Amsterdam... the lost days...

Amster-Amster-Dam-Dam-DAMN that was a good time!

What a whirlwind weekend we had! Let's recap it for you all, shall we? We know we owe you a big update!

We flew into Amsterdam on Saturday morning around 11am. Brandon was already waiting for us, luggage in hand. Luna was SO happy to see her daddy! Jenna, Cindy & MommaRam were as well - Brandon has been to Amsterdam twice before and served as a most excellent tour guide for us! It was nice to "not have to think" and just be sheep for a little while.

One thing that we noticed immediately is how utterly HUGE Schiphol Airport is! We had to take a bus from the plane to the terminal - that's how big we're talking.

:: MommaRam & Luna - Let me out! ::

We easily went through customs and got on a taxi and headed to the hotel. We are staying at the Grand Hotel Amrath. It is a very interesting place. Here's the website if anyone is interested: http://www.amrathamsterdam.com/

:: Grant Hotel Amrath in Amsterdam ::

:: Luna & Jenna arrive! ::

 :: View from MommaRam's window ::

Sisters Kristin & Tracy (AKA Tres) were already there. When we were reunited we all jumped around and hugged like a bunch of little kids. These are two of Jenna's oldest and dearest friends from NJ. The kind of friends you'll have for your whole life. Everyone was already well acquainted with the exception of Cindy, who was meeting the girls for the first time. They became fast friends as well! We were an excellent group - the dynamic was great!

We were all quite hungry and itching to get out into the city so we got a recommendation for a nice place to eat from the hotel concierge and headed out! 

This is an extraordinary city, to say the least. It is a bit overwhelming, quite actually. (Not necessarily in a bad way... it's just different.) But the views are exceptional - every twist and turn is packed with sights to see...

:: Typical Canal Views ::

:: Twisting & Turning City Streets ::

:: Backs of Brandon, Jenna & Tres walking down these gorgeous streets ::

:: Kristin, Brandon & Jenna ::

:: Boats Galore! ::

 :: Waiting for brunch, Jenna & Tres ::

We went to a fantastic little place for brunch, De Bekkerswinkel. It was very Dutch - the menu was in mostly Dutch and a little English. Very pretty menu though!

:: Yummy Place! ::

One thing of note is how s...l...o...w... things move in restaurants here. We waited for quite awhile to be served. It's just the way it goes in Europe, we suppose! No matter... this whole trip is a huge "go with the flow" experience! And we were all just so darn happy to be sitting down together that it could have taken all day and we'd be just fine!

In contrast, the street life is CRAZY BUSY. There are more bicycles here then we've ever seen in one place! You really have to keep your wits about you in this city - there are bicycles, scooters, motorbikes, trams & cars to watch out for. And they zip around every which way - watch out! 

:: Every corner has a pile of bikes parked ::

 :: This one was from near our hotel - you can't get away from them! ::

:: The bars are even on wheels! ::

The girls bike around the city in heels with ease. And the Dutch women are extraordinarily gorgeous - all very tall and statuesque. We walked around and shopped all afternoon. 

 :: Pretty transports ::

:: Fun place ::

:: Wow - they have a Cafe Luna! ::

We got back to the hotel around 6pm and were so exhausted we decided not to go to dinner to "The Supper Club," which we had reservations for, and instead split up a bit and went out for a nice local dinner that we could walk to. MommaRam stayed back at the hotel with Luna for dinner & the rest of us went out to Toro Dorado, which has delicious fresh beef from Argentina, Japan, Scotland (go figure!), Canada (?), and New Zealand. It was delicious! We ate outside and it was a splendid good time!

 :: Cindy & Tracy ::

:: Tracy & Brandon ::

:: Jenna & Kristin ::

So for this portion of the evening (as you can see from the photos above), the players are: Cindy, Jenna, Kristin, Tres & Brandon, our trusty Amsterdam tour guide. After dinner... there was some night life. This is what we can tell you... it is SURREAL in the evening. We never would have seen the things we saw without Brandon serving as our human GPS. It is VERY easy to get lost in these streets. And at night, it's a WHOLE DIFFERENT WORLD. Yes, we dared to venture into the Red Light District (we know you're dying to hear all about that, aren't you?) 

Well... you are strictly forbidden to take photos so once again, Cindy had the genius idea of photographing a post card. That's the best we can do...

:: You have to see it to believe it ::

It's hard to put into words how bizarre this experience was. First of all, we were there on a Saturday night, so it was beyond crazy with regard to the amount of people that were there. It is about 90% men (in big groups, typically) and 10% women, and the girls are mostly seen with men, not in groups. Brandon led us around (and around) the streets - it is vast and expansive, with location after location of women behind glass with red lights illuminated overhead. Most were on phones, smoking, or smoking whilst talking on the phones, or gesturing to the men passing by (whilst on phones.)

Tres likened it to those old fashioned food vending machines where you make your selection through the little glass doors. The women are on street level, which Cindy noted is different from in Paris, where they are seen up above. It's a little creepy, to be honest... all of those men. We wondered, how many "customers" do these ladies get in one night? Do they have a good insurance and dental plan? Do they work solo or for a conglomerate? How DOES this work? It's bizarre! (But yet, fascinating!)

Needless to say - this was an experience unlike we've ever had and we'll always remember Amsterdam. 

We headed back to the hotel and had some yummy room service and talked about our day. It was a good one!

(On to day two, Sunday, June 24th.)

