Amsterdam: The Greatest Vacation

Our planning of Amsterdam came about simply because of Pearl Jam's tour dates.

The prior year, we traveled to Europe for the first time when we vacationed in Dublin.  Which was awesome, and we knew we wanted to see more of Europe.  Its addicting.  

When the rumors of Pearl Jam's European tour began to start rumbling at the end of 2017, we knew that we'd be going back.  We thought, well..it would be great to see them in Dublin and take in more of that city, and hopefully run into friends we made.  But then the rumors of opening in Amsterdam began to form. We really liked the thought of visiting there. Bourdain went, and seemed to really like the city.  But there were other places in Europe that we also wanted to visit like Greece, Italy, England, so on and so on.

The announcement came and I'm staring at my computer, and thinking "how do I tell Kell that we're definitely going to Amsterdam?"  Ten seconds later, she's coming down the stairs saying "So, I guess we're going to Amsterdam?!"

Since I'm in the Ten Club (PJ's Fan Club) I can put my name in for tickets, and if my name gets drawn, I'm guaranteed those tickets.  I listed General Admission first and Reserved seats second.  GA means you're in the pit, and can get as close as you can get (without being rude).
My name got drawn, and we immediately go into planning mode.  Looking at Hotel/Flight combos.

We found a flight out of Atlanta on Friday, June 8, with a layover in Germany, getting us into Amsterdam at 10:30 am, and a return flight on the following Friday with a layover in Toronto.
The hotel we found Hotel Eden Amsterdam, was in a great part of town, and had very high reviews.

We eventually booked a flight out of Muscle Shoals to Atlanta, so we wouldn't have to drive home after being jet lagged (lesson learned from last year)

We started booking museums, a boat tour and the Heineken VIP Experience. 

Then Pearl Jam announced a second day in Amsterdam, and I put my name in again, which was drawn again!

So, we had our trip planned and ready to go.

Two nights before we're supposed to leave, we're eating dinner, and I start to wonder about how Muscle Shoals' Boutique Air transfers luggage to international flights.  Spoiler Alert: They don't.
I start to read that what they consider checked bags is MUCH SMALLER than normal airlines.  Make a call and realize that since the flight is full, we're going to have to get our luggage there the night before, for it to make it to Atlanta.  We decided to go get some actual carryon luggage, and use my larger green suitcase, in case we get liquor, cheeses, etc.  I got the larger suitcase there that night, and everyone at Muscle Shoals Airport was super cool and let me know that it would be waiting on me in Atlanta.

The day before our trip, I got the notification that Anthony Bourdain had passed. He had become a hero of mine in recent years. I loved his writing and his television shows. He's one of the reasons why we started traveling and trying new foods, meeting new people.

The morning of our trip, we dropped June off at Bud's house, got over to Muscle Shoals with plenty of time to spare.  We found out our bag did make it to Atlanta, and the employees were talking to us about our trip. 

Its not a big plane by any means!  Only seats 8!
But we made it to Atlanta, had enough time to retrieve big green (luggage), get across the airport to International Flights and eat some over priced tacos and cold beers.

Boarded the flight to Frankfurt, Germany and we were off again!  I had planned on sleeping on this trip, buy consuming as many free cold beers as possible.

But four to five screaming babies had other plans for me.

We reached Frankfurt and were both starting to feel a little tired but were still pumped about getting to Amsterdam.

This pic shows the only part of Germany we got to see.

We boarded a much smaller plane and we're off to Amsterdam, which thankfully, was only about an hour and a half flight.  The airport is attached to what seems like a mall.  But the first thing you see when exiting is the I AMSTERDAM sign!  Then the line of Teslas that are cabs!  

We got our Uber and headed directly to our hotel at Hotel Eden Amsterdam.

They let us check in early, which was awesome.  We were in need of a refresh.  And in one of those spaces of really tired, but hungry and wanting to see this new city.

Our first stop was Cafe' de Doelen.  A small pub, with Guinness on tap and some spicy sausage and cheese for snacks!  What I never knew before coming, is that beers are never served to the top, always leave head on them, and each are served in the glass they're supposed to be drank from.  This was done EVERYWHERE in Amsterdam.  

