Party in Amsterdam

After a peaceful and beautiful train ride through France and Belgium, we arrived at Amsterdam Centraal Station around mid-day. We checked into our hotel and had a delicious lunch at a cafe on Museumplein, seeing preparations already underway around the city for Queen's Day (April 30), the biggest national holiday in the Netherlands to celebrate the Queen's birthday. Originally our plan was to hit the Van Gogh museum after lunch, but my travel partner said she was tired and would prefer to do the Heineken museum.

I like the Heineken museum. First, because they give you two beers as part of your tour, and second, they've done a great job incorporating multimedia elements to bring the beer brewing process to life. We enjoyed it.

The next day we went out of the city to Keukenhof Gardens, known for its beautiful tulips. I had first heard of Keukenhof nearly a year before, and when we planned our trip for April, I knew the tulips would be in full bloom. They did not disappoint. Tulips in every color were a feast for the eyes. I couldn't stop taking pictures! They were so beautiful.




Then we went to the Anne Frank Museum -- amazing and moving -- and took a canal cruise. And that night was the eve before Queen's Day. Festivities were already underway, and we enjoyed the music and laughter on the Leidesplein. And I had fun dancing with this adorable guy.



The next day was Queen's Day, and everyone was wearing orange. It was amazing how many people were in the streets. There were street fairs and carnival booths and concerts. Everywhere you went there were crowds and a party. To escape that for a bit, we toured the Van Gogh museum, always amazing, although I missed Starry Night this time. It must have been out on loan to another museum. We didn't really engage in Queen's Day. NM really didn't like the crowds, and we were both tired from all the activities we'd been packing into each day. But we did see entrepreneurial kids -- not selling lemonade -- selling Heineken! I had to take a picture.


And the next morning we flew to London for a one-day stopover.

New Year's Eve in Amsterdam

Back at work, everyone asked with raised eyebrows if I had fun in Amsterdam, thinking I engaged in scandalous or illegal activities. I did have fun, but I didn't go to Amsterdam because of the Red Light District or the prevalence of marijuana.

I arrived on New Year's Eve in the late afternoon, and Green-Eyed Dutchman (GED) met me and took me to the apartment that he's currently renting from a friend. It's a great place right on one of the canals, and I really enjoyed the view, watching the canal freeze over just about every day and the ducks and seagulls swimming in the cold water until they got to the edge of the ice and started walking. After a long night/day of travelling, I took a shower and put on fresh clothes and enjoyed my first home-cooked meal by GED. He's of Indonesian descent, and that night he made me an Indonesian chicken dish with vegetables over noodles. I was very impressed. It was delicious!

The trams stopped running around 7 or 8 that night, so we just walked into town to enjoy the festivities. It was about a 20 minute walk to the main center of town. We walked passed Dam Square, which I recognized from my previous trip and from our trek to his apartment earlier from Centraal Station, and GED looked around and asked aloud (to himself) which direction was Centraal Station? I immediately pointed which way it was, and he looked surprised. I have a very good sense of direction and my confidence convinced him to trust me. Although GED is Dutch, he's not from Amsterdam, and since moving there three months ago has spent most of that time on business trips out of the country. He hasn't had much time to get acquainted with the city, but I still teased him that an American was giving him directions.

The Dutch celebrate New Year's with lots of fireworks. Everyone seemed to be setting them off all around us. I squealed and jumped several times on our walk. Passing through the Red Light District, we made it to Nieuwmarkt Square and got a couple beers. We stood outside along with people from many other countries and watched as the fireworks increased up to midnight. Here, see for yourself:





And the rest will be in another post...