I started writing this post at the coffee shop the other day so this post is coming to you on the wings of the caffeine. I feel it’s important to warn you of that up front!
I’ve been out of commission for a couple of weeks now and as I sit here trying to recount those long weeks, I discovered that writing is a lot like running. They say it only takes two weeks to lose your fitness and boy was that true yesterday when I ran crawled through a six mile run. Apparently it must only take two weeks to lose your writing mojo too because I can’t seem to find it.
Hence the coffee shop. A change of scenery does the mind good. George Harrison doesn’t hurt either.
These past couple of weeks were a bit of a whirlwind, four cities, three countries, planes, trains, automobiles. I do have faith in you, my loyal readers, but I can pretty much guarantee that you won’t sit there and read a five thousand word post about it. Okay mom, you probably would. But it sounds a little too much like schoolwork (“class, I want you to write a theme”) even if it is littered with pictures. So the weeks will be split up in separate posts, probably according to city. Chronological probably makes the most sense but I think I want to keep Madrid for last. So that brings us to….
Amsterdam. The land of sex, drugs and stroopwafels.
We landed and made our way to the Swissôtel, where we were treated to the penthouse! Okay not really, but it was the top floor with a pretty incredible vaulted ceiling and exposed beams. Plus a beautiful view of Dam Square. The fact that we didn’t get any pictures of it actually makes me a little sad. Anyway we decided to take a walk around to get the lay of the land.
Side note: Did you know that the Dutch love their cheese? I didn’t, but I sure as heck do now. I’m pretty sure we made a meal out of cheese samples. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. We even ran away together to run our own cheese farm…
…but the cow only spoke Dutch so logistically that was just a nightmare.
Anyway with local food cheese in our bellies, we had to sample some of the local beverages as well. For strictly cultural experiences of course. So we started with a couple of beers…
And then we moved on to jenever, the national liquor of the Netherlands. It is juniper-flavored and is actually quite good on its own. It is served in a tulip-shaped glass (of course) which is filled to the brim and placed on the bar. The drinker then bends over to sip a little bit off of the top before picking it up.
Fun fact: we had the hardest time getting into this place. By which I mean, we literally had the hardest time of getting in the door. I swear there were people inside but the door didn’t open. Anyway, we eventually made it in and took turns snapping pictures in the nook while sipping away on our drinks.
The next day started with a beautiful walk around the city…
…in the snow.
In actuality, it only snowed for a little bit and then it stopped. In fact a lot of the pictures above were taken after the snow. But did it really have to snow first thing in the morning? My poor toes were all wet!
All was well when we were rewarded with Dutch pancakes in the Upstairs Pancake House. It’s this tiny little place with 4 tables and about 800 teapots. That’s only slightly exaggerated. There was one with red polka dots which I picked out as my favorite. The pancakes were delicious. We split a ham and cheese one and a regular old “plain” one (which is anything but plain, just check out that dollop of buttery creamy goodness).
From there we went to this tiny little town of Muiden…to see Muiderslot. It was mostly geared toward children with all sorts of interactive activities which led to many a rowdy child. But we were able to try on suits of armor and dress in old times garb. We even got up close and personal with an owl!
The fairy tale came to end when we remembered that we are not actually royalty. So…how do we get out of here? The wifi wasn’t working at the castle and nowhere in the town seemed to offer free wifi (or lights, oddly enough). We finally wandered into a very dark Italian restaurant so that they could call us a cab and we learned that the whole city was out of power. I’m still not really sure if that’s a regular occurrence or not. There were varying broken-English accounts of the incident, some of which made it sound like it was normal not to have power before five. But I guess we will never know for sure.
Regardless, we escaped to a well-powered civilization and had, what else, beers. But these weren’t any beers. They were beers in a windmill. Okay, technically beers beside a windmill, but I don’t think that makes it any less impressive. The atmosphere was homey so we stayed to sample quite a few. All in the interests of learning, don’t forget. Plus another jenever or two…this time with flavor. Future reference: the chocolate cherry tastes like cough syrup. Super disappointing.
The next day we were off to Munich. And because it was so much cheaper, we went through Eindhoven. So we walked around Amsterdam for one final farewell, which included a yummy, yummy, yummy cookie. This bakery makes only one cookie and, let me tell you, they make it well.
Then we went to Eindhoven. What is there to do in Eindhoven? Well shopping, for one. And eating at the automat. Actually eating at the automat is popular all over Amsterdam. We had an entire meal of sausages, croquettes, hamburgers for less than five euros. That is the reason for my excitement. For the record, there was no alcohol involved in the making of that photo.
From there we took a walk around, saw the shops and the church, and had some coffee. Then it was off to the airport, bound for Munich!
Join me next time for castles in wonderland! Okay, Munich. Same thing.
