Still jet-lagged from our return to Brussels from the U.S., we boarded the high-speed train Thalys for a short 2 1/2 hour ride to Amsterdam. Grayson may look charming in these photos, but we quickly discovered that traveling with an almost-2-year-old is a challenge. He was climbing all over us during the entire train ride (next time we'll bring the car seat!).
Mommy and Grayson on the "choo-choo"
Amsterdam's bikes and canals
The two things I will remember most about Amsterdam are the bikes and canals. Everyone rides bikes everywhere. There are bikes with child seats on the back, on the front, and with "sidecar" type things (on the front, though) for multiple kids to ride in at once. Often women sit "side-saddle" on the back of the bike while the men pedal. A guidebook I read said that there are as many bikes in Amsterdam as there are people - and I believe it.
The canals are everywhere, and are lined with houseboats (which, by the way, are not that charming - most look like single-wide mobile homes that float). The bridges over the canals, however, are charming. They are arched and outlined with lights. We went on a canal boat ride and it felt like we were on Disney's "It's a Small World" ride.
Enjoying the sights from one of Amsterdam's many canal boats
New Years Eve
After an early dinner, we went back to the hotel and put Grayson to bed - in the bathroom, in hopes that he wouldn't be awakened by the fireworks. Thankfully, and to our amazement, he slept through them. Promptly at midnight they began - and didn't end for an hour. With no 4th of July celebration, New Year's is Europe's chance to show off their pyrotechnics. From our hotel window we could see fireworks being shot off all up and down the Amstel River - and right on the street in front of us by some not-so-sober locals.
Dinner in Amsterdam
Apparently the Dutch's high level of tolerance (their motto is "Live and Let Live") extends to children. We were able to enjoy a very nice early evening dinner at a local restaurant - - with our noisy, messy almost-2-year-old!
Fireworks along the Amstel River
The locals' fireworks displays were just as impressive - perhaps because of the fear factor ("do you think one could shoot right into our window?")
Amsterdam's Museums
The Van Gogh Museum
We dragged poor Grayson to several museums. We managed to enjoy them once we perfected the art (pun intended) of "tag teaming" ("you take Grayson, I'll go look"). At the Van Gogh Museum we saw many of his famous works, including the beautiful Sunflowers and several self-portraits.
Rijksmuseum
Next we visited the Rijksmuseum. Fortunately (at least for us and our loud, wiggly almost-2-year-old) the Rijksmuseum is undergoing a massive renovation and only "The Masterpieces" are available for viewing, having all been relocated to one wing of the museum. In less than an hour we were able to see them all, including many paintings by the Dutch master Rembrandt.
The Anne Frank HouseEver since my first reading of "The Diary of Anne Frank" when I was very young, I have always wanted to visit the Anne Frank House. After standing in line (you can see Tony in the photo above, on the far right) for quite a while, we made it in. Tony graciously chased Grayson around while I viewed the secret annex and all of the memorabilia, including the first of Anne's diaries that she wrote during the two years her family hid from the Nazis during World War II.
The exterior of the Anne Frank House
We made it back to Brussels . . . but we will NEVER board a train again without the car seat :)
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