Truffle Cheese and Finding Nemo- Oct 2 & 3

          The next day we enjoyed the free breakfast at our hotel and then strapped our luggage to our bikes and cycled over to our next hotel the Mövenpick. We had a room on the 19^th floor and found that although the technology was outdated (a tv deeper than it was wide and a cassette player in their stereo) the rest of the room was quite nice with another cool view.

          They even included little packs of chocolate and cookies (which were awesome!) for each of us and a bouquet of roses. After we put our stuff down we headed back out to the bikes. 

The rental bikes, as to be expected had very awful seats that left me quite sore. Luckily Aunt Jill had a pair of padded shorts that got me through the day.  Our first stop for the day was the a little houseboat that served as a shelter/adoption center for cats. So we went in and saw all the kitties briefly. Then we parked our bikes and went shopping for picnic foods. We fist stopped in a cheese shop where we purchased some Dutch Cheeses including one called Old Amsterdam, one filled with bits of truffle (!), and a goat cheese. While there we also picked out some olives and a egg salady thing. Then we headed to a bakery and found some bread and a grocery store where we purchased smoothie-type drinks. We found a shady spot on the edge of a canal and enjoyed a really nice little lunch with out feet dangling over the sides. 

          After lunch we headed to a park, which was majorly full of people who were taking advantage of the rare summery October day. There we stopped for drinks at a little raised round building where we planned our course for the rest of the day. 

          We biked in an area a little ways out from the rest of the city where there was a really long grassy area beside the road. Every block or so there were really neat giant statues in the grass. We must have seen at least 20. Some of the coolest were a giant mechanical kinetic statue with spinning wheels and cogs and a giant golden sea turtle being ridden by an Elvis-type figure.

After biking around in this really nice part of the city for a while we started planning dinner. Eventually we stopped and waited in a cool little misty park as dark began to fall. Then for dinner we made our way to an Ethiopian restaurant where we ate food using a tortilla like bread to grab chunks of veggies and spices. It was quite good and definitely a welcome break from pasta. Finally after dinner we made our way to a really cool little bar with assorted furniture and we wound down before biking back to the hotel. When we arrived we found they had a little treat for us of some fruit, chocolate candies, and some custardy jam things. 

          On Sunday we started off with a really big breakfast in the hotel that I really enjoyed since I’d been missing proper breakfasts in Italy. Then we set out to visit the science museum called Nemo. We first went to the roof, which had a cool set of steps with water cascading down them. We took off our shoes and enjoyed the cool water on what was the hottest day yet in the city.

          After enjoying the panoramic view of the city for a while and relaxing, we entered the museum and played around with all the various scientific toys for a while.  Once we left the museum we stopped briefly for a snack of bitterballen, a local Dutch thing that is basically a fried ball of this meaty pasty substance. ‘Twas a bit odd. 

          Then we headed on a particularly long biking adventure through the city to find a market. We biked for a fair bit then decided to stop to eat some of the left over cheeses and foods from the day before. We sat on a bench in the park with a nice view of a canal. Once we got to the market we shopped around for a while and then got back on the bikes and toured around the park. We left the park to return to the hotel a back way that led us through the only unattractive part of the city that I saw. It took us a few minutes, but we eventually got back to the hotel and grabbed our bags. 

          On our way to return the bikes we realized that the bike place closed at 5:30 and it was 6:00. So after some minor panic (since we were leaving the country in a couple of hours) we arrived at the closed rental place. We got extremely luck and managed to speak to someone who had stayed behind through a mail flap and they were nice enough to take our bikes back late. Then we caught a train from the station to the Airport where we relaxed for a while and share some frites before splitting up to board our respective flights. My flight was pleasant and brief. When I arrived in Florence I decided to save myself 2 hours more of travel time by splurging on a taxi to the Villa.  It was a good choice. 

          On the whole I really enjoyed my trip to Amsterdam. The city was very laid back and the people seemed really friendly and helpful. I’d definitely like to go again at some point. But it was a nice weekend where I didn’t feel like a tourist so much as a traveler, which I definitely enjoyed. It was also really great to spend some time with Aunt Jill and Uncle Tim, who really know how to travel and get the most out of a city.  I am now in love with truffle cheese, bikes, and fries with ketchup an mayo. On the whole it was a fantastic trip and I can’t wait for my next out of Italy adventure in Berlin!