love it? hate it? venezia

We'd hoped to tack on a visit to Venice when we visited Rome last summer, but it just didn't seem to work. Plus anyone we'd ask who had previously visited either loved it or hated it. Despite mixed reviews, we decided faire du pont ("to do the bridge" - it's what the French say when there is a holiday on a Thursday and you decide to take off Friday from work to "bridge" the holiday and weekend) and check it out for ourselves.

We immediately fell into the love it category. Maybe because we love anything water. Maybe because we visited before it got warm and the canal had the chance to smell. Maybe it was because we stayed in a fantastic place with only nine rooms and they called you by name. I don't know, but it's going in the books as one of the best trips so far!

We arrived on Thursday afternoon; after taking a water bus from the airport to the city, we spent the rest of the day just roaming the streets and getting lost. On Friday, we'd planned to visit St. Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace, but the hotel suggested a walking route and we were easily convinced. We visited the well known fish market, - but since we'd lived on the coast of France, it wasn't much of anything we hadn't seen before - dodged in between small alleyways and hopped across narrow canal bridges before finding a pizza place along the boardwalk.

We stumbled upon the gondola yard. Basically a shipyard for the popular romantic mode of transport.

We assumed the lines at St. Mark's Basilica and Doge's Palace would be long by the time we reached them; mostly because of cruise ships docking for the afternoon and all the travelers trying to see all they could before having to leave. We were wrong about Doge's, so we took a quick look.

The palace once housed the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority. A visit to the prison came after crossing the Bridge of Sighs. This bridge got its name because those who were sentenced would sigh as they passed through the bridge and took one last glance at the city before being locked up.

We enjoyed a spritz, a Venetian aperitif (which turned into an everyday habit) on the terrace of our hotel and watched the boats on the Grand Canal before finding a place to indulge in some pasta and wine.

Another habit we adopted was visiting St. Mark's Square each night. Cafes along the square hosted five person orchestras. As they took turns playing, you could move a few feet to listen better or sit down and enjoy an expensive drink! I can't figure out what's not to love in this place!

tour louvre

Sometimes I feel like I'm not taking advantage of all this city has to offer. All the weekdays I have available to visit museums are normally spent doing other things. I've just never been too intrigued by museums or history, honestly. After moving to a country where a sign of history can be seen at every corner, I was kind of embarrassed by my lack of knowledge. But I think we are all entitled to be uninterested or unknowledgeable in things.

While we've been here, we've made some really great friends. One of my friends gives tours of the Louvre, one of the world's largest museums, to English speaking families (usually with small children). She has scavenger hunts and activities for children to participate in while she's teaching them around the museum. The company she works for just created a new tour for older children, ages 12-15, and she was assigned to give the tour for the first time so she asked for some guinea pigs. Thinking about being in the museum for three (or more) hours gave me the shakes, but I didn't have a good excuse to decline. Two of us followed Mallory through the museum intently listening to all she shared, while completing a "quest." Being a history lover and previously a teacher, she had so much knowledge about SO MUCH! It was fun! I'm not sure you could ever see every inch of that museum, but we covered a lot of ground and I learned a lot. I'll mark a free tour down as taking advantage!

april showers

...bring May flowers.

I blinked... and then it was May!
This year is passing by très vite!

bike park

With 880,000 bikes inside Amsterdam and a ratio of almost 4:1 bike:car,

you can find a bike park in place of a car park at the train station.

Don't forget where you parked; it could be tricky to find!

land of tulips

On Easter Sunday, we took a bus outside of Amsterdam to visit the Keukenhof tulip gardens. It was so so so beautiful. We picked a perfect weekend; almost all of the tulips were in bloom. A few weekends before could have been scarce; a few weekends later and I'm afraid most would have been wilted. Sorry for so many photos. I couldn't help myself. It was like a dream...

We rented bikes... with back brakes. It had been a while since either of us had ridden like that, but after we got going (and dodged the few too many people who didn't seem to know how to ride a bike) we were on our way. I thought we'd be riding on paths through the tulips. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case but there were numerous places to stop and admire.

After our 9 mile trek, we entered the gardens. As we returned the bikes, we noticed the rental line quadrupled in size since we had been there a few hours before and only a few lonely bikes stood to be rented. Thankfully, we did the biking first because I think we would have opted out if we'd chosen to after the garden.