We had a few beers here, checked out the scenery and decided to walk on to find some more food and drinks.

We found a great corner restaurant/bar called Frenzi that had great views of one of the many many canals in Amsterdam.  We got the steak sandwich and their Gin & Homemade Tonics.  Both were really really amazing.  Just look at that sandwich!

The rest of the evening, we stayed relatively close to our hotel, admiring the canals and architecture.

We found what would end up being our repeat bar, Gollem.  (We would later find out by accident, there's multiple locations.)  They have so many beers on tap, and delicious toasties!  They even had Kell's hometown brewery Flying Dog there, and someone ordered it while we were there!

We visited a great Irish Pub (there are so many!) called Mulligans, drank more Guinness and decided to go to the Rembrandt Square over to The Old Bell English Pub.  Kell tried to make friends with a rather large cat, that did not want to make friends.  We had more beers, and had what we thought was a swinger couple sit next to us in a rather empty bar.

That would be the end of Day one.

Day two started with a well deserved shower and a 20 minute walk to the Heineken Brewery (or Brouwerij in Dutch), with a quick stop at the Rembrandt Statue.

We arrived that the Brewery for our VIP Tour, and were welcomed in, and even got a "ROLL TIDE" from our tour guide when he asked where we're from.  (This would be the second one I've gotten at a brewery tour in Europe.  First was last years' tour of Guinness).

We had an awesome time, and if you ever go, definitely choose the VIP tour.  You get to see so many things the regular tour doesn't.  Private rooms, bars, up close to the horses (that we learned get SIX WEEKS OF VACATION!) etc.  And the super private bar, where you get five cheeses, paired with five beers.  All eight of us on this tour became fast friends here.  We shared stories about tailgating, and pictures of our favorite beers from around the world.  At the end, we were given our own personalized bottles of Heineken!

After our tour, we were feeling right nice, but a little hungry.  So we ventured around, until a nice gentleman outside of a restaurant greeted us.  We decided to stay and eat at the La Estancia Argentinian Grill Restaurant.  Their steaks were delicious, and the server was very kind.  

We continued to walk around and take in the city, until we were scheduled to get on our Hamburger Cruise of the Canals.

Which was really fun.  We had all the Heineken we could drink and a hamburger that wasn't great.  We got to get out into the main canal, and see a ton of different sites. We met two nice girls from Dublin, and talked about what we did in their city and what we had all been up to in Amsterdam.

Later, we found a really cool upstairs Irish Pub, and enjoyed a few pints before heading back to our part of Amsterdam.

Day three was Museum day.  On our way to breakfast, we stopped in Van Gogh square to get some pancakes at Bruincafe' 'T Centrum.  These were GIANT PANCAKES.

We had pre-purchased tickets to the Van Gogh Museum, The Rijks Musesum and Anne Franks' House.

We weren't allowed to take photos of anything in Van Gogh, and took some in Rijks, but took zero in or around Anne Franks' House.  

I really can't explain the feelings when every step you make is the loudest creak you've ever heard, and trying to imagine a family hiding here for years.  Then to see her diaries.  Its really emotional.  If you ever go to Amsterdam, buy your tickets in advance and go.  Everyone needs to.

Afterward, we had an appointment to try different cheeses with different wines at the Amsterdam Cheese Company.  Which was a really fun experience, as we learned about the family who built the business and different Amsterdam cheeses.  We bought lots of cheese to bring home.  The only downside was this one lady who thought she was like THE DAMN EXPERT ON CHEESE, and would not shut up.

After our tasting, we decided on going to a Bourdain stop, The In De Wildeman.  And I can't be more happy we did.  Such a great hangout spot.  Its situated near a few other pubs, so its almost like a block party when everyone's on the patios.  We ordered a bunch of different beers, and ate some of the best sausage I've ever had.  It was very soft sausage, like borderline pate'.  The staff were awesome.  Kell loved seeing the beer sign with her last name. 

