I woke up bright and early to head out to find us some breakfast. The night before I looked up potential spots and found a cookie shop that had some promise. I marked it on my map and went to bed. After getting dressed, I set out for something to eat. I made my way towards the cookie shop, confident that I had the route memorized. I decided to take a short cut and that was a huge mistake. I got lost. I pretty much overshot the cookie shop by 3-4 blocks. I eventually found it and it was closed! I should have known. Every other city we had been in doesn't start early in the morning, so why should Amsterdam be any different!
I had passed a few other options while getting lost including a McDonald's. I resisted the urge to get some yummy bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit and stopped at a bakery where I ordered croissant (of course), cafe au lait, and a ham and cheese croissant for the hubster. I brought it back and started the slow process of waking up the hubster.
We ate and got ready and walked to the meeting point with our bike tour.
We choose:
There are some bigger companies in Amsterdam that offered bike tours, but I like their website and logo. The reviews on Trip Advisor weren't bad either. I also wanted to get a local's view of Amsterdam. I am very happy with my choice. We met our tour guide, Thijs, on time. It turns out our group tour would be a private tour! We took a 5 minute walk and picked up our bikes.
The hubster. He looks WIDE AWAKE!
How could I resist?
Next stop was a secret church. Basically, there are churches all around Amsterdam that don't advertise they are churches. The Dutch only care about the money, so if you do shady things, it's ok as long as you don't disturb the peace. Look at religion and the prostitution!
First "Secret" church
It used to be a hat factory hence the name which translates to Red Hat
BASSET!!!
Random animals on buildings
We passed this sandwich shop during our tour and our guide highly recommended it. I took a picture so I would know what to look for when we came back for lunch.
Hubster and I on random canal bridge
Our tour literally took us around the city center of Amsterdam. We saw so much and got an idea of where things were in the city. It also allowed us to "check" things off or list because of recommendations by Thijs.
Anne Frank's House which we skipped because of the line
Tallest church in Amsterdam
The "other" tour company
Side note: the other tour company easily had 10-15 people. We ran into them a few times and they didn't really stay together. What happens if you get split up?!?!
Canal View
Us and the church
Next stop was Vondel Park which was something I definitely wanted to go see. I love parks in Europe and this one was top of the list of things to see.
Selfies while riding a bike
Think this one is better
Thijs taking our picture on bikes
Coffee break!
Friendly dog that became best friends with the hubster while taking our coffee break
Us on a bridge!
Different View
Next stop, the museum plaza. From this spot, you can see the Rijks museum, Van Gogh museum, and the opera house.
Rijks museum. If you squint, you can see the "I AMSTERDAM"
Opera house
Us
We continued around the plaza and rode through the Rijks museum!
Thijs pointing and a better view of the I amsterdam
The hubster about to go through the tunnel of the Rijks museum
Theater
Bridge
Our last stop was another "secret" church. Our tour guide was not allowed in with us, so he gave us the Cliff's notes and we went it alone.
Church door
Water break
Hallway to the church
Pretty details
Wall of pictures
Beautiful courtyard
More courtyard pictures
Me!
More courtyard. Could you imagine living here?
We returned our bikes and parted way with Thijs. He used to be a tour guide in Paris and he recommended a bike tour company there. We took him up on his advice since he had't been wrong since and we did end up booking a tour.
We were tired and hot and hungry. We decided to soldier on and get lunch. The sandwich shop was much closer on bike, lol. We found our way back and were greeted by the owner who was so nice. He offered us lots of samples and we ate them greedily. We ordered his award winning sandwich that had a spicy salami, yummy cheese, tomatoes, and arugula warmed on a roll.
YUMMY!
It was delicious. The bread tore up the roof of my mouth, but the sandwich was amazing. I don't usually go for spicy, but the spice with the cheese and the bitter greens was perfect. I can see why it won an award.
We returned to the hotel room to rest up and decide what we would do for the rest of the day. We had a few options, but since our tram pass would expire at 5 pm, we wanted to get our monies worth and ride it as much as possible. We decided that we would go to the Van Gogh musuem. We rode the tram without getting lost!
Finally a picture you can see the letters. This was probably the most difficult shot to get so far. So many people.
Selfies!
Flowers
My close up
Smile!
So cute with weird art behind him
We finally make it inside the museum and take a loop around.
So this painting is called "The Potato Eaters". I did not see it. So I ask the hubster, "I wonder what they are eating, are they mussels?" which was a totally legitimate question because I'm pretty sure they eat mussels in The Netherlands.
"The Potato Eaters"
Van Gogh
Once we finished, we decided to walk back to the hotel because I wasn't about to pay €4 for a short ride back. Turned out to be a mistake because we walked into an Adidas store to look for a gift for a cousin, but walked out with a t-shirt for the hubster, the most expensive t-shirt in the world!
We got back to our hotel and rested up some more before heading back out for dinner. Man, writing it up it sounds like we "rested" a lot, but my pace was exhausting. We decided to try the other restaurant that the front desk had recommended. We walked in and sat down. We ordered drinks and waiting an hour to hear the menu. There was no written menu and only one of the two waiters knew the menu. It's ok because we were not in a rush and I had beer.
Yum, beer!
Patiently waiting
We finally get to order and we got a cheese starter with bacon wrapped dates. I love bacon wrapped dates. Delicious! For the main course, I ordered a miso salmon which was ok. I felt like I could have gotten this meal anywhere. The salad was tasty. The hubster ordered a filet with a strawberry sauce with goat cheese. His was by far way better than mine. The hubster inhaled it. I was surprised because I didn't think he would like the sauce or goat cheese.
Dinner
Happy hubster
While we were waiting for our food, the table next to us ordered an apple pie. It looked good, so we ordered it too. It was ok. The tart last night was better by leaps and bounds. We polished off dessert and went home. We showered and just vegged out in front of the TV. We didn't need to see the Red Light District anymore and we were tired.
Since we had a late train to Paris the next day, we knew we'd be able to sleep in late and check out as late as possible. On the menu for tomorrow, Rijks museum!
