Posts made in August, 2012

The Jordaan, Dinner on the Canal, Concertgebouw

Posted by Chelsie on Aug 17, 2012 in Europe 2012 | 1 comment

Today we had lofty hopes of taking a 15-mile bike ride to Waterland across the river from Amsterdam, but unfortunately we slept in a little too late for that. On the plus side, we had a wonderful day riding the bikes around The Jordaan, making our own dinner, and seeing a classical music concert at Concertgebouw instead. As soon as we got up, we headed to a highly-rated breakfast cafe near our hotel called Lunchcafe Nielsen where we had some amazing omelets, coffee, and orange juice. By the time we were done, it was almost lunch so we decided to walk around a little and get some ice cream nearby. Andrew had pistachio and I had almond cookie, both in cones, and both delicious. After that we walked back to the apartment and consulted the internets about what to do today. We discovered that the top rated thing to do in Amsterdam was to visit Concertgebouw, a famous music hall, so we immediately booked two tickets to this evening’s concert Brahm’s First and Second Symphony by Nezet-Seguin and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. We then headed over to Albert Hein (the local market) again to pick up a few things for dinner. After dropping off the groceries at the apartment, we rode the bikes around The Jordaan enjoying the views and the beautiful scenery. It was fun to see the neighborhoods where people actually live around here and it was great to ride around in an area that didn’t have tons of tourists milling about. We then had to turn in our bikes before heading home to make dinner.

Since we knew we had concert tickets at 8:00, we decided it would be best to make our own dinner and eat alongside our canal like we did two nights ago. I made some pretty delicious smoked salmon, dill, and cucumber sandwiches and we ate them with Kettle Chips and sweet wild strawberries with our legs hanging over the water. It was fun to watch all the boats pass by. After dinner we decided to try our luck at the tram system here in Amsterdam to get over to the concert hall. We read online that you could buy tickets from the tram operator so we boarded the right tram (Number 5) and Andrew headed up to the front to buy tickets. By the time he was able to get up there, we were almost at our stop so the guy let us off the hook and didn’t make us pay for our tickets. Like I said before, everyone here is so nice.

The concert hall was just stunning. Built in 1888, Concertgebouw (Concert Building) has showcased some of the best orchestras in the world and is known for its first-class acoustics. Tonight the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra was playing Brahms First and Second Symphony. What an amazing treat! Andrew and I love music, but I don’t think we have ever gone to the symphony before. It was something we will never forget. The whole time I wished my Aunt Nancy was there with us because I know she would have really enjoyed it. Since we had such success with the tram on the way there, and our concert ticket included a free tram pass, we decided to take the tram on the way back to our canal after a quick walk in the park in front of Rijksmuseum. We took our time enjoying one last stroll through the canals as tomorrow we leave for Germany on the train first thing in the morning. Tomorrow is another travel day so I suspect we won’t have much to post, but we will try to take at least some pictures from Munich.

Cheers,

Chelsie & Andrew

 

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Bikes, Vondelpark, and Blauw

Posted by Chelsie on Aug 16, 2012 in Europe 2012 | 10 comments

Today we had quite a full day. In case you hadn’t noticed from our pictures, bicycles (fietsen in Dutch) are the most popular way to get around Amsterdam. Up until now we have been walking everywhere, but today we rented bikes and took to the streets. While it is a little crazy trying to avoid the cars, canals, pedestrians, and other cyclists, biking really is the best way to get around and see the city. After a quick Dutch pancake breakfast at a local cafe, we rented our bikes and headed straight to Vondelpark (think the Central Park of Amsterdam). What an amazing park! Once you got inside, you didn’t feel like you were in the city at all. There were lots of lakes, huge trees, grassy areas for having picnics, bike paths, and cafes dotting the park. After exploring every major trail to take it all in, we decided to stop a few different places and enjoy the views. Also, it was great to see so many people with their dogs enjoying the park on a beautiful day. We even saw a pug!

After of few hours of enjoying ourselves, we started to get hungry so we parked the bikes and found a table at one of the many cafes in the park. The simple, yet delicious sandwiches were perfect. Since we couldn’t seem to get enough of the natural surroundings, we rode around for about an hour more and then headed to the flower market to buy some flowers for our apartment. We also did a little Dutch cheese sampling as well before heading back. In the afternoon we shopped and wandered around until it was time for our dinner reservation at an Indonesian restaurant we have eaten at before called Blauw. Lucky for us, Blauw was located on the other side of the park so we got to ride through it once again. This time, instead of lots of children and dogs in the park, there were a lot of young people meeting up after work to grill and eat with friends. Some even brought their own hammocks to string up between trees. Again, it was so great to see the park being used like this. Everyone seemed like they were having such a great time. Once we got to Blauw, there was a little mix-up with the reservation. I thought we were booked for 8:00 p.m., but actually it was 6:00 p.m. Even though they were packed, they were able to find us a small table upstairs where we enjoyed a delicious rijsttafel (rice table) which is basically a set menu of lots of small Indonesian dishes. Everything was delicious. I didn’t even mind that the waiter topped up my wine glass with two different kinds of wine (hey, at least they were both white). On the way home, we took one final bike ride through the park as it was about to close. Even though we had a really busy day, we couldn’t resist a quick stroll around the canals to take some night shots to finish it off.