After hanging at the Wildeman, we opted to go to the Pearl Jam Ten Club meet up at Molly Malones

They had a pretty great pour of Guinness, which we enjoyed while we met some fans from around the world.  But we wanted to go back to the Wildeman.  Consumed more beers, and drunkenly found our way back home.

(side note: one of the days, and I'm not for sure which one, we did find our way into the Red Light District, by complete accident.  Was following google maps.  I'm sure you've all heard stories, but its a whole different animal than what I was expecting.  I'll leave it at that)

Day Four, or Pearl Jam Night One  We got up that morning and headed north, as we got the notification the night before that Pearl Jam was going to be selling a special football jersey, one time only at this single location in Amsterdam, and once they were sold out, they were GONE.

So we went to the COPA flagship store, and there were quite a few Pearl Jam fans there, and everyone was trying on or buying these special all black jerseys.  

I tried on one, and went to the counter, put in my TravelEx Money Card, and "TRANSACTION DECLINED"

Tried it again, and "TRANSACTION DECLINED".  I pulled up the app, and there's more than enough money.  Kell tried her's and same thing.  A little bit of panic set in, but the clerk said there was an ATM upstairs and he would hold my jersey.  Went to use the ATM and nothing.  Kell had plenty of Euro with her and we got the jersey and rushed back to the hotel to figure out what was going on.  We found a TravelEX ATM not far from where we were staying and both were able to pull cash and see how much money we had.  So, we're going to go with scary ass glitch.

But I got my jersey...so worth it.

We headed on to the ZIGGO Dome to get in line for our GA seats. But that turned into a lot of confusion.  As there were already people lined up in one spot marked "TEN CLUB" Then a line of people at the box office and a smaller line formed at merch, and no one was really clear on which one was which.  Finally someone got some correct info.  We got our tickets, merch and got into the show and got really close, 2nd off the rail on Mike's side. 

Pearl Jam opened with "Long Road" in tribute to Anthony Bourdain and the family of Kate Spade.
They played a phenomenal show, in which I go to strum Mike's guitar during Alive.  
He was doing his guitar solo, and came off the stage, and walked right up in front of us.  Everyone was leaning over to touch him.  He looked directly at me, tapped the guitar and pointed at the strings, so I strummed the hell out of them.  Got many a high five.

After the show, we decided to cool our heels at a bar that was blasting Pearl Jam and knock out some Heinekens.  After some more mass confusion on the Uber pick up situation, we finally got in one and had them take us back to Gollem.  Much to my surprise...there's a few Gollems, and I accidentally chose the one NOT next to our hotel. (me thinks too many Heinekens).  But we enjoyed some excellent craft beer and one of the largest damn cheese plates I've ever seen.  We were thinking little cuts.  They were thinking "nah playah, half the cheese wheel."  Which we ate, all of it.  And the bread.  So delicious.

Day Five, or Pearl Jam Night Two  We opted not to rush to the ZIGGO dome, and go have some nice lunch at Kitchen & Bar Van Rijn B.V. in the Van Gogh square.  We both ordered the same awesome sandwich that was super thin slices of raw steak, basil pesto, sun dried tomatoes, parmesan and roasted pine nuts.  Kell opted for dessert and got an awesome slice of apple pie.

After lunch, we headed back to the ZIGGO Dome for Pearl Jam night two.  This time, everything was clearly marked, so we decided to divide an conquer.  I went to get in line for the tickets and kell to the merch stand, with instructions of poster, and any night specific merch.  She knocked it out of the park. We got our tickets and sat in the Ten Club line, taking turns going for beer fillups at the bar next door.  (Soooo many Heinekens)

We thought we should go ahead and have a few beers inside.  They don't operate like we do in the states. Its on a chip system.  You buy these chips, and when the beer guy comes around you tell him what you want and give him a chip for it.  Works so much better than trying to deal with change.

Pearl Jam played probably one of the more memorable shows I'll ever remember.  They played tracks I've never heard before live, including the very rare "Bee Girl"

We went to the same nearby bar after, to chill out for a bit, and let the crowds clear out.  Much easier getting back home.  We went back to Gollem, the right one.  They had no food left, so we had to eat stuff from the vending machine in the hotel.  Like "Cool American" Doritos and some Stroopwaffle.



