronological order with in-depth descriptions only on the more significant paintings and with information on his life and works at the points where his style and life took a big turn. This made the museum very friendly to even uneducated art folks such as us.
Photos of the paintings were prohibited, but we did snap this shot of a large reproduction.
Next, we made the short trek to the Rijksmuseum. It is a huge museum housing works from the finest Dutch artists in history. With both of my parents being painters, we knew several of the names such as Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Hals.
A beautiful cabinet with inlaid wood
The Gallery of Honor in the Rijksmuseum
Vermeer's "The Milkmaid"
Vermeer's "Woman Reading a Letter"
Rembrandt's "The Night Watch"
After making our way through two museums we were starving! We decided to try something completely different and walk into a restaurant that was completely unfamiliar. We chose the restaurant, "Crystal" that boasted about their halal food and we ordered some shoarma. Maybe we should have known what these things meant, but we didn't! We later discovered that halal food is Muslim food and shoarma is any meat cooked on a spit. Let me tell you, it was AMAZING! Our beef shoarma was served in a bowl with french fries, lettuce, and other vegetables, making it like a really delicious salad.
Next we made our way to Vondelpark (with another round of Starbucks in hand - yay jet lag!), where we sat and admired the ducks floating on the pond and the many bicyclists zooming past. We were told today that there are around 600,000 bicycles in Amsterdam - and it shows! We've lost count of how many times we've both almost been run over by a bicyclist.
A bridge in Vondelpark
Relaxing in the brilliant sunshine!
After Vondelpark, we made our way to the Apple store. It was truly a stunning building. In Europe they use existing structures for Apple stores giving them more charm and character than our stark modern stores in the States. I'm sure this comes as no surprise, but Josh was in heaven.
Since we went to the Apple store to appease Josh, it was my turn to choose the next sight. I chose an incredible Nutella bakery! We ordered a Nutella crêpe with fresh strawberries and powdered sugar. It was indescribably delicious! We were certainly be making our own Nutella and strawberry crêpes in the future.
We once again pulled out the incredible Rick Steves' pocket guide to Amsterdam to navigate our way through the Red Light District. As expected, it was sleazy, yet it was also fairly underwhelming. We went around 8:00, so maybe the true "fun" hadn't begun yet. We were perfectly okay with that! The sights and distinct smell in the Red Light District are unlike anything we've ever experienced before, making it a truly unique and interesting experience. Although it wasn't exactly our thing we enjoyed seeing such a historic area.
The only church left in the Red Light District. Attached to the back is a home for the elderly. The carillon, played by Amsterdam's three official carillonneurs, can be heard as you are walking through the streets of the Red Light District. Ironic, eh?
To end our fun-filled day we went on a wonderful nighttime cruise of the canal. The cruise was about an hour and a half long and offered a headphone guide in many different languages. This cruise was so much fun! It offered a great new perspective and gliding under the adorably lit bridges surrounded by the opulent canal houses and boat houses was breathtaking. Unfortunately, none of our pictures turned out great because of the fact that we were constantly moving.
Waiting for the canal tour to begin
Smile pretty 😄
We've taken so many pictures already! Here are a few more of this modern, yet wonderfully classical city.
The Royal Palace (that was never actually used by royalty)
We love you all. Take care!
Mariah and Josh
So amazing guys! Miss and love you! Be safe :)
ReplyDeleteAmazing pics!! Be safe and love you both!!
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