April 12-15, 2017 | To conclude our epic spring break trip, we headed north to spend a few days in Amsterdam.
As compared to the warm, sunny weather in Spain and Italy, Amsterdam was cooler and damper. The rain, however, didn’t prevent us at all from enjoying our stay, nor did it deter any locals from riding their bikes 100% of the time…. So. Many. Cyclists.
Soon after our arrival, we headed over to a lovely, large dining room inside the Conservatorium Hotel for a light meal. This might have been my favorite dining room of the trip, thanks to all of the natural light, but some of our favorite food came the next night at a wonderful and creative sushi restaurant called Izakaya. Highly recommend!
The main activity on our first full day in town was a visit to the famous Keukenhof Gardens, a large garden/park about 40 minutes from Amsterdam proper. These gardens are filled with millions of colorful flowers (an estimated 7 million!), and we spent as much time as possible traversing the area and snapping hundreds of photos.
We used the next day to visit the two great museums in downtown Amsterdam. First, we went to the Rijksmuseum, which is a Dutch national museum dedicated to the arts and history of the country.
Next, we walked across the lawn to the Van Gogh Museum to begin our guided tour. I really enjoyed Van Gogh’s artwork, and I’m glad we had a guide because we learned a lot about the artist’s background and how it influenced his career.
Until next time, Amsterdam!
-T
Pictures & Some Words 