Biking around town

Amsterdam is a really small city. While they have trams and buses, the entire city is totally bikeable. Everyone rides bikes everywhere. I absolutely love it!!! It's such a fun and practical way to get around and although there are little bridges over the canals, the city is so flat. So, instead of using public transport, we decided to rent bikes for the next two days that we were here. While I was a little nervous about riding bikes amidst all the trams (above ground), cars, and tourists, it was actually really easy because there were usually bike lanes.

After we all got fitted for bikes (and fitted is used loosely here since the shortest girls had to basically jump off our bikes to get off), we went to the Bloemmenmarkt aka the floating flower market. They are barges on the canals that sell all types of flower bulbs and flowers as well as other fun souvenirs.

After that we went to a restaurant for lunch called Pannenkoekenhuis Upstairs. It is the smallest restaurant in Europe because it only seats 12 people. They already had premade reservations waiting before us even though we got there right when they opened so we just explored neighborhoods nearby while we waited.

 

 

 

Once we got back to the restaurant, we ordered some of the delicious pancakes. They serve Dutch pancakes which are very similar to crepes but have a slightly chewier texture. The place was so tiny they could only make two pancakes at a time and they washed all dishes by hand. The restaurant was adorable and the place was delicious. The homemade whipped cream was the best part.

 

 

 

 

 

From here, we walked and around and explored other neighborhoods before heading over to the big area where the Rijikmuseum and the Van Gogh museum were. The Rijikmuseum had a few Rembrandts but nothing much else of interest to anyone so we skipped that one. And while the Van Gogh museum obviously specialized in the artist's work, it actually did not contain many of Van Gogh's noteworthy pieces so most of us skipped that one as well since we'd see some of his most famous work in Paris in jut a few days.

Instead, all the girls and Will (the other fellas went to the museum) rode our bikes around to explore more of the city.

After meeting up the boys again a little later, we all went to dinner at an Indonesian restaurant because that is a large immigrant population in Amsterdam. From there, we walked around Chinatown and the Red Light District, and then hung out in a coffee shop before heading home. There aren't any pictures of that for obvious reasons. Here is a picture of my dessert for the evening though. Belgian waffle with Nutella and hazelnut praline ice cream- yum!!

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