🇳🇱 2023 Spring Amsterdam

On our first night in Amsterdam, we had a nice dinner at Moeders, recommended by our Airbnb host, for some traditional Dutch dishes. We didn't make a reservation, so we waited for a while outside with a beer. The waiter asked if we would take the outdoor seats and we took it because I was starving and hangry Zippy is no fun. We ordered a set menu for two, it includes potatoes cooked in three different ways, some sausages, cabbages and apple sauces. We also ordered a pumpkin soup, which I think was the highlight of the meal.

We went to Keukenhof for tulips the next day. Transportation to Keukenhof is very straightforward, we booked the garden ticket plus the shuttle bus for 30 euros. It is a bit pricey, but I think it's worth it. We took the shuttle bus at Amsterdam RAI, it was easy to find the bus stop, just follow the crowd. It was tulip season, so they made the sign really clear for the tourists (us).

There was a bit traffic jam on the way and I fell asleep.

I started sneezing when we got to Keukenhof. It was then that I realised I didn't take or bring antihistamines. Let's just pray that tulip pollen won't be my enemy. We booked the whisper boat trip for the flower bulbs tour on the river. There are multiple activities to do here, we saw people doing SUP and canoeing. I think definitely take the whisper boat tour or whatever river tour you'd like, it is a great experience and I learned a lot about tulips and tulip bulbs!

After the boat tour, we had a little picnic on the grass. It was a really nice day and I even felt a bit warm in the sun. I took a little nap after lunch and we continued to explore the garden. There was an exhibition hall that introduced how to grow tulips and stories of tulips, including tulip mania in the 17th century. Our last stop was a place that showed all types of tulips, we were smelling the tulips and picking our favourite.

All of a sudden, I saw a tulip named 'Royal Virgin'. It was a kind of pure white tulip, but I found one with a patch of blood red spot. Ha got you, someone was misbehaving.

We spent a whole day taking photos and headed back in the late afternoon. All visitors left around the same time, so there were no seats on the shuttle bus. We stood the whole way back, and my contact lens fell out half way. Don't know how I managed to push it back in, but I did.

For dinner, we went to Scheepskameel recommended by my boyfriend's colleague. We picked set menu again because we were indecisive. The starter was some nice asparagus and for the main we had chicken. I was worried when I saw my chicken was a bit pink and a different colour from my boyfriend's. The waiter said that the chicken was sous-vide, so it was definitely cooked and the colour differences are probably because they were different parts of the meat. She still took the chicken back for the chef to pan-fried it for me. One thing I discovered in this meal was a coriander spy. It doesn't look like coriander, but it tastes exactly the same. I almost got sick when I had it.

When we got the bill, my boyfriend forgot the PIN code for his credit card, so I had to pay for the meal. Even the waiter was joking about whether he really forgot it or was just trying not to pay.

The second to last day in Amsterdam was a museum day. If you are planning to visit museums in Amsterdam, please remember to book at least a month in advance. We couldn't get tickets for some popular places, like Ann Frank's house, and for Rijksmuseum, we couldn't get tickets for the Vermeer exhibition.

Our first stop was Van Gogh museum. There is, of course, a huge collection of Van Gogh's paintings and the museum also tells the life story of Van Gogh and his mental health. I'm not sure whether I like this type of museum/gallery that only has works from one artist. It doesn't feel diverse enough, but maybe Van Gogh's works are diverse itself?

I was quite excited to see Van Gogh's sunflower and self-portrait, but little did I know I was going to cry in a minute. Here's the story. Everyone was taking photos with the paintings, so as a tourist, I did the same. But one of the staff members shouted at me and said "no photos!" I was so upset and started crying, my boyfriend was quite shocked.

We carried on to see other paintings and walked back to sunflower again. Still, everyone was taking photos with the art. There was a different staff member there, so we quickly took a photo and left. Thinking back, I still felt quite sad, I understand that there might be rules that you can't take photos with the art, but why am I the only one got told off and why couldn't he be nicer?

No photo!

The second stop of the day was Rijksmuseum. There was a Sunday market in front of the museum, so we had a look and bought some kroket to eat. We still queued for around thirty minutes for the museum even though we had booked the ticket. Rijksmuseum is huge and there are so many things inside. We didn't know where to start, so we followed the highlight tour guide on the museum's app.

We wanted to take some photos with Fujifilm camera in front of the museum, so we picked someone with a professional camera to help. We thought it was a wise choice, but the truth was he didn't know how to use a Fujifilm camera. He wasted three of my films, two of which was smudged because he blocked the place the film came out.

It was still early after the museum, so we decided to go on a canal tour. I think it's a good way to have a brief look at Amsterdam within a limited time, the canal cruise will take you to all the famous tourist attractions. For dinner, we went to Timeout Foodhallen, it's a food hall with lots of choices. I wouldn't recommend it though, you can come here if you can't think of a place to go for food, but don't need to come specifically for food. We ordered some chicken wings and we still haven't got it till this day because the guy disappeared after he took the order.

We wandered to red light district at night. It was quite a surprise for me because one moment we were walking on the 'normal' street and after we took a turn, voilà, red light district. Could you say you've been in Amsterdam without having some brownies? I bought an entry-level brownie, but I didn't feel much afterwards, just a bit thirsty and relaxed. I had a really nice sleep that night.

On our last day, we went for brunch at a Taiwanese breakfast place called Sloth brunch. Their scallion pancakes cured my homesickness. We had some time before heading back to Rotterdam to catch our Eurostar, so we went to Micropia, a microbiome museum close by.

This random stop was one of our favourites. There are introductions for different microbiomes and you can actually see them through microscopes. I love that there is a microbiome stamp in each station to collect and you can scan to find out how many microbiomes you learned about during your visit. There's also an ant farm where you can see how ants work. Ants are impressive, aren't they? They are so tiny but can lift leaves that are heavier than them.

Our Netherlands trip came to an end. I still remember I was here in 2018 because I missed two flights and had to stay here for the night. In my memory, Amsterdam smells like weed. I saw the Netherlands from a different perspective this time, although it still smells like weed.

Before you go, I need to say that I prefer Rotterdam over Amsterdam. Rotterdam is more relaxed and chill.