August 17, 2011
Our Winner, Barbara’s Trip to Amsterdam and Paris
One of our Cross the World to Cross the World winners, Barbara has recently returned from an exciting trip to Amsterdam and its surrounding areas with her sister and daughter. Barbara explored to the fullest and spent days biking around the beautiful countryside to neighboring towns and trying new, delicious foods. After exploring Amsterdam and its neighboring towns, Barbara trekked on to visit Paris.
The Nord Market, Jordaan District and Dam Square
The Jordaan District in Amsterdam
We arrived in Amsterdam to weather much like Portland. Heavy drizzle did not stop us from venturing out. We ventured to Nord Market in the Jordaan district, which had everything from fruit to fish, cheese and clothing. These markets can be found all over the city on different days of the week. We wandered in the Jordaan, looking at the shops, and found a wonderful cheese shop/deli. It is amazing how many different types of cheese this country has! That evening, we headed out to explore Dam square, and the New Kerk. There was a group of musicians from Africa playing a concert in the Kerk, it was a nice surprise to see and hear the music while looking through the church, while taking in the history of this beautiful sight.
Bike Rentals and Day Trips
We woke to a beautiful, sunny day, and decided this would be the day to explore outside the city, and take in the Dutch countryside. We rented bikes and took a free ferry behind Centraal Station with the bikes. After crossing the water, we were on our way. Within 20 minutes we were riding through quaint little towns through the waterland area. The views of the water and farmland were beautiful. It is surprising this is so close to the hustle of Amsterdam! We rode to Marken, a small fishing village, and popular tourist destination, then took a ferry to Vollendam. The town was having a festival of some kind, so it was VERY busy, so we did a little shopping, got back on our bikes and headed back towards Amsterdam. From there, we stopped in Monnickendam, another quaint little village, for coffee and Italian ice cream. Further on back towards Amsterdam, we stopped at a place that made wooden shoes and Dutch cheese. We watched a demonstration of how these were made. All in all we biked about 30 miles through the Dutch countryside, then back to the city! It was a great day!
Haarlem, a small town outside of Amsterdam
Bike Ride to Haarlem
Today we took our bikes to Haarlem, a much busier ride, but a beautiful destination. We rode along the Haarlemmerestraat, which was a straight shot from Amsterdam to Haarlem. We sat in a nice rooftop cafe, which gave us a wonderful view of all the red rooftops in the town. We biked back to Amsterdam and took an evening canal tour, and saw the city by night. The canal tour offered a lot of historical information on the architecture of Amsterdam. We sat back and enjoyed the beautiful Amsterdam night.
Barbara with her sister, Janis and her daughter, Roz
Exploring the City
Today we explored Amsterdam! We bought a metro pass, which was a great way to see the city and made it very convenient to hop on and off the take in the sites. We hit the Albert Cuyp Market and the Floating Flower Market, also the other main squares in the city. We debated hitting a museum or two, but decided to save this for Paris. Amsterdam is filled with small inviting alleyways to explore and so many cafes just calling you to sit down and have a drink or two.
All Aboard to Paris!
We’re Paris bound on the Thalys Train! First, we had to try the Dutch delicacy of herring. It was not a huge hit, but we had to try it. Herring is definitely something you must acquire a taste for! When we arrived in Paris, we found our hotel in the Rue Cler area, near the Eiffel Tower. The elevator only held one person – very tiny! The Rue Cler is a great street that is filled with all kinds of markets, where you can make a complete lunch or dinner. Our hotel overlooked this street, and we had a peek of the Eiffel Tower from our room. That night, we went out to dinner at a quaint café on the Rue Cler, amist all the hustle of people. We then walked to the Eiffel tower, and then down to the water. We boarded a river tour late at night, and went down the Seine, taking in Paris by night. The Eiffel tower was beginning the light show as we returned from the boat. What a beautiful sight.
Exploring the Parisian Lifestyle
We took a four hour bike tour around the city of Paris. We met at the Notre Dam before starting the tour, so we were able to explore the cathedral prior to the tour. The tour took us through many areas of Paris that we may not have found on our own. After the tour, we walked back near the Notre Dam area, deciding to go to the Orsay Museum after dinner. We explored the museum, that evening, which may have been a mistake…our legs were tired!
The next day we toured the Sacré-Coeur Cathedral, and the Artist’s District. Next, we did our own walking tour (how Rick Steves of us)! We then toured the gardens at the Louvre, and made our way to the Arc De Triomphe, and back to the Louvre for an evening of art. We all found the museum as wonderful as we had been told, although we could only see a small piece of it! The guide at the museum told us that if we looked at each piece of art for 30 seconds, it would take us 6 months to see each piece if we went to the museum every day, open to close. That is a LOT of art.
The Eiffel Tower by day
The Eiffel Tower by night
That night, we went shopped in the small markets on the Rue Cler and packed our own picnic, which we took to the park under the Eiffel Tower. We had wine, bread, cheese and olives, and delicious tarts from a Patisserie. The best part of our trip to Paris is being able to make our own dinner as we walked, picking up bits and pieces at the cafes and patisseries.
Homeward Bound
What a fantastic journey. From Amsterdam to Haarlem to Paris, we had an incredible time sipping the wine, sampling the food, exploring by bike and taking it all in. I must come back to Holland and France some day. As we headed back to Schipol for our nonstop flight back to Portland, I still can’t believe all that I have seen. Thank you I Fly Nonstop!
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