Monday, February 18, 2019

Amsterdam, Pt. 2

Amsterdam, Netherlands
This is going to be a short post (words wise) because, again, I have a terrible memory and can't remember everything we did. We only had two full days in Amsterdam, and on our second day we grabbed breakfast at Bakers and Roasters. After breakfast we headed back over to Museumplein. We both like Banksy, so we went to the Banksy exhibit at the Moco Museum. While I enjoyed the exhibit I just kept thinking, "I don't think Banksy would want us to pay money to see this stuff."
I don't remember exactly how we killed time but we headed to Dam Square because we wanted to go on a tour. I booked (or tried to book a tour) with Sandemans again because I really enjoyed my tour in Berlin. When we arrived at where the tour was meeting they didn't have enough room for us at the time we wanted, but they told us we would be first on the waiting list. We decided to stick it out for another 10 minutes and it turned out they had a spot available. There are several types of these tours in major European cities, but I went with what I knew. It was a good thing I did because our tour guide was this hilarious guy from Scotland. He kept us laughing the entire time.
Unfortunately, I don't really remember anything from the tour. I was interested in learning more about the history because I don't know much about Amsterdam. Basically, the city was founded because some guy said something religious happened at the spot and he turned it into a place for a pilgrimage which is how many major cities in Europe, Middle East, and Asia came to be. It was a total sham but the city began to build up from there. I also remember that the reason the buildings are built the way they are was because they were charged by the width of the facade. So most buildings are built back shot gun style. For this reason many of the buildings have hooks which were meant to lift heavy items to the correct floor. Other than that I don't really remember why I took photos of some of the buildings, except below is where the painter, Rembrandt, used to live.
After the tour, I was starving. I honestly started getting light headed and considered leaving, but my sister gave me a piece of gum and I stuck with it. She suggested a place called Moeders (meaning Mothers) so we could try typical Dutch food. We arrived before they opened so we had to wait a few minutes to get in, but when we did we were overwhelmed with so many pictures of mothers. People just send in pictures of their moms and they display it all over the restaurant. The restaurant can get quite busy, so I suggest arriving early. I believe we both ordered the Stamppot, which I actually liked even though it was really meat heavy, and I think it was the first meal I couldn't finish because they give you a generous portion. I honestly don't remember what we did after. I think we might have picked up a few more souvenirs and then headed back to the hostel to get ready for our flight.
While I would definitely recommend visiting Amsterdam if you're interested it wasn't my favorite European city. I'd definitely go back to Moscow (obviously), Helsinki, or Berlin before I made it back to Amsterdam. Obviously, that's my own preference as you can see I like concrete and cemeteries. The city is absolutely stunning, and I think most people would enjoy it, it just didn't catch my attention like the other ones did. By the way, the red house above is the smallest house in Amsterdam.

If you've been to Amsterdam, what was your favorite part?


  1. Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities! I loved the Van Gogh museum (one of the best museums I’ve ever been to), the rijksmuseum, the Amsterdam museum, the Anne frank house, the FoodHaalen, Pancakes Amsterdam, etc. We got the iamsterdam card and it was worth every penny because you got admission to every museum (besides Anne frank and Van Gogh) and public transit was included. I went to Amsterdam twice last year (part of my honeymoon the first time and the other for work) and I feel like I could live there. But I’ve never been to the other cities you’ve mentioned, so I can’t compare it.

    1. It's definitely a beautiful city, and I'd never talk someone out of it, it's just not one of my favorites. I could totally see how someone would love it. I'll have to remember the iAmsterdam card next time!


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