Heritage Tour Stop #1 - Amsterdam

After a quick one-day turnaround in Paris, I flew to Amsterdam for the weekend. Crazy, you say? Well, after tanking just a bit, I would agree. I was rested with time on my hands when I made my travel itinerary. The outcome was a plan for Wonder Woman. I discovered I am not.

On my way through London, I had purchased an Amsterdam guidebook (in English, which isn’t easy to find in a French-speaking country) that I studied on the short flight from Paris. I arrived at Schipol Airport with a plan. It went something like this:

DAY 1

• Go to Amsterdam's Historisch Museum
• Take walking tour of Central Amsterdam
• Take walking tour of the Jordaan District
• Shop at Sissy-Boy, a popular Dutch clothing chain
• Check into hotel

DAY 2

• Take train to Delft where blue and white pottery is made
• See windmills
  

DAY 3

• Go to Van Gogh Museum
• Go to Anne Frank's Huis
• Take canal tour
• Shop at Albert Cuypmarkt, Amsterdam's biggest general market
• Shop at high-fashion stores for brother-in-law

My ACTUAL schedule went like this:

DAY 1

• Take train from Schipol Airport (15 minutes outside Amsterdam) to Centraal Station
• Take pictures of the Nationaal Monument (contains soil from 11 Dutch provinces),

the Koninklijk Paleis (Royal Palace), the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church that is no longer a church, but a concert and exhibition hall), and the mall where Sissy-Boy is located.

• Shop at Sissy-boy
• Go into shutdown
• Take train back to Schipol Airport
• Take shuttle to hotel and totally crash

DAY 2

• REST
• Take bus to Amstelpark
• Walk to De Rieker Windmill, one of Rembrandt's painting locations


• Walk through Amstelpark

• Take tram to train station at Schipol (which contained a food market with quite a selection)
• Return to hotel

DAY 3

• Take train to Centraal Amsterdam
• Take Canal Bus to Van Gogh Museum
• Walk through Albert Cuypmarkt (typical outdoor flea market)
• Shop at high-fashion store for brother-in-law
• Take Canal Bus to Anne Frank's Huis
• Take train back to Schipol (both major train station and mall within its structure – the smart Dutch!)
• Return to Paris
  

A few random thoughts:

• The canal bus is my favorite mode of public transport.

• Anne Frank's Huis was the most moving experience – to be where she and her family hid for two years!

• The beautiful churches are places of commerce and concerts, no longer used for worship. It made me sad to hear that told time and again.
• You can go to a “cafe” to do ‘shrooms and weed. Hmmmm. . . (no, of COURSE I didn’t)
• Heineken is on tap in Amsterdam.
  
• Van Gogh had much self-doubt regarding his art. Another story of an imperfect human changing the course of history. I felt a kinship with him – who knew!
• My favorite purchase was my Van Gogh Museum umbrella.
  

I guess I accomplished quite a bit during my first visit to Amsterdam. It gave me a small taste of my Dutch ancestry, with opportunity to explore more next time.