Day Five in Amsterdam



For those that don't know, we generally book our accommodations through Airbnb. We've found we get a better deal on cost, the experience is more authentic and personalized, and our hosts have always been amazing. On this trip, I decided to add some "experiences," services offered by independent contractors who partner with Airbnb. Today was dominated by two of those experiences.

Our first of the day was a canal boat tour provided by Captain Dave. Captain Dave is a second generation Dutch Indonesian who exited the tech industry to give boat tours. When he picked us up at the street-side dock, he began bragging about his boat, a beautiful piece of work once owned and operated by the Dutch royal family. We were joined on our tour of the canals by a French couple (sadly the male half didn't speak much english, leaving his partner to translate throughout). The weather that morning was in the low 40s and pretty chilly on the water, but the boat had a heater and we were comfortable throughout. Captain Dave had brought croissants for everyone and had a coffee maker on board, which I used multiple times throughout the trip.


Captain Dave was an absolute ham. He was cracking us up the entire trip. His stories ranged from historical to political, dipped into personal, and then circled back to asking us questions about our home countries. It was a blast. And the whole time, we're cruising through some of the prettiest settings you have ever seen: ancient bridges, towering Dutch houses, cobblestone streets cluttered with bicycles - absolutely beautiful. When we arrived back at the dock, we felt we had spent our money well. Dave was a hit.

We had a break in the day of about 3 hours till our next experience, so we decided to head back to the apartment for a quick nap (our sleep schedules were trash due to jet lag). On the way, we stopped at a bakery and picked up some croissants, chocolate croissants, and some Dutch pastries (the names have escaped me). When we arrived back at the apartment, we ate a bit and took a nap.

Our next experience was a photoshoot with an independent photographer, Basant. She's from Egypt and has a dayjob in tech, but enjoys taking photos of tourists. I had wanted these to come out well, as it was our anniversary trip, so we'd have some keepsakes that were better than a selfie in portrait mode. It was awkward at first, posing for a stranger, but soon we bought in entirely. Lola looked stunning in her red heart dress and shone against the backdrop of Dutch houses, canals, and bridges. This experience was maybe the highlight of the whole trip and I'm so thrilled we did it. The pictures came out amazing and we will have picture proof of our memories from this trip.

After the photoshoot, we decided to head to Foodhallen again (yes, we know). This time, however, the lady at the front door (who admitted it was her first day) refused to allow us in because we didn't have the EU QR code. We told her we'd been there twice in two days before but she was steadfast, we weren't going in. I was pretty sad, as I had feared things might tighten up as Covid cases were rising. But Lola was super chill about it and really helped me let go of the irritation. We decided to just go for a walk instead and just headed towards city center. Walking in Amsterdam is awesome because you're surrounded by bikes, trams, people, and some of the prettiest architecture you'll ever see.

As we wandered we stopped at a street vendor and bought some apple beignets. Ooof! Delicious! I tipped the vendor even though she tried to refuse it. Super good food. We kept walking and passed a soccer shop. I spotted famous Dutch soccer player Johann Cruyff's name in the name of the shop and was curious. We stepped inside and it was the kind of place you thank god you took a chance on it. Shoes and kits stacked to the ceiling, signed balls on shelves, trophies dotting open spaces, big posters of Cruyff on the wall. It was amazing. I purchased an Ajax kit and a t-shirt, because when we visit Amsterdam, I buy an Ajax kit (it's tradition now!).  

We left the shop and continued traveling towards city center. As we neared the center, we stopped at a fry shop (they are all over the place) and grabbed a big cone of fries with a massive dollop of spicy fry sauce on top. Fry sauce is basically mayonnaise for those unaware. Lola generally doesn't like it, but the spice caught her attention. From the bench we ate on, we could see a massive Lego store and decided to make that our final stop before heading home for the evening. It was pretty amazing for a regular retail shop. Lego works of art all over the wall, a full operating windmill made of legos, it was pretty great. We bought some lego sets for Billie and jumped on the Metro to get home (52, if you're curious).





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