24 Hours in Amsterdam

This trip is a special one as we are traveling with Colin’s parents. We arrived in Amsterdam yesterday an hour early thanks to Delta. After taking the train to the metro we had a short walk to our hotel, a Marriott property called the Sir Albert. The rooms were nicely appointed and the location was great for walking around town. Situated in the De Pijp neighborhood with just five minutes walking we passed the Rijksmuseum, and were in the canal district.

We grabbed a quick coffee and explored on foot checking out the Begijnhof (a historical area dating to the 15th century with a “hidden” Catholic Church), Dam Square, and the Red Light District. Then we headed on to our canal boat tour through Pure Boats. Our captain was the most Dutch person we met, through his own declaration, Jan. A wonderful captain he was also an insightful tour guide navigating us past the house with Anne Frank’s hiding place, the West Church, and many other historical sites. The welcome drinks were pretty nice including a broad wine selection and local beers from the brewery Brouwerij 't IJ. We enjoyed their Brown Ale.

We paused for a nice lunch at a canal side cafe, Eetcafe Singel 404. Panini type and open faced sandwiches were on point. On the way back to the hotel for a brief afternoon rest we enjoyed another beer at Cafe Heuvel. The staff had a keen sense of Dutch humor (very direct), and they tried to save us from a chatty neighbor at the bar by asking if he had an off switch.

After all the walking and excitement of the first part of the day, we needed a bit of a rest so we headed back to the hotel. We later had a walk around the De Pijp neighborhood. Dinner was at a cute cafe called Arie. The staff was very nice, food and wine were good, and the bike and people watching was entertaining. Not a bad first day!