Amsterdam December 2011

From Paris we flew into Amsterdam.  I know its only a 4 hour drive but we found it was cheaper to fly than to take a train.  I was really surprised at the cost of taking a train.  When we arrived we again decided to try the train into the city from the Amsterdam airport.  It was super easy and cheap.  You can get on an express train and it will take you right to the main central station.

I don't think we met one person in Amsterdam that couldn't speak English.  It is a known fact that the Dutch like to practice there English so they are ready and willing to speak in English to you.  This is pretty great considering Dutch is a very difficult language to learn. 

Since everyone could speak English they were very helpful in giving us a hand to get around the city.  Once we got off the express train there was a visitor center right outside the front doors.  Here they were able to tell us what trolley to take and what stop to get off for our hotel. We were also able to purchase our tickets here.  The trolleys were very easy to navigate with a stroller as well and it was nice to not have to go under ground to catch a subway. 

One of the first things you will notice about Amsterdam is that you don't see many vehicles around the city center.  There are more bikes then cars.  We even saw a bicycle parking garage!  Crazy I know.  Even if you have 3 children you most likely will manage to all get on one bike one way or another.  You can see as many as fifty bikes coming at you at once when the traffic like changes to green. 

We decided to get around mostly by walking.  You can pretty much navigate the whole city by foot.  One thing we noticed about the city by walking around was that rain or shine, blizzard, or heat wave all of the store fronts are wide open. Forget about small doors they have garage like doors that remain wide open as long as the store is open for business.  I loved how inviting that was.  Especially at Christmas time. 

The first full day we made the decision to do the hop on hop off bus to see all of the sites.  It was a great deal.  You could get on and off the bus as much as you want for 24 hrs.  Each time you get on the bus you can plug in your head phones and listen to the history of the city in the language of your choice.  This was also very easy to do with a stroller as well.  Also included in our package was a boat tour since most of the city is surrounded by canals.  There around a thousand bridges in Amsterdam alone. 


Our first and most important stop to me personally was the Anne Frank Museum.  As a little girl I was fascinated by her story and must have read her diary a hundred times.  The Museum is there actual hide out in her fathers office building.  It was amazing to be in the actual place that they hid for several years before their capture. 

Our next stop was the Van Gogh Museum.  This was also high on our list of things to see.  He had such an interesting and sad story.  The museum also had some great works by some of his close friends.  We spent a good amount of time here so allow your self a few hours.

Next we toured the original Heineken plant.  This was pretty interesting as well.  You see the process of brewing and bottling the beer.  You get to see the Heineken horses.  There are also lots of fun interactive things to do along the tour.  At the end you get 2 samplings of beer or if you are like me you opt for the free Pepsi. 

Amsterdam is a city that we agree we would like to see in the Spring.  They are well known for all of there tulips.  Seeing how amazing this city was at Christmas time makes your wonder how beautiful it would be with hundreds of tulips around. 

If you are interested in visiting Amsterdam it promises to not disappoint.