Erik and Kate go EURO!: Ya Take the Good, Ya Take the Bad

Recently, we have had a few easy going, take our time, live the life kind of days in Amsterdam. We have stayed up late only to sleep in. We have wandered only to find our way back to a place familiar. We have napped in the middle of the day, just because we can. We have, simply put, enjoyed ourselves.

Thursday evening, we made our way to Holland International's Cocktail Cruise. A candlelight cruise through many of Amsterdam's winding canals. I was very excited about this one - cocktails, canals, candlelight ... in Amsterdam? I was in - and smiling all about it, too. But, unfortunately for all of us, this delight was short lived. This canal cruise, providing all we would ever want in a canal cruise (as the pamphlet promised) was a total BUST!

At first I thought I would write, briefly, about this evening and forego the truth, but, Erik reminded me that even if the truth hurts, it's the truth and we needed to save others from this tourist trap. And that is all it was. In fact, Erik was so fired up when we got back to the apartment, he forced me to log in to TripAdvisor and leave a nasty review. He claimed he would write it, but quickly turned the keyboard my way and smiled.

The review:

"Wanted to Jump Ship!"

"Too expensive. Boring. Slow service. Promised two of our favorite cocktails and received a choice between a pre-mixed mojito or a pre-mixed cosmopolitan. Promised music and received dead air between random call-outs by the guide who spoke three different languages. At first, this seemed impressive, but soon we learned she could only spout off a few words before she had to switch languages for the other passengers. We learned very little. The appetizers were less than tasty. We were crammed in to a small booth and it was very uncomfortable and a bit stinky. I would recommend walking the ciy - or go on WOW's walking tour - 10 euro cheaper, one hour longer and no dead air. Very displeased. Only regret of our holiday."

We took THREE photos.

canal, at night

the spread - the tapanade was quite good (at least!)

I am smiling because I have no idea what I'm in for.

For a much more pleasing read, I will fast forward to Friday afternoon. Erik and I decided to walk to the Museumplein - a park neatly settled between the Rijskmuseum (pronounced RIKES-MUSEUM) and the Van Gogh Museum. It was warm and sunny - a perfect park day. I regretted wearing my sneakers - a nice walk through the plush grass would have felt nice right between my toes. We were surrounded by locals and tourists alike, there to soak up the sun with their friends, books, wine and dogs! (there will be a post on Dutch Dogs later...)

The Rijskmuseum is under renovation until 2013 but a good portion of it is open to the public. The museum is dedicated to art & history. We traveled our way through corridors and squeezed by the wall to wall visitors to get a peak at Rembrandt's paintings or the stern of the HMS Royal Charles. This was Erik's favorite.

Before jumping right in to the Van Gogh Museum, we decided to decompress in the middle of the park, have some lunch and do what might be our new favorite hobby, people watch. One bratwurst and another mozzerella, tomato and pesto (yes, again) sandwich later, we were knee deep in sunflowers, irises and almond blossoms - Van Gogh's famous paintings! Now, I'm not an art-snob. In fact, I do not claim to know anything about it - but, I can say, I really enjoyed Van Gogh's work. Even more than that, I enjoyed reading about his fascinating life and the genuine adoration and love between Van Gogh and his brother, Theo.

Wonderful afternoon of sun, art and culture.

I also want to take this opportunity to give a major shout-out to Erik (I can take some credit here, but it is so minute, comparatively) for his brilliant Amsterdam maneuvers and sense of direction. We have never been lost and have made our way to each destination without the help of a map! Way to go, E!

Some moments, captured....