Even with leaving the Oktoberfest party early (around 10:30) we were still pretty tired waking up at 5:45the next morning to get on the road to Amsterdam to pick up Kelly and Austin from the airport. I could hardly contain my excitement! We met them at Schiphol Airport and then drove into the city to get the car parked and start our sightseeing. First thing we all needed some breakfast (including a strong coffee for each of us). I had this amazing chocolate croissant (think chocolate inside and drizzled on top).. it was almost too chocolaty- almost.
On the way to our first stop we walked through Dam Square – where Morgan couldn’t resist a stop in the Old Amsterdam Cheese store and Kelly and Austin grabbed a picture in a big wooden shoe. Doesn’t get much more Dutch than that, does it? J Even with getting to the Anne Frank house first thing, we still had to wait in line for about 45 minutes. It was so interesting to see the actual rooms where Anne (along with her parents, sister, and four family friends) hid for over two years. The visit was totally heartbreaking and I don’t think anyone gets out of there with dry eyes, but it was definitely worth it.
By the time we got out of the museum we were pretty hungry so we headed to the other side of Prinsengracht canal and grabbed lunch sitting outside in the sun (even though it was a little cool with the wind). After lunch we headed back towards Dam Square to go on a tour of the Koninklijk Paleis (the Royal Palace) which actually was originally the Town Hall and was converted to a Palace by Louis Napoleon (Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother) who became the King of Holland in 1806. The Citizens Hall – the main room at the center of the Palace – was really impressive. On the floor there are two huge maps of the world (Western and Eastern hemispheres) and on the ceiling there is a huge mural. One of the last rooms you tour is the Proclamation Gallery, which is where people used to wait to be sentenced for crimes they had committed (the execution chamber was right next door…).
We got to see the outside of De Nieuwe Kerk, but couldn’t go inside because it was closed while they were setting up for a new exhibit. Next we headed towards the train station (where we warmed up with some gigantic cups of hot chocolate) before checking out St. Nicholas (I was only able to sneak one picture since mass was going on). It was late afternoon by the time we left the church so we went and grabbed our bags from the car and rolled our way to our hotel Hotel Nes. The hotel was in a great location and was able to provide us with a room that sleeps four (pretty unheard over here) and my only complaint is that the lobby/halls smelled like pot (it is legal here). Though, I’ve been told it is like that in most hotels in Amsterdam, so guess I can’t complain too much!
We walked down Kloveniersburgwal towards Nieuw Markt and ate dinner at Poco Loco where we had the best nachos I’ve ever had in my whole life (I think we’d all agree on that!). After grabbing drinks at a bar next door we headed back to the hotel before toooo late.. by this point we were all pretty exhausted. Poor Kelly and Austin had been up for like 40 hours and were such troopers running around Amsterdam all day with us!