Day Six, Last Full Day  We decided to make this exploring day.  There were a few places left on our check off visit list, including Cafe Soundgarden & Hendrix Amsterdam.  The bar tender at the Hendrix actually gave me a Hendrix mug!  So awesome!

The rest of the day was spent in antique shops, and popping in and out of different places.

That night, we had made reservations at De Belhamel. Which is a French / Italian style restaurant. Discovered very quickly how it was a good idea to reserve in advance.  In the main part of the restaurant, there are maybe five to six small tables, there's a few more on the upper level (think split level type building, where the main floor can see the basement and top floor), they were turning away people left and right, saying they could get them in in about two weeks.

We started with Prawns and scallop in a puff pastry shell, with a chive-shrimp beurre blanc and a bottle of  Luigi Borca Pinot Noir.  For dinner, we chose the ‘Boeuf Belhamel’ Tranches of sirloin from corn-fed Dutch beef, with trompettes de la mort, green beans, fondant potatoes and red wine sauce.  Amazingly good. I can't say enough things about how amazing this dish was.  Probably one of the best things I've ever eaten.  
Afterward, we ordered a slice of cheese cake.  

After a quick visit at the hotel, we had tickets to the Ice Bar, which was on the same block as our hotel.  So no long trips for this place.  Its a normal bar on the inside, until its time to go to the actual Ice Bar, then a video plays of some pirates talking about sailing north and getting stuck in the ice.  Then they give you gloves and a puffer jacket.  And you stand in an ice room and have drinks.  I mean...its neat cause its all ice and whatnot. But that's really the long and short of it.  Heinekens in a cold ass glass!

After that, we made one more stop at Gollem for some last minute drinks before bed, as tomorrow would be an extremely long day.

Day Seven, Going Home We got up and showered, packed and ready to go for the long voyage home.

We had planned to get an Uber to the airport, but as the concierge told us, it would be about 100 EU to get there.  I was shocked, and double checked the app to make sure and...yep...he was right.  So he called us a taxi, that was about 75 EU. We left the hotel at 8:30am (or 1:30am, Florence, AL time).  We got to the airport in a prompt manner, and got checked in, and went to go chill before take off.  The flight from Amsterdam to Toronto was nice, nothing to complain about, really.
Toronto airport had a really cool service at each gate.  There were all these small tables with tablets, that served as time wasters and menus. The menus were connected to the bar in between the terminals, so if you ordered anything, they could bring it right to you.
The bad part, the flight from Toronto to Atlanta was running late, because of some boarding issues from the flight to Boston.  
FINALLY got on the plane and we're starting to bite nails, as we're going to be cutting it really close to get to our flight to Muscle Shoals on time.
Land in Atlanta a good bit late, and get our clearance to be welcomed back into the states, and get to baggage claim.  My big green suitcase was one of, if not the first to come off. The one with all the cheese, beers, souvenirs, Pearl Jam posters, just a lot of stuff, OK? (including part of a brick from an old street they were working on near our hotel.  I collect rocks from places we go)

Grabbed it, and got outside to the bus to take us from international to domestic.  Called Boutique Air and they put me with their local guy, who said I had plenty of time to get there. 
We get checked in with him, he puts big green suitcase on the belt (hey, it got to fly home with us!) and then he says "oh you're ok, we're running behind too!"  I mean...yay...we didn't miss our flight...but its 9pm local time in Atlanta (8pm Florence, AL time).  So we wait and wait and finally board and take off at about 10:45 that night.  I fall asleep on the hour plane ride home.  When I wake up, we're landing and there's big green suitcase waiting on us, we load up and get in my jeep and get home at 11:30pm local time.  Making it a 20 hour travel day.  
I didn't have much jet lag flying back from Dublin, being a direct flight and all...but this one destroyed me.  Kell was able to sleep.  I just couldn't.  My brain was wired.  I slept for maybe an hour that night.  I finally ate a sleeping pill at about 9 the next night and slept like a baby.
And with that...is the end of what I'm calling our greatest vacation, yet.  Here's to the next one!
Cheers! *drinks a Heineken*