Amsterdam is a beautiful city with stunning architecture. I have to admit that I didn’t spend as much time wandering around it as I had originally planned, but I did see enough of it to want to return some day. So, what did I do in Amsterdam? I went on a nighttime photography tour, I visited the Van Gogh Museum, went to the House of Bols, and got caught in the rain.
My original plan was to get to my hotel on Saturday afternoon and get all of my school assignments finished and submitted that evening. That way, I would have had all day on Sunday to explore Amsterdam before my photo tour. Unfortunately, I ended up with a raging headache and ended up going to sleep after having dinner. Dinner, by the way, was a flammkuchen, which I can only describe as an amazing Dutch pizza.
Anyway. I went to sleep early and wound up having to finish my assignments on Sunday, which cut into my Amsterdam time. I got into Amsterdam in time to run into Starbucks (yes, Starbucks, I needed something quick) and meet up with my tour guide, Eddie. I can’t say enough good things about this tour. I have wanted to learn more about nighttime photography for a while, but reading about it and watching tutorials is not the same as getting out and actually shooting with someone who knows what they are doing. I will make a photo post once I edit the photos from this tour.
On Monday, I started by going to the Van Gogh Museum. Something to note: you can only buy tickets online. They don’t sell tickets at the door, so this isn’t a museum to visit on a whim. You need to know what date and time you plan on visiting. That said, it is well worth visiting if you are a fan of Van Gogh’s artwork, like me.
Since it was still rainy and gross when I left the Van Gogh Museum, I went across the street to the House of Bols, where I took a self-guided tour and participated in their cocktail workshop. The House of Bols is a liquor company that makes a spirit called “genever,” which is the precursor to gin. The tour is actually quite interesting, learning how old the distillery is, how the grandson of the founder took their product international (he was a major shareholder in the Dutch East India Company), and how it has managed to continue to the present day. I was the only person who signed up for the cocktail workshop that day, so I had a wonderful time with the bartender, who walked me through making a pair of genever-based cocktails. Full disclaimer – I’d already had one cocktail before I started making them, so it was interesting. Of course, I drank the cocktails that I made, so I didn’t really care anymore about the grey day when I left the House of Bols.
Luckily, there was a tram stop on the same street as the Van Gogh Museum and the House of Bols, so it was easy for me to get back to the central station for my train back to Bloemendaal. Speaking of the trams in Amsterdam – they don’t take cash. You can buy your ticket on the tram, but you have to do so with a card. I found the system to be much better than people having to dig through their pockets and purses for exact change.
Sadly, I didn’t end up having time on Sunday for a canal cruise and the weather was too gross on Monday for me to even consider one. I’ll just have to come back some day. Also, I need to come back anyway because I didn’t even scratch the surface of this fine city.