We've had a relatively low-key weekend, starting on Friday, which has actually been nice! Being able to see some things here and there while also getting to relax hits the spot.
Friday
Friday was overcast, but a little humid with some sprinkles here and there. This actually seemed to have caused swarms of flying ants to come out, which was weird! First, we rode around a beautiful park nearby - Frankendael Park. It had gorgeous pathways (for both walking and biking), open spaces for picnics, lovely gardens, a historical house - the Huize Frankendael, sculptures, and really cool garden homes!
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| Huize Frankendael, now a restaurant |
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| One of the garden houses. We want one of these one day! |
We then decided to go to a local brewery that we heard about a few days earlier, called Brouwerij ’t IJ. It is located right next to an old windmill, which made it even more better! I will say that the beer in Amsterdam is pretty disappointing…all the restaurants here will serve Heineken or Amstel or Belgian beers, but there’s nothing local. I guess that goes to show that we’ve gotten spoiled living in Portland. ;) So visiting Brouwerij ’t IJ was a real treat! They had a wide variety of beers and tasty snacks. Adam had a blonde ale and Belgian-style ale, while I had their seasonal summer blonde and wit beer. So good! The two Dutch guys next to us didn't seem impressed that there were so many tourists and one even questioned me how we found out about the brewery, but whatever. We had a good time, and made conversation with some people from Minnesota...all while swatting away at all the flying ants. We've also decided we'll be going back at least one more time before we leave.
Saturday
Saturday was a very cold, rainy, and windy day, so we spent most of it inside. We started off by visiting the Amsterdam Museum. Although we got lost trying to find our way out for a lunch break, this museum was very interesting! It goes over the history of Amsterdam, and how the city has gained it's identity, with endless and beautiful collections.
After the museum, we walked over to a nearby theater to see Ant Man. The movie was alright, but the experience of seeing a movie in a foreign country was pretty cool! The movie had Dutch subtitles, so the movie wasn't dubbed over. Lots of people whispered throughout the movie, and even some people got kicked out for being obnoxious which was a little irritating, but the popcorn was certainly delicious (way better than the crappy kind we typically get in the States, IMO), and everything was cheaper!
Today (Sunday)
We tried to spend as much time as we could outside today, since it's predicted to rain for the next 4 days. So after soaking up some morning sun at a cafe, we rode our bikes to the Olympic Stadium. Amsterdam hosted the Olympics back in 1928, so it was cool to be able to see the track!
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| On your mark, get set....go! |
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| And he's off! |
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| And then he finishes! |
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| The Marathon Tower - the first-ever Olympic flame was lit here. Also, heralds blew their horns when they saw the marathon runners approaching from this tower. |
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| True Olympic star ;) |
We also walked around the stadium, which had a lovely little park. So we decided to have fun with it!
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| Best thing I've done on this trip |
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| Vicious geese |
Following the Olympic Stadium area, we biked over to Vondelpark to grab some lunch and people-watch. Then we hopped over to the Museumplein to just walk around. There was also a free art show that honored Vincent van Gogh (his death day is a few days away from 125 years ago), so we took a gander before heading home for the day!
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| With Rembdrant |
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| With Van Gogh |
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| In the art show |
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