We got to sleep in a little bit which was nice. Next, we ate breakfast and asked the front desk about gas stations since we needed to return the rental car. After getting directions, we loaded up the car and headed to the station to drop off the car and catch our train. Not knowing where to go, we gave ourselves ample time and it's a good thing we did.
Since we did not rent the car from this location, we had no idea where the return was. After circled around the area a few times, I ran inside to ask the rental office while the hubster circled. Boy, was it complicated! I ran back to the car and hopped in. We finally found the parking garage which was not marked at all. Once we were inside, it was also complicated. We found the right level and the right row, but no clue which spot to park. There were signs over some spots which didn't translate in my app. After circling a few times, we just parked and walked to the return.
We had a few minutes to kill, so we just sat by a statue and I grabbed some fruit. We realized at the last minute that we didn't get any souvenirs for Stuttgart, specifically a magnet which is our souvenir. I stopped into a newspaper store which was the closest thing to a souvenir store. No dice. Apparently, Stuttgart is not a tourist town.
Walking out empty handed, we caught our train and headed to Amsterdam. Along the way, the train was delayed. Not sure how after all the great things we heard about German efficiency, how could it be late?!?! Anyway, we got into Cologne which is where we needed to make a transfer with only 10 minutes before our next train came in. We didn't want to buy food on the train, so I ran down the steps to find some lunch. It's a good thing we were so familiar with this station from the previous days' trip or else we might not have had lunch. I found the closest restaurant that had the smallest line which was Burger King!
I successfully ordered a plain cheeseburger for the husbster and chicken nuggets for me. Yay for patient Burger King cashiers! We scarfed down the food and as we finished the last bite, the train pulled up. We found our seats and settled in for the last leg of the train ride.
We arrived in Amsterdam and boy, was it different. This was by far the largest city we visited and you could tell by the station. We walked outside and tried to figure out how to get to the hotel. We had two options: ride a tram or walk. I wanted to find the tram because of our experience walking from the station to our hotel in Brussels.
The station did not have any information about public transportation except signs towards different lines and then maps at those lines. We thought we had figured it out and hopped onto the next tram. We paid for a 24 hour pass and sat down and talked about stops. It's a good thing we were talking because a nice man told us we were on the WRONG tram! We could have ended up in the wrong part of town. We hopped off the tram and picked up the right one. We got off at our stop and started walking. Thanks to my map app, we made it to our hotel, Hotel V Nesplein.
We stayed another chic boutique hotel. We loved the rainfall shower and the toiletries provided. They even restocked each day so we had some extras to bring home with us! It had the most comfortable beds. It also came with FREE water. Two large containers which were restocked every day!
Chandelier in the lobby
Beds in the room
View of courtyard next to hotel from our room
This view may look cool, but it was kinda of a pain. Because that courtyard got noisy at night. The first night wasn't too bad. We didn't go to bed until after the crowd died down at a decent hour, but the second night, the crowds were loud and boisterous to past 1 am.
Stair well in our hotel
After settling in and unpacking, we asked the front desk for some restaurant suggestions. He offered two places: one Italian and one Dutch. The Dutch restaurant had no menu and they only have a few selections. It's small and sounded wonderful to me, but the picky hubster didn't think it was safe. Italian it was!
It was literally 20 ft from the front door and it was really good. It was called Mappa. We sat down and ordered some drinks. I ordered La Chouffe, but was told by the hubster to try Heineken. I vehemently said I can get that in the states. I can also get La Chouffe, but don't tell the hubster that. Apparently, Heineken is supposed to taste different in Europe. Maybe next time.
My drink
We ordered a calamari appetizer to start and I had the seafood of the day and the hubster had the meat of the day. Mine consisted of two types of fish with a variety of seafood around it. The hubster had a ribeye with pomme frites.
Extra dinner guest
Calamari with some amazing salsa
My dinner
Dessert!
The hubster picked the best dessert of the whole trip. It was a pear tart tartine. It was truly amazing. So good. Good enough that when dinner rolled around the next night, I was tempted to come here again.
Us after dinner
After dinner, we decided to take a stroll. We walked towards the Red Light District, but found ourselves in Dam Square. I had no idea it was so close to our hotel. We stopped into a souvenir store and spent €50! We bought T-shirts for the brothers, shot glass for mom, some trinkets for me and some friends, and post cards. The most shopping we've done so far.
We continued on towards the infamous district.
We're getting close
Closer... very subtle
I think we're here
Aside from the sex shows with the bawdy lights, the other establishments sometimes weren't even noticeable. It's funny because I would randomly look to the side and there they were. Prostitutes standing in their doorways on display for everyone. They looked nice enough, normal almost except for the outfits. I think I had more of a kick pointing when someone actually opened the door and went in. The hubster and I had a discussion on the logistics of it. The rooms these girls stand in are not that big. Blinds go down to cover the door, so I wondered if they had sex in the closet sized room. The hubster assured me that they had a back room which was bigger. Whatever.
We went into a few sex shops just to peruse. I have never seen so many vibrators in my life. All shapes and sizes. The hubster had to explain some things to me. That was our experience with the Red Light District. We didn't go back and we didn't see any shows. I don't think we necessarily subscribe to the "Do it to do it" philosophy of siteseeing.
We headed back to the hotel to catch some Zzzzz. We had an early morning because I had decided at the last minute to book us a bike ride tour of the city. I was tasked with getting up and getting breakfast for the hubster since I choose the earlier start time of 10:30 am instead of 1:30 pm.
Pictures of the street our hotel was on
Other direction
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