Amsterdam Day 2

Saturday in Amsterdam. The weather is sunny and beautiful. The morning starts out a little chilly and then by the afternoon a tshirt is all you need. We started out the day with Dutch Pancakes. They are very similar to a crepe just a little thicker and larger. Gabe got his with bacon baked into it and a fried egg on top. They have all kinds of different fruit toppings. We are loving riding bikes around the city. However, we have gotten some looks and several corrections on “proper” bike etiquette. Andrew has managed to get separated from us multiple times. After breakfast we rode over to the Anne Frank Haus. Back at the beginning of the trip, when I figured out how to use Amazon Italy, I ordered the kids Anne Franks Diary to read. The plan was they would finish the book before arriving in Amsterdam and then we would go to the museum. For some reason, nothing told me to go to the museum website and look into the tickets. If I had, then I would of discovered the tickets are extremely hard to get and are only released on certain days. A few tickets are released each day. I set an alarm every day and checked the website everyday to try to get a ticket. No luck. I tried to buy them on a site like Craigslist. Nope. So we only got to see it from the outside. We listed to a My WoWo about it. It was still a very nice experience. Renee and I decided to go to the flagship 4 story H & M. Gabe and Andrew went back to the hotel. After shopping we all went to lunch at The Butcher. It’s a burger place. I had fish and chips but they said the burgers were awesome. We took a little mid day rest and then got our bikes back out to do more exploring. We went to Ouse Kerk. It’s a 14th century Protestant Church. Originally it was a Catholic Church. It’s in a prominent place in the center of town in Dam Square. The outside is very Catholic cathedral looking. But the inside was looted, striped, and painted over to be converted to a Protestant church. This happened in 1578 when the Catholic Reformation occurred in most of Europe. This was my first time in a Protestant Church. The organ is original and the acoustics are apparently wonderful. Gabe and I are going to dinner tonight on our own. The kids are going to have Papa Johns pizza and try to watch the Mario Movie. Gabe and I are going to The Duchess. I am very excited. We got ready for our very European dinner at 8:45pm. The menu is shared small and large plates. We had tuna tartare, a scallop with hollandaise, a cold zucchini salad with Parmesan and shaved truffle. Followed by lobster pasta and 10 kinds of mushroom risotto. Everything was amazing. I would eat here again. Hopefully we can try to find that hibachi place tomorrow. Gabe got me some beautiful flowers to enjoy. I don’t want to leave them here. Ciao!Read more