One of the places we knew we wanted to visit while in Europe was Amsterdam, but not for the reasons most people want to go there. We decided to go over the St. Patrick’s Day holiday our second year in Ireland after braving the crowds at the parade the year before and dealing with all the tourists. We went to Amsterdam after our trip to Olso when Honeybun was 32 months old and Sugarplum was 7 1/2 months.
There is so much history and culture in Amsterdam and while many people used to visit for the red light district and easy access to legal marijuana, these aspects are tucked away and easy to avoid (though we did take a stroll down the main street in the red light district one afternoon. If you weren’t paying attention, though, you wouldn’t notice it was different from any other street). Amsterdam is a wonderful outdoors town with plenty to see while just wandering around. We of course visited the flower market and I bought some tulip bulbs to send to our families (and paid €40 in shipping!).
Amsterdam is filled with little boutique hotels and finding an affordable place to stay in the middle of the city is quite easy. We stayed at the RobertRamon Hotel near the world famous Rijksmuseum (which was closed when we were visiting). The hotel was small and the triple room was snug once we got the baby cot/crib set up for Sugarplum but it was comfy enough, included breakfast and suited our family just fine.
I’ve always been fascinated with the Holocaust time period and so the Anne Frank house was high on my list of must dos. The visit is by guided tour only and as is expected, it was busy and we had to wait awhile for our tour to start. We also had to carry Sugarplum since the tour is of the actual house where the family took refuge, which has been largely untouched other than the removal of the furniture, and it is not handicapped accessible. I have to admit I was a bit underwhelmed by the tour but I think it was more because I was trying to manage two kids and couldn’t focus fully on the tour guide. I’m still glad we went, though, and I have that piece of history in my “been there, done that” file.
One of the places I did really love, though, that many people may not think to visit was the Rembrandt House Museum. The former residence of the painter is set up as it was when he lived there and includes an audio tour. You are free to wander around the place which is great for little ones and they had a special children’s audio guide which Honeybun loved.
We also visited the Heineken Experience which is the official brewery tour and it was one of our favorite brewery experiences. It’s not just an overview of how Heineken is brewed, but includes the entire beer making experience including bottling and delivery and other aspects such as the history, where it’s enjoyed around the world and there’s even a ride (which I don’t think was there when we visited) capped off by a visit to the World Bar where you get a free Heineken (or soda for non-drinkers, this was where Honeybun had her first taste of Fanta and she was not a fan!)
One of the stops I was most excited about was the Van Gogh museum. I’ve always been a big Van Gogh fan and all though the museum does not house all of his most famous works, I enjoyed wandering through and seeing his artistic transformation. We were also pleasantly surprised to find the museum had a special Picasso exhibit at the time which we enjoyed since we had recently visited Madrid and Malaga, Spain with their Picasso ties as well. Unfortunately, art was not Honeybun’s thing at that time and the modern building lacked the exciting ceilings of the Louvre and other art museums we’d done with Honeybun, so hubby and I spent the visit taking turns minding her and enjoying the art.
We also visited the Royal Palace of Amsterdam which is right on the main square. Honeybun always did well in historic places because we could talk with her about how big it is and who used to live there and what the different rooms were used for (plus there were always the ceilings!) The palace was free for wandering at your own pace and also had audio guides though Honeybun hijacked mine so I was stuck reading all the signs and listening when she would let me!
Our last day was a Monday and many of the things we had not yet done were closed so we decided to take the girls to the Artis Royal Zoo. While we don’t usually visit Zoos while traveling, we really enjoyed our visit. The zoo is in the heart of the city and was founded in 1838 so also includes many gorgeous, historic buildings from throughout its history.
One of our favorite parts of this trip, though, might have been afternoon naptime. We took our double buggy and most afternoons both girls would fall asleep while strolling around which gave hubby and I the opportunity to sit outside a café somewhere and enjoy a beer or coffee and relax!
