Travel- Amsterdam

While I'd love to go day-by-day and let you know everything we experienced on our most recent trip to Europe in December of 2015, ain't nobody got time for that...  So, I'm going to give you the highlights of a trip to Amsterdam.  I've been twice and this second time was showing Kevin Amsterdam for the first time, so there are a few must-sees for a trip to this Dutch city.  My next trip will involve much more wandering and will be in a warm month to guarantee we see tulips!

Most likely you're flying into Schiphol or coming in by train to Amsterdam Centraal.  If you fly in, it's really easy to get the train from the airport to the central train station.

I prefer to stay within walking distance of the train station in each city I visit in Europe.  It's just easier if you're back-packing to have a shorter walk to where you can drop your stuff and then explore without having to carry your bags around.  It also prevents you from spending money on a taxi.  My first visit I stayed at the Singel Hotel, a quick 7 minute walk from the train station.  This last visit, Kevin and I stayed in an AirBnB on Keizersgracht (Knights Canal)- 11 minute walk west of the train station and such a nice/quiet neighborhood in the Jordaan district.

Once you've dropped your bags, it's time to explore!  If you don't want to walk it, rent a bike...everyone's doing it!  If you do decide to walk, beware!  Bikes are everywhere!  The largest bike garage I've ever seen is located just beside the train station.

Here are the top 5 things you need to see in Amsterdam.  If you plan it correctly, you can see all of this and more in a period of 2 days.

#1 Anne Frank House (or Huis)- The beloved teen Anne's hideaway from the Germans where she kept a diary during WWII.  For me THIS is Amsterdam.  The Anne Frank Huis was an Etix (Kevin's company) client during our most recent trip so we were able to connect with some of Kevin's European co-workers for a private tour of the house.  We had the good fortune of being able to visit some of the rooms that the public isn't allowed to see.  We went into the kitchen and Frank Otto's office (Anne's dad) and sat at his original desk in his original chair.  WOW!  There are many celebrities that have been in this room and sat in the chair.  However, there is one person that has not been in this room: Leonardo Dicaprio.  He was in Amsterdam around the time Titanic came out and no one knew who he was, so when the museum was asked to accommodate him on a private tour, they turned him down.  Sorry Leo!

The Anne Frank House is a must-see.  After reading her diary in grade school, it's so interesting to see the house and the places where they lived in silence.  It's sobering and sad and such an experience.  It was my favorite spot on my first visit to Amsterdam and this second visit didn't disappoint.  Buy tickets in advance as tours sell out each day, especially during the busy season.  Unfortunately they're no longer with Etix, so it doesn't benefit us at all.

#2 Van Gogh Museum- Visit this museum for an up-close view of the mentally unstable genius of an artist.  I've been twice.  The first time was VERY enjoyable.  This second time wasn't my favorite.  They've expanded the museum and yet it seems like they have less art displayed.  There were so many people, it was hard to navigate around.  Again, I don't know how you go to Amsterdam and skip this.  Van Gogh is one of their most impressive artists.  Buy tickets in advance, but if you have to wait in line, like we did, it's not so bad.  It does move quickly!

#3 Heineken Experience- I've visited twice now.  It's much more of an "Experience" than it was 9 years earlier.  Regardless of if you like Heineken beer, it's a great time learning the history of this beer.  They do a great job of keeping you busy!  Someone could be in there for hours checking out all of the interactive floors.  We enjoyed our tasting and wished we could have been there longer, but we had other things to do, so we had to cut it short.

#4 Royal Palace Amsterdam- This past trip was my first visit to Royal Palace Amsterdam.  The Royal Palace is located in the Dam Square, in the hub of everything, and it's still used for official receptions and royal events.  So, check the calendar before you travel to make sure they're open to the public.  A tour back into the 17th century doesn't take much longer than an hour or two and it's just gorgeous!  It may have been one of the highlights of our last trip.  The light fixtures, wallpaper and tapestries are just exquisite.

Also a helpful hint to all picture fanatics.  When traveling, back up your pictures!  The best way to do this on an iPhone is to make a shared album, invite those you want to be able to view, and add your pictures to it.  Shared albums are basically free space on the cloud and will never go away unless you delete them.  We learned this the hard way when Kevin's phone corrupted itself a few days after we were home from our trip and after many visits to the apple store, sending his phone to California for them to get everything they could off of it (which would have cost me my first born kid) and many tears on my part, we recovered everything except for our first day in Europe (which included Royal Palace Amsterdam and Anne Frank House.)  BOO!  Oh well, we got the rest back and I have my photos from that day to fill in the gaps.  Don't make our mistake.  Back up your memories!