On Sunday we did breakfast at the hotel and then prepared for some serious stuff. It was raining, so we whipped out our umbrellas and headed for the line for the Anne Frank Museum. This was... without a doubt... a very important experience. The line can typically take up to 3 hours to wait in, however, due to the rain we only waited about one hour.

:: Line for the Anne Frank Huis (House) ::

 :: Waiting in the rain! ::

Once in the museum, again, we were unable to take photos. The museum was a lot larger than we thought, and we were able to go into the hiding space that Anne and her family lived from July 1942 to August 4, 1944 when they were captured. Anne's mother, Edith, died in January of 1945 in Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Both Anne and her sister, Margot, died of typhus in March of 1945. Brother Peter died in the Mauthausen concentration camp in April or May of 1945. The only survivor was father Otto, who passed at the age of 91 in Switzerland.

Needless to say, this was a highly emotional experience. Highly emotional.

After the museum we decided to find a place to eat. We let Luna decide and she choose a pancake house! It was a wonderful choice.

 :: Pancake Corner, what delights! ::

Luna ordered a hot chocolate and it came out in this cute cup:

:: Dutch Hot Chocolate! ::

:: Cindy, Jenna & Tracy ::

:: Cindy, Jenna, Tracy, Brandon, Kristin & Luna ::

We then split up and went to some museums. Kristin and Tres went to the Van Gogh Museum and the rest of us went to the Rijks Museum, which houses work by Rembrandt & Vermeer (Jenna's favorite!)

:: Rijks Museum entrance ::

:: Rijks Gardens ::

The Rijks Museum was lovely. Looking at the Rembrandt pieces... wow. His use of light is out of this world. A true master. Photographs don't do it justice, but here's one:

:: Rembrandt's The Night Watch ::

Jenna was particularly excited to see her favorite painter, Vermeer, but they only had three paintings to show. (The museum is presently under construction so only showing a limited number of pieces.)

:: Vermeer's The Kitchen Maid ::

A fascinating process was shown of how they restore some of these paintings. It was a very interesting and enjoyable afternoon! Kristin and Tres even had time after they were finished to join us and did a quick tour of the museum too.

We have to share this lovely little photo of a restaurant called "Eat Me, Amsterdam" - it became a landmark of sorts, as it was in close proximity to our hotel. These streets can be seriously confusing, twisting and turning and very easy to get lost, so we'd all get very excited when we'd this place and we'd shout out "EAT ME!" (So classy, we know.)

:: EAT ME! (Amsterdam) ::

After all of this we headed back to the hotel and again, split up. It was "choose your own adventure," once again! Cindy, MommaRam and Luna stayed at the hotel and had dinner in the bar. They had a wonderful time and the waiter gave Luna a very special strawberry milk and a raspberry sorbet that she thought was fantastic! 

Jenna, Brandon, Kristin & Tres headed out to an extremely posh Japanese sushi restaurant called, Yamazato which is in the amazing Hotel Okura. This was Jenna's first sushi experience, and we'll just say that she ended up ordering the filet Mignon (and it was the best filet Mignon she's ever had!) The rest of the group deeply enjoyed their sushi. This place is a SERIOUS restaurant. The waitresses are in traditional Japanese kimonos and everything. Very formal. They started us off with a splendid sparkling wine infused with cherry blossoms that was delightful. We all enjoyed a wonderful bottle of sake as well. We were well fed, that is for sure! The sushi fans were not disappointed.

Monday morning we had some brunch before the girls had to depart for their train to London. We were sad to see them go, but happy that they will be joining us late Thursday evening in Glasgow!

After their departure the rest of us enjoyed a delightful canal tour boat ride. A very good choice for the morning activity!

 :: Views from the Canals ::

:: Beautiful Buildings ::

 :: Row after row ::

:: Anyone want to buy a houseboat with us? ::

:: Luna & Auntie Cindy ::

We even had the opportunity to see a HUGE Celebrity Cruise ship! It was colossal! 

 :: See, colossal! ::

:: Pretty boat ::

:: MommaRam & her baby Ram ::

:: Sleepy Luna holding daddy's hand ::

After the canal tour everyone was a bit tired so we split up again. Brandon & Jenna went off shopping on the 9 streets (famous shopping area) and enjoyed some fries on the way back (apparently a traditional Amsterdam delicacy!)

:: Yummy! ::

We also picked up some olives, cheese from Holland, meats and rolls and brought them back to Cindy, MommaRam and Luna for a little carpet picnic back at the hotel. It was glorious!

Next morning - time to get ready to go back to Glasgow! We headed to the airport early and had lunch and then got ready to go!

:: Luna in the taxi on the way to the airport ::

:: Too cool for Amsterdam, we're outta here! ::

After a quick flight (about one hour, ten minutes) we were back in beautiful Scotland!

:: Coming in to Glasgow ::

:: Hello again! ::

Before you know it we were back "home" at our flat at 11 Clouston Street. (Pronounced "Cloosten" here in Glasgow!) We gave Brandon a tour and ventured out to a local pub for some dinner...

:: The Kick-Ass Curlers Rest ::

:: Come on in and join MommaRam for a pint! ::

:: Cool view from the inside looking out ::

We headed back to the flat and stopped by the local market for provisions on the way back. Ran into Bonnie and had a happy reunion hug with her! Then back to the flat for some rest and relaxation!

We're so sorry for the big gap in posting - but - we're sure you can understand. It WAS Amsterdam, after all! We didn't have much going on today (Wednesday) but did manage to take a few photos that we'll post separately.

xoxo

Cindy & Jenna and our growing company!