My favorite part about visiting cities on vacation? Starbucks. I usually brew at home, but I enjoy the Starbucks experience and there are none locally. I was very happy Thursday morning to grab Starbucks and get on a train to Amsterdam. The train ticket was very reasonably priced. Cheaper than our train to Nürnberg, and about the same amount of time. When I arrived in Amsterdam, I went to the tourist office and got the Iamsterdam city card. I don't usually do things like that, but I was only planning on spending one day in Amsterdam and the museum ticket prices individually were very expensive. Most were about 10 euros minimum. The 24hr card was 42 euro and it also included a canal boat tour and unlimited use of the city public transportation. The canal boat tour was a bit lengthy but very informative if you are interested in the history of the city. My next stop was the Amsterdam Museum. This museum was very modern and appealing but there was way too much information. It would be good if you had many days in Amsterdam and had at least half a day to commit to it. The city of Amsterdam is very crowded, think Times Square crowds, but everywhere you go. I found my way on the tram to the modern art museum, Stedelijk (I have no idea how to say that). This museum was huge but I made my way through it, and then headed over the Van Gogh museum which was right next door. There was a fairly large line at the Van Gogh museum, but the city card allowed me to get on a shorter line, and I was inside within 15 minutes. The museum was very crowded and hard to enjoy. Perhaps this is something to do first thing in the morning. They had a lot of great pieces of Van Gogh's work, and a good audio guide to go along. I needed a little break from museums, so I found a small flea market I had seen from the canal tour. Mostly tourist things, and there was also a plant market. Lots of tulip bulbs being sold, but I knew I would not be able to keep it alive so I didn't even bother. Instead, I purchased some painted wooden carved tulips. Next I was off to the Rembrandt house which was very interesting. After this, I tried to go to the Jewish history museum which was close by but they closed early at 5 pm. After picking up a few more souvenirs, I was quite exhausted and worn out from the museum spree so I headed back to Utrecht. Amsterdam is a great city to visit and is very unique, so I highly recommend visiting. There is lots to see and do, and lots of shopping.
The canal tours
The pole sticking out at the top of the houses is a hoisting bar. The staircases are too windy and narrow so every house, even modern ones have a hoisting bar to move large furniture.
Loved the old crooked buildings
Tulips!
Van Gogh
Although very different, I see the influence the Dutch had on NYC architecture
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