A Weekend in Amsterdam

I dreamt about walking down the canal-lined streets of Amsterdam for years before I got the opportunity to go last spring. Daydreams about Amsterdam and its tulips, pretty architecture and cobble-stoned sidewalks had filled my mind for the longest time so when Derek and I were trying to decide where to spend spring break I immediately suggested Amsterdam. Despite it not being the most typical location for spring break like Spain or Italy, he agreed and we made plans to go! 

After spending our 36 hours in Paris, we packed our bags and hopped on the train to head to the Netherlands. The train was comfortable and we were excited to arrive in Amsterdam in a few short hours when suddenly our train broke down. All of the directions were being told in French and Dutch, so Derek and I had no idea what was going on. We just knew to grab our bags from the overhead compartment when the train conductors started to wave their hands for everyone to get off. We were in the middle of nowhere in the Netherlands at this point and none of the people working seemed to know what was going on and if there would be another bus/new train headed to Amsterdam so we walked to a nearby train station that a few others were walking to ahead of us and hopped on a smaller regional rail-subway hybrid and kept our fingers crossed that we would end up in Amsterdam. We did. We got there late that night but we arrived at Central Station and we hurried to our Air BnB. Here's a glimpse of how we spent those few fun days....

As soon we woke up in the morning, we headed off in a search for dutch pancakes! We found - and devoured - them at Pancake Amsterdam.

We spent an afternoon at the Rijksmuseum, one of the biggest museums I have ever been to. Afterwards, we stopped and took photos by the I Amsterdam letters. 

We also went to the Van Gogh Museum (pictured above), the Stedelijk museum, as well as the Anne Frank House. Our Amsterdam trip was filled with museum trips. 

This was easily one of my favorite parts about our trip to Amsterdam! We biked through Vondelpark, where we got to see a few tulips starting to bloom.

We spent an afternoon sight-seeing, we looked for big monuments like the Royal Palace of Amsterdam and also searched for local spots. 

We also went ahead and did the Heineken Experience too!

You never know what to expect when traveling. Trains break down. Directions are given but in a language that you can't speak. And then a plan B isn't always given to you by the people who work for the train that just broke down. So you just gotta wing it sometimes. But the great moments after that are what making traveling so worth it. Plus, these little moments are what create experiences and future stories you can tell and remember. Because, think about it - is anything ever really that interesting if something doesn't go wrong or at least unplanned?

You can read about the first part of our spring break in London, HERE and then our 36 Hours in Paris HERE.