Europe Day 33: 0 Miles

Amsterdam, Netherlands

There are too many things to do and see during the next few days in Amsterdam to stop the blog even though the riding is over. I should have taken more pictures today but had a great time walking around the city with my friend Deborah, her bother Erick and their friend Jenn.

I started the day off in search of a box for my bicycle. There are so many bike shops in Amsterdam that I was confident it wouldn’t be a difficult task to accomplish this morning. The first 2 bike shops I found were closed for the day on Sunday, so I decided to put off the task of finding a box until tomorrow. It won’t take me that much time to take my bike apart and pack it up. If I find a box tomorrow, I will be fine.

On my way back to the Airbnb I got a text from Deborah that they were heading to the Van Gogh museum and the MOCO museum which currently has a Banksy exhibit. I decided to head in that direction and hopped on a tram to meet them. I headed towards the Van Gogh museum and saw that tickets for the entire day were already sold out. I let Deborah know, but purchased a ticket for myself for tomorrow so I can go back and check it out. I waited for Deborah, Erick, and Jenn to finish up at the MOCO museum and then we headed to the Heineken Experience.

The Heineken Experience is part brewery tour, part Jurassic Park ride only explaining the origin of Heineken Beer instead of dinosaurs and part subliminal marketing trying to get you to purchase Heineken in the future. It was a much flashier and action packed experience than I am used to for a brewery tour, but it ended with 2 beers per person, so I was happy. I don’t usually like Heineken and avoid it unless it is the only option, so I hadn’t had it in a while. It tasted better than I remember, but that may just have been due to it being on tap rather than from the bottle which I am used to.

After the Heineken Experience we found a place for lunch and continued the drinking we had started at Heineken. The rest of our day continued this trend walking around the city and stopping at places that looked interesting to grab a drink. It was a beautiful day and we found some nice spots to sit outside.

We started to get hungry again and went to a Thai restaurant that had come recommended by one of the tattoo artists that Deborah, Erick, and Jenn had met. They had each gotten a tattoo the day before. The Thai place turned out to be a great recommendation. After dinner we found one last bar to grab a final beer for the night. We again sat outside and even as it approached 11:00 PM the sky still had some blue left in it, with the sunlight just finally starting to disappear.

I walked with Deborah from the bar to the tram that I had to catch. Their hotel is near the center of downtown, while mine is on the outskirts of the downtown area on the west side of the city. It was great to spend the last 2 days with Deborah, Erick, and Jenn. After traveling by myself for almost 6 weeks it was great to experience the city with other people. Tomorrow I will first be searching for a bike box. I then have a ticket for the Van Gogh museum at noon and will probably follow that up with the MOCO museum. I also noticed the 3×3 FIBA basketball championships are in Amsterdam starting tomorrow so I may check that out as well. I will also have a full day on Tuesday to explore Amsterdam before heading home on Wednesday.