Amsterdam

Checking another country off the list, we made our way this past week to Amsterdam.  Phil and Tammy flew into town for a visit and after exploring London for a few days, we all hopped on the quick 40 minute flight to Amsterdam.  After about 3 hours in the city, Dan declared it his favorite European city and I may have to agree with him (although Paris has always held my top spot.) Amsterdam was so charming and at the same time, seemed very livable.  After taking the train into the city, we checked into our rented apartment, which incidentally was advertised as 2 bedrooms but ended up being 1 with bunk beds, oh well...there were 2 beds, that's all we really needed.

the outside of our apartment (red brick building):

we were right next to the Munttoren tower (originally part of the medieval city wall):

inside our apartment:

We stocked up the kitchen with some basics at the local market, grabbed some falafel for lunch right outside our apartment and then headed over to the city's famous flower market, Bloemenmarkt.  They have a huge selection of flowers and bulbs, as well as lots of touristy junk.  Along the other side of the flower market are a bunch of cute cheese shops selling amazing gouda and sheep's milk cheeses, as well as stroopwafels (a delicious dutch snack of two thin waffles with caramel sandwiched in between.)  I had so many free cheese samples my stomach started to hurt.

the flower market stalls along the left side of the canal:

 bloemenmarkt:

 cheese shop:

 
After checking out the market, we rented bikes to ride around town for the rest of the trip.  The city is literally covered in bikes and it is the most popular way of getting around.  Most streets have bike paths or if you ride along the canals the car traffic is pretty light.  Tammy was not a huge fan of this activity but she hung in there and did fine when we were off the busy streets:)

bikes lining the street:

Since the weather was great, we rode our bikes over to the city's main park, Vondelpark.  It is a huge, pretty park and was great for cycling around.  While in the park, we stopped at a cute cafe for some beers in the sunshine.

From Vondelpark, we headed along the Prinsengracht canal up towards the Westerkerk church.  Rembrandt is buried in this church but we decided not to venture in.  We found another cute cafe along Singel canal to stop for a beer and some bitterballen, another dutch favorite; little fried balls filled with a sort of potato/bacon puree - delicious!

 

Westerkerk:

We headed back to the apartment to relax before our dinner at Restaurant Red.  Red was recommended to us by a friend from London who failed to tell us that the restaurant has no signage outside and when you walk in the entrance, you are deposited behind a giant potted plant as if you came in the wrong way.  It was however the right place and after that minor confusion, we had a great meal.  Red serves only lobster and steak...we all went with the lobster, except Dan, who had both;)  After dinner we walked over to the Red Light district to have a look.  We grabbed a seat in a bar for some interesting people watching over a few beers.  Interesting fact (provided by Dan): prostitution is technically illegal in Amsterdam but they have no regulations over what happens in private rooms so the women actually advertise "rooms for rent" and what the customer is legally paying for is a room for a set amount of time.

The next morning we got up early and headed first thing to the Anne Frank house.  It was really interesting to walk through the rooms the family stayed in and hear more about their history.  Following our visit there, we rode over to Dam Square, the city's main square.  The square is actually built over the site of the original dam across the River Amstel, after which the city is named.  The square is dominated by two buildings, the Koninklijk Paleis (Royal Palace) and the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church.)

Royal Palace:

Dam Square:

New Church:

By this time it had started raining, making our bike riding a little less pleasant but we were already committed to our bikes for two days so we just pulled on our hoods and chugged along.  We made our way next over to Pancakes! Amsterdam for some delicious dutch pancakes (which are essentially crepes.)  Dan and I shared a goat cheese/spinach/pine nut one that was amazing (and a banana/chocolate for dessert:))

After lunch we made our way over to Museumplein to visit the Van Gogh museum.  It was a great collection and really interesting to follow the progression of his art style over his lifetime.  It is amazing how much he accomplished in such a short life.

riding in the rain...

Museumplein with the Rijksmuseum in the background:

After the museum, in the increasingly persistent rain, we decided to return our bikes and head back to the apartment to warm up and dry off.  However, on our way back to the bike rental store, we managed to get separated from Phil & Tammy, who then got lost and ended up biking around for an extra hour in the rain trying to find the bike store.  Meanwhile, Dan and I waited at the bike shop for about 20 minutes, concluded that they must have been confused and thought we were going to the apartment instead of the bike store, so we left our bikes at the shop and walked back to the apartment.  When there was no sign of them there, we sat down at the bar next door to have a beer and wait for them to show up.  Finally, about an hour later with no sign of them, Dan walked back to the shop and found them sitting next to the shop having a beer!  They had finally found it but were told by the guys at the bike shop that we were out looking for them so they had decided to wait there thinking we would eventually come back.....so after much drama, we all returned safely to the apartment and got ready for dinner.

