Amsterdam

October 11, 2015

Amsterdam travel highlights

Amsterdam, Anne Frank, Apple Pie, Bike Tour, Leidseplein, Rijksmuseum, Vondel Park

OK, quick and dirty recaps of each city we visited coming your way! First off, our first stop – duh. Amsterdam.

stayed: An air bnb in the Leidseplein district. We stayed in a shared apartment on a canal (!) that was very easy to get to from the airport. We took the bus into town with no issues. It was a classic, old school apartment with crazy narrow, steep steps. I don’t know how an intoxicated person would make it up and down them without breaking a leg! It was very close to the museums and Vondel Park, but not so close to the bustling Red Light district and where I’d say the better restaurants are located.

saw: A dad on his bike, with a dog in the front basket and his child standing on the back hanging onto his shoulders on the way to school. Talent. Pure bike talent. A lady on a bike full on kick a car who almost hit her and the street fight that ensued. I thought Amsterdam peeps would be a lil more chill then that :-/ Tons of canal boat houses that made me want one – BAD. School kids taking recess in a local park playing, wait for it, dodge ball. That would never happen in the U.S.! Such a dangerous game 🙂

conquered: Rijksmuseum. I die for those still life paintings. And Rembrandt? You’re cool and all but man, the crowds! Note to travelers – bring your own ear buds so you can follow the free app tour on your iPhone.

Apple pie with extra whipped cream? ‘Nuff said.

The line for the Anne Frank Museum. We got in line a little after 8:00 a.m., thinking we’re smarter than everyone else. Yeah, not so much. Hundreds of others thought so too. We did eventually get in around 10:30 a.m. Note to travelers – purchase this ticket ahead of time if you can. That way, you won’t have to stand in that long line.

Mike’s bike tour. Highly recommended. I’d suggest doing a bike tour first so you get the lay of the land. Then you can go back to the places you thought were most interesting.

other travel notes: Brown cafes aren’t THAT amazing. Everything purchased were spiffs. You might as well just smoke a ciggy, but I guess that’s how people can spend hours in the cafes and not end up on their faces. Make good shoe choices. I wore Nike Airs on our museum day and got a nice, painful case of planar fasciitis that took a week to clear up. You kind of need to be able to walk whilst traveling and this was a huge setback for me at first. I cried like a big ole baby but then discovered bike tours, which helped me stay off my feet AND still see the city. Mint tea. OMGee. Fresh mint tea. Just take sprigs of mint and shove them in a cup of hot water. Genius.

October 8, 2015

Decisions, decisions

Amsterdam, Budapest, Dubrovnik, Eastern Europe, itinerary, Krakow, Ljubljana, Mostar, Prague, Split, Zagreb

The most common question I got prior to our trip was, “Why did you choose those countries?” When people think of Europe, I suspect London, Paris or any city in Italy comes to mind. Slovenia and Bosnia probably aren’t on most people’s radars and granted, they weren’t on mine either at first.

But in comes my most favorite of all favorite shows, Game of Thrones. Many of the scenes in recent seasons have been filmed in Croatia and that got me thinking…what ABOUT Croatia? I started doing some research and I came across my dear friend Rick Steves Eastern Europe itinerary. After googling a few of the places, we were sold! History, castles, coastline and cheap accommodations? Sign us up.

I basically took his suggested itinerary and adjusted it to the amount of time we were going to be there. Here’s what we ended up with:

Amsterdam, Netherlands – This stop was an add-on more than anything as the cheapest flight was found through here so we added two days to our trip. The flight from Seattle (with a quick stop in Iceland) was really an easy flight. Highly recommended flying into Amsterdam.

Prague, Czech Republic – Seemed only fitting to really start our trip with a visit to the “Paris of the East!” Plus, it’s one of the few cities that was untouched by the war.

Krakow, Poland – Per my hubby’s request. I should have given us a bit more time here, but it’s hard to narrow it down.

Budapest, Hungary – Also seemed to be a “not to miss” place. Like Krakow, another day would have been great here.

Ljubljana, Slovenia – Recommended by a colleague of mine. She said to add a day to this stop and she was SO right. Give this country at least 3 days.

Zagreb, Croatia – The capitol of Croatia. Not a ton to see, but it worked well logistically in our travel plans. It was a good place to reorganize and pick up our rental car for the drive down the coast.

Split, Croatia – Featured on the Game of Thrones. Enough said.

Mostar, Bosnia – A quick side trip that was the biggest unknown. Will it be safe? How’s the drive? What will we do there? All valid questions that were immediately answered as soon as we crossed the border from Croatia. Yes. Easy. Eat, drink and sight see!

Dubrovnik, Croatia – Also a Game of Thrones filming location not to mention a VERY romantic city. A great place to end our journey!

We spent anywhere from 2 to 3 days in each city, which was fine for some and not enough time for others. It was definitely an ambitious itinerary to say the least. As soon as you got semi-comfortable, it was time to pack up and run to the next train. I’m pretty sure we’ll never travel like this again, but it was a memorable learning experience all around!