Some people chose to arrive early before the start of the tour, some decide to stay a few days after the tour, and a lucky few did both. Since neither David nor I had been to Europe, or traveled over that many time zones, we decided to arrive in the Netherlands, and stay in the heart of Amsterdam for two days before the trip began.
Arriving in Amsterdam: Our flight arrived around 11am. We researched beforehand and decided to jump right in and take the train from the Schiphol airport to Amsterdam. In terms of language barriers, The Netherlands was definitely a great place to start, with almost everyone speaking English very well. We bought a train ticket from a teller, and took the train straight to Amsterdam. We both would highly recommend taking the train (even if it's a little scary on your own) to see the beautiful countryside and get a feel for the outlying areas around Amsterdam.
Arriving in Amsterdam: Our flight arrived around 11am. We researched beforehand and decided to jump right in and take the train from the Schiphol airport to Amsterdam. In terms of language barriers, The Netherlands was definitely a great place to start, with almost everyone speaking English very well. We bought a train ticket from a teller, and took the train straight to Amsterdam. We both would highly recommend taking the train (even if it's a little scary on your own) to see the beautiful countryside and get a feel for the outlying areas around Amsterdam.
Pre-Tour Arrival Day: Once we arrived in Amsterdam, we wandered around until we found somewhere to grab a bite to eat and then walked around even more. Now, before you devote too much more time in this blog, let me warn you two things: 1) I enjoy vacations for the history and sights, but even more for the possibility of photo shoots, which leads to 2) I regularly ask (read: make) David to be my subject, ranging from making him pose with statues to trying to place him in inconspicuous spots in the photograph. So as you browse, keep an eye out for him!
Digression over...let's get back to Amsterdam! We always made sure to have a copy of a city map with us, as well as the hotel circled on it so we could find out way back to home base. Amsterdam is definitely a city where a map is helpful, but using your own set of directions and identifying landmarks is even more helpful. After a short power nap (oh, how jet-lag is a real thing), we walked through the trendy, upscale Jordaan district. The roads here seemed a little wider with fewer tourists and more sidewalk seating for pubs and restaurants. This is one place we wished we spent more time, to allow us to take in the culture and our surroundings.
Digression over...let's get back to Amsterdam! We always made sure to have a copy of a city map with us, as well as the hotel circled on it so we could find out way back to home base. Amsterdam is definitely a city where a map is helpful, but using your own set of directions and identifying landmarks is even more helpful. After a short power nap (oh, how jet-lag is a real thing), we walked through the trendy, upscale Jordaan district. The roads here seemed a little wider with fewer tourists and more sidewalk seating for pubs and restaurants. This is one place we wished we spent more time, to allow us to take in the culture and our surroundings.
Pre-Tour Day 2: Operation find an umbrella commenced immediately upon our departure from the hotel. Word of advice, if you don't have a hood, definitely bring an umbrella. Our first stop was the Hortus Botanicus (Amsterdam botanical gardens) which had a variety of beautiful flowers and plants, in addition to a butterfly greenhouse. Even though the sky was grey with endless drizzles all morning, this was one of our favorite stops in Amsterdam. The luscious trees provided a canopy of protection from the rain and the wind, and because of the weather, we rarely saw any other people.
We planned our route back to our hotel through the Red Light District. Let's not sidestep this topic, almost everyone who knows we visited Amsterdam asks about the Red Light District--it's a hushed question that is laced with curiosity, wonder, and maybe judgment for some. Similarly, we were not without our preconceived notions of what we were going to encounter around.
We planned our route back to our hotel through the Red Light District. Let's not sidestep this topic, almost everyone who knows we visited Amsterdam asks about the Red Light District--it's a hushed question that is laced with curiosity, wonder, and maybe judgment for some. Similarly, we were not without our preconceived notions of what we were going to encounter around.
Within the red-lined windows the women were (relatively) clothed in lingerie and often could be seen texting or playing games on their phones. The storefronts varied from coffee shops (not the Starbucks kind...) to adult-only stores to cafes (with the Starbucks kinds of coffee). The Red Light District was just more quaint, canal lined streets, and during the day you're more likely to get hit by a bike or run into an occasional gawking tourist than see anything overly salacious in the red-lined windows.
Throughout Amsterdam, the restaurants are abundant, with many grab and go options. After passing at least a dozen pastry shops, we gave in and got the delicious whip-cream topped strawberry shortcake type pastry. It was a perfect ending to our last full day in Amsterdam.