Snapshots from our trip to Amsterdam
We got back last Monday from our family trip to Amsterdam so for the past week I’ve been going through photos and reliving the amazing time that we had there. This trip had been looming so large in my mind for so long because I’d been wanting to take the kids since before the pandemic, so in the months leading up to it I really tried hard to keep my expectations in check. I’m happy to say that the Netherlands really exceeded my expectations. Amsterdam was an absolutely delightful city to kick around in for a week+ and we never ran out of things to do. And one day we took a train out of the city to North Holland, so we got to experience a bit of the countryside and nearby towns as well, which rounded out an already-lovely week.
Here’s my photo dump of Amsterdam and Enkhuizen (the town in North Holland that we traveled to one day). I’ll leave my comments on the spare side so you can just enjoy the photos!!* But here are a few overall impressions:
THE BUILDINGS - No big surprise, I found the buildings to be completely delightful. Everywhere we went we saw examples of unique dutch architecture, but the canal houses and the houses in the old part of the city are especially cute.
THE WATER - I just couldn’t believe how much water there is everywhere. It seems we were always crossing a canal, or biking along a canal, or in a canal, plus the Amstel river was just a block from the house that we stayed at, so we biked along the Amstel quite a bit as well. Ahead of time, I knew there were some canals in the old center city, but I don’t think I realized how widespread the canals are - literally the entire country is connected by networks of canals, including the wide open farmland that we crossed as we traveled by train through North Holland.
THE ART - We saw so many beautiful paintings at the Rijksmuseum and the VanGogh museum. I have been to the Uffuzi and the Vatican and many art museums around the US, but this was still a unique experience. You have to reserve tickets and an entry time at both museums, and although Hugo only lasted about an hour at the Rijksmuseum - Mr Rae and I could have spent all afternoon there — I was still happy that I got a chance to see so many famous paintings, even in a short time. It was also so cool that we could ride our bikes on the bike path through the center of the museum.
BIKES - You think you’re ready for how many bikes there are. You are not at all prepared. The parking lots are bike parking lots. There are more bike paths than roads for cars. You need to leave yourself extra time at the museums to find parking…BIKE PARKING. It’s pretty wild.
Also: the kids got a kick out of the tiny cars.
THE CHURCHES - I didn’t get inside as many as I’d hoped but still managed to step inside a few, and they were so awe inspiring; everything from the scale down to the tiny details, so much beauty in these old buildings.
DAY TRIP TO NORTH HOLLAND - Here are some of the photos I took when we went to Enkhuizen for a day trip and visited the Zuiderzee Museum; it was a cool change of pace from the city:
ON TRAVEL WITH KIDS - It can be challenging to plan a trip with kids with as wide an age-range as mine (10-17 years old) , but they all had a lot of fun on our trip. Our house had a trampoline in the backyard plus a foosball table, so they all really loved the house we rented, which was a great find. Plus we made a point to spend time in parks and go to the science museum, which was a hit with all of my kiddos, but especially Hugo.
I couldn’t go to Amsterdam without a trip to Stephen and Penelope, could I?? I took the metro on my own one morning while the teenagers were still sleeping and did a little yarn shopping. And as it turned out, there was also a delightful fabric shop filled with gorgeous trims right next door!
I hope you’ve enjoyed my little Amsterdam travelogue! Believe me when I say that this just brushes the surface of the total number of photos I took. I’ll leave you with a final photo from our last day. Here’s my cute fambly all packed up and waiting for the metro to take us to Schiphol airport:
*PS. I’m thinking about doing a travel series on my paid Substack; basically going into more depth about some of the family trips we’ve taken over the years. It’s a lot of work to plan trips and then share all of the details, but I’ve always found it helpful when other folks - especially parents with kids — post their travel notes. I’m curious to know if that is something anyone would be interested in? Where we stayed, day by day itineraries, tips for families or traveling with kids…that sort of thing. Anyway, maybe there’s already enough of that out there - I know that there are plenty of Facebook groups and mommy travel blogs and that sort of thing, but if there’s enough interest I might consider doing a travel series. Feel free to leave your input in comments.