Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Bike Hotel, they are really enthusiastic about bikes here...



Karin's boat




Karin, Our captain, friend, and hostess



Denton, the First Mate



2nd Mate, Marisa

 

The Coat of Arms for a building in Amsterdam, as well as the country's seal

 

Karin, our picnic super hero!



 

Our picnic spread- fresh hummus, bread, dates, cheese, and wine. VERY Delicious!

Denton, admiring the canals



Typical Amsterdam buildings, boats, and canal



Marisa's turn...





Amsterdam loves its bikes! There are more bikes than people in the Netherlands

We arrived late in Amsterdam by bus from Paris and headed straight for Camp Zeeburg just outside of town. We stayed in a small cabin for three nights here, and it was hands down the nicest campground either of us had ever stayed at. Unfortunately, it rained for most of our first two days here and severely dampened our sightseeing. We had to leave a walking tour early twice due to us getting soaked and not being able to hear the guide from under our umbrella. Still we were able to see Dam Square, the old town, Redlight district, visit a ‘coffeeshop’, and learn a bit of the history of Amsterdam.

Our third evening we met Marisa’s friend Karin at her apartment for a lovely home cooked meal. Marisa met Karin through couchsurfing a few years back when she traveled through Europe alone. Karin was a great host, tons of fun, and invited us to stay at her apartment near the center the next two nights. She gave us a set of keys to let ourselves in the next morning since she would be gone all day and we said goodnight. However, the next day when we returned with all our stuff we discovered the keys did not work! We were locked out for at least 30 minutes before a neighbor across the street noticed us struggling with the door and came to help but to no avail. Eventually we got in by buzzing all of Karin’s neighbors and one opened the door. We were so excited when we heard the door click open that we quickly grabbed our stuff, except for Marisa’s brand new camera full of photos, and rushed inside. It wasn’t until the next day that we realized we did not have the camera, and just as we were starting to think we’d never see it again we bumped into the neighbor from across the street that had found it and recognized us in the photos. After this, we were so relieved that Dutch people are so honest, friendly, generous, and all speak English as a second language! 

The sun finally came out for our final day in Amsterdam. Karin gave us a real treat and took us on a private canal tour with her own boat! Many people agree the canal is the best place to see Amsterdam and we now definitely agree. There is something truly peaceful about seeing those old buildings, bridges, houseboats, and trees from right in the middle of the canals. It’s a completely different perspective from the streets and alleys of this famous city. After our boat tour, Karin wasn’t done being the perfect hostess; we visited three different stores to find all the ingredients to the perfect picnic to be enjoyed in a nearby park.  Fresh hummus, baba ganoush, bread, meats, cheeses, fruit, Belgian beer, and local wine were enjoyed on our last day in this lovely old city.  We started to get the feeling that our trip to Amsterdam was way too short as we boarded a late night bus to Berlin.