Selfie Does a Weekend in Amsterdam

I couldn't bring myself to title this one "Selfie Does Amsterdam" because yikes, the jokes kind of write themselves. At any rate, on our way to Tanzania, Mr. Selfie and I were able to plan a long layover in Amsterdam and let me tell you - this was the A++ idea of the year. First of all, splitting up a long flight is mother-flippin genius because I typically suffer from a decent amount of jet lag but because taking a break 7 instead of 8 time zones ahead, I just got to skip it. Second and most importantly, Amsterdam is suuuuuuper beautiful and fun. Despite negative reviews from my relatives in the Netherlands and about the service, we really didn't encounter any issues. Normally, I'm in charge of figuring out the food situation since I have the issue but I didn't have a phone.* Thus, Mr. Selfie was left in charge and it all worked out great especially because everyone we interacted with spoke English so I didn't have to use my travel cards.

Expectations & Accommodations 

To me, one of the best parts of this short trip was that Amsterdam was the first European city to immediately meet my expectations. As in, I expected canals and flowers and bicycles and literally just had to look out the hotel window to have that. It's also a super walkable city and Mr. Selfie and I put in about 12 miles just wandering the different parts of the city by foot. Our (really great**) hotel [insert link to Park Hotel Amsterdam] in the Oost district was right in between Vondelpark and the museum campus and we easily walked to the older parts of the city. We were only there for two days but we had such a wonderful time strolling through the streets, eating, drinking and canal boating that we felt like we could have returned home really happily even after such a short trip. I say all this noting that it was 90 degrees the whole time we were there and I had budgeted exactly one outfit for that weekend***.   

Things to Do 

Also, while the Rejksmuseum is stunning from the outside, we had planned to visit the Van Gogh museum which sold out literally when we were next in line. We did, however, really enjoy  the Dutch Resistance museum which was suggested to us by the Canal tour guide. While I've been to my share of WWII museums^,  this is the first one I've been to that talks about the options that actual humans had to consider during occupation - Do you resist? Survive? Join? The museum is split into different perspectives and was so well done and provided a really important conversation about the lens through which we judge the actions of the inhabitants of occupied Europe. As to the Van Gogh museum let-down, it was so hot and sweaty out in the museum campus that we literally rolled into the closet place with air conditioning - the touristy as all heck but delightful - Bols Museum. The tour takes you through the history of Bols Genever and liqueurs. Plus you get a free cocktail. Also, Genever is delicious so discovering that plus the blessed, blessed A/C was well worth the price of admission to us. You'll note a major ticket item is missing here and that's the Anne Frank House. I did not research early enough before we went and had no idea you had to make reservations for the Anne Frank House when the reservations open - like two months ahead of time. So by the time I looked, two or three weeks beforehand, it was completely sold out. Reservation system for museums have become more and more common so if you're planning a trip to any major European city, I strongly suggest checking on any must-dos when your tickets are booked. 

We were able to get an Amsterdam tourist-classic canal tour but I felt like we saw more just walking around and spent most of the ride chatting with other passengers and the guide than looking out. Plus, walking gave us the opportunity to stop for drinks and chit-chat with each other and other travelers and business owners. Beyond Genever, the G&Ts were fantastic as were the summer classic Aperol Spritzes. Because of my super cool dietary restrictions, there were no stroopwafels but a few notes for my fellow GF friends. One: I didn't have any because the airport was out but they do gluten free items at select McDonalds which blew my mind. Two: There's the cutest freaking gluten free cafe just outside of the Redlight District called Croque Madame. Three: It was really straightforward figuring out what I could and couldn't eat because everyone was familiar with celiac and no one was put out which is always nice^^. Other places we ate: Piqniq (Breakfast, adorable, good service) & De Italiaan (Romantic, great ambience, I really liked the pizza but it wasn't Mr. Selfie's fav). 

There's a proposal for a non-stop Amsterdam flight from ABIA - would that encourage you to do a long weekend in Europe? Do you do layover flights? If you do is it on the way there or on the way home? Let me know in the comments below! 

*I left my phone in the Lyft on the way to the Austin airport. That was followed up by the biggest tantrum by an adult (or maybe a child) at the Delta check-in ever witnessed. Uh. I apologize to everyone who had to interact with me that morning. 

**Seriously. We showed up at 6 am expecting to just check our bags but instead they offered us a day room to take a shower and rest up but noted it was a super small room. First of all, I've never had a hotel offer a day room for free before. Second, "super small" is the size of like every room I've been in in Paris. I would have had no idea that the room we actually paid for was like 2.5x as big if they hadn't mentioned it. They also offered to just move our bags for us. And the bar was awesome. 

^New Orlean's is absolutely amazing. Second favorite is the War Rooms in London. Local to Austin, the Admiral Nimitz museum is Fredericksburg is fantastic. 

^^Looking at you. ALL of Paris.