09-13.12.2018: Amsterdam, Netherlands

This will be a lengthy post as Court and I have not blogged any of our days in Amsterdam until now. We really, really enjoy the city with it's gorgeous canals and architecture. Court and I both had bicycles in Toronto so we are quite envious of the bike lanes that are here in Amsterdam. 

Day 1: The night before we arrived late so we just found our Air B&B and grabbed some groceries and called it a night. The following day we went and toured the MOCO which is the Modern Contemporary Art Gallery. The gallery featured an exhibition on the famous graffiti artist Banksy and had some of his original pieces there for viewing.

Day 2: We went and toured the canals and then experienced the Ann Frank House which was a solemn tour through the house that her family and a few others hid in during World War 2. The original bookcase hiding the secret staircase is still there, as are her post cards and newspaper clippings that she plastered onto the walls for decoration in her room. A very sad story but a incredibly well done tribute to her life. 

Later in the evening Court and I walked through the main streets of the infamous Red Light District which was also very interesting to see in person.

Day 3: I was familiar with the works of Van Gogh but not so much his personal life. So we went to the very reputable Van Gogh Museum; it was great to see so many of his artworks and letters in one place. The museum has around 300 of his personal letters that he wrote to friends and family so it allows one to get a feel for his personality, etc.

After the Van Gogh museum we hopped on a canal cruise and were toured through the beautiful canals to admire the old bridges and row houses.

Day 4: Court and I went to the TonTon Club which is pretty much an arcade, and after making quick work of Courtnie in Mortal Kombat we went to the A'dam lookout. 

We hopped on the wrong ferry and instead went to NDSM neighbourhood which used to be an old shipyard but is now being turned into one of the coolest Amsterdam neighbourhoods. We then made our way up the A'dam lookout and hopped on the swing at the top of the building! Which was definitely scarier than we thought it would be!

The swing! 

Even though this photo was in front of a green screen I still was not gonna let go of the beam.

Dam square

MOCO

Banksy

Another one of his iconic works

Other artists featured in the MOCO were the brothers ICY & SOT

Roy Lichtenstein's 3D apartment

Bought this for our Godson Ryken

All these bikes makes me miss my bike: the Green Hornet 

Ann Frank statue, unfortunately no photographs were allowed inside the museum.

Church near the Ann Frank house

Ann Frank House original entrance

Van Gogh sensory immersion exhibition

Angsty 

Canal cruise

We look upset but we are just listening to the ship's audio that was explaining the history of the Amsterdam canals.

If this trip was much longer Court would only be able to afford this as accommodation!

The Eye and the A'dam Lookout on the right

Nemo by Renzo Piano

Views from the Lookout

Regretting buying the rocking horse for Ryken, this one is cooler.

Salute to you Ma'am!

Onwards! To London!

We didn't really give this too much thought as we had already gone paragliding on this trip, which wasn't scary at all, so we thought this would be a breeze... instead it was actually terrifying.

Courtnie was hoping she would be strapped in with a 5-point harness but instead it was just a bar and seat-belt over the waist.

Not sure why Court included this picture but here is a train from the train station in Amsterdam!
(Note: my editor informed me it's a photo of the last train we rode on of our Europe trip.)

View from our Air B&B by Rembrandt Park

I have never had a Dutch pancake before but they are incredibly delicious! 10 out of 10 would recommend.

Our trip is almost over! We fly to London tomorrow and have a few days to catch up with Lena and Keith, and then we head home just in time for the holidays!