#5 Rijksmuseum- My first visit was 2015.  In 2006, I assumed that the entire museum was dedicated to Rembrandt, who I don't hate, but I don't love an entire museum just for him, so I skipped the Rijks.  It's not just Rembrandt.  This museum is one of the best I've ever been to.  Do yourself a favor and visit.  We were there about 2 hours total and saw the entire thing!  It's beautiful!

Other highlights:
Canal Tour- there are some you can get a tour package for, or a night dinner cruise.  Some are jump on and jump off.  Get yourself on the water somehow.
Discount Tour Tickets- In 2006, I purchased a pass that got me into Madame Tussauds, access to a diamond factory, a canal tour and pass for the Heineken Experience.  It was a nice way to have a little "taste" of the city.
National Opera & Ballet- This past Christmas we purchased tickets to see The Nutcracker...because why not see a Christmas classic in another country?  It was magical!

Red Light District- I mean when else do you see scantily clad females hanging out of windows and it be a legit business?  I guess it's one of those things you have to see once in your life.  And if it's your thing, there's a cannabis college and a sex museum in close proximity.

Photos of the women are illegal, but those pink, red and purple lights show who's open for business.

Bloemenmarkt- The flower market!!  Visit this!  I've missed it on both trips and have regretted it tremendously.
Windmills- There is one on the outskirts of Amsterdam and many just outside the city.  Rent a car if you must and see a windmill and fields of tulips!  What screams Amsterdam more than that?
Vondelpark- If it's nice out, have a picnic in Vondelpark.  It's pretty and Amsterdam's very own "central park".
Begijnhof- A group of buildings that once belonged to religious women who lived together kind-of like a convent, but the women had more freedom.  It's a place of silence located at medieval street level (a meter below the rest of the old city center).

My recommendations are to visit the Royal Palace and Anne Frank Huis in the same day.  These are perfect for a first day in Amsterdam.  The load is a little lighter if you're flying from overseas and need some time to adjust with jet lag and they're in good proximity to each other in the city.  You could have a nice dinner near the Dam Square and visit the Red Light District before turning in for the night.
The Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and Heineken Experience are all in close proximity to each other as well, so they make a good second day.

Food:
I'll highlight some of our favorite spots from the most recent trip.
Breakfast:
The Happy Pig Pancake Shop: Amazing pancakes.  Try sweet or savory (or one of each).  I felt like a local and the staff was so kind.

Lunch:
If you can grab something on the street, a sausage or hotdog is so delicious. We had the fortune of finding a Christmas market where we enjoyed an oven roasted pizza, a mozzarella, pesto and tomato crepe and so many sweet treats!

Dinner:
Rain: Labeled as an American Grill Restaurant & Cafe.  I don't know if it was truly "American", but the food was good.  It's located in a hotel in a cute little area near the National Opera & Ballet.  We had a delicious meal: Steak for Kevin and Salad for me.

l'invite: Amazing French Cuisine! We opted for a 3 course meal with wine pairings, but we could have had a 4, 5, or 6 course meal.  Everything was delicious!  The chef is so talented!  This was one of the more expensive meals of our trip, but introduced me to food that I never would have picked on my own.  The restaurant was small, but warm and inviting.  It was perfect!

Other spots that were on my list, but we didn't have a chance to try:
Get an apple pie from Winkel 43
Try a dutch pancake from Blom near Central Station
Screaming Beans for coffee
Indonesian food (because Amsterdam was formerly a Dutch colony and has great spices) from many restaurants around the city.

And the elephant in the room: Pot. It's legal in Amsterdam.  If you MUST light-up, seek out a nearby coffee shop.  You won't find coffee, that's for sure!

Amsterdam is the Venice of the North and it's a spot that if you give it a shot, you might very well fall in love with it's canals and skinny canal houses, it's flowers and it's history.  Fun fact, in Amsterdam's Golden Age, you had to pay steep taxes on the width of the front of your building.  So, people built their houses tall and skinny and long to keep those taxes down.  Have fun spotting the most narrow one...it's only as wide as the front door.  And if you can manage to get behind a row of houses, do!  The gardens are magnificent.

 

What souvenirs should you bring home?  From Amsterdam, bring home cheese, Delftware, diamonds, flowers (if customs allows) and wooden clogs.

