Amsterdam!

So our first stop was in Amsterdam! We had 2 days there, which was the PERFECT amount of time to see and explore Amsterdam. Amsterdam is a fairly small city. Small enough that you can walk it, all around it. So that's what we did, we spent the first day just exploring.

Most people in Amsterdam use bikes to get places. And literally everywhere you look there were bikes, this was one of the first things we saw, a bicycle parking garage. Crazy.

It was SO gorgeous. I was in love with the beautiful dutch houses lining the streets, and the canals were seriously breath taking.

This is Dam square. Which is basically the center of the city. Back in the day it was the place to buy anything and everything, now the city is more spread out. It is still a beautiful meeting place with shopping and food... and pigeons.

Yes, we ate a meal at McDonalds. We know that was SO American of us, but we had been walking all day, and needed a quick bite. I just had to take a picture of the menu. How crazy is this?

Everywhere you look there were incredible buildings. It is such an interesting city to see!

On our way back to our hotel the first night we walked past this cute little bakery, and the second I saw this, I knew I had to have it. I'm a sucker for waffles, and melted chocolate. Put them together, and WOW. Mmm... now I'm craving one again.

We woke up the next morning, and started walking again.

We hit up the Anne Frank Huis.

This was the actual place where Anne Frank and her family hid from the Germans during WWII.

You were not allowed to take any pictures in the house at all. But as we were about to step into the Annex, Cam grabbed a sneaky pic of the bookcase the hid the entry way.

The inside of the Annex has been preserved so well. Anne had used glue and a collection of pictures on famous people, and happy people and places to decorate her walls, to bring her happiness. This is a picture I found online of one of the walls in her room.

It was an incredibly moving, and touching experience. It really put things into prospective to be there, and imagine what she went through. It made us realize we have SO much to be grateful for.

Another canal, and more bikes. The canals are lined with boats. Some are house boats that people actually live in, like the one you see on the right side of the canal.

With all this talk, and memory about the city, I am forgetting to mention my favorite part of the trip. Spending time alone, with my very best friend in the world, Cameron. It was the first time we have been alone for any length of time for the past 4 years. It was wonderful.

For lunch we went to The Pancake Bakery. This was something I had been looking forward to for a LONG time. The dutch pancakes are WAY different from our pancakes. They are thiner, and come with toppings, and things baked into them. You could choose to get "savory" or "sweet" pancakes, with endless options of different types of pancakes.

It was cute, and totally romantic inside.

And the table had 2 different kinds of "stroop" which is syrup, powdered sugar and a bowl of chocolate syrup! YUMMERS!!!

So we had to order one of each. Mine was obviously the "sweet" one, because I just could not resist! It had homemade apple strudel, cinnamon, a delish vanilla sauce, ice cream, and whipped cream. It was DE-VIIIIINE!!! Cam's was equally delicious in a different way. He ordered one of the "savory" pancakes, with ham, cheese, onions. Mmmm. So tasty.

I know this picture looks so yum, but it doesn't even do it justice. Probably one of the best things I have ever eaten.

Back out to the city. And more canal eye candy.

A little later in the day we came here.

This makes me sick just looking at it. It is RAW HERRING. Don't let the onions and pickles fool you, this herring is in no way prepared, and covered in slime and skin. It is the traditional street food in Amsterdam. Some people (I guess) really like it. So we HAD to stop and try. Okay, Cam did, not me. He is such a trooper! :) He said it was one of the nastiest things he had ever eaten, and had a horrible taste in his mouth the next couple hours. ICK!

The city is full of canals, Amsterdam actually has more canals than Venice, Italy.

This is Centraal Station. The main train station, and if you ask me, it looks more like a palace. Once again, you can see all the bikes parked there.

Another traditional street food, that I was much more on board with trying, was the warm french fries with mayonnaise. We got them just outside of Dam square at the place that serves the best fries in Holland. And they were very yummy, and very warm, which felt amazing, because it was super duper cold. We went into Dam square, sat and talked and people watched while we ate our fries with mayonnaise.

Oh, and it totally looks like those were our bikes next to me in the picture above. I went to Amsterdam with the dream of renting a bike and riding around the city. Two things that I did not realize when I had that dream: 1. how freezing it would be, and 2. How terrifying riding a bike in Amsterdam would be.

It really was SO crazy. There were bikes EVERYWHERE (obviously) and the people on bikes have no fear, and no rules, they don't stop at stoplights, or wait for crosswalks, they can go on the road or the side walk, or anywhere in between. It's hard to discribe, but I seriously don't know how we didn't see 209384 bike crashes. They were crazy. And I'm pretty sure we almost died like 209348 times just walking. SO, no we did not end up riding bikes.

I love this shot, because it shows 7 different styles of dutch houses all in a row, I love the cute little red boat, and despite the wind we had the whole time we were there, you can even see a little bit of a reflection of the houses. So pretty.

It was such an incredible city. Our favorite part was just being able to walk the streets together, talking and laughing, and just enjoying being alone. So romantical. :)

It was seriously beautiful, and seriously cold. By the end we were ready to move on to the next part of our trip: Athens!!