The weekend of October 5-7 my friend, Kailey, and I flew to Amsterdam. We stayed with Kailey’s friend Nina who is studying abroad in Utrecht. The town is around a 30 minute train ride from Amsterdam. It seemed to be about the size of Granada, but not quite as busy. Friday night we arrived in Utrecht around 9 or 10 I believe. It took us awhile to figure out which train to take there and we were told many different directions from different people. However, we finally made it. First thing, we had fries. Fries? Yes, fries with sauce. I had a mayo and mustard sauce on mine and let me tell you it was so delicious! This is a common snack in Holland and I wish I had partaken in it more than once.
Kailey and I waiting on the train.
Saturday morning we had brunch in Utrecht at district. I had something on the menu with the word gluten in it along with some other letters attached at the end. It consisted of banana bread (nothing compared to my Momma’s), yogurt and granola, and a cup of fruit. District is such a cute little brunch spot with great prices and amazing food.
Did you even go to Amsterdam if you did not take a picture with this sign? The answer is no.
This is a little park area on the backside of the Rijksmuseum. We did visit the museum, but I took so many pictures that I will be doing a separate blog post for it which you can find here.
After the Rijksmuseum we stopped in an Albert Heijn which is a grocery chain in the Netherlands. I had sushi and it was amazing. It made me miss Wasabi dates with Casey and Megan back in Edwardsville! We took our food to a park, sat down and enjoyed the weather. It was probably in the high 60s which was so nice compared to the 80s Kailey and I had been experiencing in Granada.
We wandered around the city some, slowly making our way to the Anne Frank house (sadly we did not get to visit, this was our meeting point for our canal tour.) Kailey and I in front of one of the many beautiful canals and me in front of a cathedral. Shocker.
Our canal cruise with Flagship Amsterdam was amazing. It was only 15 euros. We rode in an open boat which I think is so much better than an enclosed one. They gave us free blankets during the cruise and they had a bar on the boat. The canals were busy but that did not affect our experience. We saw a rental boat with a bunch of drunks and a boat hosting a black tie affair event among others. There are so many canals in Amsterdam to wander through and I believe our tour was an hour long. It was filled with history about the city and we even met a girl from Mexico who is living in Brussels. It was a great time and I highly recommend going on a canal tour when you are here.
I had never tried spaghetti carbonara in the states, but I am hooked on it over here! I cannot wait to make it at home, but with gluten free pasta.
After dinner we wandered around the city for a little bit and then made our way back to Utrecht. Nina tried to get us to go out to the bar on her campus, we were just too tired. However, we did walk into it and look around and then walked right back out.
Sunday morning we got up and ate pancakes that Nina and her roommate made for us. They were delicious!! Then once we arrived in Amsterdam, Kailey and I went to the New York Film Academy Café. It had a cute little setup with a nice view of the street for those of you who love people watching just as much as me. I had the hot chocolate pictured, eggs, bacon, and toast. The café was a little bit on the pricier side in my opinion, but I enjoyed the food.
Next, we ventured into a cheese store. If you are asking yourself why, I am Bob Gearhart’s daughter, that is why. I also bought him a wheel of chili spiced cheese but he does not know that. I had to bring him something back! There were so many different flavors of cheeses and I was impressed by all of the ones I tried.
After this we did a little bit of shopping because I was in need of a coat. We then explored the red light district. If you all do not know what exactly that consists of, I would suggest doing a little research so you are not as shocked as I was when we walked through. We also went to a Museum called Red Light Secrets. It was about prostitution and some day in the life of bits of information. It was decently priced and took about 40 minutes to go through. It was eye opening and very educational and I would recommend going to it.
After the red light district we made our way back to the train station to head back to Granada. First we stopped in a mall to use a restroom. It was very high end and of course we had to stop at Tiffany’s because diamonds are a girl’s best friend.
Some views of the city taken throughout the trip. They include the royal palace, Banksy’s museum, and the gorgeous train station among other buildings and canals. We did not go to the Banksy museum, but after hearing about what they did with the most recent piece of artwork I wish we would have. Do you not know what I am referring to? Read about it here.
Overall, Amsterdam is a city I thoroughly enjoyed and if I ever get the opportunity to return I will. Next time I will be planning my trip months in advance to make sure I can buy tickets to the Anne Frank house. I also hope to visit many more museums the city has to offer. I hope you all enjoyed this and the Rijksmuseum post as well. Up next I will be writing about my time in Mont Saint Michel and Paris. Until then!
P.S. Thank you again Nina for hosting us! It was great spending time with you and your friends. Also, here is a little video that she put together for us about part of our trip. I apologize for the RBF and awkwardness from me, I am not made for the camera.
♥ Annie
Life of Leslie Annie 