Over the weekend we took a train to Amsterdam, the train transportation is so easy, we got up at 7am in Eindhoven, walked to the train station, and by 10am we were already downtown Amsterdam, arriving at the beautiful Central Sation, which is on a man-made island, right by where all the action is.
There is so much to do in Amsterdam, we decided to narrow our activities to two planned ones and leave the rest of time to just walking and exploring.
First we visited the beautiful Royal Palace, which is still being used by the Royal Family for some special occasions, but is open to public most of the year. It is a beautiful building, with amazing decorations and architectural details.
We learned a lot about history and enjoyed the audioguides, different ones for different ages. Timmy and Sylvia’s was narrated by Prince Louis, and included questions, which they could answer by placing stickers at the right place. They took it very seriously and at the end the stickers spelled Holland Empire and resulted in a nice ornament, a souvenir for them to take home.
After that we spent some time at the square, observed some street performers, the kids posed with their favorite ones and than we walked and had lunch at an Irish Pub with a Dutch twist. only after we sat down we realized we were under a watchful eye of an alien, also overlooking a store with edible goodies including “girl scout” cookies and ice-cream, which we had to explain the kids were definitely not for them to try:-)
After lunch we spent some time just wandering around, including some more quite streets and canals. Amsterdam has great energy and interesting vibe. You can definitely see the evidence of free spirit by the number of red light district displays (certainly not limited to the red light district) and stores with goodies laced with mushrooms, cannabis and other legal mood enhancers. Walking by a peaceful canal and suddenly having to explain to the kids why there is a lady in a window dressed only in underwear winking at passers by, made for an interesting experience:-)
Finally, after our legs were tire of walking, we took a boat tour. It was great to see City from the water, seeing some landmarks as well as quiet canals and people enjoying their Saturday afternoon.
There is a lot more we did not get to see and do, but we certainly had a great experience in Amsterdam!
family M adventures 