Amsterdam two weekends in a row. . .

. . . you'd think we were Dutch or something. This past weekend, we had our first visitors, the well-traveled and always enjoyable Kyla & Mike. After stops in London & Paris, they arrived in Den Haag; it was so great to see familiar faces. Kyla described her first glimpse of me as "bouncy". Although I have no direct recollection of this, it seems vaguely familiar.

We all stayed in our apartment the first night, and then spent the next two in Amsterdam. The past three days were filled with plenty of beer, conversation and laughs. Unfortunately, the only photo I have of the four of us together is the one above.

We toured former brewery of the ubiquitous Heineken; it was somewhere between one big beer advertisement, and a frat-boy's dream come true.


Included in the admission price was tokens for beer along the way. If only all museums took this into consideration . . .


Have you heard Amsterdam has a red-light district? It's true. But seeing as how this is mostly a PG-rated blog, I'll skip the details.

One of the biggest highlights was the Indonesian restaurant we ate at last night. We were the only tourists in the place, and it took us ages to order. Once we surrendered our desire to pick items off the menu, and allowed the man in charge decide what we were going to eat, we had one of the best meals to date.

It was raining almost the entire time, but that didn't subtract from our experience. Most patios were equipped with big umbrellas and heaters, which enabled us to pretend it was still summer.

Amsterdam is beautiful with wide kanaals, brick straats, and tall buildings that seem to be leaning at different angles. It is full of beautiful details and interesting things to look at, such as this gigantic games of chess.


One thing that amazes me the most is how Dutch people hold umbrellas while riding bikes. I can't help but think how dangerous this is, and how I would surely topple if I suddenly needed to brake. Sometimes two people riding side-by-side would even share an umbrella. It's hard enough to keep in step when you're walking next to someone! My bike-riding skills have been seriously humbled since arriving. Honestly, if the only think you're doing is riding the bike, you're wasting valuable time.

We saw more of Amsterdam than the first visit, but we still don't feel as though we know her yet. Luckily she is only 39 mins away, and I'm positive hasn't seen the last of us yet.