Erin: Day 4: Amsterdam, Netherlands Part II

Day four found us waking up to a beautiful morning in Amsterdam.  We had requested a late check out and we were going to use it!  Waking up to look at the skyline of Amsterdam was amazing…  It was the first time that it really hit me - I’m backpacking in Europe.  It seems like some moments feel surreal and like I’m just moving through the motions and then other moments are really profound.

After waking up, I had a shower and settled in to do some work.  I got in four to five hours of work and then started to pack up and prepare for the long day ahead.  Due to the duration of our bus trip from Amsterdam to Berlin (11.5 hours), we had the whole day ahead of us to sight-see and tour around Amsterdam some more.  This was great as there were a few things we still hadn’t seen that we wanted to.  After ordering a pot of coffee from room service and downing it, we packed up, dropped our bags off at the concierge desk and hoofed it into downtown.

When we walked into the city, we walked by a bike lot.  This is extremely common in Amsterdam as bike is their primary means of travel (until the snow flies that is!) and there are bike roads next to each regular road all over Amsterdam.  It’s very cool to see them cater to the bike drivers here.

The bike lots outside of Amsterdam’s city central.  These bike lots are everywhere!

We then walked past Centraal Station and past this gorgeous, Old Church where we peeked in the doors and took some photos of the outside.

A really old Church (Oude Kerk in Dutch) seems out of place between these houses.

After grabbing some nice shots, we headed for Anne Frank’s house as we both really wanted to see that.  Weaving through alleyways, we came across different parts of the Red Light District and of course, more tourists gaping at all of the “stuff” happening in this area.

The Red Light Bar and Coffee Shop in the Red Light District.

Before we went to Anne Frank’s house, we stopped at Sara’s Pancake House to enjoy a Dutch waffle (traditional).  We also walked through the Royal Palace place and grabbed some photos of the hundreds of pigeons that were surrounding the crowds… It was gross!

Pigeons outside of Amsterdam’s Royal Palace… So many… It was disgusting!

Amsterdam’s Royal Palace in the city center.

Traditional Dutch Waffle with whipped cream and strawberry sauce.

Finally making it to Anne Frank’s house, we got in the short line-up and made our way inside.  The tour through the house is so well put together.  There are artifacts, the house itself, videos and quotes… the entire thing just comes together in a very heart-wrenching way.  It was sad to learn more about her story and it’s weird to sit and watch it all and take it all in without becoming affected emotionally.

Anne Frank’s House - where she hid for two years during the Nazi’s rule.

After visiting Anne Frank’s house, we headed to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam that houses Rembrandt’s work.  We got to see the infamous “Night Watch” painting which was fabulous!!  The painting seems 3D and features a portrait in motion technique.  We looked around at other Rembrandt’s paintings and closed down the museum at 6pm!  It was funny - we were rushing through and the curators were laughing at us and telling us which paintings were an absolute must-see!

The Rijksmuseum that houses Rembrandt’s work including “The Night Watch”.

We then headed toward this museum / hotel / park and it took us forever… LOL  Who knew Amsterdam was so large!  We saw, along the way, where they brew Heineken beer and we also got to see the “softer” side of Amsterdam which was nice.

The location where they brew Heineken beer.

We got to our destination, snapped a few shots and started walking back to the hotel.  Once there, we had a nice dinner of some real tomato soup and some tortilla chips with guacamole (best guacamole ever!) and waited in the lobby until it was time to head to the bus station.

The night sky of Amsterdam.

We went to the station, super early so we headed to a cafe (or so we thought it was just a cafe), walked in and felt immediately out of place… We were carrying around backpacks and everyone in there was dressed to the nines.  So, we grabbed a spot out of sight at the bar and ordered two coffees.

Me, sitting in the cafe where we were definitely looking like backpackers!

After downing them, we headed back to the station around 11:00 PM and boarded our bus for the 11 hour bus ride to Berlin, Germany.

Technorati Tags: Erin Blaskie, Trina Lamarche, Europe, Europe travel, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Berlin, Germany, Eurolines, Rembrandt, Rijksmuseum, Red Light District