Mom & Dad visit: Amsterdam

Amsterdam is usually the main attraction for people traveling to the Netherlands but for us it was just a quick stop. We arrived late Sunday afternoon at our hotel, The Golden Tulip Amsterdam West. The hotel was very nice and a little more then I would normally spend on a hotel. We wanted something on the outskirts of town, near a tram stop and with parking. This was our best option for a holiday weekend.

We headed out soon after arriving. Our first stop was going to be Hard Rock Cafe for Colby's sticks and supper. Well when we got on the tram and Colby asked for which stop we should get off on. Well the nice lady on the tram told us the wrong thing. We ended up in the very center of the city when we wanted to be on the outskirts of the downtown area. I was able to use the map and get us to the Hard Rock Cafe but the wait was too long. We were able to eat at a little outside cafe and still get the sticks.

The main thing we were doing in Amsterdam was a evening candlelight canal cruise. It was a 90 minute cruise that took us all over Amsterdam and through several canals. They had headphones to listen to history about Amsterdam but some of the hook ups didn't work.

Enjoying a Heineken on the cruise

These houses are crooked because of the sinking of the ground around the canal. Amsterdam is known for these types of house. The best part of doing the earlier night cruise was over half of the cruise it was still light enough to see stuff and get really good pictures but we also saw the lights on the building and bridges towards the end when it was getting darker. 

The next day my mom, Colby and I ventured out to the Anne Frank house. We pre purchased our tickets online. We were sure glad we did. Our tickets were for 8:40am and it doesn't even open until 9am. We arrived about 5 minutes before that and the line to buy tickets there was already over a block long.  You aren't allowed to take picture in the house but there are several things preserved in there original place. There were plaques with information on them to explain what was what and videos through out explaining events and situation from other peopled view also. 

We were in the house and the gift shop for a little over an hour and by the time we got out the line had basically tripled in size. It was down the block and winding its way down the alley. I couldn't imagine waiting that long to see it. It was cool but I wouldn't be willing to spend 4-6 hours of my vacation waiting and then viewing it. Definitely buy tickets online!