Our first full day in Amsterdam started not so much with a jump out of bed but more of a slow roll likely due to a combination of booze and jet lag. We finally emerged to grey skies but intrigued spirits. First order of business - jackets! Jay probably didn't think he'd be spending his first day in a department store, shopping, but given our poor packing it was necessary. He was at least happy to see that in Europe he was no longer a size medium, but instead an XLarge. We emerged from the store with warmer digs, looking very European.
Jay ordered a sensible tasting dish with a little of most things. I ordered an absurd tasting dish with a little of what seemed like everything on the menu; it was so big it required an additional table be set up adjacent to ours to hold all of the plates.
About an hour after meandering through the alleys of Amsterdam, (Side note: heavily trash laden in some areas, the garbage men are on strike) we arrived at the Anne Frank House only to find that about 500 other people had a similar idea. (Side thought: It was very odd to see tourists standing next to the Anne Frank plaque, posing for pictures with huge, gaping smiles, when only 60 years ago, the same site brought so much pain and misery to a family and many others.) To wait or not...it was cold, we were hungry and Jay noticed a sign that said if you made online reservations, you didn't have to wait; Anne Frank would wait until tomorrow. On to the next site, Van Gogh museum.
En route to the Van Gogh museum we passed a busy Indonesian place; we had heard from the guy sitting next to us on the plane over, that Indonesian food in Amsterdam was really good so we decided to give it a try.
We left full - but both agreeing that the best part of the meal was the chip like thing and peanut dip they served in the beginning; at least we tried it.
On to the Van Gogh museum, a short walk away. The museum highlighted Van Gogh's short life from beginning to end - great at providing the story to give context to his works.
Tired from our walking, eating and learning, we began our trek back to the hotel. Along the way, we were able to watch a few of the bikers in the Giro d'Italia spin by; their maintenance cars in close pursuit just in case a tire needed changing. We had seen people waiting all day at various parts of the city so was nice to catch a glimpse of what all of the fuss was about. (Side thought: While exciting for the 1.5 seconds that the cyclist is passing, seemed like an odd thing for people to line up and wait to cheer on all day for hours? to each his own. ) We made it back to the hotel around 5:30 to rest up and prepare ourselves for our second night out on the town.
Found a cute spot to grab dinner - Jay opted for the dish of amsterdam (Dutch beefsteak and potatoes), I had the less traditional, cheese tortellini with a spinach sauce.
Night 2 then progressed similarly to night 1....
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