The Adventures of Molly and Tyler: Amsterdam May 23-24, 2017

Starting in the last week of May, we started a whirlwind vacation with lots of visitors. Our very first visitors were Jared and Annie! They decided to take their honeymoon to Europe and visit Amsterdam and Italy. Since making it home for their wedding was going to be difficult, we planned to meet up and crash their honeymoon in Amsterdam for a few days. We are losing count of how many visits to Amsterdam we have had, but we love it and each time we do something new and different. We met up with Jared and Annie and fought off their jet lag with a tour of the city and a stop at a local brewery for lunch. The weather was beautiful so we spent most of the day wandering the city. Mid afternoon, we made a stop at our favorite place, Winkel 43, for a piece of apple cake. It is fabulous if you are ever in Amsterdam and wanting a sweet treat. We all took a short break for a rest and met back up for our dinner adventure. Amsterdam is well known for their Indonesian food (Indonesia was once a Dutch colony). We decided to give it a try and head to one of the best Indonesian restaurants in the city, Tempo Doeloe. It was awarded Bib Gourmand status by Michelin, which means it has exceptional good food at good prices, just our style! I wouldn't say it was a favorite meal of any of us, but it was delicious and we were glad we tried Indonesian. I will say, listen to the waiter and eat your dinner in increasing spiciness because those last spicy items are HOT.

After a stop for a night cap, we were off to bed.

We started our second day in Amsterdam with a seriously awesome brunch at Bakers and Roasters. We each had something different but all of them were delicious. If you are looking for a classic brunch menu with a good sampling of egg and sweet dishes, this is your place. For us, this was spectacular since Belgium hasn't quite perfected the brunch menu. From brunch, we headed to the Rijksmuseum, the Dutch national museum full of Dutch art and history. It was huge! We spent a good chunk of time exploring and didn't even feel like we had scratched the surface of what there is to see. But we can only handle so much museum before a beer is needed ;). Next, we made our way to Brouwerij 't Ij, a small, local brewery in Amsterdam. It is located right next to a quintessential Dutch windmill. We enjoyed their brews and snacks in the awesome Amsterdam weather. I don't know if Jared and Annie know but Amsterdam's weather really performed for them during their visit. In the afternoon, we went on a canal cruise. A canal cruise is a great way to see Amsterdam from another angle. You get to see the awesome Amsterdam architecture in a very relaxed atmosphere. While our boat guide could have been a little more informative, we really enjoyed the small boat tour we took because we were able to go on more of the small canals than the big tourist boats. We had a traditional Dutch meal to round out our day in Amsterdam. Amsterdam's soccer team was playing in the European finals so we headed to the hotel bar to watch some of the game. They weren't looking so good so we all called it a night. The next morning, we had to head back to Amsterdam airport to pick up Mom for the next visitor! Jared and Annie continued along their honeymoon to Italy!