Ultimate Europe Trip 2016 Day 2: An Electric Beginning
When I last left you Jenn and I were putting on our eye masks, fully stretched out on our lie flat business class seats. We both fell asleep and woke up with only an hour and a half left in the flight. As we awoke we were brought back out a white table cloth, coffee and tea, and our breakfast. Jenn had a warm apple pie dish for breakfast and I had their quiche. Both were phenomenal albeit far to much food for 1AM in the morning. After breakfast Jenn went back to sleep up until we were coming in for a landing and I did everything I could to soak up every second of the experience.
Needless to say it was the first flight in my life that I desperately wished with every fiber in my body that it would last just a little bit longer. It was such a transcendent experience to sit in pure comfort 40,000 ft in the air with no care in the world and gourmet meals being served. When we did land in Amsterdam a half hour earlier then expected we were the first ones off the planes, got our passports stamped and picked up our bags. The one downside to being first off the plane is that you sit around waiting for your bags for a while.
When our bags did arrive we followed the signs for a taxi and sat in a brand new Tesla Model S to whisk us away to our hotel. This was my first time actually riding in a Tesla and it was spectacular. It made me even more excited for my Tesla Model 3 pre-order. One interesting note is that the Netherlands are extremely big in green energy and have invested a lot of money in renewables and electric vehicles so there were swarms of Teslas both on the road and as taxi's at the airport. The thirty minute ride to our hotel was nice and relaxing and it was a nice opportunity to start taking in the beauty of the city.
When we finally arrived at the Art'otel Amsterdam we were whisked away in what I would consider one of the most interesting lobby designs I've ever seen. As the name would suggest this is a hotel that embraces art. Everywhere you turn at the Art'otel Amsterdam you see beautiful art pieces, and amazing architecture and design.
We were able to check-in early and got a beautiful room overlooking the city of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Centraal Station (not a typo that's how they spell it).
After recording a quick room-tour we immediately went back out and explored the city. Each day of our trip we have certain things we wanted to see and do. Today we kept our itinerary as light as possible in case we had travel delays or came in exhausted. Our first stop was a fifteen minute walk to the Singel area which used to be a moat around the city up until the 1500's. On our walk to the Singel area we stopped in at a Zara for Jenn and did a ton of window shopping.
From the Singel area we made our way to the Bloemenmarkt, the amazing flower district of the city where there's a long line of flower markets all boats floating in the canal. There we found our first Starbucks of the trip. I had a cappuccino and Jenn surprisingly just went with a water. From there we stumbled on a year-round Christmas shop. More then any other type of store Jenn truly starts to glow in a Christmas store. She picked up two beautiful blue ornaments that represented Amsterdam. The owners of the shop even threw in a third ornament for free when we went up and paid for it. It was a nice experience and one that I could tell Jenn really enjoyed.
After walking the market we decided to just start exploring and began walking up and down canals, taking photos with ever ten or twelve steps. At around 4PM we both got tired and walked back to our hotel and rested for an hour. By around 5:30 we knew it was time to go back out and get dinner even though we were exhausted. Neither of us wanted anything fancy and so in Jenn's research we went with one of her dinner recommendations a casual burger place called Burgerlijk Amsterdams.
It was around a fifteen minute walk and with both of our phone batteries reaching the end we had Jenn navigate us there. We arrived right before a rush of people and got two amazing burgers and fries. The burgers were out of this world, thick and juicy with incredible buns. The fries were also good and i feel in love with their truffle dipping sauce. After dinner we walked back to our hotel and turned in around 7PM. Our initial impressions on Amsterdam are quite high. It's a gorgeous diverse city that you can't help but just want to take in. From the architecture to the canals there's just so much to experience.
It was an early end to our first day but still a very successful one. It was a nice opportunity for us to ease into the trip while still being able to enjoy the beautiful city of Amsterdam. Tomorrow though, the first full day of the trip begins.
