Have you been to Amsterdam?

I know this was a couple months ago, but looking through the pictures and writing about it on here is reminding me how awesome Amsterdam is. On our way back to DC from Rome, we purposely scheduled a 5 hour layover in Amsterdam. Julie’s brother and his wife lived there a few years ago and we were dumb enough not to go see them. After being there, we wish we could fire up the flux capacitor and go back in time to see them. Anyway, they were nice enough enough to give us some advice and things to see. Their best advice was to just rent a bike and ride around along the canals. I’ve been lucky enough travel quite a bit in my life, and Amsterdam had a feel unlike any city I have been in. Granted, we were only actually in the city for a few hours, but we were both very impressed. The city is laced with beautiful tree-lined canals and beautiful buildings. Oh, and I am pretty sure there are more bicycles than people.

We were greeted by a sea of bikes when we go off the train. It was literally bikes for as long as you could see. This was my favorite part about the city. People just biked everywhere. It seemed like half of every road was dedicated to bikers, then cars and trams got the other half.

We found these beauties and took off. Surprisingly we had a lot of energy after sleeping at the airport in Rome and getting on a flight at 6am.

You got the tram, the cars, and then the big old bike lane. It was awesome. People were cruising along on their bikes talking on their cell phones, no big deal. I saw people doing it, so I thought I would whip out my phone and take a little video. I am not as skilled at one handed riding as the natives of that city. Let’s just say that.

These canals are so beautiful. Oh ya, there’s the other mode of transport around the city, boats!

Here I had the the tastiest pastry I have ever had in my life. Croissant, filled with some kind of cream, and fresh strawberries. If I lived there, that would be my breakfast everyday.

And saw the smallest car I have ever seen.

Amsterdam seems like a very international city, very livable, and just really beautiful. We are definitely going to need to go back and spend more time. I wanted to bike out to where we could see the windmills and fields, but time didn’t allow. This was a really fun way to squeeze a little extra out of an amazing trip to Europe. I know it has taken a while, but I hope you’ve enjoyed this blogocation that I have taken you on.