Amsterdam is a very cool city: super international and “urban” with great food, mass transit, and cultural amenities — but it was hot as HELL for the first few days of our visit. As we have effectively broken planet Earth’s eco-system and habitat, Amsterdam has not escaped the heat. It reached 100 degrees each of the first two days we were there. Fortunately, the heat broke by the 3rd day. (A darkly humorous line floating around the internet goes like this: “I don’t like to think of this as the hottest summer in the last 100 years; I prefer to think of it as the coolest summer of the next 100 years!” Gallows humor, for sure).
Our Amsterdam adventure was a bit different than other cities we’ve visited. Because we were visiting my brother, and hanging out with old friends who happened to be in town, we did less “sightseeing” of historic places and buildings. We had a great time just walking around the beautiful, vibrant and bicycle-happy city, and enjoying the really great food scene! In no particular order, here is our Amsterdam experience:
Oh Brother! My brother, Stephen, recently moved to Amsterdam. As usual, he was a fantastic guide — walking us to various parts of the city, and introducing us to his favorite restaurants.
Bike ride in the countryside: Stephen also took us into the countryside north of Amsterdam for a lovely “little” bike ride. “About 30 minutes each way,” he said… after the first two hours (where we stopped at a wonderful pancake restaurant), Stephen “Ike Turner” Suess suggested altering the path to a “little bit longer”-route that should take “maybe an hour and a half,”…. Ha! Round-trip, it was a 22 mile bike ride! (But it WAS beautiful countryside!)
Time with friends! As we were leaving Chicago to start our adventure in June, we had a send-off dinner with my best bud from college, Jamey, and his lovely wife Ruth and their daughters. While dining, they mentioned that they, too, were going to Europe this summer, including Amsterdam. As luck — and sheer coincidence — would have it, our schedules aligned perfectly for Amsterdam, and both families were here at the same time. A sharing of beers, meals, and a sightseeing cruise along Amsterdam’s canals followed:
The rest of our time here was mostly spent walking around, taking in the scenery, including the the canals, the Rijksmuseum grounds, a little Pride parade, and just hanging out.
Jackie has added Amsterdam to the “list” of places she wants to retire. Somewhat surprisingly, she wants to live in the Countryside north of Amsterdam, where Stephen took us on the “Bataan death march” of bike rides. It is lovely countryside, for sure, but I would likely not last more than a week away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Perhaps we’ll visit each other, me from the center of Amsterdam, and she from her countryside perch.
Next up: Prague!