Alex and I were invited to Amsterdam for the weekend by Alex’s aunt and uncle, Dave and Mary. We got to stay in this great hotel apartment overlooking the canal right in the center of Amsterdam.  When we arrived on Friday night, they took us to their favorite rib place, Cafe de Klos. To say the ribs were good is an understatement, they were some of the best ribs we’ve ever had. Dave and Mary knew the manager of the restaurant and he offered me a free t-shirt! Then they took us to this bar they referred to as the “dust bar.” This bar literally had 100 year old dust hanging from the chandeliers, lights, pictures etc. and because it was a historical place, they didn’t have to clean the dust; it made for a great atmosphere! Afterwards, we went back to their apartment, sat by the window to people watch, had a few drinks and stayed up talking until 2am.

The next morning Alex and I got up early and headed to the world famous tulip fields, Keukenhof, to see the beautiful flowers. We walked around for a few hours admiring all of the vibrant colors. Alex even let me bust out the selfie stick (after he saw tons of other people using one) to get some pictures of the two of us. Unfortunately, the tulip fields themselves only had the red rows blooming but they had many other awesome flowers to see on the grounds.

Once we were done looking at the flowers we headed to the Heineken Brewery. It’s not an actual tour with a guide, you just go at your own pace. It’s very interactive with many different things to do, games to play and you can even design your own bottle for purchase. Around the middle of the tour you get your first sample of beer. They then explain how to drink your beer properly and while they were going through the steps were asking questions along the way and if you got the question right, you got an extra beer. She asked about four questions in total and yep you guessed it, Alex answered a question correctly and got an extra beer (anything for a free beer). We finished up the tour by drinking our two complimentary drinks at the rooftop bar.

The rest of the night consisted of an hour long open boat canal ride which was a little chilly but fun. Then we headed to a delicious restaurant that was recommended to us for dinner. After dinner we had a drink at a distillery called Wynand Fockink where they make Jenever, walked around downtown, stopped for a few drinks at some local bars then went back to the hotel. We talked with Dave and Mary for a while then went to much needed bed. We again walked over 10 miles that day. We had a great weekend and after two months of being abroad it was really nice seeing familiar faces.

Cafe de Klos

The 100 Year Old Dust!

Keukenhof

Keukenhof (selfie stick! 😀)

Keukenhof

Keukenhof

Heineken Brewery

Al’s extra beer

Distillery