My Take on the State of the Union

Before reading this, please know that I care about politics 0.00001%.  I'm not trying to bash either political candidate and promoting a side is not the reason for this blog.  I'm stating my concern for our country.  Also know that I get my information from articles, social media, tv, videos, talking with friends, etc.  I haven't done true research about either political party, so take my naivety into consideration and my opinions with a grain of salt, but also keep an open mind.


I remember a day when I was 11 years old.  The day of the white bronco chase.  Yes!  OJ!  I remember watching news coverage at daycare (how was that allowed?) and then coming home and being glued to the TV that evening.  I was fascinated with the murder and the trial.  Recently I've watched two TV series on OJ; The People vs. OJ on FX and ESPNs 30 for 30 OJ: Made in America.  I was engrossed in both series.  And through watching the ESPN series, I learned a lot about what was going on in the country in the early 1990s.

In the past few weeks we've had such unthinkable news headlines here in the US.  Two black males being shot by police officers and police officers being gunned down in Dallas and Baton Rouge.  Countless other horrific crimes.  Innocent lives lost.  The Black Lives Matters movement is headline news again and people are hurting.  They're really hurting!  It seems like it's blacks against whites and everyone against police and it's a scary, scary time!  And I was thinking, wow, this is so frightening and our country has never seen anything like this....

And then I watched OJ: Made in America.

Just 25 years ago, the LAPD was front page headlines for the way they were raiding black neighborhoods and tearing peoples houses to shreds "looking for drugs".  They had the stigma that they were the best and they would take you down.  There was the horrific Rodney King beating and the riots that followed.  There was the murder of Latasha Harlins, a 15 year old African-American girl that was shot in the back of the head by a Korean-American store owner.  Times were BAD!  And as I watched, I kept imagining what older folks who saw that were thinking then and how they feel now as it's happening again.  They were probably feeling the same fears that I've felt in the last few weeks and they were probably wrestling with the, "Why can't we all just get along?"s, just as I have.

To make matters worse, just 25 years earlier was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Civil Rights Movement.  Is this just something that happens every 25 years?  Will we get over this moment in time, just to repeat it 25 years from now?  It's hard for me to realize that in 25 years, we as a whole, have learned nothing about loving our neighbor and accepting everyone.  It's hard for me to think about my white privilege because I've never really had to think about it.  I guess that's why it's privilege...  But recently, it's been on my mind as I've read article after article about black men and women who are scared of authority figures on a daily basis just because of their skin color.  The only thing I know to do about any of it is to continue to love and to stand up for my friends of ANY color in any situation where there isn't equality.

Another interesting part of both OJ series was hearing from the jurors that them getting OJ off was their way of righting the wrongs of the time.  That's sad to me!  And it was sad to hear some of them say that they knew he was probably guilty, but they were for the black man because never was the black man in the right when it came to police and the justice system.  I can't agree with this.  I think if you do the crime, you deserve the punishment.  And this case is so much more than just that injustice.  The prosecution didn't do their job 100%.  I've served on a jury in Johnston county for a kidnapping and burglary case and I knew the guy was guilty as sin, but we couldn't convict him because the prosecution didn't do their job and there was shotty police work.  It stinks, so I get it...

The other interesting thing, in my opinion, was the fact that so many people in the African-American community were for OJ and yet he never identified himself as black.  He wasn't anti-black, he was just The Juice.  He stayed away from having an opinion or commenting on the 1968 Black Panther Salute at the Olympics, while he was at USC.  He married a black woman and then a white woman (Nicole Brown).  He was a star athlete and football wasn't about the color of his skin.  It wasn't about race for him.  And yet his trial was made into a racial debacle (with Mark Fuhrman and the N word) and his acquittal in the end was largely due to the fact that he was black.

I'll also note that it was the OJ trial that really made news stations start sensationalizing "news".  In my opinion, there never should have been cameras allowed in that court room.  But there were.  And so many other "news" topics popped up during the trial because of that.  These days we blame the media for so much.  Pot stirring and making matters worse.  And I DO think the media contributes negatively in so many situations.  It's just interesting that all of that really started with the OJ trail and it hasn't let up for a second.

So, lets go back to Black Lives Matter.  And forgive me because I'm a little all over the place, but hopefully it will all make sense in the end!  So many people are retaliating to Black Lives Matter with ALL Lives Matter.  And they do!  But unfortunately we're living in a time where in the United States, AGAIN, Black lives seem to matter less than other lives.  And so the purpose, I think, is not to say, "but my life matters too"...but to come beside my friends who are black and say "You DO matter!"  And to prove that with my actions.

