Amsterdam

I finally got to Amsterdam and quite a city it is!! I got there Saturday morning a little late because KLM canceled my flight so we took off 2 hours later than planned. All was not lost however as we got into the city around 2:00. After checking into the hotel we were off to see the city. When we got there we walked to the Heineken Brewery but the line was over a block long so we decided to check out the Van Gogh museum instead. On the way over there, all the sudden we were walking in the middle of this senior citizen's tour group which was quite funny. All the sudden this old lady starts chatting it up with us and told us "Yes, you can just be a part of our group." At that point we decided it would be best to take off my 'I Heart Granny Time' t-shirt.

Van Gogh Museum: One word. Crowded. There were so many people there and no real structure as to how you should navigate the 3+ floors. Other highlights included some dude who got stopped by a rent-a-cop because he was trying to smoke a cigarette in the museum. Hilarious.

After the Van Gogh we headed to Vondel Park to check out this little cafe located in the center of the grounds for a beer (Cost of 3 beers - Schix Schixty, ja?). After a few beers at this place, it was time to find a place to have some dinner. This is when things begin to get complicated. First of all, all of the street names in Amsterdam all look the same and the city is built in a semi-circle that so many of the streets just wind around town. Add to that the canals that lead to quite a few dead ends and a few run ins when we were looking at the map in the bike lane (definite no no). We wound up having dinner at an Italian restaurant properly named Italians Restaurant P.D. The owner ended up sitting down and talking to us towards the end of our meal and we didn't leave the place for over 3 hours. The food was actually pretty decent and he wound up giving us a free appetizer and dessert.

Sunday I got up early thinking we could get to Heineken before the line got too long. The guide book said that it opened at 10:00...well there wasn't a line when we got there and we also discovered the place didn't open until 11:00! So much for the trusty Eyewitness Guide. Given that I had made reservations for a guided bike and boat tour of the city, we decided to bail on Heineken and head towards the Rijksmuseum to meet up with the tour guide.

The bike tour consisted of a 3 hour ride through the city followed by an hour boat ride where they passed out a couple of free beers (well they were included in the price of the tour, but I digress). The weather cleared up nicely around 1PM, so it was a nice afternoon to explore the city on a bike. The boat ride was pretty cool and gave you a different perspective of what Amsterdam is like. We were able to get a close look at the many boathouses that line the many canals of the city. After ending the tour, we walked around until we found ourselves in a outdoor market/square area and decided to grab dinner in an Indonesian restaurant. The food was really good and the staff were incredibly friendly. I cannot remember the name of it, but it is highly recommended and was a nice welcome change to the usual crap that you find in London.

Overall a good 48 hours in what is now one of my favorite cities.