Amsterdam - Day 3

The Amstel River

On our last day in Amsterdam we wanted to go see the Van Gogh Museum.  Again we booked the tickets in advance which turned out to be a huge advantage.  We decided to walk there through the southern area of the city which we hadn't seen as much of.  This meant we avoided the crowds and saw some other areas which we might otherwise have missed.  I have to say, I definitely prefer the south.  It's less touristy and quieter but still interesting and lively.  If I were to go back to Amsterdam I'd try to stay there but I imagine the prices are higher there too.

Rijksmuseum

The Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum are both on this beautiful park and we had a gorgeous day to visit it.  Apart from booking online, I'm also glad that we booked the audio guide.  It was really nice to hear some of the stories behind the paintings and even Van Gogh's own words on his works.  The museum provides an insight into his life in chronological order.  There were also some special exhibitions.  

On the way to and from the museum, we visited a lovely street market where we bought some fresh Dutch cheese as a present for my Dad in England and found the Bazar restaurant.  The Bazar is a Turkish eatery based in an old church.  The decor is amazing and the food was very good.  We were there in the late afternoon and I was worried that the lunch menu wouldn't keep us full but the portions were large and the flavours were delicious.  The drinks - I had fresh grapefruit juice were exactly what was needed on such a hot day.  Delicious.

 

Amsterdam - Day 2

On our second full day in Amsterdam we had booked to visit the Anne Frank Museum and knew where it was from the day before.  Our biggest challenge was finding a non-expensive gluten free breakfast on the go so we eventually settled down on the canal to a breakfast of cheese and chorizo and olives.  It was wonderful.

The Anne Frank Museum was always on my must-do list for Amsterdam, I read the book some years ago and it was really enlightening to see where it had been written and understand a bit better the kind of life they led there.

Afterwards we headed back to the hotel through the centre.  The crowds were a bit much so we cut down a side street to find a drink.  While there, we looked the place up on Trip Adviser and decided to stay for dinner as it was well up in the ratings.  It was a little pricey but nothing near the first night had been and much more worth it.  The food was delicious.  Nico has even recreated the recipe since we have been home and I'm so glad we went there!  It's my biggest food tip for anyone visiting Amsterdam - Van Kirkwijk.

Our hotel

Amsterdam - Day 1

Nico at the main station

On our first day in Amsterdam we decided to take a boat and walking tour to get our bearings a little for the rest of the week.  It's worth walking along and investigating the boat tours as there are several along the front and the first one you come to is the most expensive.  We ended up on a tour with four different languages which lasted an hour for just 8.50 (Euros).  The tour was nice and gave us some background information and a feel for the city.

Me posing by the canal

After the boat tour we had lunch at a restaurant called La Place.  This is on the floor above the national library so has a great view over the city.  The food there is fresh and prepared in front of you, I had the salmon and Nico the steak and we were both so full we just had a tapas picnic in our hotel in the evening.

We had found quite a good walking tour on Trip Advisor on the Nexus and really enjoyed this.  It took us through the main sights in Amsterdam and as I mentioned earlier the city isn't too spread out so it wasn't too taxing.  It also took us to Anne Frank House, allowing us to work out where we had to go and what we had to do the day after as we had pre-booked our tickets.  (If you ever go to Amsterdam I seriously recommend booking as many tickets as possible online before hand.  We booked for Anne Frank and the Van Gogh Museum.  The only down side was that we had to be at Anne Frank at a specific time on a specific day.  The Van Gogh ticket was open for the whole month.  However, at both museums people were queueing down the street and our tickets allowed us straight in.