Each year the entire park is redesigned and they create a themed mural of tulips. This year the theme was Holland so they created a Dutch house scene. The platform to view this was packed with tourists so it was hard to get a picture of the whole thing. The park is only open for 8 weeks a year and they welcome 800,000 guests or more to view the gardens.

7 million bulbs are planted in the garden each year. 7 M.I.L.L.I.O.N. And that doesn't even count the surrounding fields we biked near. Everywhere you looked, there were flowers. I'm so glad we were able to see everything in bloom. It really wouldn't have been as impressive otherwise.

The field below was one we saw when we entered on the bus. We thought about walking through, but by the end of the day, we were too tired and decided we'd seen enough. What's another few thousand, right?

After arriving back in Amsterdam, we found an open restaurant and relaxed the rest of the evening. Ironically, the people next to us were speaking a mix of English and French and then I heard one of the guys say he was from Iowa. Small world. Of course, I said something later in the evening and we found out they had just moved from Paris to Amsterdam. They gave us a few restaurant recommendations and suggested a few other things happening in the city. We ended the night strolling the lit canals back to the apartment... writing this just makes me want to go back already!

 





a dutch easter

Last year, we jetted to London for the Easter holiday; this year, we decided to hop the train to Amsterdam. Mark had spent a short afternoon there a few years ago and I guess I'd been through the airport on a trip home, but otherwise, it was a first for both of us.

I couldn't get over how crooked some of the houses were along the canals. Each day, I pointed out dozens and desperately wanted to knock on their door to ask if I could place a marble on their floor!

We really lucked out with nice weather. On Saturday, we spent the entire day roaming the streets; living like a local. We stayed in an apartment near the Jordaan area and walked through a busy market in the morning before finding breakfast. Bikes, bikes, everywhere are bikes! We ate lunch along the canal, caught a canal boat cruise, strolled through the red light district, walked by the Anne Frank house and ended the day with a fantastic Dutch dinner.

On Sunday, we visited the Keukenhof Gardens outside the city. And that will get a post of its own tomorrow. It was so beautiful. On Monday, we walked near the Rijksmuseum and visited the Van Gogh museum. Thankfully we bought tickets before we arrived so we didn't have to wait in the long, long line... in the rain.

I really liked Amsterdam. It was a small town feel city. I really loved the area we stayed in and it was easy to be some of the only people on the street. I'd definitely return! Good thing it's only a short train ride away!

strolling streets

I'm telling you, you're going to be sick of seeing pictures of this beauty all year round! /

Why can't apartment buildings in the U.S. look like this?

I can't get tired of gazing up at them as I stroll on sunny days.

I was lucky enough to go on a tour of Hôtel de Ville, which is really just fancy for city hall,

a few weeks ago. The mayor was hosting a meeting so we were only able

to view a few rooms, but it was still very impressive. /

I took a trip to Musée d'Orsay a couple Saturdays ago to view the Van Gogh exhibit while Mark was out of town. It was an interesting museum. I'm glad I saw it, but I'm not sure I'd return for a second time. On the top floor, you can gaze out the clock windows and spot the Louvre, Sacré Cœur and other Parisian beauties. The museum used to be a train station... that's the reason behind the big clocks.

I'm going to miss public transportation. I had a good conversation with a new friend the other day about how it's not appreciated in most U.S. cities (or at least Texas cities). Unfortunately, it has a bad rep. People think it's dirty, has too much riff-raff and is for those less fortunate. I'm ashamed of that. Those not utilizing it are the fools. It gives people jobs and eliminates a little air pollution. Why not jump on the positive bandwagon? I enjoyed taking the rail when I could in Houston. Most people thought I was nuts, but who wants to sit in traffic and then search for a parking spot if you don't have to? The metro is here is definitely not clean, but it is efficient and utilized. /

This park sits on top of the train station and is right across the street. It has tennis courts and ping pong tables... so that's next on the list... ping pong paddles or tennis rackets, that is.

Another day... another protest. We have a lot of "gatherings" outside our apartment because we live near Le Poste (the post office). Supposedly all manifestations must be on public ground. This one was on the street and marched through the city, but a lot of times people just get together, chant some things, play music and are more of an annoyance than anything. /

I can't stop... it's just too pretty!