Amsterdam, Netherlands

As we made the rainy drive across the countryside from Bruges to Amsterdam I got more and more excited. We booked an especially nice hotel in downtown Amsterdam for our first wedding anniversary, and I was looking forward to a little luxury! 

A minor anxiety attack crept up on me as we entered Amsterdam. Roads were blocked off and people were EVERYWHERE. Penis-shaped balloons, half-naked men and women, glitter, confetti, and rainbows, rainbows everywhere quickly clued us in--we were arriving in the city just before the annual LGBTQ Pride celebration began! We had tickets to the Van Gogh Museum booked with plenty of time to spare, but with all of the traffic delays I didn't think we would make it in time! The parking space we'd paid for was blocked off with all of the traffic, so we ended up just driving to the hotel and letting them valet the car. Staying in a nice hotel sure has it's perks! I walked into our room to find that Chuck had pre-ordered champagne, flowers and chocolates, which helped ease the stress. What a sweetheart! After dropping our things, we quickly power-walked through the sweaty, drunk, pulsing crowds to the museum. 

The museum was fascinating. Though incredibly crowded, it was fascinating to learn more about the life of such a prominent artist. We spent the rest of the evening finding some take-out to bring back to our hotel.

The next day (our anniversary!) we did the Rick Steves Amsterdam walking tour, followed by the wonderful Rijks Museum. I personally enjoyed this museum more than many others. There was plenty of space to enjoy all of the collections. After a steak dinner we walked around the nearby Red Light district, which was a pretty bizarre and slightly sad experience.

The next day we did another short walking tour and then listened to a podcast while waiting in line for the Anne Frank house for 2.5 hours. The wait went by much more quickly with something to do! The Anne Frank house was actually much larger than I anticipated. It was strange and sobering to walk through a place with so much history.

Amsterdam was not at all what I expected, in a good way! I was sad to leave, and hopefully will visit again one day.