Tulips and Canals

After our time in Italy in October 2017, we were sitting in the airport and I started to peruse the other awesome flights we could take from Luton. Five minutes later, I found dirt cheap prices to the city of Tulips and Canals - Amsterdam! Luckily, we found out that mid-to-late April was the prime season for tulips and the flower fields were very high on our bucket lists! 

[divider class="" ]Planning:

Later on in the year, I convinced Matthew and Kristin to come to Amsterdam with us! I do not know how I managed that one! Moreover, two weeks before our trip, Nick surprised us with a two week visit and he was able to tag along. Thankfully our long winter ended in late March and we arrived in Amsterdam during peak season! Back in December, I started to see hotel and AirBnB prices shoot through the roof! In addition to our trip occurring during peak tulip season, there was a tulip parade AND it was 4/20 that weekend. I immediately booked a chic two bedroom loft and we paid a hefty price for it!

Fixed Costs:

Flights: £72AirBnB (4 people): £350Pictures of Tulips & Canals: Priceless

[divider class="" ]Friday:

In the US, lounges are either very okay or nonexistent. As Nick is a seasoned traveller, I was curious on his thoughts of the Luton lounge. In typical Nick fashion, he loved every aspect of it! Although I have a love-hate relationship with Luton Airport and its mostly always full lounge, when we have time to kill, the lounge life is always the best life!Arriving to Amsterdam was quite easy! For US passports, there are electronic gates so we will know for next time that we should NOT stand in line! I think it would have saved us about 30 minutes easily had we known this beforehand! To travel to Amsterdam Central is also quite easy. There are many trains every hour and tickets only cost five euros a person. We just looked for the yellow boxes and found them quite easily!Thankfully, Matthew and Kristin had already checked into our AirBnB so it was a matter of finding them! Our AirBnB was located in a great location and around 5-10 minutes from the Central train station, red light district, and many fun restaurants and canals! Unfortunately for Nick, I misread the AirBnB and it could only hold four people but he found a great points rate at a swanky SPG hotel. Once we found Matthew in the streets, it was so nice to see them and catch up! Moreover, it was hilarious to hear their first travel day stories! 

Travel Mishaps:

Earlier on Friday, around 6am, Matthew texts me in a panic because their plane was arriving at Heathrow but his flight to Amsterdam was at Gatwick. I told him not to panic and that he should have plenty of time to clear customs, grab a taxi, and still make his flight to Amsterdam. Safe to say, the next three hours were extremely nerve-wracking for Matthew, Kristin, and I! It also provided loads of laughs in the office! Their taxi ride from Heathrow to Gatwick took around 45 minutes and cost just as much as a 6th row seat to Hamilton! In hindsight, I think they could have called an Uber and still made it with plenty of time, but at 6am, I told him to just grab the first cab he saw! Everyone has travel mishaps and crazy travel stories whether it is a missed train or plane! In this case, I am just thankfully they made it to Amsterdam because I knew this was going to be a fun weekend!

[divider class="" ]Saturday:

Before the trip, we booked a Klenunof flower fields tour which included a round trip bus ticket plus some history behind the famous Netherlands’ tulips. However, this meant an early start time on Saturday of around 8am, which certain people were more excited than others! Luckily, we had Nick wandering around the city at the crack of dawn and he found a terrific breakfast cafe called Cafe Stock. It was also conveniently located next to the tour pickup! Mary Frances ordered a ham and cheese croissant while I had a warm nutella croissant. Wow, maybe I was hungry, but both were incredibly nice! We bought the tour online for a bargain price of 50 euros per person and I wasn’t sure what to expect. We received a nice history lesson on the 30 minute bus ride to the Kenuhof fields. Netherlands was not actual the birthplace of the famous tulips. Back in the day, in the Hapsberg Austrian court, visitors from Turkey introduced the tulip to the Western world. From there, a Dutch biologist brought it home to Amsterdam to study it further. From there, the tulip has literally exploded to cover millions of acres and in popularity! 

Keukenhof Gardens:

Keukenhof was the original home of the Count of Holland and these gardens were once for the rich and exclusive. Now, they are one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world. In the drive, we kept passing fields and fields of flowers so we knew we were in for a treat! When we arrived, we very quickly released we were not the only ones who had the same idea… At 9am, it already felt like peak summer days at Disney. We knew we only had a short time before it would be overcrowded and uncomfortable!The gardens are almost indescriblable. The pictures attempt to do it justice, but it is still absolutely stunning. The grounds are covered in tulips and we arrived at the perfect time as everything was in bloom! I would never have thought that looking at flowers could be so entertaining. We had five hours at the gardens so we spent the entire time wandering around the various sections. [gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="1395,1390,1381,1382,1387,1385"]Due to the crowds, we were constantly on the move trying to find the perfect spot with no crowds. I think we finally gave up and just enjoyed the flowers! We did have a lovely picnic with fries and hotdogs and just basked in the sunlight! Again, I think pictures describe our time better than words![gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="1402,1384,1383,1397"]On the way back to Amsterdam, we encounter horrific traffic. I think our bus driver may have been mental. First, we were in stop and go traffic from the moment we left the flower fields. Second, we “managed” to get stuck in a triangle in the main intersection in Amsterdam. Our bus driver thought he could make a light so he pulled in front of a tram, but the tram also wrapped around the end of the bus. Then another bus was attempting to go straight so our bus was stuck between a bus and a tram, but couldn’t do anything about it since we couldn’t go through the tram, but we also couldn’t move because of the tram and other bus. Safe to say we all kissed the ground once we got off…

