my three sons: Adams in Amsterdam

A year ago, we started planning a trip to Europe for our family. Trey and I had been many times before but we wanted our kids to be able to experience it as well. Europe is such a different place. There is much more history because it is so much older than our own country. There are many things Trey and I love about Europe. We love the laid back lifestyle, easy to hop from country to country, easy access to metro…

We decided to start in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Neither of us had been here before, so it was new to all of us. Being able to experience a new country, a new way of life together was so much fun. We stayed in a BNB right off of one of the canals. We were on the third floor with our own kitchen, bathroom, living room, balcony and bedroom. Every morning, the owners brought up a fresh organic breakfast consisting of meats, cheeses, breads, jams and juice. I know you will think I am crazy, my kids did until they tried it for themselves, but the food in a country that doesn’t allow pesticides and junk in their foods tastes so much better. Things taste so much better, fresher on a different level. Don’t hate me for saying this, but even McDonald’s tastes better there. Ok, moving on… J We quickly learned that the Dutch are quite different. They call ladders a staircase, they openly smoke marijuana, they have interesting post cards to send home to mom, they speak perfect English with hardly and accent, and their main type of food is Indonesian. Indonesian food is so good!

We had three full days in Amsterdam. The first day was spent exploring the city, learning the tram and getting to know the area. It was very cold that first day!! We were so jet lagged that by midafternoon, we could barely keep our eyes open and we just hung out in the apartment. Fortunately, jet lag only lasts that first day, and after a good night’s rest, we were ready to go!

On the second day, we visited the Van Gogh Museum. This was very interesting to all of us, even though most of us aren’t into art. After the museum, we took the tram to another part of town, where we found a Christmas market and had lunch. Our view was a cute little ice skating rink and some Christmas huts selling delicious food and trinkets. Afterwards, we walked around the city and found a movie theater. We decided to check and see if the new Star Wars movie was showing. It was, and it was in English (subtitled in Dutch) AND it was two days earlier than in the States!

On our third day, we visited the Anne Frank House. This was quite eye opening. As we walked through the different parts of this building, our hearts grew heavy, realizing this family had to walk in silence and couldn’t go outside for two years. So sad to think of how afraid they were. After the Anne Frank House, we took a tram to the Heineken Brewery Experience. This was a very neat, interactive tour of how beer is brewed. We were even turned into beer at one point! At the end, we got several samples and the kids got samples of a Coke. J Later that night, Trey and I got to go out on our own and explore the city. It was such a fun date night! The next morning, we were off to the train station to catch our train to the next portion of our trip: Cologne, Germany!

Love,
K