It has been 283 days since we last embarked on a grand trip. (insert a giant shocked face here). This summer was full of adventures in Alberta instead of faraway lands. Unless you are Anna of course, who sailed away to a quick 4 day weekend to Washington DC and didn’t even take me with her. But I got over it pretty quickly as our European Trip was fast approaching.

I feel like we should explain a little bit of the background for our European trip. After we came back from Iceland and California, we moved into our new condo and began living the, what people call, “normal” life. Then one day Sam & Bryce (from Australia) messaged Anna and all it said was… “Christmas in Paris?”.. Anna looked at me and said… Christmas in Paris? It took me about a half a second to respond with a gentle.. Yes.. Anna quickly responded to Sam and said yes of course. A week later, after some expanded dreaming, the tickets were booked to Europe. This was in April by the way.

So guess what, April came and went and now we are in December and on our European Adventure, who would have thought time actually moved?

We have three legs on this trip: Amsterdam, Brussels, and grand finale Paris.

Welcome to the first leg, Amsterdam.

We heard a lot about this city from our friends. Beautiful canals, incredible and unique architecture, and a world of rich culture that isn’t found anywhere else. We arrived and realized all the talk was actually true.

Our first day we arrived we were truly exhausted. We were in transit for a solid 26 hours easy. We arrived and needed food and our first recommendation was the fries! (Thanks Ainslie!) Each batch of fresh, hand cut potatoes has to be deep fried twice to get the flavor. Than the secret ingredient is to have them with special mayonnaise, and some ketchup for flavor. The place to get them is called Manneken Pis. They were the best fries we’ve ever had! Thanks Belgium Fries in Holland!

The next thing we noticed is that there are cyclists everywhere! In volumes that you really can’t fathom until you arrive here. As in when you leave the train station you see literally thousands parked along the rails! In truth if you’re a car person in Amsterdam, it’s better you just not, well, be in Amsterdam! Driving sucks!! You’re better off on a bicycle. Day and night every one of every age gets around on a bicycle.

There are also loads of canals. Anyone who’s seen the pictures knows this. They’re everywhere and quite beautiful alongside the architecture of all the buildings here. We decided to take a canal tour. It just so happens we arrived during the 3^rd Annual Festival of Lights. (woot!). The tour is at night and the temperature is a balmy 5 degrees above 0. Along the canals we rode enjoying the many light exhibits from around the world. House of Cards, mystical ghost ships, light exhibits that respond to your smart phone. All kinds! With our hot coco and mulled wine, the tour was very romantic (I can just hear Anna’s eye rolling here) and very memorable.

If you’re looking for food you’ll notice that the quality of food is definitely not lacking. Bread is always fresh and soft, veggies fresh, and the cheese. CHEEESE!!! The best! If you ever need cheese, there’s a cheese shop every block. The flavours and variety is amazing and so worth it! The cheese is incredible! Leave extra room in your luggage is all I’m going to say. Try the cafes as much as you can also. You should also have some coffee. People here love coffee and it shows! If you can, order it black. The flavor really comes out than. You can have it with milk, but it’s not recommended. Last thing on the food. Have dutch pancakes. And beer. And beer. And pancakes. And fries. And fries. Okay I’m done. MAYONAISE!!

Now I’m sure you’re all wondering, “Hey! What about the Red Light District?” Well we didn’t leave that out! Truth be told it was within a couple of blocks from our hotel so we couldn’t miss it. Here it is. It’s lively and bustling….at night time. During the day it’s almost dead. The ladies like to show themselves to passersby in little glass doors with red lights on them, hence the name. Let’s just say the selection is a lot better at night than during the day. Everyone is also aware of Amsterdam’s relaxed policy of smoking weed. There are places you can have it with your coffee, aka coffee shops. Since you’re in the red light district, you should visit the Sex Museum. There’s a veritable array of pictures, sculptures, exhibits, and even some interactive displays!

Well that’s our few days in Amsterdam, which turned out to be around 39.34 km for 4 days we were there (Thanks Fitbit). We had a great time and are still feeling jet lagged, and don’t worry, Mr. Moo is having a great time too!

A&A & Mr. Moo