Amsterdam - Day 2

We didn't wake until 10:15am our second day in Amsterdam. So we grabbed some quick smoothies for breakfast and headed out to meet Mike's brother and sister in law at the Van Gogh museum. It was a nice walk from our hotel.

But it was a bit cloudy, and as we approached the museum it started to rain.

 This was one of the best parts about visiting Amsterdam for me!

Vincent Van Gogh has always been my favorite artist thanks to my grandpa Pete. He loved to paint for fun and made a few replicas of Van Gogh's paintings that were hanging in my home growing up! I remember when I was little seeing the Sunflower painting in an art book and exclaiming "my grandpa painted that!"
If you are ever in Amsterdam, I highly recommend going to the museum. I know a lot about Van Gogh, but learned so much more while I was there! He had a really fascinating life and to me was the very definition of someone who immersed himself in his work. Plus, I loved the information about his relationship with his brother Theo who was so supportive of Vincent.

Another recommendation would be to buy your tickets on line ahead of time. We stood outside in the rain for quite a while before being able to get in.

There is an entire room in the museum dedicated to his self portraits. Back home you are allowed to take photos without the flash. I snapped a photo of my favorite before realizing that photos were not allowed in that room. (whoops)  So I'm not going to post it here for that reason.

But I did absolutely need to get a photo of the Sunflowers for myself and my mom. I think one of the things I love best about Van Gogh's paintings is his use of texture. It's amazing. And being able to see it for myself up close just blew me away.

Hmmm...seemed just a little sacrilegious to me. But his painting of the Potato Eaters is another favorite of mine so I could see the humor in this.

After the museum, we headed to see the iconic I Amsterdam sign.

So many people there wanting a photo with it!

Just the two of us at the I Amsterdam sign - July 30, 2017

After lunch we headed over to Heineken for the Rock the City: Heineken Experience tour
This included a tour of Heineken and then a boat ride on the canals that went to Amsterdam Tower which is also known as A'DAM LOOKOUT. My sister in law bought tickets pretty far in advance, but I don't think it is something that sells out too quickly. 

Here are a few photos I took on the tour.
But the most exciting part came right before a little 4d ride and heading up to the rooftop bar.
Since Mike's sister in law usually would get a drink, they told us that she is pregnant with their first baby! Really exciting and fun news!

We didn't stay inside the rooftop bar because it was so loud.

But the view from outside was pretty.

We didn't take a lot of photos during our boat ride on the canals.

The actual tower is not very tall (lol), but a cool design.

Here are some views from the top on the inside behind the glass. In the top right photo you can see the Ferry that we rode back across the water to where our hotels were located.

 A view from the rooftop.

They had these great cushions to lounge around on up there.

My brother in law and his wife are such a cute couple! And then taking all these photos I was feeling a little left out.

So I joined them!

Just the two of us - Amsterdam Tower rooftop, July 30, 2017

Cone fries are a big deal over there and in Brussels.
My sister in law was really wanting a cone, so we found a pretty popular place with a long line.

But the line moved pretty quickly, so we had our fries in no time. There were a ton of sauces to choose from, but I settled on plain old ketchup.

The fry stand was right across from this iconic spot that you see in photographs all over the internet. Although, just like the scaffolding on Big Ben, it wasn't so picture perfect for us. This time we have some construction going on here.

This is what you would typically see. But we just had to laugh because it seems like there is always construction or scaffolding in our "famous" photos.

And the view behind where we were sitting.

We walked around for awhile afterwards before dinner.

Mike loves to bike and he really liked how bike friendly Amsterdam is.

This is one of my favorite photos he took at a bike parking area.

I really liked this building right next to the canal and that bridge!
We finally had a late dinner, I think around 9 or 9:30pm. Then Mike's brother and wife went back to their hotel because they were leaving the next day.

But Mike and I had another whole day to explore.
So coming up - Day 3 (our last) in Amsterdam - The Bike Adventure

Steps - 17,264
Miles - 7.4