Jed & I got up and out early to make a grocery store trip while Eric & Audrey got ready. We figured it would be pretty quick and easy. It took a a lot longer to find the type of grocery store we were looking for. After a quick stop at a random hotel to ask for directions, we put us on the right path. We loved our time walking around the city first thing in the morning and to kind of feel like a local shopping a the local grocery store.
Once we made it back to our house, we were all ready to set off to explore for the day. Our first stop was a breakfast/strooplwafel place called, Lanskroon.
You knew the place was going to be good when there was already a small line to get in even before the place opened! And it did not disappoint. It was great. Now we were ready to head to the Bloemenmarkt (Floating Tulip Market). I LOVE tulips and we were super bummed that we were about 2 weeks too late for their harvest season. But I was sure the Tulip Market won't disappoint.
It was much smaller then we expected but there were tons of beautiful tulips and tulip buds that I have never seen before. If only I had a green thumb I would send some back. We had a fantastic time walking around and even ran into a friend from back home!!
After our time exploring and buying tulip merchandise, we went to check out the Tuschinski Theatre lobby. This is a beautiful history lobby that was really impressive to just see. We were there as a tour or a show was about to start so we didn't stay long but long enough to take it all in.
The rest of the morning, we systematically found picturesque bridges and canals all over the city. A few of the places we found were Groenburgwal, Blauwbrug Bridge, and the Amstel River Magere Brug.
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| Groenburgwal |
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| Blauwbrug |
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| Magere Brug |
I can not say it enough, we just feel in love with the vibe of the city. It is beautiful. It just felt some how magically. Just.loved.it. The other thing that we loved about the city were the buildings. You felt like you were walking through a Dr. Suess town with all the shapes, designs and colors that we saw all around.
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| This city just gets me |
This place was a great tiny lunch place that felt like you were with locals and tourists. It was a great choice for lunch.
After lunch, we headed towards the IAMSTERDAM Sign on Museumplein. Much to no one's surprise, there were a million people there climbing all over the letters. We stayed around, checked out the gift shop, took a few pictures and then had to stay good bye to Kevin so he could catch his flight home.
Before we knew it, it was time for us to head to our Red Light District Tour. I know what you must be thinking when you read that but it so different then you would expect. We really wanted to take this opportunity to learn and understand this culture so we found PIC (Prostitution Information Center). This organization was created to help and inform. We spent an hour or so learning the history of how it got here, the rules, laws and protection that has been put in place for everyone. This was an experience I was so thankful to have and I would highly recommend this to anyone over 18.
After our tour, we had lots to talk about, think about and just process after thinking of things in such a different way so we headed to a place where we had space, views, drinks and time to continue our conversations, the Amsterdam Double Tree Rooftop Bar & Restaurant.
Time started to move quickly and before we knew it we were roaming to find dinner at Rakang Thai.
After dinner, Eric & Audrey headed back to the house and Jed and I headed back out to walk through the city in the evening. We walked back down to the Red Light District which had changed drastically from when we were there in the early evening. At night, it turned into almost like a Bourbon Street. This is the place to go for Bachelor and Bachelorette Parties or for a crazy night of drinking, smoking and other extra curricular activities. This place was the place to be for lots of excitement. It was fascinating to walk around and people watch. We were honestly shocked we didn't see anyone end up in the canal.
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| Red Light District during the day |
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| Red Light District during the day |
It was a great day exploring the city and we were excited for all that we had planned for the next few days we were going to be in the city.
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