Our Holiday in Holland – Photos from Amsterdam and Kampen

Our next destination after Ghana was the Netherlands. The actual trip from Accra to Amsterdam was unforgettable, both for the good and the bad, but I will save that for another post. We were both excited to finally arrive in Amsterdam and enjoy some city time.

We were able to see many of the top hits of Amsterdam but as with most relatively short trips there are many things left to experience in a city that large.

We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to experience The Netherlands beyond Amsterdam when we received an invitation to stay with my good friend and her family in the historical city of Kampen, about an hour and a half train ride from Central Station in Amsterdam.

Overall our trip to The Netherlands was brief, but we were able to see various aspects of Amsterdam and some of the surrounding countryside in that time. We had a great time learning about the city and meeting some new friends. I am excited to go back some day to continue expanding my Holland experience.

Our first day in Amsterdam was a chore and explore day. We found a laundromat and spent the time between cycles exploring the "Pijp" area of the city and wondered upon a nice outdoor market (Albert Cuypmarkt) where we feasted on a few different street foods, including this giant pickle, and shopped for some fun postcards.

Our second day we spent an afternoon at the Vincent Van Gough museum. I usually don't enjoy art museums that much and was a bit skeptical about going to one with works all by the same artist, but I ended up loving it. I particularly enjoyed seeing his evolution in color and technique over time. The museum also did an amazing job with the historical context of the artworks, both in his life and the general time periods. It was a great experience and I'd highly recommend visiting.

After the museum Alena went back to the hostel to rest as she was recovering from an illness, so I decided to walk the 3 miles or so from our hostel to the Heineken experience and I was amazed at the beauty of the city and all the canals. I loved the break up of the city blocks by the waterways. It made the city feel much less intense, compared to other large cities.

On my walk through the city I stopped for some famous Vlaamse Frites, or Flemish Fries, as I figured these puppies would be an ideal base for an afternoon of drinking and walking. I had seen this delicacy on an Anthony Bourdain episode and I knew I had to get some in Amsterdam.

I did no research and just stopped at the first one I walked by: Chipsy King. They were very cheap, about 3 euros, and were so tasty. Nice amount of salt and fried stiff with a healthy amount of the samurai sauce (which was recommend by the server), it was a delicious snack on the go.

I finally made it to the old Heineken plant. The Heineken tour was not quite what I expected. It was a bit like Disneyland; big crowds, lines, but in the end you have a good time. You get 2 glasses of beer with your ticket as well as a self guided tour through the historical brewery. It was definitely very touristy and but they did a good job having little historical signs everywhere to explain the history and culture of the Company.

A few cold beers at the end is always a nice treat. It felt a bit odd hanging out in the Best Dam Bar by myself as my other half was back at the hostel sick. Nonetheless, it was fun see it all and definitely a good way to kill an afternoon in Amsterdam if you like beer, specially Heineken!

It took a few days in Amsterdam before the weather was nice enough for us to enjoy a walk through the lovely Vondel Park. It was a beautiful morning and we had a great time looking at all the birds in the park. We even saw some parrots which reminded me of being back in North Beach in San Francisco.

I wonder how these fellas got here. Seemed like it was way too cold for parrots!

It was definitely cold for us. Nice that we finally got to use our jackets and pants we had lugged through Dubai and Ghana. It was just on of many beautiful and crisp mornings we spent in Amsterdam.

Something I loved about Amsterdam was how many people biked and how accommodating the city is to that mode of transportation. There are special light signals and many designated bike paths to make biking easier. The sheer number of bikes was a real throwback to my memories of all the bikes in college at UCSB. Amsterdam took the biking to another level with the multistory bike racks at the Central Station!

More beautiful canals. Walking about the city never got old with all these gorgeous views.

Our first train in Europe, clean and on time! After a few days in Amsterdam we headed to the small historical city of Kampen, about a two hour trip into the center of the Netherlands to visit an old friend in her home town.

Anne was a world traveler who I met through couchsurfing about 4 years ago when she came to San Fransisco. She was supposed to stay for a few days, but we all connected so well I think she spent about 3 weeks living with us on our couch over her time in the U.S. When I realized we were traveling to the Netherlands I knew I had to reach out and see if we could meet up with her. Instead of just meeting up she was kind enough to offer us to stay with her and her family.

We spent two days and a night in Kampen. The first evening Anne was our host and gave us the best tour of Kampen anyone ever received. We started off watching the sunset over the river and ended with a few drinks at a local tavern. On the way to the tavern we stopped at the old tower where rumor has it, the townsfolk of the past thought the best way to combat the grass that had begun to grow on the top of the tower was to hoist a full cow to the top so that it could eat away the foliage. The idea was thwarted by the subsequent death of the cow in the process of raising it and a statue was erected in the cow's memory. Here is our motley crew posing with the famous Kampen cow.

After the cow, Anne made us stop at a little snack place as we had to try a typical Dutch going-out food. One was a type of sausage wrapped in thin dough and deep fried. The other was straight up breaded and fried gravy! A gravy stick! It was so great we went back the next day for more.

The trying of typical Dutch foods continued the next morning as Anne's parents kindly stuffed us with a smorgasbord of Dutch breads, cookies, spreads and powders for breakfast. They were such kind people and it was awesome getting to try all those foods with people who were very excited for us to experience it with them.

Alena continued the tradition of holding a baby in the countries we visit when Anne's sister came over with their adorable new baby girl.

We finished our time in Kampen with one more tour of the city. This was the original city gate when it was a fortress and dates back to the 15th century. Our time in Kampen with Anne and her family was definitely a highlight of our trip!

Back in Amsterdam we did a walking tour of the city and stopped for lunch at a Dutch restaurant to try some more traditional food. This was a dish of lamb, bacon, mashed potatoes, greens and gravy. Sounds like an odd combo but it was great for a cold afternoon.

We finished off our last day in Amsterdam with some local beers on the canal. When I asked the waitress what type of beers they had, she answered with an ever helpful " two local beers, a light one and a dark one..."

So we ordered one of each for a farewell cheers to a fun week in Amsterdam and Holland.

FYI we learned the difference between the terms Holland and the Netherlands. The Netherlands is the name of the country, while Holland refers to a large region of the country which was once underwater and swampy, but was eventually drained of the water with the famous windmills and turned into dry land. This dry land was originally very uneven and a bit unstable, leading to the nickname "the hollow land" and eventually became known as Holland.