I won’t lie to you. Amsterdam was never one of my favorite towns. BUT, a recent fall visit with my Travelling Kid...changed my mind.
My previous visits were business trips…travelling with the members of the famous rock band, Aerosmith. Although my trips were very ‘rock ‘n roll’ …staying in the very best of accommodations, taking limos everywhere and eating the very best food…all I remember is that it rained a lot and that the Anne Frank house was depressing. Cut to a few years and a two year old later, add in an eclectic hotel and …and voila! Amsterdam finally rocks!
Amsterdam was an ‘add-on’ to our family vacation. My husband had business there and since I did not want to fly home solo with a two year old…I went. And to my delight and my surprise…Amsterdam suddenly was filled with light and laughter and lots of things to do.
First of all, we took a flyer and checked into a (then) new hotel called THE COLLEGE HOTEL, which is a ‘training’ hotel…kind of like a training hospital, but people are learning service vs. surgery. Nice, although at times it felt as if we were part of an experimental procedure. I have described it as, “FAWLTY TOWERS with good linens”. It actually was a perfect place to stay. The good points outweighed the bad - especially the location which is in a lovely neighborhood near the famous VONDEL PARK and the MUSEUMPLEIN where the famous Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum are located. Although Van Gogh is an artist that kids seem to like (there are tons of kids books using Van Gogh’s works) – the best part of staying in this area was the MUSEUMPLEIN itself with its GIANT expanse of grass to run on. The Museumplein was filled with families with kids and Jacob ran wild. But the Museumplein is an itty-bitty baby compared to Vondel Park, which is the largest city park in Amsterdam and possibly the most famous park in the Netherlands.
(http://www.amsterdam.info/parks/vondelpark)
Filled with families, the park sports six play areas for kids, a big playground near Groot Melkhuis and is home to an open-air theatre where you may be able to catch a free concert in the summertime. The theatre also has free shows for kids on Wednesday afternoons. (www.openlunchtheater.nl) If that’s not enough for you, the FILM MUSEUM (http://www.amsterdam.info/museums/filmmuseum) has shows for kids on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons.
We missed the Film Museum - because on this last trip we found ourselves in an Amsterdam where there were more things to do than our short time allowed. If you also only have a short time, never fear because Amsterdam is a relatively small city with lots of easy transportation options.
BIKES are definitely the transport of choice. You have to see it to believe it. THOUSANDS of bikes cruising dedicated bike lanes. If that’s too crazy for your blood, the tram system is very user friendly and Jacob loved it because it was a ‘train’. You can also rent pedal boats, called “canal bikes” and zip around the canals that way. We didn’t rent the pedal boats, but we did get to cruise the canals on a CANAL BOAT. I suggest a one-hour cruise vs. a longer dinner one. Kids will get antsy. The cruises leave often from the dock just across from Centraal Station. Jacob LOVED the boat…the canals and bridges are very cool and at night the bridges are all lit up with twinkling lights. We went around sunset, which proved to be a lovely time of day.
The weather was ‘iffy’ when we were there which is normal for this part of the world. Be prepared for rain. Rain proved to be a serendipitous event for us when we were caught off guard and flagged down a pedicab driver, whose pedicab sported a little enclosure that kept us dry on our journey back to the hotel. Rainy days also drove us to the local library and that was fun. Museums are a great refuge from any deluge of course, but the place that is on my agenda for our next soggy day in Amsterdam is the SCIENCE MUSEUM: NEMO. (www.e-nemo.nl) This hands-on science museum lives in a CRAZY green building on the waterfront. SOOO bummed that we missed it. I guess we’ll just have to go back to see this museum and the Scheepvaart Museum which has a full size replica of the AMSTERDAM, a ship from 1749. Looks fab.
As you can see, we plan to go back to Amsterdam for many reasons. Amsterdam really made an impression on me this last time around. It made an impression on Jacob too. Just a few days ago we were watching a TV program and Amsterdam was featured. He pointed at the screen and said, “We went there. I like that place.” And here I thought that the only thing he remembered from Amsterdam was his little plastic windmill that sits on his bookshelf.
OH!! Right…! Next time we have to go and see some proper windmills. There is supposed to be a big beauty on the Amstel River in Amstel Park, just south of Amsterdam. I guess we’ll rent bikes and ride along the river, have a picnic and then decide what we should do next.
So, go to Amsterdam. You’ll have a great time. We did and I’m sure we will the next time we go back.
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See Google map below for Amsterdam Live!
COMING SOON! Amsterdam Part 2!