That night we went to Cafe de Klos, famous for their ribs.  We were told to go early and expect to wait but when we arrived just after 7 we were seated right away.  The ribs were delicious and the portions were huge.  After dinner we popped across the street to a bar owned by the same people and had some delicious belgian beers.  We then made our way into a "coffee shop" around the corner from our apartment and took advantage of Amsterdam's relaxed drug laws ;-)  We stumbled home and flew out early the next morning.

It was a fun trip, great city, and so happy we got to share it with Phil & Tammy.

Cotswolds

The Cotswolds area of the English countryside is quite possibly the cutest place on earth.  The thatched roofs, stone cottages, and winding rivers simply epitomize the definition of "quaint."  And, being only about an hour and a half drive outside of London, it is a great area for a short weekend escape from the city.  So, this past weekend, Dan and I rented a car, loaded up Henry, and headed out.  Our first stop was Oxford.  Oxford University is made up of 38 independent colleges (similar to Cambridge's set up.)  It is a beautiful college town with lots of cute streets to explore.  We ran into a free walking tour and thought we might follow them around for a bit but when it turned out to be more standing than walking Henry started to get a little antsy so we headed off on our own.  A few highlights:

The Radcliffe Camera (camera is Italian for "room" and it is used as a reading room):

croquet game at Christ Church college:

We wandered around for about 2 hours, grabbed some Cornish pasties for lunch, and then continued our journey into the heart of the North Cotswolds.  Our first stop was Upper Slaughter, where we began our Frommer's recommended hike from Upper Slaughter to Bourton-on-the-Water.  Known as "The Great Cotswold Ramble," the path follows Warden's Way about 2.5 miles.  It was a great walk through sheep pastures (closing the sheep gates behind you along the way) and some of the cutest villages ever.  The Slaughters were our personal favorite but Bourton-on-the-Water has a lot more going on if you're looking for shops and restaurants.

Upper Slaughter:

Henry checking out the sheep:

Lower Slaughter; Old Mill:

Lower Slaughter:

Bourton-on-the-Water:

It took us about an hour to get to Bourton-on-the-Water (after a slight detour where we seemed to lose the path and ended up wandering through a town called Melville, which was lovely but not on the recommended route;)  We stopped for a delicious cream tea along the river and then started our journey back.

On the way back, Henry had a little disagreement with a horse:

sizing him up....

attack!

Lower Slaughter:

one of several sheep gates:

After finishing our walk, we made our way to our hotel for the night, the Old Swan & Minster Mill in Minster Lovell.  Again, it was too adorable for words.  We had a great little room in the converted old grist mill, complete with dog bed and bowls for Henry, and the grounds and gardens were beautiful. We had a delicious dinner at the Inn's restaurant and even got free champagne because we had to wait a while for our meal (which really we didn't and neither of us had even noticed but hey, we'll take some free champagne.)

Minster Mill reception area:

Old Swan main building/restaurant:

The next morning after Dan had a belated birthday massage at the hotel's spa, we explored Minster Lovell.  The town is literally made up of one street of thatched roof cottages and a church, but there are also ruins of a 15th century manor home, Minster Lovell Hall, which is open to the public to explore.  Locals like to claim that the ruins are haunted because during the wedding of William Lovell, his new bride was lost during a game of hide and seek.  Years later, a servant found her body in an old lead chest used for food storage.  It is thought the lid fell shut and locked her inside where nobody could find her.  The ruins are on a lovely spot along the river Windrush and were interesting to check out.

Minster Lovell Hall:

note the "opening hours" ;-)

We managed to pull ourselves away from Minster Lovell and continued on to our next stop, Stow-on-the Wold.  While not the cutest of the towns we visited, Stow has a lot of history.  There is even a hotel that has been continuously running since 900AD!

cute little shop selling handbags in Stow:

We then made our way to our last stop, Chipping Campden.  Chipping Campden was definitely pretty high on the list of adorable villages.  It seemed to us to be one of the more "posh" villages, with some larger, more elaborate cottages (with ornamental thatching, who knew such a thing existed?!) and a cute high street.  We strolled through town, checked out the church, and had lunch at the local pub.

Queen Victoria era postbox:

It was a great weekend trip and so fun to have our little buddy along with us:)