Charmed by Amsterdam

I never really cared to visit Amsterdam, or at least, it wasn’t on the top of my travel bucket list. So when my husband, friends, and I traveled to Germany for a wedding, we collectively decided to travel via high speed train from Paris, and we would visit a few other cities while we were in Europe. Our friend Barry really wanted to see Amsterdam, and we stayed two nights in the heart of this charming port city.

Not having ever visited Amsterdam before, we played it safe by booking a Marriott hotel in the center of the city. If you’re a friend or have read my blog for a while, you’ll know I’m a huge Marriott loyalist, and I appreciate the consistency of their properties worldwide. I think the best decision was staying at Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel, which is located within a couple minutes walk from the train station and so many attractions nearby! We were able to walk around central Amsterdam and go back to the hotel for happy hour on the club level, or for our jackets when the sun went down.

When I first visit a city, I like to schedule a walking tour or “best of” tour on the first day to get an overview of what we want to see during our stay. In Amsterdam, we explored the central Canal Ring via boat while drinking wine and tasting local danish cheese. This was a perfect introduction to Amsterdam and allowed us a preview of what we’d explore on our own in the next day and a half.

And boy, did we explore! I loved the 17th century canal rings, the old architecture, the people watching, the sounds, the bikes, the hidden restaurants, cats that walk in pubs and take naps on tables, and the leisure atmosphere of the city. There was beauty around every corner!

Our favorite find was in the Red Light District. A gorgeous old building with red doors (my favorite) caught my attention, and as we rounded on the other side of the building, discovered it was a very nice restaurant, Restaurant-Café In de Waag, build in the 1400s as a city gate.

I was both fascinated and appalled by the infamous tourist attractions in Amsterdam and can honestly say the only thing I did that I’m ashamed of was eat my weight in french fries (which are actually Belgian in origin). Fry shops were everywhere, and I even enjoyed them as locals do…with mayonnaise.

Also fascinating and a complete culture shock were all the bikes! I’ve never seen so many bikes in one place in my entire life. American zombies glued to their phone screens would surely be hit by them zooming in and out of sidewalks, canals bridges, and roads. I had to be especially careful of them during my morning run through the streets (read I’ve Run Everywhere, Man: Vacation Running here)!

I was surprisingly and hopelessly charmed by Amsterdam and so glad Barry suggested we visit for a couple days while in Europe for a wedding. I loved every minute of our stay there.

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