Trip Recap Part 4- Amsterdam

Ok, I think it's about time to finish up this trip recap!  The last place we went was Amsterdam.  My review of Amsterdam is probably slightly unfair because by the time we got there, I think we were both tired of traveling and just ready to go home.  I always think it's best to leave a place wishing you had another day there than to be at the point where you can't wait to leave, and unfortunately with Amsterdam, I was at that point.

My first impression of Amsterdam was that it was so dirty! Ok, I know there are some bad areas of the town, but in general, I expected it to be a beautiful city with lots of canals and tulips.  Well, there were canals and tulips, but you had to watch you step for dog poop, vomit, or broken glass even in the trendier parts of town outside of the red light district. 

The first thing we did was go to the Van Gogh Museum.  We rented the headsets which I highly recommend.  It was very interesting to learn more about VG's life; they had the museum broken into regions where he was living, and explained what was going on in his life.  It told a story in a way, and you could see how much his work changed from the beginning of his career to the end.

Van Gogh Museum

We also walked through the Albert Cuyp market.  I love open air markets like this, they had vendors selling everything you could imagine; incense, panty hose, beach towels, cheeses, nuts, flowers... basically anything you could ever need and alot of things you should never need.

And then we went through the Bloemenmarkt- which was a great place to buy all kinds of bulbs and flowers.  John was a good sport and was very patient with me while I took lots of pictures here.

One of the most memorable parts of the trip was going to the Anne Frank house.  We purchased tickets online ahead of time so we avoided the long line- thanks to Rick Steves for that tip!.  The house and museum were both very powerful.  Quotations from the diary, historical documents, photographs, film images, and original objects that belonged to those in hiding illustrate the events that took place here.  Anne's original diary is also on display.   I could not take photographs inside, but did get the exterior.   

 

 

 

That about sums our time in Amsterdam!  We headed back through Brussels and left the following day.  We were 5 hours late getting home due to the volcanic ash, but that was minimal compared to some people's experiences with the volcano.  

On a completely different subject, I told John that I wanted to do a better job of us taking candid shots of each other.  I think they so much more fun and natural and I think we will enjoy having those snapshots that capture our life as it is happening instead of always posing for photos.  So anyway, we stopped at a cafe for some hot chocolate and I was putting eye drops in.  I thought it was so funny that John thought that would be a good time for some candid shots.. not exactly what I had in mind, but you have to start somewhere I suppose!