So, as I mentioned in my last post, our big kid started school. That meant a lot of changes for us, but one big one was that we could no longer travel whenever we wanted and instead had to stick to the school schedule. In fact, if we took him on vacation when school was in session, we could be fined. Schools are year-round here, so they go almost all the way through the summer and have long breaks between each term, and then a week off halfway through each term. Juggling childcare for all these breaks is hard, but that's a different issue. So - once he was through his first half term, it was time for a week off and well-earned vacation! It was now the end of October and super rainy. As usual, we waited a bit too late to decide, and the only affordable option was to do a few days in Amsterdam. It wasn't exactly our first choice - but it turned out to be a fantastic getaway.
Day 0: Travel Day
We would've loved to take the train - which is only 4 hours to get from London to Amsterdam, but it was like 10x the cost of the plane. So we caught a cheap plane (less than 30 minutes), and navigated to our Airbnb. Having learned this lesson before, they stayed in and unpacked while I went out in search of a grocery store for dinner. By the time I had come back, they had cleaned the house out of snacks and beers and were all passed out.
Day 1: Pancakes, Walking Tour, Museums
First stop was to get pancakes! I wouldn't say the Netherlands are known for great cuisine exactly, but we knew a few tasty tidbits we needed to try- and massive pancakes cooked with apples and bacon inside, covered with Stroop- which is like super condensed, extra sweet maple syrup, seemed like a good way to start the rainy day.
Then we walked into the old part of the city - past the old square and royal palace and into Begijnhof - which is this super cool hidden courtyard that was sort of a hidden convent of sorts. Lots of breaks to pop into cheese stores and get snacks along the way.
Last stop was dinner - we went to an amazing little restaurant known for its traditional Dutch food, which basically is a lot like English or German food - super heavy stuff to keep you warm and sober you up after too much beer. Lots of mashed potatoes and sausages - but after a long, cold rainy day, it really was pretty perfect.
Day 2: Markets, Pie & Boats
So we started Day 2 by heading to the market, the Nieuwmarkt. Again, it was a rainy day, so there weren't a lot of people there and the vendors were mostly covering up their goods. But, the big treat was to have a fresh stroopwaffle. So, stroop- as I said is thick syrup, and they put it between two thin waffles for a little cookie. We'd had a bunch already - but a fresh one turned out to be unbelievable.
Then, as if we hadn't already had enough sugar- we went in search of the best apple pie, as suggested by our hotel lady. It was a nice stroll along the canals until we found it- and yah, she was right, it was amazing.
After another long morning of walking around town, the big guy was getting pretty red out - so it was a perfect time to hop on a boat tour. I'm a big fan of boat tours no matter what - it's just nice to see a city from a different perspective - but in particular when you have little people that need a rest. So, we had an hour or so driving around the canals, which was just lovely and a welcome break from the walking.
The boat put us out right near the Anne Frank House, which is listed as one the top sights you must see in Amsterdam. We both wanted to see it, but definitely didn't want to take the kids - and didn't want to lose a lot of time by having one of us go and then switch - so we came to the conclusion that we'd see it the next time we were here. But still, we both felt bad and kind of regretted the choice. Instead, we wandered around a bit, and headed back to the hotel for a nap break.
So the last stop was dinner. Indonesia was previously a dutch colony, so the Netherlands has a huge Indonesian food scene now. There's something called a rijsttafel, or "rice table' where you are given a central plate of rice and the like 20 other dishes. And we just had to check it out. Thankfully, I think at least one or two of those dishes were compatible with our picky eaters, and we were happy to wolf down the rest. Other than the fact that this was a huge amount of food, it was a nice break from all the traditional heavy dutch food we'd been having.
Day 3: Travel
And that was it. Time to check out and get moving again. We hopped the train back to the airport and onwards back home.
Conclusions:
- In general, this was a really great trip. It felt pretty easy, nothing was hugely stressful. Maybe we're just getting better at the whole traveling with kids thing, or Amsterdam is just kind of the perfect size. But everything went really well.
- Thankfully we did not ever need a car on this trip, so we didn't have either the car seat or booster. We did make the mistake of bringing a pack and play with us, only to discover that the Airbnb did have one (always ask even if they don't list it!). So we had to haul it around going to and from the airport - thankfully we've learned to put the baby on me and the pack and play in the stroller - so no one actually has to carry it much.
- The first grocery stop was super useful not only to get us through that first night's dinner, but to put something healthy in everyone's stomach for breakfast. All this stroop is total crack - so making sure there was a good layer of yogurt and fruit in their bellies first helped keep them from going completely nuts.
- We had the stroller with us as well as the baby carrier which allowed us to swap around and let the big kid have a rest every now and then. Because it's pretty collapsible, we could take it into museums and onto boats - but it was also durable enough to handle cobblestones, so perfect!
- It would definitely have been nice to spend more time there. At least another day would've been great. This was actually the most expensive hotel we had ever had to pay for - this is not a cheap place - so we were a bit limited by that. Maybe getting to explore some of the other places in the Netherlands would've been nice- and obviously coming at a nicer time of year would've been easier. But mostly, we were absolutely charmed by the city and would really love to go back.
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