FRIENDCATION APPRECIATION POST(S). Welcome to the first city of our European vacation, Amsterdam! Last September we took a trip with our bestest friends and still can't stop gushing about how fantastic it was. Traveling with a group of friends is one of the greatest pleasures in life and we truly have some banging buds. This trip was the brainchild of everyone in the group, and these photos are not all my own. A huge thank you to our best friends for making this friendcation a reality. To Amanda, Alec, Jessie, and Matt - we love you. Thank you sharing this adventure together and may I do our love-fest proud.

This is the first in a series of posts, so be sure to check out our days in Bruges, Strasbourg, and Munich. Prost!

Staying in Amsterdam

As a group of six, we stayed in three separate rooms at the Max Brown Hotel in the Canal District. The location of this hotel was ideal because it was a short walk to the train station and easily accessible for the rest of our city plans. We walked everywhere and never had to worry about public transit outside of the train to get in and out of the city. This hotel also has free breakfast and such charm. We loved every detail and the staff really engaged with guests to make our stays memorable.

We stayed in Amsterdam for two nights and really packed in quite an itinerary for the two days here. Fair warning now, we are a non-stop bunch and love to be busy. This trip is not for the slow pokes and we stuck to a schedule of early mornings and late nights to hit all the highlights.

Day 1: Zaanse Schans and Canals

We all arrived separately in Amsterdam at the Schiphol Airport. The best way to get from the airport downtown is to take the train. You can buy train tickets at the yellow kiosks and take platforms 1, 2, or 3 to get to Centraal Station. Be sure to scan your ticket before heading down the escalator! You will have to scan when you exit and the system gets all sorts of confused if you don’t first scan in at your entry point.

We all arrived by noon and headed straight to Zaanse Schans once we caught up to each other. The train ride to this neighborhood on the outskirts of town was about 20 minutes (four stops) and then a 15 minute walk to the windmills. We were thrilled to get some fresh air after our overnight flights and pushed right on past our jet lag. While the area is mostly catered to tourists, we had a great time trying cheese and chocolate while meandering through the windmills and checking out the traditional Dutch clogs.

After spending the afternoon learning about windmills, we headed back into the city for drinks and dinner. We were in awe of the multitude of canals and bridges here. Every single one is beautiful and I felt giddy walking along the water. For drinks, we stopped into a cocktail bar with really unique flavors and style, Tales and Spirits. They were quick to seat our group of six and generous in providing recommendations. English is spoken almost everywhere here, so we felt at ease immediately. After drinks, we headed to our dinner reservation at The Lobby Nesplain. With such a large group, we did have reservations at a few spots throughout our trip to ensure a nice meal without a lot of hustle. Service is so different in Europe and when a restaurant fills up for the night, they don't put you on a wait-list. They turn you away completely. We were lucky for most of our meals, but as our first dinner of vacation, we wanted to have a plan ahead of time. Our meal here was beautiful and we were spoiled to receive lots and lots of water service. A luxury we would soon miss in other parts of Europe! After our meal and a little gallivanting through the streets and the Red Light District, we were off to bed to rest our feet and jet-lagged bodies.

Day 2: Heineken, Stroopwafels, and Cobblestones

What a whopper of a day this one is. We walked all across Amsterdam and tried all sorts of food and drink. Be sure to bring proper footwear for cobblestone streets and many miles. We started our day with free breakfast at the hotel and headed off to the Rijksmuseum first thing in the morning. September is a great time to visit Europe because the crowds have subsided and the weather is nice and brisk. Before heading into the museum we stopped by the I Amsterdam sign for some classic tourist shots.

If you have the time, we highly recommend the Rijksmuseum. It is a huge facility with rich history and art throughout. Be sure to check out the highlights from Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and of course the strikingly beautiful Cuypers Library, a space visitors can still access for research and studying. Plan to spend 2-3 hours here and expect the hall with The Night Watch to be a bit crazy.

Once you have worked up an appetite, head to the Albert Cuyp Market for some traditional Dutch snacks. The street market is a great place to take a look at local produce, cheeses, and textiles. We had one main goal while here - the most famous stroopwafel of all time. We beelined straight to Stall 134 and had no wait for these toasty little treats. You can get traditional or chocolate covered, and they are prepared fresh right in front of you. I will never be able to eat a packaged stroopwafel again! I’ve hit peak stroopwafel now.

We then tried some other traditional fried snacks, because why not. I couldn’t tell you the names of these things even 10 seconds after we ordered it, so just point and select things with cheese. Always a win.

Not far from the market is the Heineken Experience, which of course the gents in our group were amped about. When they say “experience”, they mean it. This place is fascinating and a little odd. It starts off with some history, touring the original brewery, and then a wild lights show that takes you into the super modern portion of the tour. With your ticket price, you get about two and a half beers, which is nice for an afternoon refresh. They are icy cold and obviously better here than back home in states. They also have a little challenge on pouring the perfect Heineken, which I am proud to say that Amanda won over all the boys. #thefutureisfemale. If you are interested in the history of Heineken and want a little break from the outdoors, this is a great stop for a few hours!

To round out our afternoon in Amsterdam, we walked through the floating Bloemenmarkt, where all of the beautiful tulips can be found in the spring months. They do have some flowers and very realistic plastic tulips here during the off season, so it is still worth your time in the fall. After checking out the lock bridge that had removed all the locks (sad face), we finished our day at the Anne Frank House. We did purchase tickets for this in advance and selected our entry time of 4:30pm, as the days almost always sell out. Definitely get there early as you will have to queue up outside with other folks in your time slot. Everyone who visits the Netherlands must go through this tour, it is an essential stop. The tour is conducted via audio headset as you enter different rooms so you can move at your own pace. While the spaces were a bit cramped with others, they do a decent job moving everyone through. At times, the entire room of 30+ people is silent as everyone listens so intently on the history and the powerful stories from the Secret Annex.

At this point in the day, we were exhausted. On our way back to the hotel we made a dinner stop at the Pancake Bakery and were seated immediately. This little basement eatery was so warm and cozy with lots of savory and sweet pancake options. We opted for three savory pancakes, one sweet, and a plate of poffertjes (mini pancakes with powdered sugar). Definitely stop here for a quick treat or a whole meal! We were very pleased. Once we wrapped up dinner, took naps, and drank some rooftop wine, we headed out for one last night of drinking on streets of Amsterdam!