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Amsterdam in the rain

|When visiting Amsterdam

If it wasn’t for the beautiful ancient canals, the amstel beer, the red light district and the famous bikes in the town, I would have been sleeping in bed because it was rainy, windy and cold.

We took 2 trains to where we stayed, Lelylaan. Right outside the heart of Amsterdam, I was able to find a reasonable price apartment to stay. We weren’t going to be in the room anyway, why pay more?
Anyway, we bought 24 hours pass for trams and trains. It was about 10 Euros per one ticket. This is a lot of helps, we hopped on and off public transportation like crazy. It was fun. I like how they always check if you’re on or off the bus by having a pass reader right at the door of the bus.

When we got the heart of Amsterdam, we saw the palace, shopping center, trams and many bikes, lots of bikes. It was windy, so I bought myself a winter hat 🙂 What a great idea. My hair was flying everywhere and it was cold. Our umbrellas were from the host of our place.
Having issues with the weather, we found a few places to chill out in door! Bars and restaurants were packed of course.

Amsterdam Train to Lelylaan

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will have to be quick and on time (very on time) to catch their public transportation otherwise, wait till the next one. Oh, don’t forget to wear comfortable shoes!

ticket reader Trams in Amsterdam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re lost, just look for a train map or bus maps that has the word Centraal on it. This place is the combination of all transportation. Keep in mind that Amsterdam is not big.
Amsterdam is also known for a city of small shops and restaurants everywhere on the streets. When I took shots of small streets and roads, I felt safe in this city. Even when it was midnight! No hidden people, many tourists and lots of taxis.
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Food in Amsterdam
I love food, way too much I have to take photos. Everywhere we go in Europe in general, we found Italian restaurants. I happened to order pastas dish in all 4 countries we visited.
CIMG4634Doughnuts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

veggiesoupCIMG4653

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My husband is a big beer fan and he wouldn’t miss the local beers. He tried almost everything that the local bars recommended. We found that most local bartenders were friendly, their tasting beer glass is huge!

Beer was cheaper than fruit juice. I understood why many Europeans were so happy to have cheap fresh fruit juice in Thailand.CIMG4695

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This Irish pub also has an INN right next door

This Irish pub also has an INN right next door

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What to do when you’re in Amsterdam?

Amsterdam central

Somewhere in the middle of Amsterdam

Homes in Amsterdam

Catch the blue sky before another rain

 

 

 

You will walk and walk and walk around Amsterdam. Great walking shoes are a must! Pebble stones and chasing the trains will hurt your feet. If you get there and it happens to rain, bring an umbrella or buy one there. It rains all day, on and off. You will have plenty of things to do before the rain stops.

 

 

 

We found some restaurants that open till late. Amsterdam at night is very pretty but make sure you are safe and don’t forget that trains schedule! Most restaurants and bars allow non-customers to use their restroom (toilets) but make sure that you read their sign “customers only” before entering. Many of them are free only when you are in the shopping center area or fast food like Mc Donald’s!!
Sushi bar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Mc Donald’s charges restroom they check on me if I had bought food before I walked inside!

McDonalds in Amsterdam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canal tour!!!
For only 10 Euros a pop, you can enjoy an hour tour on the boat. There are many different types of tours on these canals, but we got a short day so we went with 1 hour. It was worth it even though our sky wasn’t blue and was raining that day. Please excuse our photos, they are gloomy and gray.
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Red light district! 

CIMG4679 CIMG4680Right, who would want to miss this district? So hundred years ago when Europe started commercial with China, all products are coming by ships. Later on, business was going so well, they decided to build canals to support all goods. Amsterdam has plenty of canals and they are clean!
Now, you wonder why they have red light district? well guess who got to be on the boat from Asia? and guess where they have to let that urge go?
at least that is my theory. What’s yours?
Girls in the district are either drop dead gorgeous or very out of shape. Older and younger, all sort of styles you can choose from. I enjoyed watching them from the streets. I have many more photos but they might not be appropriate on a blog like this:)

Ride a bike in a public garden
Unlike any other garden that you know. This place is dedicated to the locals who live in an apartment or condos but love gardening. They will come out here and enjoy planting their flowers and herbs or even vegetables.
We walked! as usual, we took a tram and let it ride us way out of the city. We ended up at this beautiful place!
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Ann Frank House
With no doubts we wanted to visit this museum after we read what happened to Ann Frank. The line was longer than a MBA ticket booth. We had to come back to this museum after 7 P.M. Boy!, was it worth it! I teared up when I was approaching the end of the museum. What an impressive story and her diary? No joke about this, a little girl who survived the war just because her heart was nurtured with love from her family. Without them, she was torn apart.
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It is an absolute must see museum. No photos allowed inside, bring tissue.

The Canal walk
Like I mentioned earlier. Walking is awesome and walking in Amsterdam is even better. Get yourself to the canal zones and you’ll see. I hope you have a great weather in Amsterdam.
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At night, when all houses along the canals lighted up the lights, they looked so gorgeous!
Have a safe walk!

 

 

 

I AMSTERDAM

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Located in a beautiful location with many museums around. This is the symbol that got me excited. Guess who has the green umbrella?

Amsterdam, Honeymoon

What a day to remember.

Amsterdam

“Just me and you kiddo”

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My favorite drinks in Amsterdam

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What am I talking about? This Latte Macchiato has the right amount of IMG_8172caffeine and sweetness. Not too much like our Starbucks and not too mild like when I did it myself. What an enjoyable cup of coffee.



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More importantly, it is beautiful!

Hot tea! yes, I love hot tea. Since I have been getting off coffee, tea has been my monument.CIMG4644 When you order a cup of tea, you will get a tea biscuit. It comes with no extra charge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What have I done inside Amsterdam bathrooms?

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I took a ton of photos of the CIMG4797flush buttons. Europeans are very natural resource conservative. If I can get all of these, What a collection to have in one house, right? Don’t you think these are cool? These are on a bathroom wall. I would put it next to the toilet bowl not right above it. This way, you can flush while sitting if you have to 🙂

 

 

I hope you enjoyed my Amsterdam Blog. Please visit other cities that I’ve been visited. Click here to explore

Have a wonderful day.

To explore Akrotiri, click here.
To explore Munich, click here.
To explore Oia, Santorini, click here

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