And here's where I'll jump into the political madness.

I'm scared for our country!  We have two candidates that are so polarizing and are pitting people against each other.  And our country is already in a world of hurt.  If we elect the candidate who wants to build a wall to keep our southern neighbors out, then it's not just going to be Black Lives Matter, it's going to turn into Hispanic Lives Matter too because I'm sure they're going to fear for their safety.  I'm scared that if we elect that candidate...the one who is spewing hate and degrading women and putting his race above others, that we will not move forward, we will take a giant step back.

My whole life I've always reasoned that I didn't want a woman in the White House because we're moody and we have crazy hormones and I didn't want anyone in power that could put the country in jeopardy like that.  And now I'm scared because the other candidate is so quick to lash out with unintelligible thoughts that we will most certainly make enemies with other countries.  I'm worried that HE is the one that will say something out of turn and ruin it for the rest of us.  I don't trust him.  Meanwhile, the female seems even-kilter and steady in comparison.

Again, I didn't spend time watching either convention, but I did see clips on social media.  And I was moved to tears to realize that in my lifetime, not only could we have a black man in the White House, but we could have a woman.  Women's rights have come a long way and yet, we have a LONG way to go.  But that gives me hope.  And how powerful would it be for little girls, 11 years old and younger, in every state to know that they too could hold the highest office.  WOW!  My favorite cartoon recently is the one below.  Amazing!

So, let's talk big picture too.

I'm confused.  I'm a Christian.  And granted I lean a little more left, just because growing up my parents were democrats.  I'd probably fall more in the moderate category, but I AM a Christian.  And yet, I look on social media and ALL of my Christian friends are Republicans.  Ok.  I've been here before...in 2004 I lost LOTS of friends in college because I didn't agree with Bush and being a Christian for me didn't automatically mean you were conservative.

Can we talk about that?  Can we talk about how I don't understand how people who believe in God and know that we're all created in God's image and know that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves...how those people can back a guy who is trying to divide us?  How do those Christian values line up with that nonsense?  Here's what I believe.  I believe we're to follow the Greatest Commandment in Matthew 22:37-39 "Jesus replied, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' "  I believe that our neighbors are not just the people in our hometown, but our neighbors are the people of Mexico and the people of Canada.  They're the people of Paris and Yemen, Tunisia and Egypt.  Our neighbors are those hurting in Istanbul and Brussels and Nice. AND Orlando and Dallas and Baton Rouge.  How can we love our neighbor and hate anyone that's not like us?  I'm not for that.

Look, I don't have all of the answers, but I do know that we can go a long way when we love.  When we love instead of murder.  When we love instead of disliking entire people groups.  When we love instead of hating those not like us.  When we love like God loves.

We've been studying James in my Bible study and I have a few verses that bring this all full circle for me.  I hope you're able to see my points and I pray I'm not taking any of these out of context.
James 1:19-21 "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.  Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you."
I'm working on this in myself.  Slow to speak and slow to become angry...I can still choose love in my heart for those that I might not like in the moment.  I'm a work in progress.  I see so much lashing out on social media and I just hope that we all as a whole can listen before we react.  Just because it's not what we believe doesn't mean we can't respect those people.

James 3:5-6 "Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.  Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.  The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.  It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell."
Wow!  This just reminds me that words are powerful and they can be hurtful to the point of corruption.  We need to all be careful with what we say and how we say it.  And we need to make sure we're not repeating hate.

James 3:9-10 "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.  My brothers, this should not be."
How can we claim to be lovers of God and then bash others and harbor hate in our hearts for them?  I'm working on this verse too!  I'm not perfect...but I'm covered by God's grace!

In closing, I just want to take it back to OJ.  I hope that instead of righting the wrongs (like those jurors felt they had to do) you may feel about Obama by choosing the Republican candidate, that you'll really think about this election.  Don't make decisions about either side just because it's "the better of the two evils".  There is a third party candidate.  I know NOTHING about him, so I'm not endorsing a thing.  However, it really pains me to see people so adamantly one way or the other just because that's their party's candidate; no regard for who that person is or what they may do in office, but willing to vote for them to back "their" party.  And I pray we come to the right verdict.  Sometimes those that are guilty go free and unfortunately, that's part of life too.  I don't know that the Union can handle much more...and I don't want to repeat this all in 25 years.