On our last day in Amsterdam, we decided to go Dutch and rent a couple of bicycles. It cost €15 for 24 hours (for each bike). So after having breakfast at a nearby cafe, we went to Black Bikes near our hotel and got the bikes. We then headed north to explore an area we hadn’t yet visited.
We arrived at NEMO around 12:30 PM. It’s a science and technology museum that’s really interactive and hands-on. It was a lot of fun. I’m glad we got to go but sad that I forgot to charge my camera and, therefore, couldn’t take photos.
After the museum, we pedaled south to Pompadour and got some coffee/tea and cakes. Oh, my god… The pastries were so good! Alex and I decided to be civil and not pig out… but we really wanted more. They were really delicious treats.
After the sweets, we headed down the street to De Kaaskamer (The Cheese Room) and Alex bought two hunks of cheese. We tried one of the cheeses later in our room and it’s an interesting flavor.
We didn’t want to bike with cheese on board so we headed back to the hotel and unloaded. Afterwards, we biked to the huge public library (Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam). It’s 6 stories tall (with a basement, so 7 floors in all) plus a rooftop cafe. Again, we didn’t have a camera with us so no photographic evidence of the greatness of the library and its scenic cafe… But trust me when I say it was awesome.
It started raining lightly so we just pedaled back to the hotel. After a short break, we just went walking around. We walked through the Jordaan neighborhood, which is mainly residential. It was very quiet. We were able to see into people’s homes — everyone seems to have such nice homes! In this neighborhood, at least.
We returned to our hotel around 11 PM and soon fell asleep. We woke up early the next (this) morning to pack and return our bikes. We had breakfast at a nearby cafe, ‘t Nieuwe Kafé, where Alex had a pancake with cheese and I had the apple & bacon pancake. We then took our last walk around Dam Square before we headed back to the hotel to check out.
We’re on the plane now, waiting for take-off… so we’ll be home shortly. Amsterdam was beautiful and we’ll sorely miss it.
Leave a Reply