By now you’re probably thinking…wow, you guys did a lot of biking around today. When we got back to the apartment I used Google Maps to estimate how far we traveled and it was about 15 miles total. All without a single injury or accident. Hopefully the trend will continue tomorrow as we bike to Waterland in North-Amsterdam.

Cheers,

Chelsie & Andrew

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Rijksmuseum, Walking around Town, Picnic on the Canal

Posted by Chelsie on Aug 15, 2012 in Europe 2012 | 2 comments

This morning we woke up to a beautiful sunny day with no trace of yesterday’s rain. I made a nice breakfast of poached eggs, apples with Nutella, smoked salmon, toast, and orange juice so we could have lots of energy for the day to come. The last time we were here we pretty much saw all of the larger museums except for Rijksmuseum which was under construction at the time. I was hoping that now, two years later, they would be done but it turns out that they won’t be finished until 2013. Until then, the crème de la crème from the Golden Age – including paintings by Rembrandt, Frans Hals and Johannes Vermeer – were on display as part of a temporary exhibit called The Masterpieces. We also got to see the famous doll’s houses, Van Vianen brothers’ silver and a nice collection of Delftware pottery. Even though it was only a small sample of everything in the Rijksmuseum collection, it was still amazing to see. The beautiful Rembrandt paintings were definitely the highlight of the exhibit. The audio tour was also quite good.

After we finished at the museum, we walked around Museumplein and took some photos. We also had a quick lunch in the park which included a delicious waffle with cherries. It being a warm day and all, the yellow jackets were out in full force. We laughed when one of them thought he was going to make off with a piece of chicken from my sandwich that was bigger than he was. He dragged it all the way to edge of my cardboard food container, but faltered and dropped the chicken just as he tried to lift off. It was still an impressive try though. I didn’t realize that yellow jackets were into chicken.

After lunch we walked around some more and did a little shopping. By the time we got back to the apartment, we were a little tired so we rested up until dinner. Since we didn’t have any reservations tonight, we walked over to get some Indonesian takeout from a restaurant we visited last time and sat on the edge of the canal under a tree to eat. It started to get a little windy and soon enough it started to rain. Since the tree was keeping us dry, we sat there for about an hour enjoying the sound of thunder and the soft pattering of rain on the canals and streets. If you look closely at the photograph below of my feet you can see the rain in the water. Since we are so far North, it doesn’t get dark here until well after nine so we were able to stay out quite late. Now we are back in the apartment, but I think we might venture out again to get some beautiful night shots of the canals all lit up. I will post those pictures tomorrow if we get any.

Cheers,

Chelsie & Andrew

P.S. Despite the brief rain showers, the weather here is just perfect…warm and breezy with a hint of humidity. I hope it stays like this.

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Travel Day, Amsterdam

Posted by Chelsie on Aug 15, 2012 in Europe 2012 | 3 comments

Today was a bit of a travel day so we don’t have too much to post. We woke up at 6:00 a.m. which was early considering that we got to bed around 2:00 a.m. last night after our great dinner and nighttime sightseeing adventure. By 6:30 a.m. we were on the tube and by 7:00, we were already at King’s Cross St. Pancras Station ready to board our Eurostar train to Brussels, Belgium. If you are wondering why we left so early, let me remind you of our previous trips to London where we nearly missed a train ride to France and a flight at Heathrow because of the Tube. Generally it is incredibly reliable…except for when you are trying to get somewhere on-time. Luck was on our side this time and we actually got to the train station in time to enjoy a nice breakfast. We were a little tired so we mostly slept on the train, barely even waking up as we passed through the Chunnel and Lille, France. After a quick 2 hour layover in Brussels, Belgium where we enjoyed some take-away lunch outside the train station, we were on our way to the Netherlands.

We arrived in Amsterdam to some very heavy rain that only lasted a few minutes. After a short taxi ride, we checked in at our apartment which is literally right on one of the main canals (Keizersgraght). Oscar was waiting for us to show us around the apartment and just like Andrew’s family, he was from Indonesia. He was also nice enough to tip us off to the good Indonesian food in the area. After a long day of travel, we were quite tired, but headed to the local supermarket, Albert Klein, anyway to grab some groceries for the week. We of course picked up all the Dutch staples…smoked salmon, dill, nutella, and De Ruijter chocolate sprinkles. :) Once back to the apartment, Andrew proceed to blow out the circuit trying to make toast…twice. It took him a while, but he finally found the fuse box (outside the apartment) to right the situation. After a quick snack of apples and Nutella. We are ready for bed. Tomorrow will be much more eventful, we promise.

Cheers,

Chelsie & Andrew

 

 

 

 

 

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