For my birthday this year, I knew I wanted to do something out of the ordinary. When my sister found a flight from San Diego (not Los Angeles!) to Amsterdam, I was immediately interested. When I found out the round trip airfare was less than $500, I KNEW I had to book it. Amsterdam was a city that I’d wanted to cross off of my bucket list for awhile. From museums to canals, the city seemed rich with a history that I couldn’t wait to dive into.
Tip #1: Whenever I check into my flight at the airport, I always ask how much it is to upgrade to business class. As it turned out, British Airways was having a sale that we of course took advantage of!
Table of Contents
Where We Stayed
As usual, we used Trip Advisor to research hotels to stay at. Banks Mansion stood out to us because of its elegance, location right on the canal, and reviews that spoke of their spectacular service. Once we found out about their free daily happy hour and cheese cart, we were sold. Upon entry to our room, which overlooked the Herengracht canal, we encountered streamers, balloons, a cake, and chocolate treats…all for our birthday! It was such a wonderful way to be welcomed into Amsterdam.
Day/Night 1:
After a long travel day, it was evening by the time we touched down in the Netherlands. To be honest, the last thing I wanted to do was explore a foreign city at night. However, one of the first things I noticed about Amsterdam was how safe it seemed. My sister and I decided to walk to dinner at a restaurant called Palladium , which was recommended by a friend. According to our map app, it was only one mile away from our hotel.
Tip #2: I always use my map app to figure out walking directions whenever I am traveling. Fortunately for me, my Tmobile cell phone plan includes international data service for no extra cost.
It was very cold during our walk to dinner, but getting a glimpse of the canals at night was worth it. By the time we reached the restaurant, I was ready to eat. My sister and I split a bottle of wine and I couldn’t resist ordering a hamburger and fries. The walk back to the hotel didn’t see as bad now that we knew what to expect. We each had some of our birthday cake for dessert and called it a night.
Day 2:
Having people join you on a getaway always makes the trip fun! On our second day, our aunt and cousin flew in bright and early in the morning. They met up with us at our hotel and from there, we walked to the iconic iAmsterdam sign, located behind the Rijksmuseum. From my research, this sign is usually packed with tourists for photo opportunities. However, since we arrived at around 8:00 am, it was virtually empty.
Next up was breakfast at Bakers and Roasters. I heard about this breakfast spot from a recommendation on Facebook and luckily, it was just a short walk from the iAmsterdam sign. We got there right when they opened and I could tell this was a popular restaurant by the amount of people waiting to eat here during a week day. I ordered a hot toddy, coffee, and breakfast sandwich. I highly recommend this place for a yummy and filling breakfast!
Our mini walking tour of Amsterdam continued from a floating flower market called Bloemenmarkt to dam square. We also passed by the smallest house in Amsterdam. By the time we were done, it was just after noon and time to rest up.
On the agenda for the afternoon was the Van Gogh museum. I highly enjoyed this museum and learned so much about Van Gogh, not to mention his masterpieces that were on display were amazing. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed in here, but I did manage to sneak one in.
Tip #3: Buy tickets to this museum in advance and use the headsets provided. The experience was so much better than just walking past the art work.
Next up, it was time for happy hour at our hotel! Our hotel’s lobby is set up like a living room, complete with a fire place. It was cozy and warm and I definitely drank my fair share of the free wine.
Conveniently, our hotel is also located next to food shop that sold fries, so I was also able to enjoy that during our happy hour.
After an hour or so of getting sufficiently buzzed, we decided to grab dinner somewhere near the red light district so that we could pass through that as well. We found a hole in the wall Argentenian restaurant called Siga La Vaca a few blocks away, but since I was still full from happy hour, I only ordered empanadas.
As we left dinner, the rain started coming down hard. We walked through the red light district and to be honest, it was kind of underwhelming to me. The picture below was taken by my aunt, since she was the only brave one to sneak in a shot.
A short uber ride back to our hotel and we were done for the evening. Stay tuned for part two of my Holland adventures that includes a few day trips and the Anne Frank museum!