Amsterdam:

Since the bus mishap had taken longer than expected, we couldn’t join the afternoon tour. We then did what most people do - we wander through the canals. We first had to eat so we stopped at a cafe overlooking one of the canals. I don’t think anyone cared what they ordered, but we all were starving! [gallery size="large" columns="2" ids="1405,1443,1444,1416"] We then walked to the Anne Frank house. I originally tried to get tickets, but they were immediately sold out and I looked back in January! The outside of the house has completely changed so I wonder what the inside looks like! After seeing the house, we decided to spend the rest of our afternoon cafe hopping along the canals. With such lovely weather and company, it was very relaxing!For dinner, we decided to walk to the Food Hall, similar to Camden Market (London), Chelsea Market (NYC), Ponce City Market (Atlanta). It was very amusing to hear all our different comparisons. Nick and I were the true foodie adventurers as we went for a mix and match to see what we enjoyed! Mary Frances decided to “split” my food so we had a mix of dim sum, falafel, and yummy desserts! The place was full of locals so it felt good to get away from the iPad tourists![gallery size="large" ids="1418,1419,1417"]

Red Light District:

One cannot go to Amsterdam and not tour the infamous red light district! Matthew and Kristin decided they had enough so they back home to rest while Mary Frances, Nick, and I ventured to the dark underworld of Amsterdam. Just kidding, even at 11pm, the district was SLAMMED with tourists, patrons, and locals! I was really surprised!![gallery size="large" ids="1421,1446,1445"]The RLD received its name from the red lights that would “guide” the drunken sailors to the infamous brothels. Funnily, the RLD is located next to the main Catholic cathedral in Amsterdam! Now, having never been to Amsterdam, I knew the #1 rule of the RLD is do not take pictures unless you want a mean looking bouncer heading your way! This idiot with an iPad thought he was the first person to ever have this idea - stand across the canal from a brothel and take pictures that way! The dancer in the window immediately spotted him and started pounding on the window and yelling at him to stop. Finally she pulled the curtain and he just chuckled to himself. It was so stupid.RLD is both exciting and sad. As we passed the windows, I wondered how many people were here on their own free will and their situation in life. Amsterdam has several museums to the sex trade and most people say it’s funny at first, but then it is just really sad. Nick, Mary Frances, and I did our quick little tour of the RLD and were out of there! We did see some people walk into the store fronts…

[divider class="" ]Sunday:

Safe to say after our long day exploring the tulips and canals, we all were a little tired - except for Nick! Today we were going to split up as Matthew and Kristin wanted to go see the Van Gogh museum and Rijksmuseum and the rest of us wanted to explore Amsterdam in the sunshine! Just in case, we said our “see you laters” and headed on our merry way.On our way to the walking tour at 10am, we stopped by Cafe Stock where we again had delcious pastries! For this tour, we supposedly had to pre-book for reservations as they only accept 20 people per tour… It was very strange as we had to wait since we have always just walked up to the tour and easily got spots in other cities!

Walking Tour:

Usually, Sandeman’s tours are very excellent and guided with a good local. This group and guide was different. Our group was hobbled by an older couple who had a hip replacement so it meant our tour would add another 30+ minutes because we wouldn’t be able to walk quickly. The guide was just interesting… I still think I learned a lot about the city, but certain points dragged out or just were very uninteresting. It was Nick’s first free tour and he did not get a great first impression![gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="1409,1408,1413,1410"]I enjoyed learning about the “local” things. Our guide informed us over understanding the bike bells. One for “we are coming, don’t move” and two for “get out of the way idiot.” Now I don’t have to dodge the bikes as much now! For the coffee shop versus cafe debate, we learned we need to go to coffee shops rather than cafes if we want true coffee! Otherwise, one might find something else other than coffee! She also said it is mostly tourists who come to the cafes and locals do not have to worry about their stash. One other fun fact was the weird hooks on the top of the houses are used for pulleys to help someone move in since most furniture cannot fit into the stairwells.

Afternoon:

After the somewhat disappointing tour, we hopped in an uber to both experience the “driving” side of Amsterdam and to make it across town much quicker! We learned driving is insane as one would imagine as cyclists and pedistrans come at the car from many different directions. However, we were at the Pj Pip area thinking we were doing the Heineken tour. Rather than go to the Heineken tour, we opted for good food at a brunch place. We placed in our names at Bakers and Roasters and went to explore the neighborhood. For Nick, it was also the perfect opportunity to catch up with his old senior on rotation in Amsterdam! The food at B&R was incredible. Everything was so fresh and it was so nice. We definitely enjoyed our food!After our meal, we obviously had to walk it off and we had the perfect weather to do it! Despite the glooming forecasts on Friday, Amsterdam had lovely weather and we really could not beat it! We were very happy even more so to add to our “tan!” [gallery size="large" columns="2" ids="1422,1423,1415,1414"]Heading home, it was really simple. We paid about five euros to the airport and joined the many other tourists to catch our flights. Nick was heading to Edinburgh so he had to leave a little bit earlier while Mary Frances and I’s flight was delayed. Regardless, we were glowing from our tan and so was the rest of our flight!

[divider class="" ]The UnChartered Summary:

Amsterdam is so lovely with the outdoor cafes, canals, tulips, and sunshine. I wish we had booked a canal boat tour, but that is why we will come back, right?? Safe to say, our time in the canals and tulips was a smashing success![photogrid ids="1394,1397,1396,1388,1402,1422,1418,1420,1421,1390,1389,1401,1404" captions="no" columns="two" fullwidth="yes" ]