2 Glorious days exploring The Netherlands…

Grab a cup of tea or a glass of wine…. I’ll do my best not to make this post long. Catching up with 2 days in one.

Segway tour had been cancelled so we didn’t set alarm. A restful, see where the day takes you kind of day- no plans. We had been on Dora’s amazing race mode and slowing down was a welcomed treat. 

Mrs. Fancy discovered that the famous Vermeer painting, “the girl with the pearl earring” was on display in the city of Hague, a 1 hour train away. An adventure filled day, we walked 40 min to Central train station. Who doesn’t love a train ride…..🚂

Staring out the window, taking in the flower fields. Crazy to see all the rows of different colored tulips growing in the wild. The Hague- really exploring the Netherlands a country the size of Maryland. FYI- blog fact check, we have learned the true meaning of the XXX flag. It’s not red light district related at all. It has a true meaning.

Hague is a big city with tall buildings, much more metropolitan. A 10 min walk to the Mauritshuis Museum. I was blown away by how moved I truly was by this spectacular painting. Not that into art normally and this beautiful lady with the brightness portrayed on her face was inspiring and a serious work of artistic talent. I felt lucky to be seeing this painting. We took many photos and made our way out to the square nearby. There was a lovely cafe with fire places, where we enjoyed a cocktail and snack before heading to another town nearby on the train, Leiden.

Not much to do here, but strolled the small town center. A funky speakeasy type trendy restaurant we had researched was full for the night, Paco Ciao. We strolledby the windmill here and we got back on the train to Amsterdam. Today has been a colder day, all bundled up.

Grabbed a bite at Mediterranean place and headed home for night. Was a very relaxing day, yet these dinners are always long. In bed by midnight, tomorrow is another early rise.

Okay, Happy Friday- the highlight of the trip day for me. I was SO excited for our 4-hour E-bike tour along the countryside of Amsterdam. We started at our famous hotel breakfast and chatted it up with 2 Delta flight attendants sitting next to us. Apparently this is the Delta choice hotel for flight attendants. 🧚🏻‍♀️

At 9:15am we met up with Simon, our guide, and 12 others. Tracy was a little nervous, but did a great job and now wants to e-bike in every city. lol🚴

We all biked to the ferry dock, same spot we had ferried before… a 3 min free ferry to the north side of Amsterdam. Shocking- we rode 25 miles round trip and covered the grounds of 4 new villages that are known as some of the nicest surrounding the city. My favorite was Broek in Waterland with homes and house boats for over a million euros. I felt like I was riding through a fairytale book of illustrations. In the distance in between villages were many dairy farms. Cows, sheep, lambs, horses, roosters, and so many birds. Bikers and runners passed us by. We stopped many times for Simon to provide lots of informative facts. He is the one who cleared up the flag fact. He also let us know that Nina’s information regarding the sex workers was rubbish. He believes all woman are there by choice. He used to be in the cannibas business and provided them with products, plus he lives in the red light district and loves it. Originally he is from London. 

We learned from him how great the healthcare system is, and the public assistance programs. Apparently Amsterdam has a real housing crisis going on. A 20 year waiting list for social housing. Simon pays only $172per month for insurance and will never pay more than $365 a year for any medical related out of pocket incident. The average home is $600k- millions, according to him. We saw a gorgeous black houseboat on a canal in the countryside just sold 1.1 million. Weird wild type of living, looked SO cool.

We visited a cheese/clog factory in the town/village of Monikkandam. A real family farm business. The 4 brothers all have different responsibilities running this factory, all taught by their father. They were pure entertainment. The one guy put on a Saturday Night live like performance. I bought a few of the cheeses, my typical travel magnet, and we sampled 15+ kinds of cheese. Yummy! Tracy of course bought soooo many treasures. 😉 The new people we got to explore with were so fun. A few students from the US, who happen to be studying in Copenhagen & Prague, a mother/daughter pair from Louisiana, visiting family in Belgium- Amsterdam for a day trip so fun for them.

This 4 hour adventure was incredible, we both love an E-Bike tour! What a bucket list item checked off.

The sun had came out for the second part of the ride with a perfect blue sky. We said our good byes to our new friends and walked to one of our fav hotels nearby for a potty break. These luxury hotels treat us like guests upon arrival….not sure many other people visit hotels like we do, lol. Upon this visit we were greeted by homemade hot chocolate with whip cream and a stroopwafel. Oink oink,🐷

Made our way to another Nancy recommendation, Gastrovino. This was a high end cheese shop/grocery-wine market with sandwiches. We shared one with a glass of rose. Then made our way to another hotel in Mrs Fancy’s list compliments of Gweneth’s Paltrows Goop magazine, The Hoxton. A funky-cool vibe trendy spot with a canal view and the best music. Next up a last slice of Dutch Apple Pie back at the find from the food tour…..a quick stop by the Bonvoy Autograph collection in the area. I do believe we have covered every inch of this city and can do a hotel review of all the areas to stay. Ha

Tonight was our dining experience at the famous DeKas Restaurant. A place where you don’t order and they bring you 5 or 6 dishes. It was such a beautiful restaurant inside a real working greenhouse. While you wait for your table you can wander through the light sensitive section growing fresh herbs, and veggies. Woodley- you would love this place!

We selected the 5 course meal, and the food was beyond artistically created that I cant even explain what we ate. First they brought out 2-3 tasters compliments of the chef, these didn’t count towards the 5. What an incredible yummy evening. It started at 8:30 and by 11pm we exited. I will say it was a few bites of each dish and not the most filling night, but delicious and filled with unusual flavor profiles. This place was like a chef TV show kind of night.

Another midnight return, we made the decision to not set an alarm again. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s update on our last full day in Amsterdam.

love Laurie Sue AKA Dora the Explorer💫🎉🧚🏻‍♀️❤️💕